How to become a bike guide

[msjennieebradford@hotmail]

Hi All!

I have led a few bike tours and am looking to learn and gain more experience.  Does anyone have any suggestions or recommended resources I should check out?

Thanks in advance & happy pedaling!

Jennie

[Nyimbo]

Welcome for  first time on the forum.  We have many knowledgeable touring experts and fans here so you may get some good advice.


It might be helpful however if you could tell us about yourself.  Where and how long have you toured. What kind of tours have you been on and led.  I guessing from gist of the brief question that maybe you have led a family group or group of friends but that’s just a guess. Maybe a brief bio of yourself and what country you are in - and experience will give us a starting place to respond to.  Good question and good touring!

[msjennieebradford@hotmail]

I live in Northwest Montana! I have been riding for 9 years.  I started off road cycling, dabbled in triathlon/duathlon, occasionally mountain bike but my passion is gravel grinding, day trips and bikepacking.  I am a veloguide and have guided individuals and couples a handful of times with much positive feedback.  I am registering for a bike mechanics course this fall so I am more skilled at repairs should they occur when guiding.  I am interested in taking a route planning / navigation course but have not found one yet.  Perhaps there is one available through a reputable company online?  I have started to compile questions for a form I would like guests to complete if interested in a guided tour, to help me gather some background information on them and better understand what they like and want from a tour.  One question I have is, do other self-employed guides have insurance, and if so, which type? 

[canalligators]

I recommend taking the Adventure Cycling Leadership Training Course.  You learn their methods (for various types of tours), but more importantly they go into a lot of the what-if scenarios and dealing with people.

Most importantly, it showed me that I don't want to lead tours.  That may be the best thing you learn from it.

[msjennieebradford@hotmail]

Thank you for the recommendation! I have looked into ACA leadership training courses. Currently only one in florida in November. Hopefully they will have some course offerings a little closer to me in the coming year.

[staehpj1]

No personal experience with them other than visiting their headquarters and hanging out there when on the Trans America, but NOLS has a good reputation for outdoor leadership training.  They may be another option.  They were nice folks and were helpful to us when we stopped in.  They seemed like a class act.

I personally think that the leadership and general logistics aspects are a bigger deal than the bike specific stuff if you are an experienced tourist so you can probably get what you need from non bike specific classes, but this opinion comes from a guy who has only done self supported tours and other outdoor stuff.

[BikeliciousBabe]

I live in Northwest Montana!

Where abouts? I toured through the Cabinets, Troy and Yaak for a second time last year.

[msjennieebradford@hotmail]

Whitefish!

[BikeliciousBabe]

Whitefish!

Stayed at Whitefish Lake S.P. during those two tours. Then went to Glacier for a few days during the first one before heading to Bigfork. Last year went straight to Bigfork from Whitefish. There was a crazy thunderstorm the morning I left. Hail covered the ground at the campground. That was right around the end of June.

[adventure124]

Hi,

check out this page https://bicycleadventures.com/why/guides/

Maybe this will help you.

Kind regards,

Carina

[Hiking with Shawn]

I've been pondering the idea of opening a cycling and hiking guide service myself. I would want to target the slower crowd who are just getting into it because I'm not fast myself, lol.

I'm business major so that side I'm good on and the organization and financial aspects of it.

The area that I have the most questions about is insurance for liability. What does a guide service normally pay for liability insurance and what does that cover? I'm in Illinois if that matters.

[reed523]

You might enjoy this story (at least it will be enlightening).  https://www.outsideonline.com/2407239/bike-touring-dream-job-nightmare

[TCS]

You might enjoy this story...

Or you might enjoy reading the bios of Adventure Cycling tour leaders.  I'm seeing folks that have led tours for 10, 25...even 40 years!

https://www.adventurecycling.org/guided-tours/tour-leaders/

[cyclist alan]

You might enjoy this story...

Thanks for sharing this.

https://www.adventurecycling.org/guided-tours/tour-leaders/

[Jomaryngs]

Hi! It is a wonderful wish! Being a guide is both simple and difficult. All trips are perfect. But by chance, there are non-standard situations. That isn't easy! The guide makes firm, non-standard decisions bound to solve the problem. With increasing experience, decisions are easier to make. Difficult situations are solved even imperceptibly for the participants.   I have been the owner of a tour business offering bicycle tours for several years. When I started this project, I modeled it using prendo.com, and I realized that this business would be very relevant. My calculations did not let me down.