The seven most-common mistakes when planning a tour

Perfect planning prevents thoroughly average touring… Here's how to avoid the most common mistakes

I know some people will only just have returned from this year’s tour and with everyone moaning that it’s too early to have Christmas stuff in the supermarket, you might think it’s far too soon to think about next year’s bike trip. And you could be right. But to have a really great trip, I would start thinking about it now – so you can avoid the most-common mistakes when preparing a bike tour.

1 Don’t fly blind

You'll only ride les Lacettes de Montvernier if you know about them – you won't just stumble on them

I love exploring on two wheels – I’ve been doing it for more than 30 years now. But what it’s taught me is that setting off with no clear idea of where you’re going will guarantee two things: too many boring roads; too many boring places. I stopped doing that pretty much 29 years ago…

Now, I’m not saying you have to plan every detail of every day of the trip (though you can). If you want to be a free-spirit and set off with nothing booked, that’s great. But you should still do the basics first.

Start by working out where you want to go. Not in a vague “Maybe Italy? What about Austria? Or Spain could be good” kind of way. Pick a target destination – somewhere to aim for (though it doesn’t matter if you don’t make it all the way there). You could even pick a couple of possible destinations – one in Italy, Austria and Spain… Then at least you know where you could be heading.

Want to ride Europe's highest paved road? It's a dead end, so you need to know about it to find it

Then work out what you might like to see along the way between the target place and where you start (whether that’s home if you’re staying in the UK or Calais, Rotterdam, Santander or another port if you’re going to Europe). This is every bit as important as picking a destination: it's what will make sure the whole trip is good. If you’re going to be freewheeling, you can give yourself options – maybe that small town or that historic castle or that set of caves could be good to visit, depending on your mood on the day.

Another must-ride dead end: Colle del Nivolet

Definitely pick out a couple of must-ride roads along the way. You don’t have to plan the full route (though you can), but knowing that when you’re near town A you can take this great route north to town B or that fun road west to town C can really help you improvise with style. Otherwise you'll just end up following Google Maps along another stretch of dull dual-carriageway, going from A to B. And that’s not touring: that’s just wearing down your tyres.

The more you work out about what you could do, the better the chances are that you’ll have a good ride. Even if you’re making it up as you go along, following your nose. A little preparation can go a long way and may stop you missing something memorable – and if you’re planning your route in detail, you can make sure it delivers fireworks every day.

2 Don’t get too ambitious

Alto Velefique in Andalusia is great... trying to ride there and back in a week isn't

It’s easy to look at a map on your phone and think Italy isn’t that far away. Come on, you have a fast bike… that’s two days’ ride, isn’t it? Maybe three with a bit of motorway. Actually, the fastest route from the Eurotunnel to Rome is more than 1000 miles… and that’s motorway all the way. You can increase that by at least 40% if you stick to country roads.

Understanding the distances involved – and how fast you can cover them – is crucial to building a realistic plan for a tour. Even a freewheeling, follow-your-nose type of tour. Especially if you have a limited number of days. You can’t take six days to meander down to Naples, then expect to catch a train at Calais two days later… not without murdering yourself on motorways for 48 hours.

This means focusing on destinations that are realistic – both for where you’ll get to by the end of each day and especially for how far you’ll go overall. Don’t kid yourself that you can have a nice ride to southern Italy or Greece or the Costa de Sol if you have only a couple of days. Better to focus on a great destination that you can comfortably reach on good roads in the time available.

3 Don’t base your rides on distance

Mountain roads are great… but average speeds are low so you can't cover so many miles in a day

The worst thing you can do is focus on mileage – regardless of whether you’re carefully planning a route or just drifting along without a plan. If you think you want to ride 200 miles a day, understand what that gets you: it’s just a morning on French motorways, with their 130kph/81mph speed limit; it's a laid-back day on fast-flowing A-roads, probably with an early finish… but it’s going to be a fairly full-on day on twisty mountain roads.

What actually matters is how much time you want to spend in the saddle: not how far you’ll go but how long you’ll keep going. So decide what time you’re going to start riding in the morning and when you’re going to want to stop in the evening.

Successful two-up trips are all about the pillion

Some people are naturally early risers, others not so much… Some like to ride as much as they can as long as there’s still daylight, others not so much. When touring with a group, it’s important that everyone agrees on this stuff before starting. If you're taking a passenger, forget how long you'll be willing to sit on the bike: plan your trip based on how long they'll be happy on the pillion seat.

When you know how long you’ll spend riding, you can start to think about routes (especially if planning them ahead of the tour). Try to mix the types of roads up to let you get to your destination in the amount of time you want to be riding. For instance, you might want to stick to charming French D-roads but they can be pretty slow. So getting to that next destination might mean a choice between a longer day than you want… or using some bigger roads.

If necessary, use a few main roads to avoid late finishes

Don’t be afraid to ride some main roads. Just try to work out when they can help most and use them tactically. Sitting on a dual carriageway or motorway for an hour in the middle of the day is worth it if it bypasses a big city, saves time and lets you spend the rest of the afternoon on good roads. Having no option but to jump on the motorway at 3pm, blasting past loads of good riding, because it’s the only way to get to your hotel before nightfall, is a mistake.

The shorter your ideal riding day, or the greater the distance you want to cover, the more major roads you’ll have to put into the mix – otherwise you just won’t get to such far-off places. It's about getting the balance right and not having more time on main roads than on fun ones. If half your time looks like being on motorways, pick a different destination – one you can reach by sticking to your ideal daily riding time with more good roads. But remember: you can’t do short days, go a long way and have a great ride.

