Why Would Anyone Go on a Bike Tour?

I believe anyone who is planning a bike tour but can't quite decide should first find an answer to one question: “Why would anyone go on a bike tour?” If they can't find any answer at all, that is more than enough reason to go. On you go!

Take me: I set off to see the view above and to be part of that picture, although I only realised it much later. And then there are the meals after a whole day of pedalling!! Oh, oh… it's hard to stop myself from heading back out on the road. Sleep matters too, of course: in the world's most uncomfortable tent, inside the world's most uncomfortable sleeping bag, you sleep like a baby, as if you were in paradise.

Now, who am I to be telling you about bike touring...

I've been on plenty of day rides before, sometimes alone, sometimes with friends. But on this blog I'm going to tell you what I learned on my tour from Canada to the Mexican border, where I covered about 3,500 km in a little over 40 days.

I'm Oğuzhan Şeker, and for as long as I can remember I have loved driving and riding things. As a kid I started with toy cars, then moved on to the bike you see here, and after that I drove whatever I could get my hands on: cars, planes, boats. I even did my recently finished military service as a transport private. But the thing that has always attracted me most, the thing that makes me feel free, has been the bicycle. A bike gave me the breeze of a convertible, the freedom of a bird in flight, and the fuel economy of a car coasting downhill. I have felt a sense of achievement most strongly when I looked back after finishing a tour. Even my university diploma didn't make me as happy as reaching my destination after days on the road. I'm sure friends who have been on bike tours will understand exactly what I mean as they read this. And I hope those who are still planning one will look back afterwards and say, “Ah, yes!”

Maybe people go on bike tours to taste freedom, or to prove something to themselves. To get fit, to quit smoking, to stay away from alcohol, to get away from a girlfriend, and most importantly, to get away from city life and meet new people.

Thanks to this tour I met people I would never have met otherwise. I listened to their stories, and they listened to mine. People who wouldn't have looked twice at me if I had driven past welcomed me into their homes, shared their food and gave me their beds. I ate local dishes I could never have imagined eating. I lived among animals we only see in cartoons: at night they patted my tent while I slept. They stole my peanut butter, and I chased them :)

I earned people's admiration, and when I look back I can say: yes, I did it. Crazy as it was, I did it. This tour taught me how true the saying “well begun is half done” is. It taught me the smell of a strawberry field. It taught me that I don't need to watch Discovery Channel to learn how sea lions mate, and that on road trips by car you actually see next to nothing.

Believe me, there are so many reasons for someone to go on a bike tour that I could never list them all. I think you need to get out there and taste this feeling yourself, so you can discover your own reasons...