Bike Tour Vacations

We've been busy!

jim@biketourvacations.com (Jim Plaunt) — Fri, 31 Dec 2021 20:03:30 GMT

Santa finally showed up with our new website!

All our preparation work for 2022 made clear that our website needed some updating. We've opted for a completely new site, and you're looking at it here! We originally expect it to be up by December 10, but that was an aggressive plan. Finally, on the 30th of December we were able to give a green light to this site!

Please know that we've looked for items to correct, and the website is not yet perfect. There probably are a few mismatched items, and possibly a gremlin lurking in the coding. If you see any items which need correction or attention, please let us know. In the meantime, the Tour Chief is working on the old dog/new trick thing, trying to master the features which were second nature on the old website.

Lots of work on some new tours

Our 2022 tour season ended in August, and the last 4 months have been filled with lots of activity for you! First, our staff spent a week in late September finding new routes for our Hiawatha Gravel Adventure Tour, coming in September 2022!

Next, Tour Chief Jim spent a week in Wisconsin scoping routes for two new Beer, Brats & Cheese Tours. The first is a public tour in June near Madison, and the other one is a private tour loop in northern Wisconsin-more details below.

We've also grown our travel season, starting with an updated version of our Kentucky Ramble, a tour loop in the bourbon and bluegrass near Lexington in early May . We've got plans to return to Traverse City and Sleeping Bear dunes in mid-May on our Grand Traverse Tour.

In June we focus on Minnesota and Wisconsin with a focus on two big rivers and Lake Superior. There's a short break for the 4th of July , and then we resume touring in the Upper Peninsula. Our longest tour this year is the Great Waters Tour, seven days, six nights, three Great Lakes, and a really big waterfall come together on this 300-mile loop. The Ride to Pictured Rocks follows, our most popular tour loop.

Our 3rd week of U.P. touring is a private Ride to Pictured Rocks for our new friends from Black Girls Do Bike, Detroit and Flint chapters. Staff is excited for this tour, and so are the BGDB members!

August brings our second private tour of the season, a Beer, Brats & Cheese Tour for our old friends the Biker Boys from Chicago. 2022 will be their 6th tour with Bike Tour Vacations since 2014 ; we must be doing something right!

Also in August you have the opportunity to join us on a triumphant return to the Katy Trail in Missouri, 230 miles of traffic-free trail riding along the Missouri River on the Katy Trail.

September brings 3 new tours. The first is a weekend event on the Lakelands Trail from Hamburg to Jackson and back. Our premier event this month is the Hiawatha Gravel Adventure Tour, a week on gravel roads and trails in the Hiawatha National Forest between Manistique and Munising.

We close the season with a private tour for 6 cowboys from Texas with an expanded version of the Ride to Pictured Rocks, this time including an overnight stay at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island!

The look ahead!

The fun never stops around here. Tour Chief Jim and tour leader Marianne are headed for warmer climes for much of January and February, dragging bikes along for fun and exercise! Rumor has it that Tour Leader Tom and his spouse Spring may join us for a portion of this adventure.

Back at home, Tour Leaders Jordan Buzzy and Jackson Farley will travel to Des Moines for the January 29 Bike Expo, sponsored by the Iowa Bike Coalition. One of our super guests from past years, Pam Lund, will join them at the booth. If you're in Des Moines on the 29th, please stop by the HyVee Center and say hello!

Prepare yourselves: Jim and Tom will travel to Arizona in March for a camping tour on mountain bikes ! This will surely cause some mental whiplash, but it's good opportunity to look at how other tour operators do their thing, and better still if it's sunny and warm!

Thank you

2022 will be our 12th season of offering exciting and safe bicycle tours. None of this would have been possible without the support of great staff help, and very willing (and sometimes forgiving) guests.

Kentucky Ramble Bike Tour

bob@simplesitecompany.com (Bob Hansen) — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 20:19:08 GMT

May 1, 2022 - May 6, 2022 - $1,399

Good News, we’re starting early to enjoy spring in Kentucky!

We’re going on our Kentucky Ramble Bike Tour, and you should join us! The tour has been enhanced with new routes, and incudes lodging 5 nights along with 6 days of activity.

Kentucky is a beautiful state with lots of great riding on quiet rural lanes. The terrain ranges from gently rolling to hilly, passing through beautiful ancient forests and farmland. Our routes will keep your interest up.

With the oldest settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains, Kentucky is full of history. The two oldest are Harrodsburg and Bardstown, and we visit both.

Thoroughbred horses have a permanent place here, with dozens of horse farms, and you may see the famous Keeneland Racetrack.

Did we mention bourbon? Kentucky owns bourbon, a legendary product made across the state. Visit the Willett or Wild Turkey distilleries and sample some of the best bourbons ever.

Good Food

No tour is complete until great food is served, and we’ve got you covered! Included in the tour, breakfast each morning, plus dinner on Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday. You’ll be on your own for lunch, and our lunch stops are in towns which feature some great bar-b-que and wonderful country cooking. You might come to love grits with cheese, plus a side of cooked apples.

We have two nights scheduled in Georgetown, and one night each at Shaker Village of Harrodsburg, Bardstown, and Lawrenceburg. Special tours at Willett Distillery and Shaker Village, and great food!

No Risk, No Cost registration

Join our waiting list. Put your name on our waiting list, and we’ll contact you with payment information including a deposit due in January, and remaining payment terms. The tour fee is only $1,799.00 for one guest in a private room; or bring a friend to share your room, two people/two beds, one room, $1,399.00 each ($2,798.00 total).

Registration is quick and easy at the PayPal link below, just make the $100 no-risk deposit and we’ll invoice you for $500 due January 31, with the balance due March 31.

DETAILS

Start:

May 1, 2022 @ 4:00 pm

End:

May 6, 2022 @ 4:00 pm

Cost:

$1399

Event Category:

Week-Long Tours

VENUE

Bardstown, KY

ORGANIZER

Jim

Email:

jim@biketourvacations.com

View Organizer Website

Kentucky Ramble, May 1-6 - 2 riders, shared room, deposit only $100.00 USD

Kentucky Ramble, May 1-6 - Solo guest, private room, deposit only $100.00 USD

Grand Traverse Tour

bob@simplesitecompany.com (Bob Hansen) — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 20:16:56 GMT

May 15, 2022 - May 20, 2022 - $1,499

Start Date: May 15, 2022
Duration: 6 Days, 5 nights
Cost: $1,499.00 pp/double occupancy
Sign up Deadline: April 1, 2022

See the best of Michigan!

The Traverse City area offers some of the best cycling anywhere, and we’ll take our time to enjoy it. This tour is one of our Comfort Tours, located in areas with great sights and support along the trail. Enjoy a day out & back on the Old Mission Peninsula complete with optional winery tour(s), and then four days biking in Leelanau County. You’ll even time for sightseeing in the Sleeping Bear Dunes. We’ll take our time and travel shorter distances to enjoy it all, with no extra charge for the hills. Check out the daily ride links on our tour itinerary here.

This tour is designed for your comfort

We’ll plan for two nights in Traverse City, and then three nights in Leelanau County. You’ll ride about 30 miles each day (inn-to-inn), with options for many more miles if needed. Read that again: we have about 120 miles minimum, inn-to-inn, plus Live Large routes to add up to another 100 miles. It’s a great combination of comfort and opportunity!

Our Traverse City lodging includes two nights at the Quality Inn on the east bay. This hotel is right on the Traverse Area Recreation Trail, with great connections to the area. Tuesday we relocate to Leland, and the Whaleback Inn. You can enjoy a dinner of fresh whitefish right from the dock in Fishtown. Our last two nights are in Glen Arbor. This town is full of great optional activities for you including a float trip on the Crystal river, a chance to make the famous dune climb on foot, and even bicycle through the challenging hills at Pierce Stocking.

E-Bike News

Electric bikes available to rent

Are you a cyclist who needs a little extra boost? We have a selection of E-bikes available for rent on this tour, and this might be perfect to help you hang with your friends. These bikes look and act like a standard bicycle, and you control how much assist you get from the motor. With hydraulic disc brakes, a 9-speed rear cassette, and powerful Bosch drive system, you’ll enjoy safety and performance. The battery and motor can provide up to 80 miles of assist on one charge. Contact us for details.

Reserve your space today

Five nights of lodging, 5 breakfasts, 3 dinners, staff & sag service, only $2,998.00 for two guests in a shared room, and $1,949.00 for a solo traveler in a private room.

Registration is quick and easy, just use the link below and tell us if you’re registering for two guests in a shared room, or if you’re a solo traveler.

No Risk, No Cost registration

Join the tour with a $100 no-risk deposit, and we’ll contact you with payment information including $500 due January 31, and the remainder due April 10. The tour fee is only $1,949.00 for one guest in a private room; or bring a friend to share your room, two people/two beds, one room, $1,499.00 each ($2,998.00 total). Use the PayPal link below, it’s fast and easy!

DETAILS

Start:

May 15, 2022

End:

May 20, 2022

Cost:

$1,499

Event Category:

Week-Long Tours

VENUE

Traverse City

Front Street
Traverse City, MI

Google Map

Grand Traverse, May 15-20 - 2 riders, shared room, deposit only $100.00 USD

Grand Traverse, May 15-20 - Solo guest, private room, deposit only $100.00 USD

River Towns on the Mississippi

bob@simplesitecompany.com (Bob Hansen) — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 20:14:54 GMT

June 5, 2022 - June 10, 2022 - $1,099

Sunset view of the Mississippi

Image via minnesotamonthly.com

Start Date: June 5, 2022
Duration: 6 Days
Total Miles: 200
Pricing: $1099.00 pp, double occupancy
Sign up Deadline: May 1, 2022

The River Towns Tour, our biggest tour in 2021, and updated for 2022!

The Mississippi River is the great divide between Wisconsin and Minnesota; it’s inspired music, literature, and one of the most heated football rivalries to date. Come see the beautiful bluffs created by the great Old Man River on this 200 mile linear bike tour vacation. Each side of the river offers something to cyclists, so come along and see what makes it fun as we bicycle along the Mississippi River. We’ll explore this border on both sides of the river, with most of our riding in Wisconsin, and most of the lodging in Minnesota. From Hastings to Red Wing, along Lake Pepin, through Wabasha and Winona and Lacrosse, you’ll enjoy everything about this trip.

Our Route

The tour starts with your arrival on Sunday afternoon in Hastings, MN. On Monday we’ll head south and west to Cannon Falls, and then take the scenic Cannon River Trail into Red Wing, a historic river town. Over half our riding today is traffic-free on the Cannon River Trail!

The route to Red Wing

Cannon River Trail Image via tripadvisor.com

Red Wing Image via minnesotamonthly.com

Tuesday gear up for a great cycling day along the Mississippi River! We’ll cross over the river and into Wisconsin to ride south along Highway 35 through Maiden Rock on the east side of Lake Pepin, before ending our day in Wabasha.

The route from Red Wing to Wabasha

The view of the Mississippi from Wabasha image via the outbound.com

On Wednesday head back into Wisconsin for even more fun as you work your way south to Winona.

The route from Red Wing to Wabasha

The route from Wabasha to Winona

The route from Winona to Lacrosse

Image via traillink.com

Artisan beer is available

Friday , cross back into Minnesota and head south. Have you been to Iowa? Want to scratch Iowa off your US state scratch map? Here’s your opportunity to cross the border into New Albin, Iowa. Our motor coach will pick you up at noon at the High Chapparal Restaurant for the return trip to Hastings. Over-achievers might even get a 50-mile day by adding a 20-mile loop to Lansing and back.

To help keep you on track we have a daily itinerary . You’ll have daily printed maps & cue sheets, plus electronic maps from Ride with GPS, to run on your smartphone or bike computer.

The Dining

We include breakfast Monday-Friday, and group dinners on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Our sag wagons are stocked with water, ice, fruit, some crunchy things, and PB&J. You’re welcome to enjoy these items any time you see a sag wagon. Lunch is available from local cafes and shops

What’s Special

Bike Rental : We’ve found some great e-bike rentals for you, available at Pedego Twin Cities. Their rental fleet incorporates bikes that have throttle in addition to pedal assist and will travel at speeds up to 20 MPH. Please check out the Pedego bike designated for this event at this link. Rental fee for the tour is $400. Bikes can be reserved by calling Pedego Twin Cities at (612) 827-5000. Reserved bikes will be delivered to Hastings on Sunday and picked up at the end of the ride by Pedego Twin Cities.

Registration is open

Register today by joining our wait list (full registration opens in January 2022). The pre-season tour fee is only $1,450.00 for one guest in a private room; or bring a friend to share your room, two people/two beds, one room, $1099.00 each ($2,198.00 total). Special Pre-season Pricing ends December 31, and prices will go up $100 per person in January, so register today!

Please join our wait list by clicking here, and put “River Towns Wait List” in the subject line. Thank you!

Sign up for seven days/six nights of fun for only $1,450.00, one guest in a private room; or bring a friend to share your room, two people/two beds, one room, $1,099.00 each ($2,198.00 total).

No risk deposit is only $100, at the PayPal link below. We’ll invoice you for $500 due January 31, and the balance due May 1.

