To help you have the bicycle touring experience in California that you want, we are very flexible in what we offer. And, unlike larger bicycle touring companies, we will not steer you toward certain biking itineraries or hotels simply because it is easier for us. Furthermore, because we are a small company our overhead is very low and this translates to a lower total cost for you.
| While we live on California’s Central Coast and do many bike tours down the Carmel and Big Sur coast, and California wine country bike tours through the winery areas of Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, we also guide bicycle tours along the coast north of San Francisco as well as long distance tours down any stretch of the California coast. We’ve even done tours in the Southwest US, where John guided bike tours for nine years.Different group sizes are no problem for us. We’ve planned many California wine country cycling trips for just two people, as well as for small groups of friends. We’ve also supported rides of up to 100 cyclists.We offer several levels of service for any wine country cycling tour, coast cycling tour or any combination of coast and wine: |
We can also mix levels of service. And if what you are looking for doesn’t fall neatly into one of these categories, just let us know and we’ll do what we can for you.
Bike tours down the coast and California wine country bike tours can also be enhanced by slowing down even further and doing some hiking or kayaking. We offer several kayak day trips and hiking day trips that can easily be included in any custom tour we design. Please see our Sample Itineraries page for some recommended California bike tour ideas.
Guided Inclusive Tours with Lodging
This level works best for groups that are looking for a hassle free experience and want us to make virtually all the arrangements and put together an entire multi-day bike tour for them in one inclusive package. We’ll work with you on route and accommodations selection. Just tell us what bike tour area(s) you are interested in (coast bike tour, California wine country cycling trip, etc.), what daily biking mileages you’d like and what level of accommodations you prefer and we’ll take it from there. We can make all meals part of the bike tour package or just include picnic lunches and you pay for breakfasts and dinners directly (we’ll make recommendations).
Typically these multi-day guided bike tours include route design with maps and directions, accommodations, meals (as desired), vehicle support and guide(s) during the rides and bikes (if necessary). Group size, exact services included, level of accommodations and food all affect the overall price of an inclusive bike tour. Most multi-day inclusive custom bike tours we design cost about $350-600 per person per day, but they can cost less if we eliminate dinners from the package or significantly more if premium accommodations and restaurants are selected. Please see our Sample Itineraries page for some recommended guided bicycle tour ideas.
| Rates | Varies according to hotels and restaurants chosen. Most inclusive tours are between $350 and $600 per day per person. |
| Includes | Route design with maps and directions, accommodations, meals (as desired), vehicle support and guide(s) during the rides and bikes (if necessary). |
Guided Tours with Bikes and Lunch
This level is most popular with smaller groups (i.e. 2-6 people) that are comfortable booking their own accommodations for their California cycling tour. With this program, we design the trip with you and simply recommend places to stay as well as places to eat dinner. You book and pay for accommodations and dinners directly. We provide essentially everything else: support vehicle with guide/driver, luggage delivery, bikes, picnic lunches, maps and directions. These rates vary with group size and are valid for each cycling day within the SF to LA coastal and wine country zone. Please contact us for rates beyond this range. Tours passing through SLO County may be eligible for a local area discount for itinerary days within SLO County. Please inquire for details.
| Price per person, by group size | ||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5-9 | 10+ |
| $259 | $209 | $199 | $169 | $139 |
| Includes: Route design with maps and directions, Support vehicle with driver, bikes, picnic lunches, recommendations for hotels and dinners as needed. | ||||
*** ALL OUR BIKE TOURS ARE PRIVATE ***
Support Vehicle Charter
Some groups of riders need us to provide primarily vehicle support and perhaps recommendations on specific hotels and meals, and/or a few rental bikes. We can also consult on the route if desired. We call this the Support Vehicle Charter option. This option is often the most cost effective for groups where most or all of the riders will be bringing their own bikes (we can also provide bike rentals at $25 per day to those in the group who need them). Most groups selecting this option stop for lunch at a local café or restaurant, but we can also provide gourmet picnic lunches for an additional $20 per person. These support vehicle charter rates assume a multi-day trip within the SF to LA coastal and wine country zone. Tours passing through SLO County may be eligible for a local area discount for itinerary days within SLO County. Please inquire for details.
