If you love the open road, the wind in your hair and are keen to explore new places, you should look into bicycle touring.

Put simply, bicycle touring is where you set off on a bike designed to cover long distances purely for the pleasure of riding or for the purposes of travel.

Many people who set out on bicycle tours cove serious distances – some even cover entire countries or continents – but there are also those who may only want to tour for a couple of days at a time.

A touring bike is normally equipped to carry a far greater amount of equipment and luggage than a normal road bike is, and the emphasis is normally on sturdiness and durability rather than speed.

A standard touring bike will normally be decked out with mudguards, fenders, carrier racks and panniers. These fixtures not only protect the rider from the wide range of conditions he or she could come across on their journey, but will also enable them to store all the luggage (including cooking and camping equipment) that they may want to lug along on their journey.

If, however, you like the sound of touring but don’t want to have to carry all the extra equipment, you could partake in what is known as “credit card touring”. This is where you are able to ride a more lightweight, road-style bike and carry far less luggage because you are using cash/credit cards to stay at hostels instead of camping and are eating at restaurants instead of cooking your own food.