DETAILS

Start:

June 5, 2022

End:

June 10, 2022

Cost:

$1099

Event Category:

Week-Long Tours

ORGANIZER

Jim

Email:

jim@biketourvacations.com

River Towns on the Mississippi, June 5-10 - 2 riders, shared room, deposit only $100.00

River Towns on the Mississippi, June 5-10 - Solo guest, private room, deposit only $100.00 USD

The Minnesota North Shore Tour

bob@simplesitecompany.com (Bob Hansen) — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 20:11:25 GMT

June 12, 2022 - June 17, 2022 - $1,299.00

July 24, 2022 - July 29, 2022 - $1,299.00

Start Date: June 12, 2022 or July 24
Duration: 6 Days
Total Miles: 160
Pricing: $1299.00 pp, double occupancy
Sign up Deadline: May 1, 2022

Come ride the North Shore of Lake Superior

We've added a July departure for this popular tour!

When we say The Minnesota North Shore Tour, we mean it! This tour is 100% along the shore of Lake Superior, from Duluth to Grand Marais. You’ll enjoy overnight stays in Duluth (2 nights), Two Harbors, Beaver Bay and Lutsen. There’s great cycling along Scenic Highway 61, and we also ride on paved bike trail and parkway when available.

Click here to see the tour itinerary.

We’ve added a full day of tour options in Duluth to start the tour. We only have a day for sights which could take a month, so you’ll have to look over the option list carefully. There will by cycling options from 15 to 50 miles, plus great sights like Glensheen Mansion, the Lake Superior Acquarium, and the Vista Cruise harbor tours. (Subject to change: if MNDoT confirms road construction is complete north of Grand Marais, we'll continue all the way to the Canada border)

Once we head out of town, you’ll love riding along the shore of Lake Superior. There are freighters on Lake Superior, famous cliffs and lighthouses, and about a thousand rivers. Off-bike sights include Gooseberry Falls and Split Rock Lighthouse. We even have a canoe trip scheduled at Lutsen River.

Guest Health and Safety

All our 2022 tours will operate using our company Pandemic Safety Plan. We wrote this plan for the 2020 season and it was integral to our tours. Our goal is to provide a safe tour experience for our guests, our staff, and all our lodging and dining partners along the route.

The Dining

Our guests never go lacking for food. Included in the tour are breakfast Monday-Friday, and supper on Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The North Shore has an unexpected and amazing variety of pubs and restaurants along the way for your support. In addition, we maintain a list of the best brew pubs, just in case that appeals to you.

The Lodging

Your tour ticket includes lodging Sunday through Thursday night. We’ve selected our hotel partners based on careful vetting and past experience. Camp 61 in Beaver Bay is one of our favorite inns. No two rooms are alike, and they even have a restaurant and pub. Further up the road, enjoy our last night out at Caribou Highlands Resort. These are just two examples of our lodging.

The Unexpected

Wildflowers all around. A chance to see deer and other animals. Freighters on Lake Superior. Wonderful cafes and bistros with craft beer and great food. Bridges and rivers and more bridges, and a foreign country at the end. Please come along, you’ll be glad you did!

Live Large

We designed this tour with a modest daily mileage, because there are so many sights along the route. You’ll probably be off & on the bikes all day. Even so, we recognize that a few of you will need more miles, and we’ve got them! Each day will have extra routes for the bold, and we even have pre- and post-tour self-guided rides in Duluth. The 150 miles in the tour could become 350!

Your tour ticket includes 5 nights of lodging, breakfast Sunday-Thursday, and group dinners on 3 nights. Our sag wagons are stocked with water, ice, fruit, some crunchy things, and PB&J. You’re welcome to enjoy these items any time you see a sag wagon. Lunch is available from local cafes and shops.

Registration is so easy!

Sign up for seven days/six nights of fun for only $1,699.00, one guest in a private room; or bring a friend to share your room, two people/two beds, one room, $1,299.00 each ($2,598.00 total).

No risk refundable deposit is only $100 at the PayPal link below. We’ll invoice you for $500 due January 31, and the balance due May 1. Thanks!

DETAILS

Start:

June 12, 2022

End:

June 17, 2022

Or: July 24-July 29, 2022

Cost:

$1299 per person, double occupancy, $1,699.00 solo guests

Event Category:

Week-Long Tours

North Shore Tour, June 12-17 deposit only $100.00 USD

For the July 24-29 Departure, please make your deposit here!

Beer, Brats & Cheese; a Wisconsin Adventure Tour!

bob@simplesitecompany.com (Bob Hansen) — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 20:09:33 GMT

June 19, 2022 @ 8:00 am - June 25, 2022 - $1,450

Start Date: June19, 2022
Duration: 7 days, 6 nights
Total Miles: 200
Pricing: $1450.00 per person, double occupancy
Sign up Deadline: May 15, 2022

Save the date, we’re all becoming Cheeseheads! Our newest tour will take you to some great towns south and west of Madison, on an adventure to sample the best cheese and craft beer available. There will be plenty of bucolic countryside bicycling, plus great Wisconsin bratwurst, along with an opportunity for real ice cream. Oh, they’re pretty famous for their beer. A full itinerary will be available soon!

Guest Health and Safety

All our 2022 tours will operate using the company Safety Plan. We wrote this plan for the 2020 season and it was integral to our tours. Our goal is to provide a safe tour experience for our guests, our staff, and all our lodging and dining partners along the route.

Great Stuff for 2022

Our tour kicks off in Madison, capitol of Wisconsin. This city has so much to enjoy, it could be its own mini-vacation: music and outdoor cafes, shopping, maybe a quick tour of the capitol, and restaurants. Get your bike tour vacation started off right by arriving in Madison a day early. We have some great self-guided tours for those who wish to arrive Saturday.

There’s great value in your ticket!

Your tour fee includes 6 nights of lodging, 6 breakfast meals, and 3 dinners. As always, we have our sag wagon stocked with water, ice, fruit, snacks, and PB&J if that’s your lunch choice. Mapping service, luggage transfer, and a staff rider on the ground combine to make this a worry-free tour for you.

The tour fee is $2,900.00 for 2 guests in a shared room, or $1,750 for a solo guest in a private room. Registration is easy at the PayPal link below. Just make your $100 no-risk refundable deposit now, and we’ll invoice you for the remainder, with $500 due January 31 and the balance due May 31. Thanks!

DETAILS

Start:

June 19, 2022 @ 8:00 am

End:

June 25, 2022 @ 5:00 pm

Cost:

$1499

Event Category:

Week-Long Tours

ORGANIZER

Jim

Email:

jim@biketourvacations.com

Beer, Brats & Cheese, June 19-24 - 2 riders, shared room, deposit only $100.00 USD

Beer, Brats & Cheese, June 19-24- Solo guest, private room, deposit only $100.00 USD

The Great Waters Road Tour

bob@simplesitecompany.com (Bob Hansen) — Sun, 05 Dec 2021 20:06:58 GMT

July 9, 2022 - July 15, 2022 - $1,450

Start Date: Saturday, July 9, 2022
Duration: 7 Days
Total Miles: 250-300
Pricing: $1450.00 pp, double occupancy
Sign up Deadline: June 1, 2022

Our longest tour for the summer

We love this tour so much that we had to add an extra day! This 300 mile loop earns the name Great Waters because it takes us to the shores of three Great Lakes–Huron, Superior, and Michigan. You enjoy every shade of blue that Michigan’s UP has to offer while also seeing some man-made engineering marvels such as the Mackinac Bridge, the Neebish Cut, and the Soo Locks. This week long bike tour vacation takes us from St. Ignace, to the Soo, over to Paradise, Curtis, and back to St. Ignace. You can’t miss it!

Guest Health and Safety

Great Stuff for 2022

Our tour kicks off in St. Ignace. This little town has so much to enjoy, it could be its own mini-vacation: music and movies by the bay, shopping, maybe a quick ferry ride to historic Mackinac Island, and restaurants. Get your bike tour vacation started off right by arriving in St. Ignace a day early.

Let’s Hit the Road!

After a full day of leisure in St. Ignace on Saturday, we’ll gear up and take to the roads on Sunday. Our itinerary is packed full, beginning with a ride to Cedarville. Once we’re here, you’ll have the option to take to the waters and kayak in the beautiful Les Cheneaux Islands. Monday’s ride takes us north to where Michigan was born– Sault Ste. Marie. Here’s we’ll get to see the famous Soo Locks.

Layover Day in Paradise

On Tuesday, we ride west along the shores of Whitefish Bay to Paradise, where we’ll enjoy two nights and some sightseeing. Wednesday is our layover day with the option to bike to Whitefish Point and visit the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum , and spend your afternoon at the famous Tahquamenon Falls. Give your legs a break from the bike by hitting the trails between the upper and lower falls.

Enjoy Our Favorite Dinner Tour Stop

Thursday’s ride brings us to Curtis for a night at Chamberlin’s Ole Forest Inn–our favorite stop. This historic building is one of the highlights of the trip with its lakeside views, delicious food, cold beer on tap, and live music.

Friday, we head back to St. Ignace to round out our trip.

How it Breaks Down:

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the thought of biking 300 miles–don’t be! It’s broken down into manageable legs! In addition to our daily itinerary , you’ll have daily printed maps & cue sheets, plus electronic maps from Ride with GPS, to run on your smartphone or bike computer.

Leg One:

Leg Two:

Leg Three:

Leg Four:

Leg Five:

What’s Special

You really can’t beat the views of the Great Lakes. This trip is a perfect balance between seeing the beauty of nature, and being in awe at the resiliency of human engineering to figure out life on the lakes. The gorgeous scenery of the summertime UP is reason alone to book this trip. Fresh water, fresh air, and fresh memories–this bike vacation has everything.

Registration is easy

Reserve your spot on this tour for seven days/six nights of fun for only $1,750.00, one guest in a private room; or bring a friend to share your room, two people/two beds, one room, $1,450.00 each ($2,800.00 total). No risk refundable deposit; $500 due January 31, with the balance May 31. Please click this PayPal link to make your $100 deposit and we’ll invoice you for the rest.

DETAILS

Start:

July 9, 2022

End:

July 15, 2022

Cost:

$1450

Event Category:

Week-Long Tours

ORGANIZER

Jim

Email:

jim@biketourvacations.com

Great Waters July 9-15 - 2 riders, shared room, deposit only $100.00 USD

Great Waters July 9-15 - Solo guest, private room, deposit only $100.00 USD

Ride to Pictured Rocks

bob@simplesitecompany.com (Bob Hansen) — Sat, 04 Dec 2021 20:03:38 GMT

July 17, 2022 - July 22, 2022 - $1,350

Ride to Pictured Rocks

Start Date: July 17, 2022
Duration: 6 Days
Total Miles: 200
Pricing: $1350.00 per person, double occupancy
Sign up Deadline: June 16, 2022

We love the Ride to Pictured Rocks!

Come join us on this shore-to-shore tour of Michigan’s beautiful Upper Peninsula. We’ve carefully planned this 200+ mile loop with the best sights and experiences that the UP has to offer. From Manistique on Lake Michigan’s north shore, to Munising for the famous Pictured Rocks, and onto Grand Marais nestled on the south shore of Lake Superior, this week-long bike tour vacation has it all: nature, history, culture, comradery, and a few craft brews along the way.

Guest Health and Safety

All our tours will operate using the company Pandemic Safety Plan. We wrote this plan for the 2020 season and it was integral to our tours. Our goal is to provide a safe tour experience for our guests, our staff, and all our lodging and dining partners along the route.

Experience the Pictured Rocks by Lake and Land!

A full week of amazing activities is planned for you! Our itinerary starts out in Manistique on Sunday with an optional afternoon 30-mile loop out to Kitch-Iti-Kipi Springs in Palms Book State Park. You’ll understand why the Ojibwe named this spring “Mirror of Heaven” as you watch a crystal-clear river erupt from the ground, 30 feet below our tour boat.

Leg 1: Manistique to Munising

On Monday, we leave Manistique, heading north on quiet, paved forest roads across the UP through Shingleton, and on to Munising; we’ll enjoy two nights at the Munising lodge. Tuesday is our layover day. Give your legs a rest from your bike, and enjoy our private pontoon tour of the Pictured Rocks. Relax and take in the beauty of the multicolored, sandstone cliffs while our tour guide shares some history about the area. The afternoon is open for hiking, and seeing several of the waterfalls in Alger county.

Leg 1 of our tour

Getting ready to hit the road

Talking through the day’s upcoming ride

Biking through the MI wilderness

Pictured Rocks

Pristine shoreline

Leg 2: Munising to Grand Marais

On Wednesday we head east into Grand Marais. This gorgeous route travels through the wilds of the Upper Peninsula and along the pristine Lake Superior shoreline. Lunch at sandy Hurricane Beach, then stop to view the dunes of Log Slide, and visit the Grand Sable Visitor Center. Grand Marais is a quaint town far off the beaten path–enjoy its charm while you do some exploring on your own, and sample a craft beer from Lake Superior Brewing Company!

The route

On our way to Grand Marais

Where are we?

Pit stop

Lake Superior Brewing

Sunset in Grand Marais

Leg 3: Grand Marais to Curtis

After our stop oil Grand Marais, we we head south to Curtis on Thursday where a highlight of the trip is dinner at Chamberlin’s Ole Forest Inn. Built just after the Civil War, this wonderful old structure sits overlooking Manistique Lake. You’ll love the night here: delicious food, cold drinks from their tap-room, and live music. The stay at Chamberlin’s Ole Forest Inn is an annual fan favorite. Update May 2021: Guests registering now will enjoy lodging at our overflow inns on two nights: Wednesday at Superior Hotel in Grand Marais, and Thursday at Curtis Traveler’s Lodge in Curtis, where we will provide shuttle service to/from dinner at Chamberlin’s Ole Forest Inn.

