Bicycle tourism is a type of tourism in which a bicycle is the main or only means of transportation. Bicycle tourism is classified as both active recreation and sports tourism.

When it comes to active recreation on a bike, it means passing routes that contain a variety of attractions and tourist sites of an excursion nature. In the case of outdoor activities, a bicycle is one of the best means of transportation, as it makes it possible to climb into the deepest places on the planet, and allows you to visit the maximum number of tourist spots. And at the same time, you get a payload and improve health, which can not be achieved by car or tour bus.

Cycling trips vary in duration:
– One-day cycling tour – does not include overnight stay. Hiking from morning until evening one day.
– Weekend cycling tour – involves one overnight stay. Implies the beginning in the first half of Saturday, and the end in the second half of Sunday.
– Multi-day cycling trip – as the name implies, it involves a trip for several or more days.

In sports cycling, the categorization of routes is assumed and the purpose of such tourism is to overcome certain routes in terms of complexity. Naturally, nothing prevents you from visiting sights at the same time, but sports cycling tourism involves the complication of routes, which is rarely comparable to well-known tourist spots.

Sports cycling includes 6 categories of complexity (increasing), which differ in duration, distances, number of days, and so on.

Types of cycling
Cycling tourism favorably stands out, against the background of other types of tourism, with the benefits that it brings to a person and the entire environment as a whole. Bicycle tourism allows you to combine business with pleasure, namely, you cover a greater distance than on foot and at the same time feel complete involvement with the environment, which cannot be achieved in a car.
There are several types of cycling tourism, we will highlight the main ones:

Classic cycling is just like in a regular hiking trip, only the main means of transportation is a bicycle. Overnight stays in nature in a tent, evenings by the fire, food prepared on the spot – all aspects remain former. The advantage over hiking is that you can cover long distances in the same amount of time, with almost all of the load not on your back, but distributed over the bike.

Civilized is a type of cycling tourism that recently came to us from the west. It means rest (overnight / day) in hotels, campsites or hostels, food, mainly from shops to go or in cafes on the spot.

Of the advantages, lighter luggage can be distinguished, since thanks to overnight stays in hotels, a tent and some thermal underwear are not required. Thanks to food from shops or cafes, and not with you, you can lighten the load by orders of magnitude. All this allows you to travel long distances in the same time, with less labor.

Often, it is called “European” style cycling tourism, which involves the use of the maximum charms of civilization. There is nothing wrong with this style, on the contrary, it allows you to enter the world of cycling tourism more gently, thanks to civilized cycling, more people have become adherents of cycling tourism.
Sports cycling tourism requires the execution of a number of necessary documents and the maintenance of detailed statistics of the cycling trip, and all in order for you and your trip to be classified as a sports category. The category indicates your level of preparedness, it is required by instructors for acceptance into particularly difficult cycling trips.

Cognitive cycling tourism is perhaps the simplest of all, its place is in active recreation, since it does not require anything from a cyclist except desire. This type implies amateur bicycle tourism, lasting up to a couple of days, with or without an overnight stay. The main goal is to familiarize with local tourist attractions.