Supported Tour Guidelines.
Each year the Club has several multi-day tours, usually 5-14 days duration, depending
on geographic area. These tours may be:
Hub tours (a centre-based tour with day rides)
Supported tours (a van carries the tour food and your bag)
Unsupported tour (no van – you carry your own food, bags and sometimes a tent).
These guidelines are for Supported tours.
General expectations:
For any tour, there is a lot of organisation and background work done in advance. This
includes: – route design, identifying and organising suitable overnight accommodation,
finding options for evening meals and liaising with providers, sorting van availability,
highlights to visit on tour etc. There is a lot to do pre-tour and it is generally only one or
two individuals who are taking on these time-consuming tasks.
Club tours need to be a joint effort where we all pitch in and help – both pre-tour and
during the tour. It is not about just rolling up on the first day of the tour and expecting
everything to be done for you as if you are on a package holiday! We need to share the
pre-tour and on tour responsibilities amongst the participants. There will be a pre-tour
meeting so that the planning activities and on tour tasks can be discussed, agreed and
allocated. So, if you are asked to assist with a tour task please help as ‘many hands
make light work’ – and you get the opportunity to learn some of the background required
to organise a tour.
Riding experience:
It is preferable that tour participants have completed several rides with the club
including long Sunday rides, are confident on a variety of surfaces and preferably have
attended a club weekend or other multi-day ride. It is up to the tour leader to make the
decision as to whether a rider’s experience is suitable for any particular tour.
Participant numbers:
Tour places will be limited, and this decision will be made by the tour leader. Numbers
are usually capped at 16 but this number is affected by vehicle space, accommodation
availability and tour locality. As tour costs and on-tour responsibilities are shared
amongst all it can be unfair to your fellow tour riders if you do not intend to complete
the full tour. Preference for a tour place will be given to those members who will be
completing the full tour.
Accommodation:
Accommodation usually includes a variety of cabins, holiday houses and basic motels. A
fair allocation of who sleeps where is always the aim and it is expected that all
participants will accept decisions with good grace. Please get used to sleeping with ear
plugs well before the tour.
Support vehicles:
There will be a vehicle that carries the tour food, other essentials and tour participants
luggage which is usually limited to one medium size sports bag. The vehicle is also
available in the unlikely event of an injury or illness. Not liking hills or gravel is not a
valid reason for jumping in the van! As they say in Takaka – “it’s just a hill, get over
it!”
Drivers
Some supported tours may have a dedicated driver. If not, the driving will be shared
amongst tour participants with the proviso that drivers are willing, confident and
competent to drive what is usually a van, ute and/or trailer. Pre-tour meetings are the
place to clarify who does what so that everyone gets to participate and contribute in
ways that suit their skills or experience.
The use of private vehicles:
The club greatly appreciates club members making their vehicles available for use on
club tours which reduces the cost incurred by everyone on tour. Vehicles and trailers
offered for use need to have:
a current registration and warrant of fitness.
a comprehensive insurance policy with an excess of ideally no more than $1000
In the event of an accident where the supplied vehicle/trailer/bike rack is damaged all
tour participants agree to sharing any costs incurred during the insurance claim and
vehicle/trailer/bike rack repair process.
Cost reimbursement for vehicle use:
All tour participants equally share the vehicle costs. Unless otherwise agreed in advance,
the vehicle owner is to be reimbursed by those on the tour for the following:
fuel used
any road user charges
An amount of 36 cents per kilometre to cover fair wear and tear and the other
running costs of the vehicle.
To enable the required calculations to be made, the vehicle owner should fill up with fuel
and record the odometre reading at both the start and end of the tour.
Tour withdrawals
An initial deposit will be required to confirm your place. If you later need to withdraw
before the tour begins a refund will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Consideration
will be given to factors such as the costs incurred to date and the closeness of your
withdrawal to the tour start. Full refunds are easier if there is someone on the waiting
list or if you find a suitable replacement to take your place.
Tour itinerary and specific on tour roles:
The tour leader(s) will develop the itinerary and identify key roles to support the tour.
These roles could include:
managing the money on tour and making required payments
organising daily food supplies and shopping as necessary
helping with accommodation arrangements
looking into/confirming evening meal options
sharing the leading and tail end duties
daily loading and unloading of the vehicle
Cycle touring is brilliant, even more so with other enthusiastic ACTA members – you get
to explore amazing places, have the knowledge of fellow members in case you have a
bike problem, get to know each other better and all while having fun along the way!
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