The route

Heading to Curtis

The lake view at Chamberlin’s Ole Forest Inn

Chamberlin’s Ole Forest Inn Dining Room

Cozy campfire

Leg 4: Curtis to Manistique

Friday we complete the tour with our return to Manistique, which is topped off with the famous Box Lunch from Chamberlin’s. The tour activities conclude with your arrival back at the hotel parking lot. The hotel will offer you a special rate for Friday night; arrangements for this must be made in advance, directly with the hotel.

The Dining

Biking all day really builds up an appetite, and we don’t want you to be hangry on the roads! For this reason, many of your meals are included: Breakfast is included Monday through Friday, lunch is included Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, and dinner is included Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

What’s Special?

A better question might be, what isn’t special about the UP in summer? You won’t find anything more beautiful than the Pictured Rocks and the shores of our great lakes. Each quaint little town we’ll stay in has its own charm that you’ll love–there really isn’t a better way to explore the UP than on two wheels.

Reserve your space today!

Sign up for six days/five nights of fun for only $1,750.00, one guest in a private room; or bring a friend to share your room, two people/two beds, one room, $1,350.00 each ($2,700.00 total). Registration is quick and easy. Just click the PayPal link below to make the $100 deposit, and cancel free of obligation by January 31 if your plans change. We’ll invoice you for the balance, $500 due January 31, and the remainder due May 31.

Room partner needed : As of January 28 we have one solo male guest looking to share a room. If you're interested and would like to share a room on this tour and save the 'solo fee' surcharge, please send an email to jim@biketourvacations.com, to be put into contact with the other guest. 31.

DETAILS

Start:

July 17, 2022

End:

July 22, 2022

Cost:

$1350

Event Category:

Week-Long Tours

VENUE

Manistique

6770 W US 2
Manistique, MI 4985

Google Map

Ride to Pictured Rocks, July 17-22, deposit only - 2 riders, shared room, deposit only $100.00

Ride to Pictured Rocks, July 17-22, deposit only - Solo guest, private room, deposit only $100.00 USD

The Kal-Haven Trail Tour

bob@simplesitecompany.com (Bob Hansen) — Sat, 13 Nov 2021 19:01:48 GMT

May 21, 2022 @ 8:00 AM - $129

Date: May 21-22, 2022
Duration: 2 Days
Pricing: $129.00 per person
Sign up Deadline: April 20, 2022

Registration is open!

Start your 2022 Ride Season with us on the Kal-Haven Trail Tour! Come out for the fun and make some new friends. You get two great days of riding, plus lunch on Saturday and Sunday, and the option to pick lodging which fits your budget.

The History

The Kal-Haven Trail is one of the oldest rail-trails in Michigan, 33 miles out Saturday, and 33 miles back on Sunday. This is our 12th tour on the trail since 2011, and each time we learn something new and have a lot of fun. If you select this 33 mile distance, please be at the trail head by 9 a.m. for a 9:30 a.m. start. The crushed limestone trail winds west to South Haven, passing through Kendall and Gobels. There’s a great lunch stop for you in Bloomingdale, and then on to Lake Michigan!

New for 2022

Super-size your tour with the option to say Friday at the Hilton Garden Inn, our downtown hotel in Kalamazoo. We have a rooming block set up for you.This provides you the relaxation of being in Kalamazoo the night before the tour begins. In addition, you’ll enjoy an extra 6 or 8 miles of paved trail from downtown to the trailhead. Safe parking is available at the hotel, or if you prefer, out at the trail head.

Early or Mid-Morning Start Time

Friday guests need their luggage loaded in our sag wagon by 8:30 a.m. Guests arriving at the trail head on Saturday need to be present by 9:15 for the 9:30 start time. We need to say it again: Friday guests, load luggage by 8:30 a.m. and begin the 5-mile ride on the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail to the Kal-Haven Trail head; guests arriving Saturday come to the Kalamazoo trail head by 9:15 a.m., and enjoy 33 miles on the traffic-free crushed limestone trail all the way to South Haven.

We have a lunch stop planned in Bloomingdale, plus sag wagon support along the way. Once you get to South Haven, you’ll find many interesting shops plus a few museums. Add in the wine-tasting rooms and a brew pub, and it’s a super day!

There’s Great Value in your Tour Ticket

We haul your luggage, have a sag wagon with water, fruit & snacks, plus lunch on Saturday & Sunday. We’ve priced this tour with overnight lodging optional, as many of our guests prefer to book their own room, stay with friends, or have arrangements for camping.

Pre-season pricing will be held through January 31, 2022, and is subject to change after that date!

Extra Bonus!

Thinking of going over Friday? We’ll send you a list of Kalamazoo area hotels, suggested self-guided bike routes for Friday afternoon, and hints about a few good brew pubs.

Registration opens January 1, 2022

Reserve your space today by clicking here and put Kal-Haven Tour in the message. We’ll be sure to invoice you for the tour.

DETAILS

Date:

May 21, 2022

Time:

8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Cost:

$129

Event Category:

Week-End Tours

ORGANIZER

Jim

Email:

jim@biketourvacations.com

VENUE

Kal Haven Trailhead

4143 10th St. N.
Kalamazoo, MI 49009 United States

Google Map

Ride the White Pine Trail

bob@simplesitecompany.com (Bob Hansen) — Fri, 12 Nov 2021 19:14:26 GMT

June 10, 2022 - June 12, 2022 - $375

Enjoy an exciting June week end with a tour on the White Pine Trail. This wonderful trail runs from Cadillac all the way to Grand Rapids, and we’ve got a fun tour planned for you.

Arrive at Comstock Park on Friday afternoon and enjoy a self-guided tour showcasing bike infrastructure in Grand Rapids. Our staff will greet you after 4 p.m. at our host hotel, the Tru Hotel in Comstock Park. Your bikes will be loaded securely and locked into our moving truck on Friday night. We'll all depart via motor coach at 8 a.m. Saturday for the ride to Cadillac.

You’ll begin riding south about 10 a.m., for the 41-mile ride to Big Rapids. The ride Saturday is 100% on paved trail! We’ll have your bags unloaded at the hotel, ready for when you get to Big Rapids for the overnight stop.

Big Rapids is a nice college town, home to Ferris State University. There are many good restaurants and a brewpub for you to enjoy.

Sunday we complete the trail with return to Grand Rapids. It’s about 50 miles from Big Rapids to Grand Rapids.

The trail surface Sunday includes 29 miles of crushed limestone & cinder from Big Rapids to Sand Lake, and then 21 miles paved back to the trail head in Comstock Park. We’ve ridden on all the unpaved sections to be sure they meet our standards, and have optional routing around this, if desired.

There’s great value in your tour ticket!

The Tour Fee is $375.00 per person, double occupancy. Solo guests in a private room, only $498.00. Your ticket gets you some great benefits: Two nights of lodging, parking through Sunday afternoon, transport to Cadillac for you and your bike. We'll also carry your luggage to our host the Quality Inn of Big Rapids, and back to Comstock Park Sunday. We have lunch Saturday & Sunday planned for you; and mapping & sag service along the route.

Pre-season pricing will be held through February 28, and is subject to change after that date!

Special bonus for you, we have maps for a self-guided ride around Grand Rapids on Friday!

Registration

Online registration is open! Join this tour, 2 guests in a shared room for only $750.00; Solo guests in a private room just $498.00. Pre-season pricing will be held through February 28 2022, and is subject to change after that date!

You can reserve your space by clicking this link and put White Pine Tour in the subject line of your email. We’ll be sure to send an invoice after January 1.

DETAILS

Start:

June 10, 2022

End:

June 12, 2022

Cost:

$375.00

Event Category:

Week-End Tours

ORGANIZER

Jim

Email:

jim@biketourvacations.com

VENUE

T ru Hotel

340 Dodge Road N.E.

Comstock Park, MI 49321

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White Pine Trail

The Lakelands Trail Tour

bob@simplesitecompany.com (Bob Hansen) — Thu, 11 Nov 2021 19:31:07 GMT

September 10, 2022 - September 11, 2022

Enjoy an exciting late summer weekend with a tour on the Mike Levine Lakelands Trail State Park. This wonderful trail is named in honor of bicycling patron Mike Levine and runs from Whitmore Lake all the way to our overnight stop in Jackson, and we’ve got a fun tour planned for you.

Arrive at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Whitmore Lake trail head. Sign in and drop your luggage, and then enjoy the first 11 miles of newly paved trail to Pinckney. At Pinckney the trail changes to crushed limestone all the way to the trail end at mile 34. From here there’s a combination of paved and gravel roads for the last 9 miles to our hotel. Total for the day, 43 miles including 25 miles unpaved and 18 miles paved. We’ve ridden on all the unpaved sections to be sure they meet our standards, and have optional routing around this, if desired. We’ll have your bags unloaded at the hotel, ready for when you get to Jackson for the overnight stop.

Jackson is a nice mature city. There are many good restaurants and a brewpub for you to enjoy. Several restaurants are within walking distance of our hotel, including Red Lobster, One North Kitchen and Bar, and Yen King Chinese Restaurant. Downtown Jackson is a short Uber ride away.

Did you drop bread crumbs? Sunday we complete the trail by reversing what we did Saturday.

There’s Great Value in your Tour Ticket

We haul your luggage, have a sag wagon with water, fruit & snacks, plus lunch on Saturday & Sunday. There’s a staff rider sweeping the trail, and mapping and sag wagon service, too!

The Tour Fee for Solo guests in a private room, only $259.00. Two guests in a shared room, $389.00. Pre-season pricing will be held through January 31, 2022, and is subject to change after that date!

If you’re coming over Friday to Brighton, we’ll have a list of selected hotels near the trail head for optional lodging. Special bonus if you come in Friday, we have maps for a self-guided ride around Island Lake Recreation Area, Kensington Metro Park, and the Huron Valley Trail to Milford or Wixom!

Tour parking is scheduled at the Park & Ride lot on 9 Mile Road off of US-23, exit 54. Green Oak police are aware of our use of this well lit lot.

Registration

Online registration is open now! Just click the PayPal link below and register as a solo guest in a private room, or register two people in a shared room. Come along, this will be fun!

DETAILS

Start:

September 10, 2022

End:

September 11, 2022

Event Category:

Week-End Tours

VENUE

Park & Ride

9797 Nine Mile Road
Whitmore Lake, MI 48189

Google Map

Phone:

2483456929

Show Me the Katy Trail

bob@simplesitecompany.com (Bob Hansen) — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 15:46:45 GMT

August 27, 2022 - September 2, 2022

Start Date: August 27, 2022

Duration: 6 Days

Total Miles; 225

Pricing: $1,799/pp/double occupancy

Come to the Katy Trail!

Let us show you what the Show Me State has to offer, with 225 miles of riding along the beautiful Katy Trail from Sedalia to St. Charles. This famous crushed limestone bike trail is about 97% traffic-free, and perfect for gravel bikes and touring bikes with a little wider tire. We’ve done this tour before, and our Tour Guide Fred even grew up in Missouri.

Cool Towns & Good Food

We’ve planned overnight stops with lodging included at quaint hotels in Sedalia, Booneville, Jefferson City, Hermann, and Washington. Tour dining includes breakfast Sunday-Friday, lunch on two days, plus dinner on Sunday and Thursday. There’s also a guest reception including some of Tour Chief Jim’s best homemade cheese!

These river towns also offer wonderful dining options for you at night, and there’s a vibrant scene for those who want to wet their whistle at a local brew pub, winery, or distillery along the way.

We’ll support you along the way with our sag service including water, ice, fruit, snacks, first aid, and minor repairs.

Point B to Point A to Point B!

Logistics of this tour include your arrival in St. Charles (our ending point) on Saturday, August 20 to check in at our tour hotel and prepare for the 8 a.m. Sunday shuttle ride to Clinton. We’ll load your bike & luggage, and provide a motor coach lift to the start of the trail about 3 hours away in Clinton.

E-Bikes Welcome

Bring your E-bike, or rent one of ours. Limited selection available, please contact us for details.

Registration is quick and easy

DETAILS

Start:

August 27, 2022

End:

September 2, 2022

Event Category:

Week-Long Tours

ORGANIZER

Jim

Email:

jim@biketourvacations.com

View Organizer Website

VENUE

St. Charles, MO

Sign up for seven days/six nights of fun for only $2,199.00, one guest in a private room; or bring a friend to share your room, two people/two beds, one room, $1,799.00 each ($3,598.00 total). Registration is quick and easy. Click the PayPal link below to make your $100 deposit. $500 is due January 31, with the balance due June 15. Register now and cancel free of obligation by January 31 if your plans change.

Hiawatha Forest Gravel Adventure Tour

bob@simplesitecompany.com (Bob Hansen) — Tue, 02 Nov 2021 18:40:17 GMT

September 18, 2022 @ 4:30 pm - September 25, 2022

Start Date: September 18, 2022
Duration: 7 Days, 6 Nights
Total Miles: 200
Pricing: $1500.00 per person, double occupancy
Sign up Deadline: June 1, 2022

LIMITED SPACE, 12 Guests Maximum

New for 2022: Hiawatha Forest Gravel Adventure Tour

Gravel bikes give you freedom to escape the traffic on paved roads, to venture into wilderness, and to experience some adventure! We’re providing our full tour support for 6 days of riding on US Forest Service roads and trails in the Hiawatha National Forest in the eastern Upper Peninsula.

As you’ve come to expect from our other tours, we include mapping, staff and sag support, plus dining and lodging as outlined on the tour itinerary.

This tour is 7 days and 6 nights long starting with your arrival on the afternoon of Sunday, September 18, and ending on Saturday, September 24 about noon.

