Touring Costs

goonz

I know this may not be the best time for this thread but yesterday was wife day so I was banned from using the pc! Anyway I wanted to get a an idea on the average costs involved in the rides such as LEJOG or L'Etape Du Tour.

I plan on takling these and more however currently do not have the cash to be able to justify doing them. I would like to know from anyone on here roughly how much it costs and how long you would be away for any rides you may have done.

I'm particularly interested in details for:

LEJOG
Etape du Tour
Trip to France to tackle Mont Ventoux

Ta

marcusjb

Difficult question to answer - 'touring' is such a broad term.

Most of our touring is done camping - fairly cheap (but with fairly large 'startup' costs for tent, sleeping bags, cooking gear etc.). I guess a typical budget for the two of us would be around £40 a day in Europe (camping, usually take advantage of a set menu 10-12 Euro 3 course meal in Spain/France for lunch, then cook or eat something cold for dinner). It could be done cheaper, it could be done more expensively. There's probably around £1000-1500 of equipment there as well (excluding the tandem!) - again, could be done cheaper or more expensive. You can get a camping setup that is reasonably lightweight for a couple of hundred quid (excluding cooking gear).

Many people tour using B&Bs/hotels - more expensive, but without any equipment to carry other than clothes.

As I said, broad answer to a broad question. In (western) Europe, I think you could probably manage on around £25 a day if you watched the pennies. Equally, you could spend £75-100 a day eating out and using hotels.

Both have their merits - and both can be tailored to suit a budget (though camping can be tailored to work on lower budgets).

goonz

I agree 'Touring' probably not the best term but I was struggling to find the word to describe what I was after!

How many days would your tour typically cover? I would be of the sort to travel light, just clothes and bare essentials. If I was driving I would really consider camping.

I guess I would use B&B's for most of the rides I want to do but I assume the B&B's nearest to Mont Ventoux would have extortionate prices to clean the pockets of all the cyclists taking part...

rich164h

As above really. It depends on what you want to do, how you want to do it, and how much kit/equipment you already have.

For me, I've got everything I need so all it cost is the price of any food (most of which I've spend out on anyway if I was at home), some energy products if it's a particularly long/fast ride that day and the fees for a campsite. So maybe £25/day all in?

That is however on the top of already having bought perhaps £1500-2000 of equipment (bike, panniers, tent, garmin GPS, bike clothing etc). Clearly, staying in hotels and eating in restaurants would bring the capital costs down but with the result of putting your daily costs up significantly.

Also, flying abroad adds significantly, as does going to extreme places (hot/cold/particularly remote etc) as you'll need more specialised and/or robust equipment.


Edited to add:
OK, I've just seen your reply. What have you got already in the way of equipment? how serious ar you about camping vs B&Bs? this latter point changes things quite dramatically if you need to buy a different bike for example.

marcusjb

We, ideally, get away for a 2-3 week tour each year. As I said we typically camp (though spend the odd night in a hotel if the mood takes us).

If you were hotel touring, you can travel very light (if you are diligent in washing clothes every day, you can travel with very little indeed). The biggest challenge with hotels is to get them cheap, book in advance - but that means you have to reach a certain point every day - meaning if you have a rough day, you have to push onto that hotel etc. (equally, we like keeping things flexible, so if we like somewhere and want to stay another night, we do).

France can be great for cheap hotels (especially the weird formula1 hotels with no staff (you book in advance, turn up and put your credit card in a machine and get your room!)). I'm not sure about around Ventoux (on my list to do (as it should be on every cyclist's list!)).

goonz

What do I already have in way of equipment?

A bike!
A GPS
Thats it!

No camping gear, no car so in terms of prep I would have to do a lot if I was serious about camping.

marcusjb

Your Speedster will not adapt easily for camping touring - whilst you can get a rack on there with the use of P-clips etc., you will hit your heels on any panniers (touring bikes have longer chainstays partly for this reason).

So you're probably best looking at hotels. Low startup costs - you'll need something to put some clothes in. Large saddlebag of some form and possibly a bar bag as well. And that's about it. As I said, if you're diligent about washing clothes every day (and drying them in the hotel and/or hanging them on your bag to dry as you ride along), you can travel very light indeed (especially in relatively warmer climates like France) (but obviously, it gets colder up in the mountains, so you'll still need some form of outer clothing to keep warm on the big descents etc.).

If you're in hotels, buy a european USB adapter so you can charge your GPS up! But don't feel compelled to tour with a GPS - we don't - still use maps. The GPS is there for any emergencies and for logging silly climbs (500m of ascent in 8km anyone?) for amusement value.