Your Ticket to Ride - THE GOLD RUSH TRAIL

From across North America, Europe and beyond our participants come back year after year for the personal challenge, service, and a blend of countryside, camaraderie and just plain fun than makes TourBC a winner.

As an seasoned cyclotourist, we would like you to experience our countryside in a different way - and hopefully enjoy different routes from those you might have travelled before.  We are very pleased to have the opportunity to show you around.  And each year we change the route so that your experience will be new and exciting.

Our routes are crafted by cyclists who have ridden these roads many times.  Each year they combine a few of their best rides into approximately 700 + kilometres/440 miles of wonderful cycling with something for everyone - challenging climbs, thrilling descents, long lazy roads - everything a top-notch bike ride should deliver.  But when you are a part of TourBC, the cycling is only half the fun!

Our cultural and historical entertainment is as varied and memorable as the country you'll ride through.  Whether it is music in the park, an historical walking tour, campfires, native dancing or story telling - the night-time events make TourBC a cultural experience as well as a physically challenging one.

Our group is small - we limit ourselves to a maximum of 120.  In 2008, we are limiting the group to 100.  We have one of the best staff to participant ratios anywhere.   Because we are small, riders who have limited their previous experience to rides of 500 + participants need to read their information carefully to determine what is and isn't provided. 

On TourBC, we endeavour to show you a challenging route and a countryside with which you are not familiar.  It is up to you to make sure that you come to TourBC prepared for the challenges.  We are often visiting remote parts of the province and staying in small towns for whom a group of 100 + cyclists is large. 

You simply can't find anything as magical, memorable, nor as much fun as  riding your bike through the mountains of British Columbia .  This is the way cycle-touring should be.  See for yourself, take your ticket to ride on TourBC 2008.

What TourBC 2008 Offers

We make sure you will never be without help should the going get tough. TourBC has an exceptional on-route team coordinated by Danelle Laidlaw (dpl CONSULTING).  The team consists of our medic to provide medical support;  the TourBC mechanic (Pete Pazdera of Guywires Mobile Cycle Tech) to fix what ails your two wheeled steed; Don, our professional photographer who will provide you with lots of memorable images;  a superb massage team headed up Amber, all specializing in sports massage;  the Tour Leaders who are all experience cyclotourists themselves;  and the road crew who transport your luggage and all the equipment, who put out signs, and who staff the lunch and water breaks.  The services of our massage therapists are much in demand and can be booked ahead of time (srh1 at shaw.ca - replace at with @) and during the tour.  You can also arrange for our mechanic to check out your bicycle before the tour starts (guywires at telus.net - replace at with @).  A bike check will be conducted during registration.

TourBC porters your gear from campsite to campsite, and keeps you well fueled with rest stops each day, terrain permitting, offering food, juice  and pure bottled water. Our breakfast, lunch and dinner meals are catered by the local community.  The menus are designed to provide the type of nutrition needed for a physically demanding tour. 

If you are accustomed to a specific diet, you may want to bring with you snacks that will meet those needs - for example, although we provide protein every day, it may not be provided at each food stop.  

Vegetarian options are provided at each meal and food stop.  Please advise us if you are vegetarian or if you have other special dietary needs.   At the end of the day, "apres tour" refreshments will be available at the luggage truck before dinner. 

Each day, by the luggage truck, there will be a whiteboard with information about the location of meals, special activities, and anything else you need to know.  This board should be checked by participants daily.  

We also invite participants to share their expertise.  If you have a certification in yoga or a similar preparatory or recovery technique and you are willing to share it with others, please let us know and we will arrange a space and notify the group, where possible. 

Showers await at each camping area so you can wash away the dust of travel, and TourBC even clothes you in a custom jersey by ATAC sportswear, to allow you to ride in style.  At the beginning of the Tour, you will receive a package of material containing sponsor product samples provided by Pacline Products, a handbook containing maps, profiles, directions, and information on each days' route, as well as information about the places we will passing through on our tour.  

ATOC Topper Racks provide bicycle racks for our vehicles, in case, for some reason, you should need to be transported into camp. 