Why the Hiawatha National Forest?

This part of the Upper Peninsula is really our wheelhouse and home away from home! We’ve developed great friends in the area, including innkeepers, restauranteurs, and grocers, all part of our support network. Then consider the area: we give you Lake Michigan at the start and finish, and two nights at AuTrain on Lake Superior. All this with the protected lands of the Hiawatha National Forest in between! There’s rugged wilderness beauty including grand vistas, hidden forest lakes and streams, and bicycling on quiet moss-lined roads and sunny gravel roads.

Know before you go

This tour focuses on gravel and paved forest service roads, and there is opportunity for off-road riding on other paths. We expect about 67% of our 182 miles riding to be on gravel, and 33% on pavement. Our staff has ridden much of this on bicycles with tire sizes including 700 x 35, 38, and 42C. Our routes have been vetted on gravel roads which will allow our sag vehicles to pass. We’ve engineered as much gravel in as is practical, and avoided any ORV trails.

Riders with proper wheels and strength may wish to try some of the ORV trails, and we have optional loops on Bruno’s Run, a woodland foot path, and in the Valley Spur mountain bike trails. We truly hit only a small portion of the gravel in this area, so there is ample opportunity for ‘extra credit’ enjoyment!

Bring the proper bike for your tour. Gravel and endurance bikes, mountain bikes, and even fat-tire bikes are good. Skinny-tire road bikes will be at a disadvantage, as would recumbent trikes. Also E-bikes are welcome but are restricted from certain paths in the National Forest. Generally speaking, e-bikes may go anywhere a gas powered vehicle goes. Bruno’s Run and Valley Spur prohibit e-bikes.

This is an Adventure Tour!

New for this tour, we’re definitely off the grid for most of the tour. There are no restaurants in our tour area, and we have several new resort lodging partners for housing. We have full cooking facilities on 5 of our 6 nights on this tour, and a staff cook will strive to meet your dietary needs. We try to keep as close to motel lodging as possible- one bathroom per bedroom- and this may not be the case every night. Plan on a shared-bath situation on several nights on the tour. If you register as a solo guest in a private room, that will be provided, however you may be sharing a bathroom in a small cabin. We take necessary precautions to protect your safety on this tour; it’s likely that solo female travelers will be housed together. I encourage you to look at our lodging partners: Gray Wolf Lodge in Manistique, White Fawn Lodge in Wetmore, Northwoods Resort in AuTrain, and Burson’s Delta Resort in Wetmore.

Guest Health and Safety

All our tours will operate using our updated Pandemic Safety Plan. We wrote this plan for the 2020 season and it was integral to our tours. Our goal is to provide a safe tour experience for our guests, our staff, and all our lodging and dining partners along the route. New for 2022, we’re asking guests to confirm they are fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

Space is limited, register today

Sign up for seven days/six nights of fun for only $1,850.00, one guest in a private room; or bring a friend to share your room, two people/two beds, one room, $1,500.00 each ($3,000.00 total). Registration is quick and easy. Click the PayPal link below to make your $100 deposit. $500 is due January 31, with the balance due July 1. Register now and cancel free of obligation by January 31 if your plans change.

DETAILS

Start:

September 18, 2022 @ 4:30 pm

End:

September 24, 2022 @ 5:00 pm

Hiawatha Gravel Tour, September 18-24 -2 riders, shared room, deposit only $100.00 USD

Hiawatha Gravel Tour, September 18-24 - Solo guest, private room, deposit only $100.00 USD

When Your Body Talks to You, Please Listen

bob@simplesitecompany.com (Bob Hansen) — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 12:55:32 GMT

I’ve written about life changes here before, including blog posts about who rides a bike , and in posts about buying a new bike. I’ve been struggling with changes in my ability to stay on the bike for extended periods, as in: why do my arms hurt, and why is my average speed less than it used to be?

My favorite answer to these questions is that my decline is obviously directly related to the appearance of grandchildren, three of them since 2013, including the most recent on March 25, 2021! The truth is probably different- you know it, I know it, and the American People know it (to paraphrase Bob Dole from some years back).

A more objective look would expose a few facts. First, age advances regularly. Second, strength diminishes with age. Additionally, flexibility declines through lack of attention. I do enjoy turning the calendar each month, not just to see a new picture. Life is good, and I’ll stay focused on the gift we receive every new day. But I do love to ride my bike, and my body is telling me that I need to identify some strategies to cope with these changes, aches and pains.

Bike Fit

I knew last summer that my spindley arms give out before my legs do. In other words, it’s hard to hang on to the handlebars for long rides. If I’ve changed due to loss of strenght and lack of flexibility, does my bike still fit OK? I called fitmi! in Ann Arbor to schedule a re-fit of the bike to me. You may recall my visit there 3 years ago. Jessica Bratus is good at what she does; consequently she is booked a solid 12 weeks out. Due to schedule, the first fitting which I could make was this past week, and I dutifully brought over my road bike and electric bikes. Her work space is properly set up with open ventilation to maintain Covid-19 protocol.

I explained to her the problem about my arms not lasting long enough, specifically pain from arm pit to elbow on both arms after about an hour of riding. After riding for a few moments on the stand, she had a theory: my discomfort is probably due to an unbalanced core strength issue. Her plan was to bring my center fo gravity to the rear and down, lessening the load on my arms. To achieve this, she adjusted the handlebars up and back, and lowered the seat. Cleats were replaced and adjusted on both pair of shoes to bring my toes forward, assisting in the shift. A new handlebar stem for the e-bike, plus a seat post for the road bike are also part of the solution.

I can’t say enough about her attention to detail, or to the value of a professional bike fitting. She’s added to her professional certifications and beefed up the equipment used, both hardware and software. She’s got a new, very cool app on her iPad which uses video stop-action to show alignment throughout a normal power stroke. The first 25-mile ride after the refitting was without issue!

If you experience any chronic pain issues on your bike, please consider a professional bike fitting.

Let’s get stretchy

Part 2 of my plan to be more comfortable on the bike includes replacing something which was lost to the pandemic: my regular yoga practice. I used to take classes at the local Powerhouse Gym, but they evaporated last March, and then I moved away from their location. In January I searched on Youtube for ‘yoga for cyclists’ and found a good routine from Tim Senesi here. There were dozens of links to choose from, but the bonus is that Tim offered a 30-day challenge online. My regular yoga practice was back, on the big screen TV!

Part 3, arm strength

Pumping iron around at the gym has never been a favorite activity of mine; this is a mental barrier I have to overcome if I want may arms to hang in with my legs for the long haul. I did get a set of resistance stretch workout bands, now the challenge is to find a routine to follow yoga. Do you have a strength routine to share? If so, please drop a note about it.

The Look-ahead

This will be a busy summer for me, and I’m looking forward to it. I have six tours across Minnesota and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on the books right now. As Tour Chief, I’ll have plenty of opportunity to test arm strength while moving luggage, and right now it looks like I’ll be riding a full loop of the Great Waters Tour , and also the Ride to Pictured Rocks. Maybe you’d like to come along. There’s plenty of room for you to join a tour, please check them out here!

Filed Under: Bicycle Tours , Motivation , Travel

The Booyah post-

Tue, 26 Jan 2021 22:37:00 GMT

Friends recently made me aware of Booyah, a “culinary delight” from the Upper Midwest. Basically you clean out leftovers from the ‘fridge. I’m using that recipe to help with this blog post, as I have a smorgasbord of unrelated ideas to share with you. This metaphorical meal will dazzle you with hints of nostalgia for prepcovid life, notes of virtual adaptation to the ‘new normal,’ and then we’ll cleanse the palate with plans for a better, bike-filled 2021. Booyah.

Iowa Rocks!

From the comfort of your home please check out the show at this link and stop by our virtual booth! This is uncharted territory for us, but we’ll make the best of it. Added bonus for you: in addition to a giveaway at our booth (rechargeable safety lights, bike gloves & socks) we’re also putting all of our week-long tours on-sale, for a savings of $100 per person! Watch our new video on Youtube here, to get a sense of what our week-long tours are like, but it’s a teaser. you’ll need to register for the Iowa show to see the good stuff.

Step up your game

Have you revised your goals for Better Biking in 2021? I have. You see, the social distancing that we’ve adapted to has kept me off my yoga mat for 9 months, and also removed my exercise classes. As a result, since late summer my arms have given out before my legs do on almost every bike ride. This makes it tough to hang on to the handlebars at the end of the ride. Also, the ease with which I mount & dismount the bike has become difficult to find. In short I’ve turned into a stiff old guy with spaghetti arms. To resolve these issues I’ve written a plan to restore some flexibility and strength so I ride better in 2021.

Step One, I’ve joined a 30-day challenge with Yoga Master Tim Senesi. I’m halfway through the challenge and loving it, and searching for the breath to forgive myself for letting yoga drop last March. I’m also enlisting some help from Sue Hansen, a local yoga instructor who led some stretching while on the Ride to Pictured Rocks Tour last summer. Step Two will be to find online weight training to boost my arm strength–looking to upgrade my spaghetti arms to at least macaroni or penne arms so I can ride without so much fatigue; your suggestions are welcome here.

Finding your Champions (know your resources)

There’s so much more to better biking, beyond yoga and strength classes. In a way these online PE classes are low-hanging fruit: they are important, but not the goal. Already we know that my competitive days are in the past, so instead of trophies I’m looking for champions. I’ve become very fond of finding people who are champions for bicycling, interviewing them, and then blogging about them to share their story.

One strategy I use is to follow cycling friends on Facebook and other forums. I look for those who are leaders for the cycling cause, and I hope this is apparent to those of you who’ve been following my blog posts. Since 2018 I’ve published 4 blog posts on bicycle safety, and 11 posts on people doing unusual or exceptional things with bicycles. These blog posts were all focused on someone or something else- hidden resources. Hopefully you’ve found an inspiration or strategy in them to improve your cycling. If nothing else, perhaps you found a greater sense of community in the cycling world–a camaraderie with fellow cyclists, even ones you haven’t met. Sure, physical training can and will improve your biking, but so will keeping informed about the endeavors of the greater cycling community as a whole.

Butt In Any Time

I’ll soon have more to say about Greg and Michelle. Each provide leadership and support for cycling in the City of Detroit, and their efforts are getting noticed.

In the photo: Tour Chief Jim, Michelle, Tom, and Greg, at Milliken State Park in Detroit.

Take a cue from friends

We shared a phone call so I could learn more about the virtual events, and why she likes them. For Sharon it’s been a way to stay active, to feel support from a mentor. She now has 3 bikes and won’t use her car for trips of less than 5 miles. She’s tough, too. Her home is in Ludington MI, on the snowy coast of Lake Michigan. Keep it up, Sharon! She’s in the photo here, at the Pickle Barrel House Museum in Grand Marais, MI, on our Ride to Pictured Rocks Tour.

Put something on your calendar

January is almost over; have you ridden your bike yet? I understand how difficult this can be in the snow and ice. Take the first step: get your calendar out and pencil in a ride. While the weather may not be the most enjoyable, there is much to love about winter biking. For sure, layers are needed to endure the cold, but certainly you’ll stay warm once you get your legs moving. Air is medicine, and if you’ve ever been in a bike rut, crisp winter air is just what the doctor ordered.

The first is a ride beginning and ending at your house, no auto travel involved . I suggested that a good goal would be to do this 3 to 4 times per week. The second type of ride is a day trip- carry your bike in the car to a ‘new’ local destination, maybe join friends at a new location. Suggested frequency, weekly. The third type of ride is an overnight trip with your bike, and I can think of dozens of events ranging from weekend to week-long tours. Do this three or 4 times each year and you’ll have a great season.

So, get your calendar today and put something down on it. This calendar vision is maybe your first step to a better year ahead.

From our ride in Detroit on January 21, a special bonus. The Algoma Sault was idling in the Detroit River, just begging to have a photo made. Shipping on the Great Lakes is a feature of many of our tours, offering you the chance to see these giant freighters first-hand.

As always, your comments are welcome, please send them to us at this link.

The post The Booyah post- appeared first on Bike Tour Vacations .

The Booyah Post

bob@simplesitecompany.com (Bob Hansen) — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 14:01:22 GMT

Iowa Rocks!

Normally I would be headed to Des Moines the last Saturday in January for the Iowa Bicycle Coalition Expo, a large bike travel show. This Iowa convention is important because it’s one of the few opportunities this winter to be in contact with other cyclists from all over. If you’ve been reading along with our blog for any amount of time, you know that something I love about this job is meeting other cyclists. This year, we’ll miss the buzz of being in person at the expo more than ever, but we’ll happily settle for a virtual event if it means we still get to connect with others and chat about biking.

Step up your game

Finding your Champions (know your resources)

Butt In Any Time

I enjoy gathering the interviews, the necessary research to blogging. I’ve found some success inviting myself to ride with strangers for non-standard rides–a second strategy I have for finding champions. A week ago on a rare warmish January afternoon, my friend Tom Jackson and I met up with Greg Tarver and Michelle Pryor for a spin around downtown Detroit. We had a great time talking up a storm while riding by many of the sights of the city. The take-away: don’t be afraid to invite yourself along on a ride like this.

I’ll soon have more to say about Greg and Michelle. Each provide leadership and support for cycling in the City of Detroit, and their efforts are getting noticed.

In the photo: Tour Chief Jim, Michelle, Tom, and Greg, at Milliken State Park in Detroit.

