Victoria, British Columbia is filled with lush forests and greenery, well maintained cycle paths along the coast and dream houses galore. Touring the city by bike is a great option –provided that the bike is in good operating condition. My friend and I rented e-bikes for the Apple Cider Tour (which is no longer listed as a tour option), unfortunately the electrical power on one bike was completely inoperable and the other bike functioned with reduced power. The instructor’s advice throughout the tour to both of us was to “change gears”. Though there were rest beaks, the overall ride distance was considerably longer than what we were told initially which was made worse by the fact that the bikes had no power despite showing as having full battery life.
As we neared our destination I asked what the Plan B was, in case someone was injured or fatigued and unable to cycle back to the store. Our instructor advised that he would simply call the store and they would send a van to pick us up and carry the bikes too.
After lunch we switched bikes – the instructor took the bike with the broken battery, and began riding back to the store. Since our original bikes had not been working we were just too exhausted and could not cycle any further. The instructor began making phone calls and I thought help was on the way. Instead, we walked our bikes to a nearby coffee shop – he called a taxi for us. My friend and I returned to the store at our own expense, approximately $45. You need to know that there is no Plan B, no rescue van and apparently no refunds for renting broken bikes.