Helmets?
Many people prefer to bring their own helmets, but we will provide a helmet, at no extra cost, if you want one. Please let us know how many helmets you will require at time of booking.
Children under the age of 13 are required by Pennsylvania law to wear a helmet.
Water? Restrooms?
Our bikes have a water bottle cage.
You may bring your own water bottles or you may purchase souvenir water bottles from us for $3. There is a restroom with a free water fountain, or you may purchase water from the vending machine nearby. There are a few limited places on the battlefield itself where we can refill water bottles, have access to restrooms and/or port-a-potties.
Am I in good enough shape to do a bike tour?
You probably are, but not knowing you, we at Gettysbike can’t answer that. What we can tell you is that you will not be biking the entire time. Rather, we bike for a bit (anywhere from ¼ mile to perhaps two miles) and stop and talk about the battle at different sites. You will actually be spending more time at the stops listening to the guide than you will be biking. Though most of the roads are relatively flat, there are some hills. The most challenging hill is Little Round Top, which is a total gain of 127 feet in a little less than half a mile, with an average slope of 6% and a maximum slope of 12%. We stop twice while climbing this hill to talk about the battle. Most people bike up the hill, but many walk with no shame. We have had a couple in their eighties do one of our tours, including biking Little Round Top!
Can children go on the tour?
Yes! Touring Gettysburg by bike is the best way to see the battlefield for everybody, kids too! We have given tours to hundreds of kids. There are a few things to keep in mind when considering children and biking, however. First and most importantly is the safety factor. You know your children, their attention span and their bike-handling skills better than we do. Our tours do go on roads with traffic. Most of the tour will be on National Park roads, but even our 2.5-hour Yank tour includes a .6 mile stretch of road which is not a Park road. The second factor is pace. Some children like to race on bikes and others poke along. The pace of our tours is not strenuous, but if you think your children would slow the pace considerably and inconvenience other guests, you might consider a private tour.
Since the Yank's tour is shorter and almost completely on Park roads, we recommend that you choose that tour for your family, although if you are certain they can handle the longer tours, they are also welcome on those.
All children must be accompanied by an adult.
We have a few bikes for kids as small as 4’6”. For smaller children and toddlers, we do have a bicycle trailer and a trailer tandem, both of which attach to adult bikes. If you wish to use the trailer or trailer tandem, call Gettysbike at (717) 752-7752 to reserve them.
