Planning a bike tour: 8 easy steps for your next cycling adventure

The right bike tour depends on your personal preferences, your fitness level, and your equipment. You can either plan the route to match your existing bicycle, or you can get the right bike and accessories for a specific tour.

For most riders, the first approach makes more sense: You look at what kind of bicycle you have, and then choose a route, terrain, and length that suits it.

If you already have a bike at home, the route should be suitable for that bike. A city bike is more suitable for urban and leisurely excursions, a mountain bike for trails and off-road routes, and a trekking bike for longer tours and mixed paths.

With an e-bike, you can ride longer distances, in headwinds, or up slight inclines more comfortably. Nevertheless, you should not only plan your tour according to battery range, but also according to the terrain, breaks, and your sense of safety.

To make your bike tour enjoyable, you should honestly assess your fitness and your safety on the bike. A route that significantly exceeds your physical capabilities can quickly become frustrating or even dangerous.

Route apps often categorize routes as easy, medium, and difficult. This assessment usually depends on length, elevation gain, and ground conditions. It's better to choose a route that's too cautious rather than too ambitious.

The ideal time depends on the weather, daylight, temperature, and your available time. Very hot summer days, heavy rain, or frost can make an otherwise enjoyable bike tour significantly more strenuous.

For longer tours, spring, early summer, and mild autumn days are often more pleasant. Plan enough time for breaks, detours, and potential delays.

Once you know what kind of tour you want to do, you can search for suitable routes using route planners and apps. Important factors are length, elevation, surface, traffic, reviews, and photos from other riders.

For tours in North Rhine-Westphalia, regional route planners or maps with cycling hubs can also be helpful. If you're looking for inspiration for Mönchengladbach, you can plan local routes and themed tours.

The route should match your bike type, fitness level, available time, and desired difficulty. Also, check whether you start directly from home or need to travel to the starting point.

If you're arriving by car, you'll need space in the trunk or a bike rack. If traveling by bus or train, you should check in advance if bicycle transport is possible and if you need an additional ticket.

Even on shorter tours, rest stops make sense. They provide you with security if you need water, your bike has problems, the weather changes, or you simply need a break.

Especially on e-bike tours, charging points, restaurants, supermarkets, or bike repair shops along the route can be helpful.

The equipment depends on the length, weather, route, and type of bicycle. Even for a relaxed Sunday outing, a small basic set of equipment is worthwhile.

For longer tours, you should also consider food, weatherproof clothing, navigation, and spare parts if necessary.

Before the tour, you should check your bike's functionality. Brakes, gears, chain, tires, and lighting are particularly important for your safety.

For an e-bike, you should also charge the battery and check whether the range and assistance level are suitable for the planned route.

When planning a multi-day bike tour, you should realistically plan your daily stages. For your first longer tour, it's a good idea not to plan too many kilometers per day and not to start the first stages directly with steep climbs.

Also, consider in advance whether you want to camp in a tent or stay in accommodations. A tent offers flexibility but means additional luggage. Accommodations offer more comfort but often need to be planned earlier.