Before you book
Tour difficulty levels
What the grades actually mean, in metres climbed per day rather than adjectives.
Our tours are designed for people with some cycling experience and may not suit absolute beginners. To enjoy the riding, we recommend a level of fitness that lets you comfortably cover 50 to 80 kilometres in a day. If you can do that, you'll be fine.
That said, everyone starts somewhere. We welcome beginners who are willing to prepare. With a few months of gradually increasing your riding, you can join a tour and have a good week, and we can provide a training plan to help you build the fitness and endurance. The important part is the willingness to prepare before you arrive.
The grades
How we define
each level
Climbing sets the grade, not distance. A day in the hills is harder than a longer day on the flat, so we grade on metres climbed. The distances beside them are what the tours at each grade actually ride, and they overlap: a demanding tour is often a shorter one, because the terrain does the work.
| Difficulty | Average climbing per day | Distance per day |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | Under 500 m | Varies with the terrain |
| Intermediate | 500 – 1,200 m | Usually 48 to 88 km |
| Advanced | 1,200 m+ | Usually 68 to 99 km |
Beginner
Flatter terrain with fewer challenging inclines. A more relaxed ride, suitable for those not yet accustomed to frequent climbing.
Intermediate
A mix of flat sections, rolling hills and occasional moderate climbs. A more diverse range of landscapes and challenges through the week.
Advanced
For experienced cyclists after a genuinely demanding week. Steep ascents and descents, and a real test of climbing.
Be honest with yourself
How to tell
which one you are
Four questions about riding you have already done. They are more use than any adjective we could write.
Your normal weekend ride
If a typical weekend is 60 to 80 km with a few hundred metres of climbing, an Intermediate week is within reach. If that is already at your limit rather than a pleasant morning, start there rather than above it.
Your biggest climbing day this year
Find the single hardest day you have ridden in the last twelve months and look at the metres, not the kilometres. A tour asks for that day again tomorrow, and the day after. The hardest day in the table below is the number to compare it with.
Back to back days
One big ride is not the same as six. If you have never ridden hard on consecutive days, that is the gap to close before you travel, and it closes faster than raw fitness does.
If your local riding is flat
This is worth saying plainly, because it catches strong riders out. Around most Indian cities you can ride four or five times a week for years and never accumulate much climbing. Flat fitness is real fitness, and it is not the same thing as being ready for 1,200 m a day for a week: the legs are fine and the specific climbing endurance is missing.
It is a gap you can close, and a few months of deliberate work is usually enough. Ask us for a training plan, tell us which tour you are looking at and what your riding week looks like now, and we will tell you honestly whether the gap is a few months or a season.
Our tours
Where each
tour sits
Sorted from the gentlest upwards.
Read down until the numbers stop looking comfortable. The average is what most days feel like. The hardest day is the one to be honest about, because it is the day that decides whether the week is enjoyable or endured.
| Tour | Grade | Riding days | Avg distance | Avg climbing | Hardest day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tour of Northern Thailand | Intermediate | 6 | 88 km | 538 m | 902 m |
| Goa: Monsoon Miles | Intermediate | 5 | 68 km | 554 m | 1,505 m |
| Portugal: Castles to Coast | Intermediate | 7 | 70 km | 690 m | 918 m |
| Vietnam Adventure | Intermediate | 8 | 55 km | 724 m | 1,421 m |
| Girona Ride Camp | Intermediate | 6 | 72 km | 794 m | 1,197 m* |
| Tuscany: Cycling Through Wine Country | Intermediate | 7 | 48 km | 892 m | 1,233 m* |
| Sri Lanka: Beaches & Beyond | Intermediate | 5 | 86 km | 894 m | 1,350 m |
| Mallorca Ride Camp | Intermediate | 7 | 72 km | 1,015 m | 2,130 m |
| Camp Chiang Mai | Advanced | 7 | 94 km | 1,291 m | 2,791 m |
| Meghalaya: Chasing Clouds | Advanced | 4 | 68 km | 1,315 m | 1,732 m |
| Mae Hong Son Challenge | Advanced | 7 | 99 km | 2,183 m | 3,206 m |
* Girona Ride Camp has a longer option on one day, which takes its hardest day to 1,943 m. Tuscany: Cycling Through Wine Country has a longer option on one day, which takes its hardest day to 1,600 m. The figure in the table is the standard route, which is what the week is built around.
The part that changes the answer
What support
changes
A hard day on a supported tour is not the same as a hard day at home, and it is usually the thing that decides whether a grade is out of reach or simply a good week.
A bad day is one day
On our supported tours you can stop, ride in the vehicle, and start again the next morning. You have not ruined the week and nobody minds. That is the difference between a tour and a ride you have to finish alone.
Mechanicals are not yours
Spares and tools travel with the group and a technician is part of the crew on the supported tours. A broken spoke is a twenty minute stop rather than the end of your day.
You ride with nothing on your back
Luggage is moved for you, water and fruit are on the route, and the roads were scouted before they were sold. None of that makes a climb shorter, and all of it means you arrive at the climb fresher.
What travels with the group is not identical on every tour, and the ride camps in particular are built around riders being self-sufficient during the day. Each tour page states exactly what it carries, and that is the page to trust.
Questions
Asked before
choosing a grade
If yours isn't here, ask us directly.
What if I cannot finish a day?
On our supported tours you get in the vehicle, and that is the end of it. You can stop at any point, ride in, and start again the next morning with the group. Nobody is asked to justify it and it does not spoil anything.
It is worth knowing before you book, because it changes the sum. The question is not whether you could ride every kilometre of the hardest day, it is whether you would enjoy most of the week. The ride camps are the exception and are built around riders finishing each day under their own steam, so check the tour page for the one you are looking at.
Do I have to ride the long option?
No. Where a tour offers a longer route on a day, the standard route is the tour, and the option is there for anyone who wants more. Every figure we publish, including the hardest day in the table above, is the standard route unless it says otherwise.
It is decided on the morning, not at booking, and riders in one group routinely split both ways.
How much climbing counts as a lot?
We grade on metres climbed per riding day, because a day in the hills is harder than a longer day on the flat. Intermediate is 500 – 1,200 m a day and Advanced is 1,200 m+.
For a sense of scale, a rider doing 60 to 80 km at a weekend around a flat Indian city is often accumulating a few hundred metres. An Advanced week asks for several times that, on consecutive days. That is the comparison worth making, rather than the distance.
Can I prepare for this if my local riding is flat?
Yes, and a lot of our riders are in exactly that position. Flat fitness is real fitness. What it does not build on its own is the specific endurance of climbing for hours, which is a different demand and one you can train for deliberately.
Tell us which tour you are looking at and what your riding week looks like now, and we will give you a training plan and an honest answer about whether the gap is a few months or a season.
Are e-bikes allowed?
It depends on the tour, and there is only one we can answer for outright: Tuscany offers an e-bike among its rental options, so an e-bike is workable there.
The other tours do not state a position either way, and we would rather tell you properly than generalise from one. Ask us about the tour you have in mind, especially on the tours with long transfers or remote sections, where charging is the real question rather than whether the bike is welcome.
What if our group has mixed abilities?
This is the most common way a group books with us, usually because one rider talks four or five others into it, and it works better than people expect.
Riders are free to ride at their own pace and groups separate on the climbs as a matter of course. We regroup at stops and meal points, so the day is shared even when the riding is not. The vehicle means the least confident rider is not holding anyone up and is not being left behind either, which is the failure people are actually worried about.
If you are bringing the group yourself, the week can be pitched at the riders coming rather than at the calendar. Tell us the range of abilities and we will tell you which tours suit it and which day would be the problem one.