Tour cycling

Tour cycling, bicycle touring, or long-distance cycling is cycling for long distance transportation (outside a single city or settlement), rather than urban cycling, sport, or exercise.

Cycling has many advantages as a form of travel, as it is the fastest way to travel by human power, and slow enough to allow the type of local immersion that is impossible with powered travel. Cycle travel is also a cheap form of transportation.

Multi-continental trips are relatively common, such as from tip to tip of the Americas, but cycling can also be enjoyed in month-, week-, or even weekend-long trips. Some routes, such as the Karakoram Highway, are extremely challenging, but an infinite number of safer and easier routes are also available.

Long-distance cycling involves a number of challenges not normally encountered in short and medium distance travel. Negotiation of differing road rules, and attitude of authorities to individual cyclists can vary between countries. Different road traffic styles can be very disconcerting where motor vehicles and drivers have little regard for cyclists. In many countries bicycle infrastructure is handled at a very local level and municipal or regional boundaries may be immediately apparent by the sudden disappearance or plummeting quality of bike paths.