5 Reasons To Take A Bike Tour On Your Next Vacation

By Luke Harris of Crossroads Bike Tours

Adventure awaits.

If you’re looking for a way to get out of your comfort zone and open yourself up to new experiences while looking for a vacation that will be a little different from your usual trips, consider adding a bike tour to your next vacation. Here are five reasons why it’s a perfect choice.

1. Your Senses become Heightened

Biking is a great way to get out and explore the world, but it’s also a way to heighten your senses. When you’re on a bike, you can experience smells that are usually blocked by wind or sound. You may also notice textures in the landscape that aren’t visible from other modes of transportation.

Your senses will come alive like no other experience when you are experiencing the outdoors. You don’t just see the sights, you smell them. You don’t just hear sounds, you feel them. You don’t just taste the food, you experience it. You’ll notice things you’ve never noticed before as you pedal along—it’s an adventure for your mind and body!

You will feel the sunshine on your face, the wind through your hair, the rain on your head, and the cold through your clothing in a new way when there is no escaping the elements.  How much more will you appreciate a forest traveling 10 miles an hour for 5 hours on your bike versus traveling 60 mph for minutes in your car?  All your senses heightened on a bike will cause you to feel more alive inside and out.  Being surrounded by nature helps us feel more grounded, eases anxiety, and lowers stress levels; so it’s easy to see why prolonged time on your bike can help you reconnect with the world around you.

2. You’re more likely to meet people

A fully loaded bicycle represents an adventure and a long physical journey to arrive wherever it is that you have arrived.  When you stop in a town you are not seen as a tourist but as a traveler.  People are naturally curious and you are quickly respected for your effort and sense of adventure. I’ve often found this results in invitations to be for a conversation and time to meet new people. You’ll find yourself sharing stories about your adventures with other people who have gone through similar journeys or are curious about your adventure.  This is a great way to bond with strangers—and make new friends!

3. Bike touring is great exercise at a slower pace of life

Everyone knows that getting in shape requires some kind of physical exertion—but most people aren’t interested in running marathons or lifting weights. Going on long walks is great for your health… but what if those walks could last for days? That’s what biking tours offer, which makes them perfect for those looking for an active vacation without having to do all the heavy lifting themselves (literally). Most people don’t love to exercise and even find exercise boring.

But when you bike 30-40 miles a day for a week at a time you get a lot of exercise and all the health benefits of exercise, without feeling like you’re exercising.  Some of the benefits of biking exercise are improved strength, endurance, healthy weight loss, joint mobility, and of course cardio. 

Another reason people choose to go on vacation is to slow down, forget the pressures of work and daily life, and just relax. Vacations often do the opposite. We rush around to catch flights, take a sightseeing tour, find accommodations, get food, and hit the beach. On a cycling tour, you are forced to slow your pace and pay attention to the ride.

4. It’s an eco-friendly way to travel

Bike touring is one of the most popular ways to explore the world. Unlike driving or flying, biking requires little to no fossil fuels, which means that it has a much lower impact on the environment. Since bikes do not burn fossil fuels and because you are only carrying the essentials you are living a minimalist lifestyle.  Bike touring will likely change the way you live by learning to live with less.  Moreover, after you realize how easy it is to get around on a bike you may find yourself giving up your car at home altogether.

Check out this video to get a sense of the adventure, advantages, and freedom a bike tour brings you!

5. Let someone else do the Planning

Trying to plan a bike tour in an unknown area causes people to have anxiety over all the details.  Where do I stay?  How do I get from Start to Finish?  What is on the trail to see?  When is a great time to ride in this area?  What type of bike and clothing should I wear?  And, many more questions that the unexperienced have difficulty answering. 

Planning bike tours is just what specialty companies such as Crossroads Bike Tours do.  They do all your planning so all you need to do is show up and ride.  Crossroads Bike Tours is an experienced Bike Tour Company on the Katy Trail as well as the Pinellas and Legacy Trails in the SunCoast of Florida.  They take care of every detail along the way. All you need is to make arrangements to get to St. Charles, MO, or Clearwater, FL, and your will be waiting on you, fully planned!

If you’ve ever been on a bike tour, you know that it’s a great way to explore a new city. It’s also an excellent way to get some exercise, and you’ll meet tons of people along the way. As an added bonus, biking is one of the most eco-friendly ways to travel. So if you’re looking for an adventure that will help make a difference in our environment as well as your own health and happiness, look no further than a bike tour! You’ll be surprised at how much you can learn about the local culture by biking through it!

Why should you include a bike tour on your next vacation? Because it’s the best way to see the world!