Is An Asian Bike Tour A Good Fit for Your Vacation? – Conversation with GRASSHOPPER ADVENTURES CEO Adam Platt Hepworth

To find out more about what is involved in arranging an Asian bike tour, Picture this Post (PTP) had the following conversation with Adam Platt Hepworth (APH), owner and CEO of Grasshopper Adventures, a leader in Asia bike tours, which operates tours in Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Japan, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Now approaching their 15^th Anniversary, Grasshopper offers scheduled group departures, bike & boat trips, private tours, family tours or self-guided trips.

We learned from a Grasshopper spokesperson that Adam rediscovered the simple pleasure of cycling in his mid-twenties, commuting by bike to his bank job in Melbourne, Australia. That same bank job, had actually been a great education, exposing him to a wide range of small businesses and their owners. In 2003 Adam joined a fundraiser ride through southern China where he made a friend who would later found Grasshopper Adventures and became inspired by the dual features of cycling and travel in Asia.   Reportedly, Adam soon found he was spending more time dreaming about his next trip than thinking about anything else, so not long after, he decided to make the leap and join Grasshopper Adventures. He now leads the team of personalities that make up Grasshopper Adventures. Adam's new home base is in Siem Reap, Cambodia where he lives with his young family and still occasionally hosts tours.

(PTP ) SINCE GRASSHOPPER ADVENTURES STARTED 15 YEARS AGO, HOW HAVE TRAVELERS’ INTERESTS CHANGED? 

(APH) We find that people are increasingly aware of the environmental impacts of travel. They are also, more than ever, eager to disconnect from daily life and immerse themselves in the journey. These two trends have intersected to create a strong interest in those locations totally different from where travelers come from, where they really can escape and spend some quiet time with their thoughts while riding.

ARE BIKE TOURS A NICHE EXPERIENCE OR BROADER THAN THAT? 

People who value their time outdoors highly and who regard cycling as just one of many activities that they can enjoy will likely find a bike tour a good match. The easiest way to explain it is to say that it’s really all about the genuine, immersive travel experience and the bike is just the best means of getting people to have these experiences.

But, bike tours are not just for cycling enthusiasts--that is people who regard bike riding as their main recreational interest.  Grasshopper Adventures’ tours more so than ever we cater to people who just want to travel in a more authentic way.

WHAT IS THE PREREQUISITE FITNESS LEVEL?  

 You don’t have to have any specific bike accomplishments under your belt to do a bike tour with a well-run and experienced tour operator.   If you participate regularly in outdoor, physical activities, then you can comfortably consider any number of bike tours Grasshopper offers, for example.  There are rides in different destinations to suit all abilities. Most immersive bike tours are designed for anyone who can ride a bike for multiple hours at a time. Beyond that, If you haven’t been on a multiple day bike ride before, then you can start with something flat and with really achievable distances.  Grasshopper, for example, would recommend you consider a boat and bike tour of the Mekong.  There are long and short ride options on this one and there is hardly any traffic to contend with. Then as you become more confident, you might choose something with a little more elevation and slightly longer distances.

For the age range question, you’ll find all ages of travelers on bike tours. With the rollout of pedal assist e-bikes, folks well into their late seventies can still participate. Grasshopper welcomes riders as young as 16 on our regular tours, and then we also have a comprehensive range of family tours where we have hosted families with kids as young as two!

WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE ON HOW SOMEONE SHOULD CHOOSE BETWEEN DIFFERENT TOURS?

There are a wide range of tours and destinations suitable for different levels of ability and experience. Grasshopper, for example, has several different leveled options in each country. In Vietnam for example, you can ride the Mekong Delta with very little experience or preparation, as it is completely flat. In Vietnam’s central coast areas, there are some hills so you need a slightly higher fitness level. In northwest Vietnam one can get a more challenging ride with climbs that require experience with riding on hilly terrain. And in the country’s far north, if you take a remote ride along the Chinese border with epic 20km climbs, you’ll find views like you wouldn’t believe.

Grasshoppers’ shortest tours are three days and the longest one is 16 days. Within that there is a heap of variety in distance and terrain as well as climatic conditions. In any part of the world where you are considering a bike tour, you always need to find a company like Grasshopper Adventures with a team of people who are very skilled in helping you select the tour that is right for you.

 

DO YOU HAVE TOURS THAT HAVE ADDITIONAL FOCAL POINTS IN ADDITION TO CYCLING?

A resounding yes! There is always much to enjoy beyond the two-wheeled aspect on all bike journeys.   Grasshopper weaves all of this into every tour. It’s not about the bike, it’s about the experience you can have with a bike. It all depends on the country. In Thailand there is often a pronounced culinary focus, whereas in Bhutan the focus is on history, Buddhist mythology and culture, Bhutan also has some beautiful off-bike treks that we like to include. In Sri Lanka Grasshopper tours focus on the wildlife and nature that the locals have protected and hold so dear. Shikoku tours in Japan have an arts focus, but there are so many other elements to it: great food, Onsen culture, and of course thousands of years of history to discover.