Take a cue from friends

I have a friend who is also a returning guest; Sharon Edgar has joined our River Towns Tour for this June, her 5th tour with us. Sharon is an adult convert to cycling, and she’s up for a challenge. In fact, she had her first 1,000 mile months last summer on a virtual bike challenge and racked up over 7000 miles in 2020! The virtual challenges were so good for her that she’s recommended the program to me, and to the other guests on the tour. I’ve been leary of virtual events, but I have to check this out based on Sharon’s experience.

Put something on your calendar

A year ago, when we could still be out in public and not shuttered up, I gave a new presentation to a group at the local library: Where to Ride in Michigan. I had taken my old travelogue and updated it with some ideas on how to ride, peppered with tour photos to illustrate where to ride. The how-to boils down to thinking about three kinds of rides, and the frequency you do them.

The first is a ride beginning and ending at your house, no auto travel involved . I suggested that a good goal would be to do this 3 to 4 times per week. The second type of ride is a day trip- carry your bike in the car to a ‘new’ local destination, maybe join friends at a new location. Suggested frequency, weekly. The third type of ride is an overnight trip with your bike, and I can think of dozens of events ranging from weekend to week-long tours. Do this three or 4 times each year and you’ll have a great season.

So, get your calendar today and put something down on it. This calendar vision is maybe your first step to a better year ahead.

Parting shot

As always, your comments are welcome, please send them to us at this link.

Travel tips for the pandemic

Fri, 18 Dec 2020 16:30:00 GMT

Can we travel again safely?

I’ve become a professional traveler over the past 10 years, recently averaging about 100 nights on the road annually. Thanks to the thief, Mr. Covid, 2020 is devoid of life’s usual enjoyments. Most notable for me is the lack of travel; I’m down almost 50% for 2020 vs. 2019, and I imagine that’s true for most of you folks, too. As Tour Chief, and someone who promotes travel, I get many questions about how to travel safely. While my standard answers are virtually second nature today, I found I was missing a guide on pandemic travel–for others and myself. I’ve been suffering some stress over an upcoming February snowbird trip to Arizona, and I needed to do my research to make sure that trip can happen with appropriate precautions.

In the midst of a pandemic, questions about travel safety are especially important. Given public fatigue over being in cooped up in quarantine, I thought it made sense to search for reputable sources on guidelines for safe travel. Unfortunately Google did not return a concise answer. On one hand, my many travel sources all say “Yes, come travel today!” Every tour operator, resort, and hotel has special plans to protect you from the pandemic. Yet, this exuberance flies in the face of news about the sharp uptick in infections and hospitalizations across the country. Which story is correct? What conditions make it safe to travel?

This topic has been in flux for all of 2020. Experts are constantly learning new information, and those facts then undergo constant analysis. In public health, “harm reduction” means acknowledging that people are going to take risks while still trying to make their behavior as safe as possible (from Why the CDC changed its Covid-19 quarantine guidelines (msn.com). Two things are true: we’ve gotten more evidence on how the coronavirus spreads, and the public has become fatigued with the pandemic resulting in resistance to tougher measures and urges to stay home. Consequently, health officials have increasingly taken a harm reduction approach to fighting Covid-19 rather than applying stringent stay-at-home orders.

A guide for Safe Travel

If you’re looking for information on your seasonal winter travel plans, a good place to start is AARP’s answers to 8 questions focused on snowbird travel. This information will carry-over for my guests traveling to tour this coming summer.

8 Questions Every Snowbird Needs To Ask

Consider these questions one at a time as you prepare your checklist. Items #1 & #5 are self-evident- do you have pre-existing conditions which make travel risky? If so, it might be best to stay home. If no pre-existing conditions are present, it may be just as safe to self-isolate in the Arizona sunshine as it is indoors under the mantle of winter in the Great Lakes.

Do some research and examine current trends to see if there is a statistical difference between health activities at your destination vs. at home. If the rate of Covid-19 infections are similar and you’re going to self-isolate, there may not be increased risk associated with being away.

How you travel to your destination is an interesting topic. Air quality on commercial jets has never been better according to this article. Airbus, Boeing, and Embraer have each published data on improvements in cabin air quality due to the pandemic, as have the major airlines. Additionally, masks are required on all flights. This does not reduce your risk to zero; however, air travel is probably as safe as ever.

If you travel by car, be aware that your risk of Covid-19 infection comes from stopping along the way for gas, rest stops, and food. It’s appropriate to have face masks in use when you exit your car, along with disposable gloves if you’re handling a gas pump handle. Also use sanitizing hand wipes and an alcohol-based sanitizer when you return to your vehicle. For safety, we recommend drive-through dining along your route, to limit contact with strangers.

Are you staying overnight along the way? Every hotelier worth his or her salt has upgraded their cleaning practices to protect their staff and you. The good ones will share this information with you ahead of time, and if they won’t, find a different hotel.

Remember that when you arrive at your destination after travel, you represent a bigger threat to the locals than they do to you. Do not drop your guard simply because you’ve reached your condo. Keep on with appropriate masking, hand washing, etc. If you’re visiting friends, consider meeting outdoors for a meal, and save the hugging & kissing for another time. This is a big change from our previously acceptable social norms, but no one should risk getting sick over a quick visit from you.

Due Diligence

If traveling isn’t out of the question for you, there are a few non-negotiable items you need be certain to take care of. You’ll want to know about hospitals and clinics when you arrive at your destination, just in case–and honestly, it’s not a bad idea to know this information whenever you travel, pandemic or not. For snowbird travel, this information should be easily available at your destination resort or hotel. If you’re traveling on an organized tour, have a discussion with the tour operator to be sure they know what to do in case of a health emergency. Checking in with your health insurance carrier about travel advisories and available coverage at your destination is another must-do prior to your trip.

Collateral Damage

There are more considerations for pandemic travel than personal safety precautions. Do you provide primary care and support for other family members? If yes, who will cover for you when you’re out of town? Will you be required to isolate or quarantine upon return home? Does travel impact your employment with a mandatory quarantine when you return? There are no easy answers here, but you’re wise to have answers before you finalize plans. If you’re uncomfortable with any of your answers, your trip will probably need to wait.

Send in the Cavalry

Yes, bring on the vaccinations, but don’t fall into the trap of expecting Covid-19 to disappear in the blink of an eye. The hype over the vaccine is largely positive, but the public underestimates the timeline for rollout. It is also naive to expect universal compliance–how many times have you seen friends post on Facebook about letting the eager ones go first? There is noticeable “let them test it before I take it” attitude present on social media. Anti-vaxers will stay away, as will those ultra-partisan folks who associate the vaccine with the opposite party. All of these conditions make for slow herd immunity, which will draw out the length of time before life is normal again.

Keep your Guard Up

My neighbor is a Colonel in the Army National Guard, on active duty helping manage Covid-19 response across a wide region of the country. His advice on casual travel is simple–don’t do it. This is based largely on a belief that people let their guard down while traveling. Think of sitting unmasked for an extra drink or cup of coffee at a restaurant, or mingling too close to others who don’t observe good social distancing. Traveling inherently brings out a person’s laissez faire attitude toward life, but the unfortunate reality is that this moment in time calls for diligence.

How to decide

No one can tell you with certainty when travel will be safe again. Please check out our cheat sheet of a dozen or so questions about travel. Keep track of how many questions you answer ‘yes’ to, vs. how many ‘nos’ you generate. We like all Yes answers, so your discernment will have to come about if you have more than a few No answers on the quiz.

Need more?

Check out these links to travel this winter, and travel safely! Oh, be sure to send your thoughts about travel, we’d love to hear from you here!

8 Questions Every Snowbird Should Ask in the COVID Era (aarp.org) news from AARP

How Many Snowbirds Will Be Flying South for the Winter? – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

With COVID-19, will snowbirds still answer the call of warmer weather? (newswise.com) Arizona

Coronavirus Update: Maps And Charts For U.S. Cases And Deaths : Shots – Health News : NPR

Is Your Hospital Overwhelmed With COVID-19 Patients? Find Out With This Tool : Shots – Health News : NPR

The post Travel tips for the pandemic appeared first on Bike Tour Vacations .

Travel cheat sheet

Sat, 12 Dec 2020 19:16:00 GMT

Travel Checklist

The post Travel cheat sheet appeared first on Bike Tour Vacations .

Travel tips for the pandemic

bob@simplesitecompany.com (Bob Hansen) — Sat, 12 Dec 2020 14:04:00 GMT

Can we travel again safely?

A guide for Safe Travel

8 Questions Every Snowbird Needs To Ask

Due Diligence

Collateral Damage

Send in the Cavalry

Yes, bring on the vaccinations, but don’t fall into the trap of expecting Covid-19 to disappear in the blink of an eye. The hype over the vaccine is largely positive, but the public underestimates the timeline for rollout. It is also naive to expect universal compliance–how many times have you seen friends post on Facebook about letting the eager ones go first? There is noticeable “let them test it before I take it” attitude present on social media. Anti-vaxers will stay away, as will those ultra-partisan folks who associate the vaccine with the opposite party. All of these conditions make for slow herd immunity, which will draw out the length of time before life is normal again.

Keep your Guard Up

How to decide

Need more?

Check out these links to travel this winter, and travel safely! Oh, be sure to send your thoughts about travel, we’d love to hear from you here!

8 Questions Every Snowbird Should Ask in the COVID Era (aarp.org) news from AARP

How Many Snowbirds Will Be Flying South for the Winter? – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

With COVID-19, will snowbirds still answer the call of warmer weather? (newswise.com) Arizona

Coronavirus Update: Maps And Charts For U.S. Cases And Deaths : Shots – Health News : NPR

Is Your Hospital Overwhelmed With COVID-19 Patients? Find Out With This Tool : Shots – Health News : NPR

Lemonade, anyone?

Sat, 28 Nov 2020 18:09:00 GMT

This past year was a bit of a stinker. Everyone we know changed plans due to Covid-19, yet some folks still had a good riding season despite the chaos of 2020. I went and checked with several of our past blog interviewees to see how they managed to be bicycling in the pandemic. I was curious to see if they made lemonade from lemons.

Tom & Toni: Tried, tested, and cautious

T om & Toni don’t wear masks on the bike, so I asked, what science or facts can you support your mask decision? “We’re relying on studies that indicate Covid-19 is less contagious outside due to more circulating air, and the fact that you’re moving and not staying in one place of contagion. We do not ride in groups or pelotons where risk may be higher according to some studies.”

A Letdown, and future plans

Even though Tom & Toni were able to modify their cycling plans, that doesn’t mean that they weren’t disappointed. What was the emotional letdown like when you cancelled your 2020 plans? “It was hard to believe this was happening” said Toni. “We spent weeks planning our trips up to a year in advance, including all accommodations, driving routes, and other travel related to the areas for biking. It took days to cancel and some tours would only allow us to transfer funds to a future tour. At our age, it’s not like we have unlimited time to accomplish all the goals we have for cycling adventures. We feel cheated by the pandemic, but it does give one a sense of urgency to not put off dreams and goals you have for your life. Life is short…live now! We’ve shifted gears though and have done more hiking, gardening, home remodeling, and been a tourist in our own town.”

Tom & Toni have already got bookings for October 2021.

Paul: Still Commuting

I wanted to know about the trails he uses– how busy they were, if people were socially distranced, if people wore masks, etc. I asked about his impressions of other trail users. “There seems to be as many walkers as normal, perhaps a few more riding bikes” said Paul, ” Very few wear masks outside; those that do are mostly people walking together closely. I suspect they are not related, but just meeting up for a walk.”

I continued with mask questions: Do you wear one while riding? “Generally not. I was in one bike race this year in Saranac, MI, a Dirty Thirty Gravel race. You were require to wear a mask at the starting line an for the first mile, so I used a gaiter.”

What science or facts support your mask decisions? “Outdoors, if you’re not near others, there is little risk. This is in accordance with state guidelines at mi.gov/coronavirus: “A face mask is not required when exercising outdoors and (you are ) able to maintain a 6 foot distance’ and ‘Per recent Executive Order, Michiganders are require to wear a face covering whenever they are in an indoor public space. It also require the use of face coverings in crowded outdoor spaces.”

Bill the Bike Medic: Staying Busy with Support Services

What changed? “We moved to an alternate location” said Bill, “which allowed the team to spread out. Facebook helped with our scheduling, we sanitized every bike with a thorough wash, didn’t share tools, created separate areas (drop-off, wash, wheels, brakes, drive train, pickup), limited contact with customers to only drop off and pick up stations. We used an App to communicate with each other what we observed, fixed, and couldn’t fix. It was VERY different from prior years, but we were convinced it was the right thing to do when people were scared and hurting.”

Bike Medic wrapped up operations in June, once bike shops were reopened. That left Bill with some time to train for the Make-A-Wish event. His plans for 2021? “Bike Medic will be back, hopefully at the Farmer’s Market, and I want to ride a century. I’ve come close, but never hit that mark.”

A group stays active

I like to maintain contact with local groups, including Cycling for Active Adults from Farmington, Michigan. The club couldn’t host regular group rides, so several of the members created a Facebook page, We’re Still Riding. I joined the page and to my surprise have come to learn that the group has recorded over 48,000 miles of riding in 2020.

Their M.O. remains simple: take many regular rides of a manageable distance on safe streets or trails. They lost the ability to ride in big groups, and the breakfast rides and stops at DQ were out. Still, they found resilience by bicycling in the pandemic.

A New Friend

Along the way I noticed Facebook posts from Greg Tarver. His posts are always informative, and they usually include photos of curiosities spotted along his rides. He’ll soon hit 5000 miles for the year, a high-water mark for sure!