TourBC has a tour photographer who will be snapping photos and videotaping throughout the tour and co-ordinating other photographers.  The video footage and photos are then assembled into your souvenir DVD which will be available after the Tour. 

TourBC has only a few rules that we ask you to follow, and they're pretty much dictated by common sense.

Rules for Safety and Comfort

An approved helmet must be worn at all times while cycling. No exceptions. This is the law in BC.

TourBC leaders do their best to make sure that participants make it into camp under their own steam.  This is your holiday and we want you to enjoy it.  In consideration of our staff who put in long hours, we ask you to be in camp at least 1/2 hour before the scheduled dinner time.  Our vehicles will pick up riders who are not on that schedule.

TourBC asks that no participants leave camp before breakfast, and that all participants leave camp by 9:00 a.m. each day.   Some exceptions may apply where ferry schedules or circumstances dictate.  Each participant is asked to load their own luggage onto the luggage vehicle before they leave in the morning.  Generally your bag will be unloaded for you at the end of the day.  We ask that you limit the weight of each individual bag (limit of 2) to no more than 35 lbs.

There will be announced rest stop, lunch, and dinner windows each day.  There will also be announced times for mechanical support throughout the day.

It is our goal to provide a challenging cycle tour.  TourBC is focussed more on the cycling experience than other tours.  To ensure you enjoy yourself, you need to train properly and be ready for the challenge.

While riding, please remember the following:

• Keep yourself hydrated and fed.   Terrain permitting, we will provide a food or water stop approximately every 20-40 km. You will be given a supply of energy bars at the beginning of the Tour.  Carry a few of these with you each day, in case you get caught between food stops and need a snack.  We recommend you carry at least 2 water bottles and a hydration pack.

• Do not ride beyond your abilities. TourBC is NOT a race, so please pace yourself accordingly, and if you feel particularly fatigued, rest and recover in order to complete that day's ride. We expect you to stop when you want to, visit sites of interest, take pictures, etc.
  
• Please obey all road signs, and heed all warnings by TourBC staff. In the event of an emergency, please follow the instructions of TourBC staff.
  
• Participants are expected to follow good group riding techniques.  Most important of these is verbal communication. It is essential to verbalize intentions, particularly stopping and slowing when riding in close proximity to other riders.
  
• Courtesy suggests that you yell out "passing on your left" when overtaking a rider, that you point out obstacles on the road (debris, rocks, big potholes, etc...) to riders behind you.

And finally:

• We provide "sag" service for emergencies only - an injury, illness, or mechanical problem that cannot be fixed on the road.  Of course, we will not leave you behind, but we expect you to prepare yourself for TourBC and come with the intention of riding the entire route.  Our tour leaders and the rest of the team are there to help you fulfill that expectation.

• We provide mechanical support for on-tour mechanical problems.  Pete Pazdera of Guywires Mobile Cycle Tech is willing to provide pre-tour tune-up services prior to, or during the tour, depending on his time.  To arrange for your tune-up, contact Peter at Peter at guywires@telus.net, with TourBC 2008 in the subject line.

• Our medical support is in place to deal with any injuries or illnesses resulting from activities on the Tour.  However, should you have other problems, please make sure these are on the medical form and feel free to consult with medic.

• Several of our vehicles leave very early in the morning to sign the route and support the stops.  Our mechanic is generally working late into the night.  Night owls tend to gather in the vicinity of the mechanic's vehicle and/or the other support vehicles.  If you want to be in a "quiet zone", then please do not locate your tent in close proximity to the support vehicles.

• We ask that you are considerate of our volunteers when you pack your luggage.  We will not accept any bags which weigh more than 35 lbs., no hardcases, no large bags without end handles, and no green plastic bags.  It is generally the massage therapists who are unloading the van and we want them to have sufficient strength left to give you that relaxing massage at the end of the day. 

• Please co-operate with our photographer and follow his instructions when he is filming you.  And don't be shy, you will want to see yourself in the final cut of the DVD.  We try and cover all aspects of the Tour, each day and we try and capture each person.  We can only do this with your co-operation.