Some of the best bike touring stories are not all about the bike or even the ride, but about the people you meet along the way, and the experiences you have, the emotions you feel and the memories you forge!

​A classic bike tour that never fails to elicit all of the above is of course the epic Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route, but some of my own unforgettable rides have been much closer to home. How about you?

Below are a few of my favourite and most inspirational bike tour stories, that simply put the joy of pedaling in me. But we would love to hear about your most memorable experiences on a bicycle!
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• Cycling the Camino de Santiago - Spain
• Côa Valley bike tour diary - Portugal
• Cycling the Algarve - Portugal

People are like bicycles. They can keep their balance only as long as they keep moving, and that is we what we want to do at Cycling-Rentals. You can help us! And to show our appreciation, we are making the following unique offers for bookings for next year:

Book any 2021 cycling tour holiday or long term bicycle rental before November 30th this year and get 20% off for each rider.

You can see the full details of these offers right here, and as always reach out to us if you have any questions!

Stay safe, stay healthy and keep moving!

Cycling Rentals is doing everything to ensure your experience is not only fun and unforgettable, but also clean and safe from Corona-virus. Specifically we are following the Clean & Safe protocol established by the Tourism Institute of Portugal:

Staff Training

Ou staff have received specific information and / or training on:

• Internal Protocol related to the COVID-19 Coronavirus Outbreak.
• Compliance measures for basic infection prevention and control:
  • Hand Hygiene: Frequent and careful hand washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use a hand sanitizer that has at least 70% alcohol, covering all surfaces of the hands and rubbing them until they are dry.
  • Respiratory Etiquette: cough and sneeze into the flexed forearm or use a tissue; always wash your hands after coughing or sneezing and after blowing; Avoid touching the eye, nose, and mouth with your hands.
  • Social Conduct: Change the frequency and form of contact between workers and between them and customers, avoiding (when possible) close contact handshakes, kisses, shared jobs, face-to-face meetings and food sharing, utensils, glasses, and towels.
• Compliance with daily self-monitoring of symptoms, such as recording body temperature twice a day, checking for cough or difficulty breathing.
• Compliance with the official Portuguese national health guidelines for cleaning surfaces, materials and clothing in establishments.

 
General Information

• Compliance measures with basic infection prevention and control precautions in connection with the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.
• Internal protocol for the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

Provisions

• Sufficient individual personal protective equipment for workers involved in all operations.
• Individual and personal protective equipment is available to customers (maximum capacity of groups).
• Stock of single-use cleaning materials such as single-use cleaning wipes moistened with alcohol content above 70º.
• Dispensers of or alcohol-based sanitizer solution near the entry and exit points, or whenever applicable.
• Waste container with non-manual opening and plastic bag.
• Equipment for hand washing with liquid soap and paper towels in sanitary facilities.

Hygiene Commitments

• Washing and disinfection of the surfaces where employees and customers interact, ensuring the control and prevention of infections.
• Cleaning of common use surfaces and objects such as counters, light switches, door handles, cabinet handles, several times a day.
• Preference will be given to wet cleaning, over dry cleaning and the use of vacuum cleaner only.
• Frequent renewal of air in closed spaces by keeping doors open regularly.
• Supply of alcohol-based hand sanitizers, whenever justified.

 
Management Commitments

• Observing maximum occupancy of closed facilities, in accordance with the recommendations of the official Portuguese national health guidelines.
• The maintenance of the social safety distance between customers within the premises, in accordance with the recommendations of the official Portuguese national health guidelines.
• Preference of distribution of travel and navigation information in digital format, over printed material.
• Compliance with internal hygiene and safety protocols by the partners involved in the programs sold by the Travel Agency.
• Availability of trained staff to accompany any symptomatic person to a designated isolation space, providing any required assistance, and contacting the national health service.

We have been in travel for over 20 years and to be sure, these are challenging times for us all. We have weathered challenges before and I know with your help we will bounce back.  

We thank all of you who have kept your deposits with us, your support has been invaluable to us - as any small business owner knows, it is vital! We look forward to providing you with the unique experience of a cycling holiday in the near future. 

Our priority is the safety and welfare of our clients, staff and partners, so for now our office is closed to the public and we are all working from home, but we are available as always to respond to your inquiries by phone, email or social media.

We have been actively contacting clients that have reservations with us in the coming weeks to work through rescheduling for a later date. Rest assured that we will respond to all inquiries as quickly as possible.  

If your rental or cycling holiday is scheduled to start on or before April 30th please contact us to reschedule your trip. Rentals and cycling holidays starting on or after May 1st, please refer to the cancellation policy shown on your invoice. 

Please continue to monitor travel recommendations with your home country’s foreign affairs office and follow preventative measures as directed by your local health authorities. As always, we strongly recommend travel insurance and in these times, cancel for any reason policies would be our choice! 

Until authorities tell us it's safe, please do your part to help end this outbreak: stay safe, keep calm, wash your hands and do get out and ride! 

Written by Didi Knowlton

With the growing amount of Camino Rental Packs we dispatch, we thought a Camino cyclist specific packing list would be very helpful! We update this article regularly and count on your suggestions to make it better and better.

The first thing to bear in mind is the Camino de Santiago is that you can essentially cycle the pilgrimage route any time of year - though our preference is for late spring, early summer or fall. Other times of year can be rather too cold or hot for comfortable cycling. Having said that, any time of year you choose to cycle the Camino, you should bear in mind that given the distance, elevation and natural micro-climates, the variation of the weather is something you must prepare for.

From the brisk mornings in the Pyrenees to the hot plains in and out of Leon, to the chilly heights of O Cebreiro and the possible rain showers around Santiago de Compostela, you will be exposed to a range of temperatures and weather conditions.  With that in mind and because you don't want to pack too heavy (despite the generous 40 liter capacity of our Ortlieb panniers!), here is our suggested bicycle packing list - why not print it out and check items off as you pack?

Riding Gear
1 x Bike helmet
1 x Sun glasses
1 x Fingerless gloves
1 x Full finger gloves 
1 x Clear lens glasses (or changeable lenses)
1 x Cycle Shoes
2 x Padded cycle shorts
2 x Cycle Jersey
4 x Cycling socks  
1 x Light Water-proof wind breaker 
1 x Warm, light Fleece (makes a great base layer for your rain jacket on cold days)
1 x Arm warmers
1 x Sunscreen
1 x Small first aid kit 

Post Ride gear 
1 x Long sleeve "dinner" shirt
1 x Short sleeve "dinner" shirt or polo
1 x Long trousers / practical skirt
1 x Warm, light Sweater 
1 x flip-flops or light walking shoes
5 x Underwear (if you only wear after showering each day!)
1 x Compact wash kit 

Tools & Equipment
1 x Smartphone
1 x Camera (save space & weight and use your smartphone)
1 x Multi tool
1 x Spare tube (and / or patch kit)
1 x Small bottle chain oil

If you have found other items to be useful, or any listed items to be superfluous, get in touch and let us know!

Buen Camino!

This was first published on our old Blog.