I asked about his pandemic riding strategy. “Once I realized the big rides were cancelled, I set a goal of a metric century in a day” said Greg. ” I started with 20-mile rides, then bumped it to 30 miles using side streets from Metro Beach back to Grosse Point, 7 and Moross.” Those familiar with Detroit will recognize that he’s an east-sider. “I’m riding as much as I can” he continued. “I’m one of those who finds out which way the wind is blowing, and then head out into it so I’ll have a tailwind on the way home. Some of my friends have called up to join me for part of a ride, all of us would wear a mask, trying to stay safe. I usually sweep if there’s a group.”

It’s not all the same

No big group rides, no festivals. “A lot of my biking friends have been absent” Greg laments. “We’re not gathering up in groups anymore. I miss the camaraderie associated with biking.”

Greg did post a series of photos of Halloween decorations. One which caught my eye included a ghost hanging by a noose, in one of the east suburbs. “The picture of the noose” Greg continues, “my first thought was maybe they haven’t put up the rest of the decorations. But they never added to it. This person was trying to send a message, with a middle school just down the street from there…”

We had a frank talk about race and the difference between cycling in Detroit vs. the suburban area. Greg is clear to plan his routes based on road design and traffic conditions. One component of metro driving is knowing that not all motorists are on the lookout for danger, and many ignore traffic signals. He sticks to roads with bike lanes or 25 MPH speed limits for safety.

The Take Away

I’m continuously impressed by the resiliency and ingenuity of the biking community here in Michigan. So many people were able to find respite from the pandemic on their bikes by adapting their cycling practices to keep themselves and others safe.

There are a few common traits among our friends above that should be noted. Everyone was adaptable and resilient, and everyone was aware of pandemic protocol. While there was disappointment at having to make changes, they all thrived by finding new ways to be active. Several reached new goals for 2020, and all are thinking ahead to 2021.

Your Story

Do you have a positive lesson from cycling in the pandemic? Please share it here by dropping a quick note to Tour Chief Jim . Thank you!

The post Lemonade, anyone? appeared first on Bike Tour Vacations .

Lemonade, anyone?

bob@simplesitecompany.com (Bob Hansen) — Sat, 28 Nov 2020 17:38:36 GMT

Tom & Toni: Tried, tested, and cautious

Tom & Toni Blanken have been featured here before. They’re close to completing a ride in each of the 50 states, but their quest was unfortunately derailed this year. I wanted to know how they were prioritizing both safety and cycling, so here’s a bit of their game plan: What was your 2020 strategy to stay safe and still ride your bikes? Toni answered: “We cancelled all 6 bike tours we had scheduled for 2020. We continued to ride near home on rural roads and trails, and indoors in Zwift’s virtual bicycling world. We did not join any group rides due to Covid-19. We’re both over 65 and have taken a very cautious approach.”

T om & Toni don’t wear masks on the bike, so I asked, what science or facts can you support your mask decision? “We’re relying on studies that indicate Covid-19 is less contagious outside due to more circulating air, and the fact that you’re moving and not staying in one place of contagion. We do not ride in groups or pelotons where risk may be higher according to some studies.”

A Letdown, and future plans

Even though Tom & Toni were able to modify their cycling plans, that doesn’t mean that they weren’t disappointed. What was the emotional letdown like when you cancelled your 2020 plans? “It was hard to believe this was happening” said Toni. “We spent weeks planning our trips up to a year in advance, including all accommodations, driving routes, and other travel related to the areas for biking. It took days to cancel and some tours would only allow us to transfer funds to a future tour. At our age, it’s not like we have unlimited time to accomplish all the goals we have for cycling adventures. We feel cheated by the pandemic, but it does give one a sense of urgency to not put off dreams and goals you have for your life. Life is short…live now! We’ve shifted gears though and have done more hiking, gardening, home remodeling, and been a tourist in our own town.”

Tom & Toni have already got bookings for October 2021.

Paul: Still Commuting

Paul Guthrie has managed to stay on-track through the pandemic. He’s gone over 7500 miles this year! His strategy was simple. “Most scheduled events were cancelled, so I continue to commute, and I did more solo exploring around my area, and also some ‘vacation’ rides with a friend in other parts of Michigan.”

I wanted to know about the trails he uses– how busy they were, if people were socially distranced, if people wore masks, etc. I asked about his impressions of other trail users. “There seems to be as many walkers as normal, perhaps a few more riding bikes” said Paul, ” Very few wear masks outside; those that do are mostly people walking together closely. I suspect they are not related, but just meeting up for a walk.”

I continued with mask questions: Do you wear one while riding? “Generally not. I was in one bike race this year in Saranac, MI, a Dirty Thirty Gravel race. You were require to wear a mask at the starting line an for the first mile, so I used a gaiter.”

What science or facts support your mask decisions? “Outdoors, if you’re not near others, there is little risk. This is in accordance with state guidelines at mi.gov/coronavirus: “A face mask is not required when exercising outdoors and (you are ) able to maintain a 6 foot distance’ and ‘Per recent Executive Order, Michiganders are require to wear a face covering whenever they are in an indoor public space. It also require the use of face coverings in crowded outdoor spaces.”

Bill the Bike Medic: Staying Busy with Support Services

We featured Bike Medic Bill Rittinger and his team of helpers with their unique approach to Christian outreach through bicycle maintenance. It should come as no surprise that they were innovative during the pandemic. As Bill tells it , ” We were able to offer services, though it was quite different. We saw the need in late April as people were cooped up at home and couldn’t even go to a bike repair shop. Our ministry, offering outdoor service, was a perfect fit and met a lot of needs.”

What changed? “We moved to an alternate location” said Bill, “which allowed the team to spread out. Facebook helped with our scheduling, we sanitized every bike with a thorough wash, didn’t share tools, created separate areas (drop-off, wash, wheels, brakes, drive train, pickup), limited contact with customers to only drop off and pick up stations. We used an App to communicate with each other what we observed, fixed, and couldn’t fix. It was VERY different from prior years, but we were convinced it was the right thing to do when people were scared and hurting.”

A group stays active

A New Friend

I asked about his pandemic riding strategy. “Once I realized the big rides were cancelled, I set a goal of a metric century in a day” said Greg. ” I started with 20-mile rides, then bumped it to 30 miles using side streets from Metro Beach back to Grosse Point, 7 and Moross.” Those familiar with Detroit will recognize that he’s an east-sider. “I’m riding as much as I can” he continued. “I’m one of those who finds out which way the wind is blowing, and then head out into it so I’ll have a tailwind on the way home. Some of my friends have called up to join me for part of a ride, all of us would wear a mask, trying to stay safe. I usually sweep if there’s a group.”

It’s not all the same

No big group rides, no festivals. “A lot of my biking friends have been absent” Greg laments. “We’re not gathering up in groups anymore. I miss the camaraderie associated with biking.”

Giant spiders come for Halloween

The Take Away

Your Story

Do you have a positive lesson from cycling in the pandemic? Please share it here by dropping a quick note to Tour Chief Jim . Thank you!

Plans for the future, Covid Part 4

Mon, 19 Oct 2020 21:24:00 GMT

Our 2020 tour season, beat up by Covid-19 and greatly reduced in size, has passed here without incident. I’d like to share with you some of the lessons learned this summer, and how we’ll act and implement changes to our tour plans for the future.

Please know this is not a celebration blog post, and we have no illusions today about a victory over Covid-19. An asymptomatic guest could have spoiled all our fun. Also, the brief season could have been impacted by any of the other risks normally associated with travel and bicycle touring. These risks still exist; my job is to be aware and proactive in preventing accident, illness or injury.

In an earlier blog post we identified risk and listed conditions which needed to be present in order to tour. By the time we were cleared to tour, most of our guests had cancelled or postponed their participation to a later year. As a result, our sample size is small but the lessons carry forward and are scalable.

Some new things

Our guests enjoyed a new social-distanced dining plan this past summer. We enjoyed carry-out restaurant food, or dined al fresco, or cooked our own food for almost all of the meals this summer. The purpose of this is obvious: to limit contact between our guests and the rest of the world by avoiding sitting inside enclosed restaurants. This is one trend which will continue for some time to come.

Our sag stops looked different too. Gloved & masked staff handled all food, and we required our cyclist guests to wash and sanitize their hands before getting food or snacks. The hand-washing was a renewed process. First, we asked guests to ‘wash’ their hands clean of sweat or road grime by using a disposable wet wipe. Next, a squirt of hand sanitizer finished the process. The truth is we’ve had hand wipes and sanitizer at our sag stops for years. They’ve come to the head of the food line for obvious reasons this year.

In prior years, our plan always was to have room keys in hand and luggage distributed before any guest arrived at the hotel, and we made it about 75% of the time. This year, we made a stronger effort due to Covid. We delivered luggage at all hotels to each room before any guest arrived. The purpose, again, is to insulate our guests from hotel staff, and vice versa.

Some missing items

Take a road trip and you’ll notice reduced services at highway rest stops- bathrooms are open but drinking fountains are closed, perhaps access to travel service & maps is closed. Hotels no longer provide daily room freshening when you stay multiple nights, in order to limit contact between their staff and guests. Every hotel on our tour would happily provide extra towels or services, but only on request.

The foodservice industry is grappling with Covid restrictions. Many restaurants still offer only carry-out service, and those with indoor dining have reduced capacity and limited staff. Patio service at bars & brewpubs can be appealing, but cooler temps will soon make this unattractive.

There’s more, or maybe less. No more handshakes or high-fives. Hugs and kisses between family members only. Live music is usually outside.

The challenge for a tour operator is to hide these missing items and replace them with better things, better programs, better dining-all for your safety.

Some things are the same

The outdoor sights and sounds of the Great Lakes never get old. Our open-road touring on quiet and safe roads remains unchanged. The thrill of introducing you to a new experience remains unchanged. Encouraging guests to try something new, and to lead by example, is still a thrill.

Bicycle touring is a great way to stay active and provide this excitement to you.

Look Ahead

It’s the end of October and there’s an election in a week. It’s hard to imagine an outcome which will eliminate Covid-19 before next summer. Our ongoing safety plan will include strategy to fight the spread of illness while providing the best parts of touring for your enjoyment.

First, we’ve adjusted the calendar to cluster our tours in more limited areas: Minnesota in June, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in July. Our staff will also enjoy a 2-week break between states, so they don’t bring any infection between tours.

We’re enhancing our dining plan. Restaurants are getting better with carry-out, and at the same time we’re getting better at menu planning. We’re attacking the breakfast problem too; several towns on our routes have very limited options due to scarcity of cooks & servers. We’ve already secured upgraded lodging to help with this.

Come Join Us

The 2021 tour calendar is posted on our website, and you can register risk-free for any tour- the deposit is only $100. We’ll freely transfer you between tours if needed, and we’ll provide a relaxed refund policy if Covid threatens the season. As always, your questions and comments are welcome, please send them at this link.

The post Plans for the future, Covid Part 4 appeared first on Bike Tour Vacations .

Travel cheat sheet

bob@simplesitecompany.com (Bob Hansen) — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 12:55:01 GMT

Touring in the Pandemic: Part 3 of our series on Covid-19

Sat, 18 Jul 2020 18:15:00 GMT

Can we tour yet? Do we have guests who understand the risk, and how to stay safe? Based on all the study and discussion with other tour leaders, I think touring on a small scale will be OK.

A Qualified Start

Condition #2 covers logistics of lodging and dining. We’ve confirmed that our hotel and restaurant travel partners have kept pace and been able to implement safe practices. From repeated online and telephone investigation and a road trip by our U.P. staff, we know all our hotels have procedures in place to protect our guests as well as their own staff. In addition, guests will get their room keys directly from tour staff, eliminating contact with the front desk.

Dining has special logistical opportunities, and a combination of outdoor dining and carry-out meals will help protect our guests. This may be our biggest challenge, but our guests are able to roll with the new style.

The third question is staff preparedness. Covid-19 has limited the number of our staff leaders who can tour in 2020, and we now have 6 leaders split between two tours in the U.P., plus one more for a private tour near Traverse City. All are engaged and have studied best practices for Covid-19, and every one believes strongly in the company policy regarding masks and social distancing.

Remember that Bike Tour Vacations is well positioned to test the waters for several reasons. Over the past 9 summers we’ve honed our skills working with small groups. In addition, we’re touring in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, a region largely free from pandemic issues. Our small group size really plays into this plan.

Before Leaving Home

Social distancing brings no charm to the party. In spite of this, our guests are advised to limit contact beginning 2 weeks prior to the tour date. We’ve also relaxed cancellation policies a bit, so anyone who feels ill or has been exposed can call before leaving home to discuss options. An ill guest is not compelled to attend the tour for financial reasons.

Getting There

Our guests like to drive to the tour, and many will spend a night on the road getting to the start. Driving the car presents almost zero Covid-19 risk. The problem with driving is that you need to stop for food & fuel. We recommend bundling activities when stopping along the way, to make better use of your time spent washing hands. A stop for the bathroom can frequently be combined with gassing up the car and picking up a quick meal. Please wear a face mask when outside the car, and always wash hands or use sanitizer at each stop.

On the Tour

We’re going to insulate our guests from hotel and restaurant staff, and vice-versa. Guests see our staff for room keys, not the hotel staff. Dining is also enhanced this summer. We expect almost all our tour meals will be served outdoors, either on a patio or at a park or picnic area. In addition, carry-out meals will make up a large portion of our dining.

These actions are a significant change from the way things used to be. Remember they provide some necessary protection for our guests, and for our many vendors along the route.

