The enjoyment you derive from your tour is largely dependent on choosing a tour that suits your ambitions and experience. Some factors to consider as you select a tour include your previous cycling experience, physical condition, the amount of time you will be able to devote to training, and what you want from the tour. We suggest that persons who have not previously ridden on a multi-day tour choose a shorter tour. HeartCycle encourages participation in the sport of bicycling at all levels. For the safety and enjoyment of all tour participants each cyclist must carefully consider the difficulty of the tour they select. Generally the distance per day, type of terrain (mountainous or flat), pavement (smooth, chip and seal, or crushed gravel) and climate govern the classification of HeartCycle tours. For each tour, we provide the name and contact information for the leader. Check with the appropriate tour leader if you have specific questions about a tour you are considering or your ability to participate.

Because Heartcycle encourages participation at all levels, we do allow E-bikes on our tours with some limits. Please see guidelines below.

E-bike Guidelines (generally applicable to Tandems as well)
E-bikes are rapidly becoming accepted and used in the bicycling community and by club members. HeartCycle is receptive to E-bikes suitable for our tours, on a tour-by-tour basis. Because of the rapid evolution of E-bikes, the following are initial guidelines only, and may be subject to change.
1. Acceptance of E-bikes (on tour, and transportation on a vehicle) will be made on a tour-by-tour basis, and will be at the discretion of the Tour Leader(s). If you wish to use an E-bike, you must contact the Tour Leader and obtain their consent.
2. Presently, we consider E-bikes to be inconsistent with tours rated our Advanced or Expert, and prefer to retain these slots for riders on regular road bikes.
3. Only “pedal assist” type E-bikes will be allowed (only using a battery when needed to assist the rider). Any and all E-bikes must be consistent with state laws for operation on bike paths and streets of the state where the tour is operated.
4. Generally, our bike racks are not rated for the weight of E-bikes (some can weigh up to 65 lbs). Our Sprinter rack is rated to 34 lbs/bike, and our portable racks are rated for less. As a result, if an E-bike cannot be ridden, it will need to go inside the SAG vehicle. E-bikes over 45 lbs (25kg) will not be considered. Generally, our Sprinter and rental trucks can only accommodate 1 such bike at a time, and on some tours E-bikes may not be able to be accommodated at all.
5. The E-bike participant needs to be able to (themselves or with a riding partner at the time of need) place the E-bike into a SAG vehicle when necessary (and allowed) without the assistance of a SAG driver.

6. The E-bike needs to have sufficient battery capacity to assist the rider to complete the longest day in the tour description. Extra batteries may be (at the Tour Leader’s discretion) carried in a support vehicle, but even then the E-bike must be able to make it between SAG stops, for which the vehicle will stop, without any recharge capability en route during the day. 7. HeartCycle will not provide spare parts or maintenance support for E-bikes.

8. E-Bike riders are expected to follow the same club (and tour) requirements as other riders, including wearing a helmet and following traffic laws at all times.