Groups larger than 11 are also welcome. If extensive shuttling of riders is not required, we can usually use our 12 passenger van. If more extensive shuttling of riders is required, we usually rent additional vans, (either 12 or 15 passenger vans) for an additional fee.
| Prius Rates | Seats 1-3, bike racks for 3 bikes – $500 day |
| Includes | Vehicle support and driver. Route, hotel and meal suggestions as desired. |
| Extras | Bike rental – $35 per day Gourmet picnic lunch – $20 per person per day. |
| Van Only Rates | Suggested for groups of 4-7. Rear bench usually removed to make room for luggage, leaving seats for up to 7 and bike racks for up to 12 bikes. – $700 day. |
| Van & Trailer Rates | Suggested for groups of 8-11. Seats up to 11 and bike racks for up to 12 bikes. Trailer for luggage included. – $800 day. |
Self Guided
We have evolved a unique and innovative program to support the self guided cyclist interested in touring the California coast or local wine country areas. This level of service is best for more experienced cyclists who don’t need or want to have a support vehicle with a guide and who can fix potential flat tires, carry a limited amount of weight on the bike. We design the trip for you, provide hotel recommendations (you book direct with hotels) and set you up with the bike(s) and all necessary equipment and information. We also transport bikes and equipment to the tour start and pick it up again at the tour end. For most self guided tour itineraries down the coast, providing daily luggage transfer is not cost effective. However, in our local area (SLO County) the cost is often much less. If you’d like us to get you a quote for luggage delivery for your self guided tour, please let us know. To get your luggage and gear from tour start to tour end, we provide you with a pannier system to carry only the clothes/gear you need during tour and we transport what you don’t carry (excess luggage) to the end of the tour.
With the exception of the Big Sur coastal area, we do not provide on road assistance in case of flat tires or any other on road mishaps with our self guided California bike tours. If you’d like that level of service, we suggest considering one of our guided bike day trips or other custom bike trips with vehicle support.
| Rates | Rates and rate structure vary according to itinerary chosen. |
| Includes | Itinerary consultation and planning as well as lists of suggested itinerariesAccommodations recommendations (you book and pay direct with hotels).Bike (road or hybrid)Pannier/handlebar bag system for gear/clothes needed during tour.Helmet, flat tire changing kit, mini tool kit, lockDrop off of bike(s)/gear at start of tour.Transportation of excess luggage from start to end of tour.Pick up of bike(s)/gear at end of tourTurn by turn directionsDetailed mapsDaily memo with terrain description, recommended restaurants and suggested stopsDetailed list of services along the route (i.e. bike shops, medical facilities) |
| Does Not Include | Cost of accommodationsCost of food |
For our multi day self guided California bike tours, we have found that the most cost effective way to transport your own clothes and gear from one hotel to the next is via a seat post mount rack and pannier/bag system. This is a light to medium weight system designed to carry up to 20 lbs. of gear. It is not designed to carry the heavy loads that one might carry for a camping trip (please contact us for different options for camping trips). With careful packing you should be able to carry all your essential items in this pannier system on a hotel to hotel cycling trip. We can transport any extra luggage you may have to the end point of your self guided California cycling tour. We have looked into taxis moving luggage on self guided bike tours down the California coast and can set this up, but it’s usually not very cost effective (average cost is about $3.50 per mile). Short (2-3 day) self guided bike tours exclusively outside our home area may have additional drop off and pick up fees. For longer multi-day self guided California bike tours within the SF to LA coastal zone or tours that that either start or end in SLO County, drop off at and pick up of bikes and equipment at the start and end of the tour is typically done for no extra charge. We can also transport excess luggage from start of trip to end of trip, usually for no extra charge as well.
- Rack system – We use the optional side frame for use with fold down panniers from the MTX Trunkbag EXP.
- Rear bag
- Handlebar bag
We do not provide on road assistance in case of flat tires or any other on road mishaps with our self guided California bike tours. If you’d like that level of service, we suggest considering one of our guided bike day trips or other custom bike trips with vehicle support.
*** ALL OUR BIKE TOURS ARE PRIVATE ***
Mix Levels of Service
We’ve also done many bike tours where we book small groups on a series of our regular bike day trips, and/or mix some regular bike day trips with some custom designed bike days using the Guided Tours with Bikes and Lunch rates. In these cases we design the overall bicycling itinerary and provide you with hotel recommendations. Many of these bike tours are California wine country cycling tours that pass through some of our well known local winery areas. Booking a series of bike day trips with us is often the least expensive option for a couple looking to do a multi-day California bike tour with us.