Some things are the same

Oh, I still make cheese, and a bunch of it was packaged for tour before the pandemic hit. This always tastes good with a glass of wine after a good ride!

Arriving back at Home

The CDC does not recommend quarantine on arrival back home, however several states do. Please check with local authorities and follow their advice. Remember that when you travel and arrive somewhere new, and when you get back home, you represent a bigger threat to the locals than they do to you.

What’s Next

The post Touring in the Pandemic: Part 3 of our series on Covid-19 appeared first on Bike Tour Vacations .

Crisis Management & Covid-19 Part 2: Interview with the doctors

Fri, 15 May 2020 20:10:00 GMT

The Tour Chief is fortunate to be friends with two medical doctors who are also cyclists. Michael Sills specializes in internal medicine in metro Detroit and answered our questions via email. Robert Tanz is a pediatrician in Chicago, and is also a teaching professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. I got him to sit for a phone interview. My questions for these two were similar- looking for the how’s and why’s of Covid-19, and also reviewing some facts which continually get forgotten by the public.

On a scale of One to Ten…

This obvious question was easy for both our doctor friends. Covid-19 as a medical threat ranks as a 10, and has earned pandemic standing. The simple reasons are the lack of natural immunity in humans, plus the relative ease of contagion in the disease.

So how contagious is it?

Maybe you read about the funeral which lead to their first cluster infection in Georgia. Perhaps you know about the choir practice in Washington or the birthday party in Chicago , each with similar disastrous results. But as Dr. Tanz tells it, the real threat might be explained by looking at Italy:

“Bergamo, Italy, is the epicenter of the worst of their disease. Forty thousand residents went to Milan for a soccer match against a team from Valencia Spain, who sent 5000 residents. The whole outbreak in Italy began 5 days after the match, and simultaneously the outbreak in Spain began 5 days later. Guess where: Valencia! It tells you how infectious this virus is.”

Social Distance and Flattening the Curve

The standard response in the US has been to use Social distancing to slow the disease and keep people safe. “Stay at home orders are intended to flatten the curve and it’s working.” said Dr. Sills. “The rates of incoming can be better managed now…and we have a better idea statistically who is more likely to get sick.”

Generally speaking, hospital capacity is not an issue today. “Here in Chicago, we’re on a plateau, we’ve flattened the curve” said Dr. Tanz, “One thing that people don’t understand fully is that flattening stretches out the pandemic for a longer period of time. (people) are impatient with the lockdowns, it’s frustrating. Sometimes we lose sight of what the real goal should be because we’re impatient…”

Testing

“As we start to open up” said Dr. Tanz, “no matter who’s plan we follow, there’s a real likelihood of an increase in cases. And that’s where testing comes in. The purpose of widespread testing for the virus is to identify people who are positive and take them out of circulation. Then, the object in public health, is to track down their contacts and find out who might have been exposed.”

If you’ve been exposed, a 2-week quarantine is standard. If you test positive, then more-restrictive isolation is recommended. Rules will vary by state, and managing this is a significant issue. As Dr. Tanz says, “There are mental health and social services needed. They need food, or a source of income to pay for the food. There’s a potential for mental health issues- we already know this is happening.”

The test being used today only looks for active virus, so it truly is a historical document. “There’s two reasons you change from negative to positive” said Dr. Tanz, “One, it’s not a very good test; it misses 20% to 30% of the positives. The second is the incubation period, from when you come into contact with the virus until you have enough virus in your body to turn positive. It’s frustrating, but all we can do is work with what we’ve got.”

Facemasks and R-E-S-P-E-C-T

What do facemasks do for us? There’s an amazing variety out there, sometimes worn in unusual style. “First, anything is better than nothing. The purpose of them is to keep the wearer from exposing someone they come into contact with. As I told my medical students yesterday” Dr. Tanz continued, “it’s like Aretha Franklin and R-E-S-P-E-C-T. You don’t spit or sneeze on someone on purpose; you wear masks so that you don’t sneeze on them by accident.”

“I don’t think masks are necessary when you’re out alone for a walk” he said, “but you should have one with you in case you can’t maintain physical distance from others.”

Sidebar- for the last few years, one of our tour swag items has been a head cover. It’s a great surprise to hear that several of our guests have been using them as facemasks!

When can we go out and play?

Statistics now show that most states are over the initial hump, and this has led to protests and demands to remove all restrictions. This week the Wisconsin Supreme Court even took away powers from the governor, leaving city and county municipalities to decide what is appropriate. Everyone wants a return to normal, but there are cautions. As Dr. Sills put it, “No matter how long the stay at home orders last, the virus will still be around, and the rate of contagion will pick up. We need to have an effective vaccine, or enough people with effective antibodies. I would release stay at home orders… in a smart way. Those that are statistically not at risk, I would release right away but they need to be especially careful to avoid spreading it around .”

There are real concerns even for small tours this summer. Guests need to understand the risks of travel. Our lodging partners need a plan, and all our dining partners have to be open and able to handle a group. If a guest exhibits symptoms of Covid, how many in the tour group have to be quarantined? Who makes that call?

Dr. Tanz was immediate and succinct with his answer: “My opinion would be that everybody on the tour needs to be in quarantine. All the places you’ve stayed, the appropriate thing would be for you to call and say ‘we’ve passed through there, and someone in our group has symptoms consistent with Covid’ and the restaurant or hotel owes it to you in the same way.”

This may leave people afraid to get far from home, yet a quick survey of our summer guests shows that over 75% are ready to travel. Our two doctor friends have cancelled tours this summer and are going to stay close to home for the most part. One exception- Bob Tanz is expecting a grandchild soon, in Arizona.

A Parting Shot

How important is the flu vaccine, a vaccine which ranges in effectiveness of 10% to 70% and changes each year? According to Dr. Tanz, “More important than ever, and get it in August or September. The reason for that- it’s not guaranteed effective- is that it’s your best chance of making sure you don’t get the flu.”

Think of it- if you avoid getting the flu and thus avoid putting strain on the healthcare system next winter, you free up resources to deal with a second round of Covid. You could help save someone else’s life without even lifting a finger.

At Bike Tour Vacations, we’re still waiting on developments to know if we can tour in July & August. Until then, more study and research into best practices for this season.

If you would like to read the full transcript of our interviews, just ask and we’ll send the document over. As always, your opinion or comments are welcome. Please share them here.

Thanks for reading, and keep on pedaling!

The post Crisis Management & Covid-19 Part 2: Interview with the doctors appeared first on Bike Tour Vacations .

Dealing with Covid-19: Tour Disruptions all around us

Wed, 15 Apr 2020 20:59:00 GMT

The world is consumed with fever over Covid-19, and there are many side effects. Recreational bicycle touring is taking a big hit and the entire tour industry is in danger of collapse. In light of this, I though it would be good to look at a timeline of the first 100 days of 2020. Let’s examine how tour operators may have been prepared for this, and consider what the future might hold.

A Short Timeline

I was out of the USA on a cruise ship from January 18 through February 5. One clear memory from that trip is the shipboard news feed talking about Corona virus. We knew there was the potential negative impact on travel and the economy. Air travel from China was halted on January 31 and a few weeks later for most of Europe. We all hoped this would provide some protection.

For many US bike tour operators, normal tour bookings continued until the end of February. At Bike Tour Vacations we were on track to match 2019, our best year ever. Then the wheels fell off.

Early March brought a flood of bad news stories. Next, social distancing guidelines and stay-at-home orders started to come out. Tour and group ride cancellations or postponements came in at a furious pace. The Tour of the Scioto River Valley , the Horsey Hundred, Cycle Zydeco and Dirty Kanza, and the Tour of Minnesota are just a few of the name-brand events who have made cancellation or postponement plans. Even the Tour de France, cycling’s premier racing event, is postponed.

Most of the cancelled tours listed above are big events with financial commitments due well in advance of the event date. There are many moving pieces, and both travel restrictions and fear of illness contributed to these cancellations. One advantage for small tour operators like Bike Tour Vacations is the ability to react quickly. Regardless of tour size, cancellation is problem for all of us and raises several questions. How do tour operators decide to cancel? What criteria come into play?

Tour Industry Training and Emergency Preparations

Education and training conferences are common in the travel industry, and since 2011 I’ve attended over a dozen of these events:

At each of these events, the main focus was always on safety. Dozens of topics were covered, from traffic safety to crisis management, food safety, medical staff needs, medical emergencies, dangerous weather, and more.

One topic to receive minor attention was the threat of infectious disease. Zika and Ebola virus had been mentioned at ETC, yet both were relatively short-lived threats when they occurred. The discussion of widespread infection like we see now with Covid-19 was incomprehensible. The public health risk and financial risk for tour operators were not discussed.

Discovering Guidelines

After the call I developed a series of questions to help decide if touring is safe; any ‘No’ answer to any question is sufficient to cancel a tour. These questions fall into three broad categories: Public health; Logistics/accommodations; and Staff preparedness.

Public health : Have travel restrictions (both by air and by auto) and group size limits been removed? Are we able to have our tour visit a community and not be a threat or burden to local emergency services? Can our guests and staff avoid infection?

Logistics : Will our lodging partners be able to provide their standard level of service? Will restaurants, caterers, or tour staff be able to feed the tour group?

Staff Preparedness : Is the tour staff trained for a safe and proper response to this issue?

Our Active Response

I’ve looked for relief from our travel insurance partners. Unfortunately their policies have exclusions if government action (travel restrictions) force an event to be cancelled. Most business liability policies also will not cover this loss, so tour operators and their guests are on their own! Many events publish standard terms & conditions covering this type of risk which generally deny refunds for calamities such as Covid-19. After the first wave of cancellations and travel disruptions occurred, I amended the Bike Tour Vacation policy specifically for Covid-19. If we cancel a tour for health safety reasons, we’ll send a full refund to each participant.

Here’s a timeline of our communication via email and on the website:

In addition, we’re searching for new guidelines to help keep staff and guests safe on future tours.

We now have several decision dates for our summer tours: May 1 we decide on The Kal-Haven, White Pine, and Grand Traverse Tours. June 10 is the date to decide on our July events including River Towns, North Shore, and Great Waters tours. On June 30 we’ll know the fate of the remaining tours- Ride to Pictured Rocks, and Niagara Shores.

The Long View

It’s likely that events will be smaller, and probably fewer in number. Our guests will have to learn how to travel again in baby steps.

Your Thoughts

What are your thoughts? Did you change your view of bicycle touring or travel because of this pandemic? If your tour or event is cancelled this summer, do you expect to be back in 2021? Please send your comments to jim@biketourvacations.com. Thanks!

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Time Trial Record Sheet

Wed, 01 Apr 2020 18:37:00 GMT

Time Trial record sheet

The post Time Trial Record Sheet appeared first on Bike Tour Vacations .

Bike Tech: Smartphone cameras

Wed, 01 Apr 2020 03:05:00 GMT

Bellybuttons and opinions and…Smartphones. Everyone has one.

Welcome to our new blog series on Bike Tech, where we hope to answer some questions you didn’t know you had. If you tour by bicycle, there’s likely a smartphone along for the ride. You know the common uses: contact with friends and family; keep up with business; follow Facebook. Most guests also take a lot of tour photos, so our focus today is to help you take better pictures with the smartphone.

Let’s talk with a Pro

Jordan Buzzy is a professional photographer, and he’s been on our tour staff. We sat down for lunch recently (when restaurants could still be open) to talk about phone use and the tech problems they present. Right off the bat, we do not champion one phone system over another. They change too frequently. As Jordan says, “They’re going to keep changing. Having an operating system, Apple or Android, which works for you is ten times more efficient, vs. having a better camera. If you can’t operate it, or don’t understand it, or it’s either too simple or too smart, you’re going to struggle getting good photos.”

I want to find those things which make it easier for you to get better pics along the road, regardless if you use Apple or Android. Turn the phone camera on, and right off the bat you have decisions- landscape or portrait?

“There are a couple of rules of thumb” said Jordan. “Usually your phone will let you pick the aspect ratio. Smartphone photos are very wide, similar to a movie screen (16:10). My rule as a professional photographer is to shoot as wide and at the biggest resolution possible, and then edit later…”

To Zoom or not?

I had to interrupt right away. Did I just hear ‘let’s not zoom in, let’s not use any digital zoom until we edit?’ “Yes! You heard that in my head” said Jordan. ” When you zoom in digitally, it’s a fake zoom and you lose resolution. There’s an argument to use zoom to foreshorten the background, but this is an advanced technique. The more you zoom in, the steadier you have to be.”

How steady? And what about smashing the button to take the picture, shaking the phone? And why is there a delay sometimes, from pressing the button until the shutter goes off?

“Phones are really nice nowadays, so you don’t have to push hard to take the photo” said Jordan. “Consider setting a 2 to 10 second delay, press the button, settle yourself with a deep breath of air…and then wait for the shutter to go off. Your smartphone is automatically choosing it’s time value setting, adjusting how long it lets light into the lens. In a dark space, the phone compensates by dragging the shutter time. On Android pro settings, the time value and ISO are adjustable. If you shorten the time, the photo will be darker but crisper, and less blurry. If you know you’re in a low light or dark setting, remember the phone is going to take a second or so longer to take the photo.”

Landscapes

“One good trick is to put something up close in the foreground, maybe a leaf or a tree branch so close that it’s blurry. People in the photo need to stand back a bit, but not so far you can’t recognize them. For more detail, flip your phone into portrait mode and go into panorama. You’ll get more pixels in the height, and then scan as far as you need. If you’re really into it, put your phone on something that swivels and you’ll get a smoother looking panorama.”

