Recreational cycling is any cycling done for other than utilitary reasons. There is much overlap with cycle or bicycle sports like bicycle racing and with bicycle commuting and bicycle training for exercise purposes. Police officer on a bicycle Cycling is a recreation, a sport and a means of transport across land. ... Ugandan bicycle taxi or bodaboda Utility cycling encompasses any cycling not done primarily for fitness, recreation such as cycle touring, or sport such as cycle racing, but simply as a means of transport. ... Bicycle racing encompasses many forms in which bicycles are used for competition. ... Bicycle commuting is the act of commuting to work or school by bicycle, a common form of utility cycling. ...

One popular form of recreational cycling is bicycle touring. From the invention of the bicycle, it has always been a challenge to see how far it could be ridden. When the limits of a day's ride were reached, the notion of bicycle touring was created when cyclists began carrying luggage with them for an overnight stop. Since this was an impromptu progression, accalerated when the equally-sized wheels of the safety bicycle made it simpler to carry bags, it is impossible to say when it started. A type of touring bicycle Bicycle touring is a recreational activity, which involves touring and exploration or sightseeing with the use of a bicycle. ...

By 1878, however, recreational cycling was well enough established in Britain to lead to the formation of the Bicycle Touring Club, later renamed Cyclists' Touring Club. It is the oldest national tourism organisation of any description in the world. Membership of the CTC inspired the Frenchman Paul de Vivie (b. April 29, 1853) to found what became the Fédération Française de Cyclisme, the world's largest cycling association, and to coin the French word "cyclo-tourisme".

Cycle-touring organisations exist in many countries of the world. In the USA, the role is taken by the Adventure Cycling Association, which developed from a group of enthusiasts who in 1976 organised a mass ride, called Bikecentennial, from one side the USA to the other to mark the nation's 200th anniversary. In France, long-distance cyclists belong also to Cyclo-Camping International, an association which pools members' experiences and holds an annual conference in Paris. On the internet, the largest collection of touring cyclists' stories are at www.crazyguyonabike.com

Many cyclists who consider themselves cycle-tourists use the word to distinguish themselves from more competitive riders. The phrase, however, is hard to define beyond the point that it excludes racing. Some cycle-tourists ride for just a few hours or for a day while others have spent a quarter of a century riding round and round the world. Among the world's greatest-travelled cycle tourists is the German, Heinz St¨cke. He left his home in Hövelhof, North-Rhine Westphalia, in 1962 and has never returned. By 2006 he had cycled more than 539,000 kilometres (335,000 miles) since 1962, and had visited 165 countries.

Cycle-tourists typically use bicycles that have one or more racks to carry their bags. Bags can be fitted in different ways but are most usually suspended, as panniers, from racks fitted above the back wheel and to each side of the front wheel. Touring bicycles are built for reliability and comfort more than for speed, with low gears to keep the bicycle and its weight moving on long and steep hills. Riders often use wider and softer tyres than usual to cope with bad roads.

Cycle-touring can be done in many ways, from sleeping in hammocks slung between trees to staying at expensive hotels. Cyclists have developed several international networks in which they offer accommodation to each other.

[edit] Travels