This page answers a lot of common questions and provides instructions for completing the Tour Builder form.
Group Organizer
Creating a custom tour starts with someone like you who wants to get a small
group of riders together to do your own little tour. Using the
Tour Builder form, you can "rough out" a tour
request. We will return a proposed intinerary for your approval. When it's a go,
we take care of the planning and logistics while you promote
the tour. As the Group Organizer you "fill the slots" for your tour and
you may
screen or qualify the participants as you wish.
Organizer Discount
For thier efforts, a group organizer is awarded a discount based on the number
of participants.
- 9 or more - 25%
- 12 or more - 50%
- 15 or more - 75%
- 18 or more - 100%
- 21 or more - Additional Comparion Pass
Group Size
We cater to groups of 6 to 22 riders. Inn to Inn tours with SAG and gear
transport are most cost effective with smaller groups with 6 - 10 riders.
Tours with full camp support are most cost effective for groups of 10 - 22
riders.
Destination
From our base in Oregon, we venture out throughout the Pacific Northwest
supporting routes wherever you wish to ride.
Our Tour Idea pages present "templates" of tours that you can take as
is, or as a basis for your own tour idea. Or, come up with a whole new
idea for a tour and let us turn it into a reality.
Duration
Most of our tours are week tours.
The minimum tour is 4 days. Full week tours usually depart on a Saturday and return the following Saturday or Sunday
for an 8 or 9 day tour.
The typical 4 day tour is a long weekend starting on a Thursday afternoon and
returning on Monday afternoon.
Riding Days
It's a riding tour so that's the key measure. How many good solid days of
riding do you want do? Add layover/activity days and transportation days to get
the total number of days for your tour.
Layover/Activity Days
Some riders want a day off mid-week for some R&R, while others want to take the
time to enjoy other events or activities along the way. How many separate
layover or activity days do you want to plan for?
Transportation Days
Transportation from our departure city (usually Portland) to the ride start
point is included in our tours and this time is included in your total tour
days. Short start tours may allow for a short ride after arriving at the start
point. Most tours require a whole day for travel to the ride starting point and
another day for the return from the ride finish.
Ride Pace and Terrain
There are two ways to characterize your ride. The average miles per day
and the pace/terrain rating. While the actual miles each day will vary depending
on terrain and the availability of camping or lodging locations, the average is
a good way to describe your ride. The pace and terrain ratings are as follows.
- Easy - 2-5 hours of riding 20-40 miles on flat or rolling terrain with minimal hills to climb.
- Moderate - 4-6 hours of riding 30-50 miles on varied terrain with possible steep hills to climb
- Aggressive - 5-8 hours of riding 40-70 miles on varied terrain with several
large ascents/descents
- Expert - 6-10 hours of riding 60-100 miles on varied terrain with steep ascents/descents over several thousand feet.
Overnight Accommodations
We support both camping and motel/B&B style accommodations. Our camping
support provides you with full meals and hot showers no matter what campground
is used. Camping is the most social mode of touring and groups seem to enjoy
thier time together more when camping together.
While some routes dictate the need to camp, other times it is simply the
prefered way to spend the night. Some groups may also prefer a night or
two in a motel or B&B for a refreshing break during the week. Still other
groups my simply prefer to stay in motels or B&B's every night and are willing
to accept that this will limit access to certain routes.
Meals
The accommodations for meals usually follow the type of overnight
accommodations. While camping your meals are included with your camp support.
When staying in motels or B&B we start with the meal that may be included with
your lodging and go from there. Our options include adding group banquet meals,
parking lot breakfasts, picnic dinners, and simply letting everyone go into town
on thier own for dinner. The choices for your tour will be defined in your
itinerary.
Events and Activities
You may wish to schedule your tour to coincide with local events and activites.
We have included raft trips, jet boat rides, outdoor concerts, wine tasting,
Shakespearean plays, hiking, and spelunking to our past bicycle tours. We make
all of the arrangements for optional events and activites and any costs are
added to your tour cost.
- Fairs, festivals, concerts, etc. are usually scheduled during the afternoon or evening after your days ride.
- Rafting, hiking, spelunking, etc, is usually scheduled as a layover day activity. Sometimes a short hike or something can be fit in during the lunch stop or after a days ride.
- Points of Interest are usually best enjoyed as stops along the way. Some groups wish to stop for as many of these as possible even it if slows things down, while other groups might make such stops only while taking the regular breaks in the ride, and the "go for it" riders simply want to ride.
- Towns along the way have a similar appeal as points of interest and groups vary similarly in thier desire to stop and check it out.