How 718 Outdoors Tours Work

nocellajoe
4 days ago
4 min read

718 Outdoors Tours are like our Micro-Tours in many ways (If you are coming to this post first, please first have a look at our "What is a Micro-Tour" article), but with some key differences. I have led over 175 self-supported bikepacking group tours, and these are my observations.

For descriptions about Gear, Bikes and the "Self-Supported" nature of these Tours, check out our "What is a Micro-Tour" article.

Check out our upcoming Tour Schedule here.
See what others have to say about our Tours on our Testimonials Page.
See a Photo Archive of our many Tours and Micro-Tours

Our tours are filled with a diverse crew across a wide ability spectrum (from beginners to seasoned veterans). This is the point, as I consider these adventures a learning environment.

The Big Difference:

The big jumping off point from Micro-Tours is the physical and mental demands of doing it day in and day out for 6-8 days.

For most people who are new to this, the biggest challenge is not really the mileage, but the setting up and breaking down of camp every day. On a Micro-Tour, you can just jam that gear into a bag and head home after a day. On a Tour, you will find that you will start to develop a system, and this system you come up with will help withe the day-to-day routine. There is no right way to do this, and the only way to figure it out is to go through it.

For instance, when I arrive to camp, I like to get my tent and sleep situation set up immediately, so that I avoid any incoming weather and/or setting up in the dark. This is contrary to someone who wants to hit camp and just relax for an hour or so. I have observed that this system is closely tied to our personalities.

"It's not about your gear, and it's not about your bike"

Group Organization

In terms of the day-to-day nature of these Tours, I have developed a "Ride Sheet" for each Tour. These are meant to be printed on a double-sided 8-1/2" x 11" piece of paper, and are designed to answer riders most basic daily questions and concerns (where are we stopping? when is lunch?, etc). See Full Example Ride Sheet here.

Each day, as the group gets ready, we get everyone briefed on what to expect that day. In addition to speaking to everyone, I send 3 pieces of info to the group in our WhatsApp Channel:

Weather for the day using Epic Ride Weather
Stops: Basically copied form the Ride Sheet, with links to specific restaurants/stops
Route: Although everyone should have the route already (I use Ride With GPS), I send the group the day's route anyway as a backup

Food Situation:

On a daily basis, I try to find a breakfast/coffee place within 10 miles of our start, a town we can have lunch in midway through the day, and a supermarket/town where we can get food for dinner and the following morning's breakfast within 5 miles from camp.

The idea here is that you are not dragging food around all day for a week. We use our experience on the routes to have stopping points. It is surprising how much you you will accumulate in general.

Camping Accommodations:

All of our camping locations are set in advance, and have reservations. Some have lakes, showers, waterfalls etc. With of our experience on our routes, will get the group prepared for each night's situation. Sites range from private campgrounds, state and municipal campgrounds, to some pretty quirky RV parks (Hello, Quebec!).

Beginner Friendly?

We have beginners join us on every Tour. I define a "beginner" as someone who might bike or camp a lot, but hasn't put the 2 together in a sustained way. This is how we all start off, by the way!

In terms of the physical part, I think of being able to ride 50-60 miles a day at 10mph as a benchmark. Something really crazy happens on these trips. You actually get stronger/better as the days go on and your body figures out what it needs to do that day. I am not a physiologist, but I have observed the counter-intuitive phenomenon happen countless times.

Group Dynamic:

The daily morale and cohesion of the group is very important, as I find that people who are having a challenge with something are picked up by their fellow riders (myself included). There are individual battles, as well as group challenges (weather, detours, closed restaurants, etc). getting through these as a group is what makes a great Tour.

Logistics:

Getting to and front the start point is a critical piece for someone who is undertaking one of these Tours. All of our Tours can be accessed by Amtrak or commuter rail (except Quebec, but that's a whole other post). See our "Bike Rail Travel" article for more information.

Thanks for having a rear. If you are on the fence, I'd suggest just going for it (of course I would). It's the adventure of a lifetime, and you'll be so happy with yourself that you took the leap!

Note: For better or worse, I do not use AI to create my posts. This is all me, with my misspelling, poor grammar and tangential thoughts. I didn't get into this line of work to hand over my thoughts, expertise and experience to AI to spit out blog posts.