4 Don’t get lazy

Even a fast bike won't make up for a late start

The best tours need a bit of discipline. Not in a Madam Whiplash or sergeant-major sense. But even though a bike trip is a holiday, lolling around the hotel until 10:30, having a long lunch and then aiming to park up at the next B&B by 4:30 will mean you either don’t really go anywhere, or you can only get to the next destination by sitting on motorways. Which isn’t touring – it's just burning petrol.

The absolute easiest way to make a difference is getting on the road promptly. I don’t mean before dawn… but a good start always helps. When I’m travelling on my own I skip the expensive hotel breakfast, hit the road and then find a bakery or café – especially in France. Why pay €15 for a bad version of a full English when I can pick up a coffee and a croissant for €3-4 in a village 10-20 miles down the road? Of course, you don’t need to make that much of an early start, but being too leisurely about getting going generally leads to rushing and time pressure at the end of the day.

Keep coffee stops relaxed - but brief

Not lingering at coffee stops or over lunch also makes a huge difference. I’m not saying lunch or coffee stops should be “run in, gulp it down, run off”… but every minute those wheels aren’t turning is another minute added to your arrival time at the next hotel (even if you haven’t booked it yet).  So are you really better off spending that minute looking at Facebook over lunch… or relaxing at the hotel bar / strolling around your destination town in the evening?

Don't extend stops unnecessarily by standing by the bikes chatting whenever you take your helmet off: talk while walking; go to the café and order your drinks. By all means make each break nice and relaxed… but keep them short. Time is precious, so choose where to spend it wisely. And on a bike trip, spend it riding.

5 Don’t overpack

Don't empty every bit of luggage every night. Take one bag and your helmet into the hotel

This is a simple thing, but it makes life so much easier on the road. When you get off the bike each night, you only want to have to carry one bag and your crash helmet into the hotel. The more stuff you can leave on the bike, the better – ideally you'll actually leave your lid in a pannier or topbox as well. This does assume you have secure parking for the bike, but even if the hotel charges for it, it’s worth it.

Pack as light as you can. Footwear takes up the most space, so take only one set – something as small as possible. Flipflops are ideal. Shirts that will rinse and then dry overnight are ideal. I ride in my touring baselayer every day, then have two fast-drying shirts for the evenings (wearing one while the other washes/dries). All I then need is a pair of shorts and enough underwear for the trip.

Trial pack what you need – and work out what you can leave at home. I use drybags inside my luggage

You can do a trial-pack before setting off. If you can’t get everything into one bag, take a few days’ kit in your main bag and pack spares in the other pannier (which will stay on the bike). Halfway round, swap dirty clothes from the bag for clean stuff from the pannier.

A trial pack also lets you check you have all the things you need: wash kit, including any medication; travel adaptor and chargers (I now take one adaptor and a four-gang extension lead); sunglasses…

Make sure your packing includes your documents. You must have the original V5 logbook for the bike and insurance certificate. Check your passport has more than six months left to run and your driving licence photocard hasn’t expired. Do this at least six weeks before you go, in case you need to get replacements. For me, a decent paper map covering the places you want to go is essential.

How does the nav work? Try before you tour

6 Don’t test new tech on the trip

Really, I’m thinking about sat navs and phone-navigation apps, but this also applies to any new cameras, drones, Bluetooth headsets or other gadgets.

If the first time you use it is the first day of the tour, it’ll end badly. You definitely won’t get the best out of it and a lack of familiarity could lead you astray – especially with navigation stuff.

Every sat nav or app has its own quirks and you need to get to grips with it before setting off on a big trip. Start using it now, or at least in the spring. A few practice trips at home – especially checking how it directs you on a ride you know – will let you make sure you have it set up right and will get you used to following its directions when you tour.

7 Don’t leave it too late

Book crossings as soon as you know the tour dates

And finally, don’t leave it to the last minute. Totally spontaneous weekends away on the bike are brilliant. An unexpected week off is more likely to go awry. Even if all you’re doing now is the casual reading up about destinations and browsing possible routes – ready for a freewheeling, unplanned trip – starting early will let you get better, more-realistic ideas for when you do set off.

The reality is of course that bigger trips do need a bit of notice. You’ll probably need to book the time off work, so start the trip prep at the same time. If you’re taking a ferry or the Eurotunnel, the sooner you can get that tied down, the better (especially as it gets that expense out of the way early).

In some places, hotels can book up fast. Especially the budget-friendly ones. One person can probably always find a room… but if you turn up on the day, it might be only the super-pricy 200-room four-star hotel that still has space; the €50-a-night B&Bs often start filling up before Christmas.

One person can always find a room – but at short notice it might not be in the cheapest hotel...

The more people in your group, the more important it is to get the hotels confirmed early. Rolling into a popular town in the Swiss Alps and looking for 15 rooms at a reasonable price just isn’t going to happen… Group tours really do need careful, early planning. If you are getting into the detail of planning each day’s ride, giving yourself time to do it makes it easy. Trying to pull it all together a few days before setting off means the plan simply won’t be as strong as it could be – and it’ll be hard work.

Or get me to plan it for you

If you don’t want to do the planning, I’m here to do it for you. I have a range of fixed-itinerary self-guided tours but if you want something different, I can plan it for you as a bespoke trip. But again, the trick is: don’t leave it too late!