"Mountain Bike in Downhill Race" by Paul Jerry via Wikipedia

Mountain Biking Tour Operators

Choosing which tour operator to run your next mountain biking excursion is one of the most important decisions you will make when trip planning. There is a very wide variety of operators. Many are local operators who arrange trips with local guides. Others are international booking agents that simply contract out local operators. Others are large, multi-national corporations that design custom luxury trips all over the world. Some will arrange complete tours with food, transportation, lodging, and equipment, while others will just book your biking excursions.

Most tours will give significant discounts if you go in a group and for the greater number of people going on the tour. Prices vary drastically from tour to tour, operator to operator. Be sure to have a written contract stating everything included in your tour from the equipment down to the food.

BikeHike Adventures (http://www.bikehike.com, Tel. +604/731--2442)
Mount Kilamanjaro, Vietnam, Morocco, and Venezuela are all locations toured by this Canada based operator.
Mountain Bike Asia (http://www.mountainbikingasia.com, Tel. + 24-970-007)
Hong Kong based operator offering tours all across China, Tibet, Vietnam, Mongolia, and Malaysia.
Peru Bike (http://www.perubike.com, Tel. +511-449-5234)
Some of the best quality gear and guides in the country, and a wide range of trips in the coastal desert, Sacred Valley, and central highlands of Peru make this one of the best cycling operators in the country.
Vermont Bicycling Vacations (http://www.vbt.com, Tel. +800-245-3868)
Three decades of bike touring in North America, Asia, Africa, Europe, and New Zealand earn this company high marks from numerous publications.

Do-It-Yourself Options

When trip planning, you have a few important questions to ask yourself. You need to determine the degree of difficulty of the route or tour you plan to take, the length of the trip, and whether you will bring your own equipment or not.

You will need to know how difficult a route is and if you will have any trouble completing it. The most difficult terrain is not always the most beautiful, which is why you’ll find advanced riders on easy routes. The length of the trip depends on the location, the route you will take, the degree of difficulty, and other factors. Since you are not going with a tour operator, search the Internet to find out if a route has ever been done before and how that rider went about it and how long it took. The Net has revealed new trails and locations that were never before known outside of local riders. If you are renting gear or bringing your own, find out exactly what type is recommended for your particular terrain. See what the local tour companies recommend.

Click here for Preparing for Your Mountain Biking Trip