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Category: touring (Page 8 of 12)

Planning a Bicycle Tour

February 11, 2011 /
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It may seem too cold and snowy to think about bike touring, but this is actually a great time of year to research, plan and book a bicycle tour.

Bicycle touring is gaining in popularity as more people ride bikes in general, and as more of us discover what a wonderful way biking is to travel and experience new places.

Nowadays there are many options with bike tours — from local to cross country tours, from self-supported to fully supported, and from easy, beginner tours with daily mileage of 25-40, to intermediate tours with daily mileage in the 50 – 75 range along with moderate hills, to the most difficult tours with high mileage and hilly terrain.

There is a bicycle tour to fit everyone – including beginners, children and older enthusiasts.

Broadly speaking, there are two types of bicycle tours: supported and self-supported. Among supported bike tours there are a wide range of options and services, from the most basic to the most luxurious – and everything in between.

With the basic supported bike tour, the company may only carry your luggage to each lodging site and everything else – bicycle, helmet, meals, snacks, and mechanical support – is yours to handle.

Fully supported tours typically include everything – bicycle, helmet, most meals, mechanical support, snacks, drinks, transfers, and lodging. Sometimes other activities are even included in the tour price, such as winery and museum tours. Generally, the more support and amenities included in the tour, the higher the cost.

If you have not toured by bicycle before, you may want to play it safe the first time and go with a supported tour. Remember, there are basic, no-frills supported bike tours where the costs are reasonable.

With bicycle touring becoming so popular there are options for all budgets and skill levels so shop around and do your research.

As you become more experienced you may want to venture into touring on your own, which means carrying your own gear and relying on your own ingenuity and abilities to travel from place to place.

Regardless of what type of bicycle tour you choose – traveling by bike makes for a great vacation.

Where to Go?

January 10, 2011 /
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One of the things I use the so called off-season for is to plan bike tours for the upcoming year.

It’s a rough job, but someone’s got to do it.

This time last year is when we booked the Vermont to Quebec City tour that we did in August/September.  Good tours get sold out fairly early (learned this lesson in 2009) so decisions have to be made and $$ committed long before you do the actual tour.

Advance planning required, I just hate that.

Anyway, for 2011 we had decided to ride the Natchez Trace.  I found out about the Natchez Trace parkway last fall.  Interestingly, this Southern girl had never heard of it.  It supposedly offers beautiful scenery, good roads, no commercial traffic, plenty of places to check out along the route and lots of history too.  Sounds like bicycle heaven, at least as far as the U.S. goes.

The Trace is 444 miles long, starting (or ending if you prefer) in Natchez, Mississippi going straight north to just south of Nashville, Tennessee (see map).  It also goes through a corner of Alabama, so it would be a three state ride (but not a three hour tour… ;)).

A lot of cyclists ride the Trace as is evidenced by the number of trip reports on the Crazy Guy’s website.  I read a number of them last night and subsequently learned about a few issues with riding the Trace.  The main one being that there are no services, (food, stores, etc.) on the actual road, you must exit the Trace and travel in some cases 10 miles+ to get to a town. 

Even then, in some areas it doesn’t seem there are many resources even in the towns – most importantly restaurants/stores.  It isn’t a deal-breaker but it is something that has to be worked out and planned for.

Complicating things further is if we ride the Natchez Trace we will apparently have to do it self-supported.  We haven’t found any supported tours for the Trace except for a women’s only tour.  I find that surprising, but that’s how it seems to be, at least so far. 

I’ll fess up, we like the comforts of a supported tour, but we also like the safety net it provides.  The social part is nice too.

Further searches will ensue. 

Another logistical issue is getting back to the start site.  We are considering doing an 0ut and back ride, splitting the Trace up into a couple of tours perhaps. 

Nothing is decided yet, we are going to consider other areas too.  On the off chance that someone actually reads this post, if you have knowledge of the Trace or a recommendation for a good tour or place to ride I’d love to hear it.

Be right back

New Year – Looking Back

January 2, 2011 /
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happy-new-year

At the beginning of a new year, I can’t help but look back… at the same time I focus on what lies ahead. 

No, not while I’m riding.  😉

As I think about my plans and goals for 2011, I look back at the goals I made for 2010 – and feel a little smug about the ones I accomplished (8), a little sheepish about the ones I didn’t (3), and something in between for the goals I partially completed (4).

One thing I like about blogging is it gives me a record of the year.  With my memory, I need it!  I love all the posts about our bike tours (Katy Trail and Vermont – Quebec City), they allow me to go back and relive the trips.

I also like the plethora of posts I did on the 2010 Tour de France. 

Thirty-four posts to be exact. 

For every day of the Tour, including both rest days, I did at least 1 post, and most days, 2.  We’re not talking short posts either; for each stage of the Tour (21 stages – 20 stage races + a prologue race) I wrote a detailed recap of what transpired and my own analysis of it.

For Tour novices I wrote a Tour de France Primer to serve as a guide for understanding the Tour, and bike racing in general.

Why?  Because I love the Tour.  For 3 weeks in July my life is the Tour and riding my bike.  Yep, July is one of my favorite months.  Bike ride in the morning – Tour in the afternoon and evening.  Food in between.  It’s a good life.

If you are interested, you can peruse a summary of my Tour posts here.

I’ll get back to 2011 later…

Party smile

Traveling by Bike

November 17, 2010 /
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There is a theory that the slower you travel, the more you see. Traveling by bike is proof of that theory.

To travel by bike is to not only see what surrounds you, but to also be embraced by it. A good example of this is riding the Katy Trail in Missouri.

The Missouri Katy Trail starts in Clinton and ends in St. Charles. The Katy is an off-the-road trail made up of crushed limestone that travels 225 miles across Missouri. Much of the trail follows Lewis and Clark’s path along the Missouri River. Katy Trail is part of the Rails to Trails Conservancy which is an organization devoted to building a nationwide network of trails utilizing former rail lines.

Other than bicyclists you will not encounter too many other travelers, a few hikers, maybe a person or two on horseback – horses are allowed on parts of the trail, but aren’t a nuisance. You will however encounter a lot of birds, mainly Eastern Bluebirds and Indigo Buntings. At times it seems as if the birds are guiding you down the trail as they fly just ahead of you leading the way.

One of the best parts about riding the Katy and the rails to trails system in general, is that it allows you to ride on an off-the-road trail and not have to compete with cars for your share of the road. Bike touring doesn’t get any better than that. No cars, just miles and miles of tree covered trail, your bike and you.

Nothing compares to traveling by bike.

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