My husband and I had never e-biked before, but decided to add this to our itinerary on our Valentine's weekend trip to Santa Barbara after hearing our friends rave about their own experience on e-bikes in SB. Unfortunately, my husband severely tore his hamstring 4 days prior to our reservations. i called the office to cancel our ride. The person I spoke to was very understanding of the situation and was very willing to cancel our ride and refund me my money but he also offered the suggestion of providing my husband with a full throttle bike that he would likely not have to do any pedaling vs the normal electric "pedal assist" bikes. We decided to give it a go since we had booked a private trip and could take it as slow as we needed. We are so glad we did! My husband was able to do the full tour without any problems! John was a really great guide with lots of good info about the town and surrounding areas. We really appreciated his relaxed attitude. We never felt hurried or unsafe. I enjoyed the tour so much, I am now interested in buying my own e-bike and will definitely book e-bike tours in all future travel where e-bike tours are offered.
Here are a few tidbits I'd like to point out:
*For a $15 charge, they brought the bikes to our hotel and we started the tour from there instead of having to find our way to their office. We were staying at The Four Seasons Biltmore which happened to be on the tour route.
*Do the tour early in your stay in Santa Barbara. It helps you get a feel for the area and the guide can give recommendations of good places to visit, eat and drink.
*We were not required to wear helmets which made me happy because I didn't have to have "helmet hair" for the rest of the day :)
*If you can, do a private tour. The guide will adjust the route to your liking or needs. We thought the price was very reasonable for what you get.
*There was a small basket on the front of my bike that was able to hold small items. Water bottles were included. I'm not sure if they are provided on all tours or just private tours though.
*You can really make the ride as easy or difficult as you want physically. If you don't want a work out, the bikes can do most the work for you. I went up a steep hill with hardly any effort at all. If you want a good work out, you can get that too.
Thank you John for the great tour and highlight of our trip to Santa Barbara!!!
Réponse de l'hôte
Mar 2020
Hi Christy,
We're glad you enjoyed your Santa Barbara Electric Bike Tour experience with John. It really is a great way to give you a feel for the town! Thank you for your kind words, and we look forward to seeing you on your next Santa Barbara adventure.