 

HOW FAR IN ADVANCE DO YOU SUGGEST THAT A PICTURE THIS POST READER BEGIN INVESTIGATING WHETHER ONE OR OTHER BIKE TOUR IS A GOOD FIT FOR THEM ? HOW MUCH LEAD TIME DOES ONE NEED TO BOOK A TOUR?

It often takes many months, even years before you finally decide to proceed on your first tour, and that’s completely fine with a company like Grasshopper Adventures. We understand that the best journeys take time to plan.  Get in touch and we will ask the right questions to steer your to the best-fit option for your time and interests.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN TRAVEL TRENDS YOU HAVE SEEN RECENTLY AND CONSIDER ONES TO WATCH?

As tourism worldwide continues to grow, more and more people will seek opportunities to escape the crowds. That has always been in the mix, but it is now an even higher priority than ever before. Today’s travelers seek out those places where you can still find the heart of a country and where you can still meet and interact with local people on a genuine level, in a non-invasive way. The destinations that offer the best opportunities for this I feel are India, Japan, Uzbekistan, Taiwan, Bhutan and Myanmar. In reality though, Grasshopper Adventures is geared to help you escape the crowds in all of our destinations--it’s the nature of what we do.

The two things I am most excited about are ships and e-bikes. Grasshopper Adventures is rolling these trips out as fast as we can find the right ships on the right rivers. This enables us to deliver a truly adventurous experience away from over-tourism.  Having having floating accommodation follow you avoids the need to stay in rustic guesthouses. You just board the ship, unpack once and then enjoy a week of terrific exploration and adventure. E-bikes are great because they are opening up the adventures to more and more people. Whether it is someone, who through advancing age, has trouble with the hills or someone who has just been too busy with work to find time to prepare, the e-bike enables everyone to have a great adventure and still have the energy to enjoy their holiday.

 

PICTURE THIS POST AIMS TO BE A MATCHMAKER FOR THE TIME-STRAPPED (AND SOMETIMES ALSO BUDGET STRAPPED) READER.  WHAT TIPS DO YOU HAVE TO HELP THEM DETERMINE IF A CYCLING TOUR IS A GOOD FIT ?

You don’t need to be a cycle junky to join a tour, that is certainly not a prerequisite. Think about whether you are satisfied to simply look at things when you travel, or if you feel a strong need to touch, taste, hear, smell and do, while on vacation.  If it’s the latter, and you don’t shy away from getting your heart rate up, value your time in nature and with like-minded people, then you can’t go wrong with a bike tour.

Which tour? Which destination? Which sort of bike? Grasshopper Adventures can and will help you decide all of that, but the first thing you need to decide is whether you want to stimulate all the senses on your travels.

WHAT CAN AVID CYCLISTS AND TRAVEL ENTHUSIASTS FIND WITH GRASSHOPPER ADVENTURES THAT THEY CAN’T GET ELSEWHERE – OR AT LEAST NOT AS EASILY?

We specialize in immersive, genuine travel experiences with great rides through carefully planned routes, which take you into the heart of each destination. Our tours are designed to provide satisfying, but not strenuous riding on well-maintained bikes, and you can travel with a happy conscience knowing we craft trips to be sustainable and support the local communities. Each tour is led by a guide who is eager to show you their home country and is just as interested to learn about you and your background as you will be to learn about theirs.

 

WHY HAVE YOU SELECTED THAILAND FOR YOUR 15^TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR?

This felt like the right thing to do as Thailand is where it all started. While Laos was actually our first tour destination, it was a wooden house in the back alleys of Bangkok’s old town where the company was founded and where the HQ was located (in a spare bedroom) for the first 18 months. When we did eventually get around to doing a tour in Thailand, it was through the Kanchanaburi Province, where our anniversary tour runs. We rode along the Kwai Valley, visited the historical sites of the Burma Railway and then cycled into the hills to visit the minority tribes up in Sanklaburi. Now in 2019 we have just launched a bike and boat tour on the River Kwai and so that felt like the perfect tour to use as our anniversary event.

Editor’s Note: Grasshopper Adventures is constantly adding more tour options to their repertoire. At the time of this interview their 94 tours (33 Day Tours in 9 locations; 61 Multi-Day Tours in 14 Asian Countries ) included a wide range with popular ones such as their Mekong Bike & Boat Adventure; Uz-Biking-Stan; India Bike & Boat the Brahmaputra; Stunning Shikoku (Japan); Thailand Bike, Boat & Beach; Hilltribes of Ha Giang (Vietnam); Mekong Delta in Style (Vietnam);  and Cycle Thailand Coast to Coast (self-guided),

Visit the Grasshopper Adventures’ descriptions of their multi-day tours or the overall Grasshopper Adventures website for more information.

All photos courtesy of Grasshopper Adventures.