Travel

9 Essential Tips for your Bicycle Touring Trip

Make sure your bicycle touring holiday is a success

There’s nothing like the freedom of the open road; be it a round the world epic or a weekend riding the coast to coast. Touring by bike is the ultimate way to seek out adventure.

If you’re set to carry a lot of weight, remember to spread it over the whole bike, with front and rear pannier bags.

Here are 9 handy tips to help you on your way:

Double-check the validity and space in your passport; a one-page visa is one page less, you may get a lot of these.
Do all of your visa research and arrangements as far in advance as possible pay attention to their validity, and find embassy options along your route.
Make photocopies of all relevant documents and keep a hard copy with you, a copy online, and on a key drive.
Use a key drive to store maps, travel info etc, and print them out in Internet cafes along the way as required.
Have emergency medical and contact info on you all of the time. A pendant/inscribed wristband etc are good options.
Make sure all of your subscriptions, payments and other commitments are covered before you go – and secure online banking to manage these.
An i Phone or similar device, with a global sim will be invaluable for communicating, but get a good charger and spare battery. Games and music can also be good company. But it’s also a real tie.
Carry at least one insured credit card with plenty of validity, and a decent cash stash hidden away (US$ are easiest).
Keep a record of relevant websites (Foreign Office, BBC etc, and set up an RSS feed to keep you informed of relevant news, weather and political situations along your route.