Sportive Bicycle Tourism. This type of tourism on bicycles was invented back in Soviet times. At that time, awards and medals were given for achievements in this "sport." Therefore, to avoid being unfounded in awarding, standards were established. Upon completing the route, it was only necessary to provide "evidence" of its passage: this could be photographs, telegrams, etc. Everyone understood that such a sport was just a game, but they still played. No one could check whether a person crossed the pass by themselves or hitched a ride. Therefore, the main controller was still one's conscience.
Racing Bicycle Tourism. The name of this type is, of course, conditional. Its essence is to travel the maximum number of kilometers on relatively flat roads with a light load. People participating in this semi-sport can cover up to 250 km or even more in a day!!! They try to "consume" space and therefore have no time to get distracted by sightseeing. Most often, this is done by solo travelers, but sometimes an entire group can travel this way.
Expedition Bicycle Tourism. This type of tourism developed as soon as reliable and sturdy bicycles and other necessary equipment for this type of tourism appeared. The essence of expedition bicycle tourism lies in traversing areas that are not intended for bicycles. These can be swamps, ice fields, frozen winter roads, and snowy winter paths. However, expeditionists visit various attractions and interesting places. Moreover, the route for visiting these attractions has a clear logic and is carefully planned. Expeditionists differ from representatives of sportive bicycle tourism only in that they do not receive any awards or titles for their visits to interesting places.
Biker Bicycle Tourism. This type of bicycle tourism is also named quite conditionally. However, bikers are distinguished from expeditionists by their desire to ride on technical trails that require maximum effort from both the bike and the biker themselves. Bikers are also distinguished from all other bicycle tourism enthusiasts by their virtuoso handling of their bikes. But here, bikers often lose to everyone else, as they are frequently poorly prepared as tourists. A biker can easily be thrown into confusion by starting a fire or cooking food over it.
Source: velo.kg