So if your bicycle was steady and you held the phone on top of the handlebars…”Exactly!” said Jordan, ‘you could pivot your handlebars. We talk about technology, but really a lot of what helps to take a great photo is knowing how to McGuyver stuff in the field…”

Adding People to Landscapes

Take a look at the photo on the right. There is really nice composition here, with objects in the foreground, a great depth of field for the group of people, movement shown by the trail receding in the background, all capped with the Renaissance Center in the distance.

Auto Mode and Settings

Try an experiment with your camera phone at home. Find a scene with some depth, and tap the screen on an object in the foreground; objects in the back may become blurry. Alternatively, tap on an object in the background and watch the foreground lose focus. Notice at the same time there is an exposure slider on the screen; drag down to darken the photo, and up to let in more light. In the desk top photo, look for the scissors handle and notice the yellow box; one tap brings up this box and the camera focuses here. The sun symbol is a slider to let you adjust the light level.

Photo sharing

Once you’ve edited your photos, how do you share them with friends? Facebook and texting might be good for a few photos, but there’s probably a better way. I recently attended a Microsoft class on photo sharing, at a location with poor internet service. I followed the recommended steps and when I got online again, the instructions worked perfectly. You can see details here. If you have a favorite photo-sharing service, please let me know!

Easy Online Links

For Android tips, check out this link , and Apple users please look here. There are about a million other online choices, so explore a bit.

Final thoughts

I asked Jordan if he had anything else to say. “Be mindful of the light, and of your settings,” he replied. “Be sure you’re stable. Use the best piece of technology you have to capture the image. Don’t fight technology, just be aware of it. If you pay attention to the light, where you’re standing- don’t just pull out the phone and take the first shot- take a step to the left or to the right, be sure you’re ready, and you’ll get better images.”

Thanks for reading. I’d love your photo feedback. Send questions or comments to jim@biketourvacations, or to jordanbuzzy@gmail.com. For a list of great places to go take pictures, please visit Bike Tour Vacations . Thanks!

PS: Here are 3 of my favorite tour photos-

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Photo album sharing

Tue, 31 Mar 2020 17:14:00 GMT

Why We Ride: Talk with an Indoor Cycle Coach

Sun, 15 Mar 2020 03:28:00 GMT

For the last in our series on motivation, we’ll turn indoors. This Tour Chief has been practicing with an indoor bicycle class at the local gym. There are two cycling choices here, and maybe you’ve got something similar where you live. The first choice is to ride on an exercise bike lined up next to the elliptical machines and stair climbers; you pick your own workout and get to watch TV. If you’re lucky like me, you might be able to join an indoor cycling class.

Let’s start with the obvious: Indoor cycling is not the same thing as riding a bicycle outdoors. The room here is small and lit with blacklights, and the music is maybe just a little loud. Instructions are shouted by the class leader, and it’s OK if you don’t understand what they are- just follow your neighbor. A dozen or so folks come to class and chug away on the fancy spin bikes for 30 to 45 minutes, and everyone ends up drenched in sweat and ready for a rest.

After about 8 weeks of spinning, I sat down with class instructor Tom Nicholson for a chat. By day he’s an engineer and project manager at Nissan, and in off hours he’s a fitness buff and instructor. His classes include indoor cycle, boot camp, circuit, and Insanity. That’s not all- he coaches distance runners and triathlon participants.

Tell Me Why

So the obvious first question: What motivates people to come to indoor cycle class? “There’s a couple of things” said Tom. “One is the weather, especially in the winter.”

We all can relate to that, but Tom had more to say. “Indoor cycling is helpful because we use some different muscles indoors (vs. outdoors), and I notice it on the first ride outdoors in the spring. Another factor is the fitness aspect. Indoors everyone stays together so there’s a group dynamic, and maybe some competition. I like the group dynamics, and I think people like it too. They’re not alone and they can motivate each other.”

“When you’re on an outdoor ride by yourself it’s all internal motivation,” Tom continued, “you’re fighting the little voice inside that says ‘let’s quit now’. But the thing with group classes, there is external motivation. You can motivate someone else who might be suffering, pull them along, and that in turn might boost your output. That’s a big part about classes and riding in groups, providing this support.”

So here we have Tom leading the class; he’s riding and paying attention to the participants, and giving instructions and keeping the music going. I watch him, and I watch my fellow riders. Everyone is huffing and puffing.

A Varied Pace

The indoor bikes have digital controls which allow each rider to dial in to the correct output level (FTP level) for their own body based on age, weight, sex, and the occasional operator adjustment. The result is that the bike will have a color display of your output: white equals resting, blue is easy riding, green a bit harder, yellow is 80 to 100% of your threshold, and red is some kind of extreme anaerobic torture that I can only maintain for short bursts before collapsing onto the handlebars gasping for breath. Don’t worry, it’s all good even if your classmates can see your color zones. I get how this type of exercise is good for 45 minutes, but how does it relate to summer touring?

There really are many differences between indoor cycling and outdoor touring. I observe that most of my guests in the summer are good at maintaining a steady output for 5 or 6 hours at a time, and how they magically manage to maintain a constant speed and level of output over the day. Since much of my riding is with guests, I’ve also trained my body to stay in a steady state of output where my pulse will rarely get above 100 bpm. I explained this to Tom and asked for his comments. This is a difficult question, since many of my guests are perfectly fulfilled with their current training plans.

He immediately grinned. “Somewhere deep inside people like to go a little faster” he said. “It’s fine if the event is designed for constant output (touring), but in their run up to it, they might vary their training style. It will make the ride much easier if they’ve done some interval training ahead of time.”

Intervals vs. Steady State Training

Interval training can be as simple as taking a portion of your regular Saturday ride and adding a series of 2 or 3 minute bursts of speed (intervals), followed by an equal time of riding at a reduced output (rest). In practical terms, find a straight-away where you can see an object a half mile up, and boost your cadence by 10 to 15 RPM until you pass it. Rest for the same time duration, and repeat several times. If you live close to a hilly course, you could do intervals by repeating some of the hills.

Another way to think of this for an hour-long bike ride: use the first third of your ride for warm up, and then take the middle third for interval work. The final third should be a taper off from about 80% effort down to your cool down at an easy pace, maybe 40-50% effort. If you do this for a month or 6 weeks, the results should be improved aerobic capacity plus a small boost in speed.

As Tour Chief, my desire is to see guests at the end of the day happy and satisfied with their effort that day. It’s not about speed, but it is about having the capacity to come in without being exhausted.

Does Indoor Cycling boost the number of road riders?

My non-scientific observations suggest there are a fair number of indoor cyclists who don’t ride outdoors. Likewise I have many cycling friends who enjoy other activities in the off-season. I do think a varied training plan is a good thing, so if you’ve never tried an indoor class, maybe check one out.

As always, your questions about this blog post are welcome. You can contact jim@biketourvacations.com for general training questions, and I’m happy to forward your interval-specific questions to Tom at Powerhouse Gym in South Lyon. Need more? We even have some great tours where you can practice intervals.

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Why We Ride- Fat Bikes in the Snow

Fri, 14 Feb 2020 20:25:00 GMT

In my Facebook feed a few weeks back I noticed my friend Pat Kelley had another picture posted of 4 or 5 folks with goofy grins, bike helmets, and his report of another fat bike ride. Guys old enough to ride on a weekday, fat bikes, and snow. It sounded like fun so I borrowed a fat bike and invited myself along on their next ride. Whoops!

Our ride was at the Ingham Conservation District , a 200-acre parcel of woodland outside of Mason, 10 miles south of Lansing. They’ve managed to squeeze about 5 miles of bike trail here, spaghetti-style. I joined Pat, Robin, and Luiz on a perfect February day, 30 degrees, partly sunny, and with about 8″ of mostly fresh snow on the ground.

Trying something new

Pat and his pals were eager to share, and this first-time fat bike rider was happy for the advice and support. Call me Caboose, I was the last rider in our small group, on purpose and by choice. We started riding slowly on the freshly groomed trails.

Aside from the motorcycle-sized wheels & tires, fat bikes look normal. If you rode one on pavement or open trails, the ride would be similar to many other kinds of cycling. However in the twisty, narrow, log covered world these guys prefer, fat biking takes on its’ own personality.

First the combination of oversized wheels, low tire pressure, slow speed, and tight turns will appear. You quickly realize there is no similarity between steering one of these boys down the trail, vs. what you might know from road biking. On the fat bike I actually had to use the handlebars to steer the bike, instead of body English that I’m used to on the road bike or e-bike. Let’s couple that with trees spaced just inches wider than the handlebar width, and toss a turn into the mix. Whoopsies!

And then there’s the cycling itself, brief sprints up small rises, followed by heavy panting just to keep up. For non-bikers, it’s kind of like going to Boot Camp exercise class and alternating between burpees and battle rope exercises. My legs could handle it, but my lungs and upper body lagged, particularly my hands and forearms. Whoops again.

Adapt

I did learn quickly that it was necessary to pedal and use the brake while turning- slow speed maneuvering requires monitored power. I also relearned that hopping off the bike is a good strategy. It helps you avoid falling over even if you have to walk up the hill.

The group took regular rest stops every few minutes. They may have needed it, but I think the breaks were mostly to let me catch up. At the halfway point I took an alleged short cut back to the parking lot and logged about 2.3 miles in 50 minutes. The short cut was less distance but probably more work as I was breaking the trail in fresh snow. Doh!

Tell me why

The rest of the group took another 15 minutes to complete the loop, and then we went out for coffee. I asked Pat why- why are you and your pals out regularly doing this, what’s the hook? His answer was immediate: “We love riding bikes. It’s hard to ride on roads in the winter in Michigan, and this (fat bikes in the woods) is so much more comfortable. It’s a way to keep riding, and be out of the wind and still enjoy the bike sensation and the workout…”

I burst out laughing- comfort and fat bike workout might not belong in the same sentence. “On trails, fat biking is hard work” Pat continued, “but it’s also part of why we bike, to stay fit and challenge ourselves. We don’t come out to ride fast, but for the workout. This is a mature group and no one wants to crash, so we’re very moderate riders.”

So how does this group attract new riders? The Facebook post got me, but I asked about other strategy. “We have a fat bike group email” Pat said, “Midweek we get a lot of retired guys, and then a different mix on Saturday or Sunday. It’s not an exclusive or closed group.”

Favorite places

Global strategy

We talked a bit about Ingham Conservation District and the trails which are maintained by Mid Michigan Mountain Bike Association (MMMBA). “I spoke with MMMBA” Pat said, “about applying for a TCBA grant for trail maintenance.” Tri County Bicycle Association (TCBA) is a well-known group from Lansing, and Pat has been president since 2014. The TCBA grant program supports the bicycling community, not just road biking or TCBA tours.

This led to a discussion of strategy used by TCBA to attract more and younger riders to our sport. “That’s been a problem for TCBA for some time” Pat said. “We had a group of MSU students work on a marketing program for us, but the results are hard to measure. DALMAC just bought some (Search engine optimization) service, because they were ranking on page 10 on google search!”

DALMAC is working on internet presence even though their 2020 tours are sold out! TCBA is studying motivation as it relates to membership, and has hired a public relations group to help the board create some new policies. This will help club efforts regarding education and support of legislative measures to make cycling and motoring safer in Michigan.

Bring it home

This led to a discussion of insurance, ride safety, and the advantages of joining an organized tour- maybe an annual event like DALMAC, or a regular club ride, or a pick-up event like this. New riders should take comfort in knowing that someone else has been there first, that the route is safe, and that there’s a support plan in case of emergency. For this simple day ride in the woods, we were never more than a half mile away from pavement, and about the same distance from the nearest residence.

I asked Pat if he had anything else to say about fat bikes or cycling. “It’s pretty simple” he said, “the exciting thing is I can now ride all year long. I can stay fit and enjoy the outdoors. Biking is such a great sport for all kinds of people”.

You can find Pat on Facebook, or contact tcba.org for regular scheduled rides in the Lansing area. Feeling brave? Click here for some wonderful tours in the Great Lakes, thanks!

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The Spirituality of Cycling

Thu, 16 Jan 2020 17:12:00 GMT

Everything in life, in a sense, has spiritual value. Cycling is no exception. One of the reasons we started Bike Tours is because regular vacations sometimes don’t cut it. Do you ever really get away from it all on vacation, or is it just a case of going somewhere else to do things you feel like you should? Nevertheless, cycling is both a physical journey and a mental one. Whether your ride is 30 minutes or it’s a whole week of traversal, at the end of it you will undoubtedly feel like you went somewhere, accomplished something.

The Path Ahead of You

It’s practically a cliché to say that life is a journey. From birth to death, it really is. Those two endpoints are guaranteed, so making sense of what happens in the middle is up to you. We flit from career to career, hobbies to hobbies, and even people come and go in our lives. The only constant is a feeling of moving through life’s different stages.

What does this have to do with cycling?

When you’re riding, you’re always focused on what’s happening right now, and what’s immediately ahead of you. You never look behind you as you ride, because what’s passed has passed. Riding for extended periods of time has an astonishing ability triggering that part of your mind that takes satisfaction in moving forward.

Cycling and Metaphors

Have you ever heard someone lament their current predicament in life and exclaim that they feel like they’re not going anywhere, not moving forward in life? Cycling is all about moving forward on the path. Sure, riding your bike around town might not directly help your career success, but never underestimate the impact of activities that can put you in a positive state of mind. These things tend to have tremendous carry over into other parts of our lives.

Cycling is no different. It’s not always a breezy and relaxing ride, many times it can be difficult, downright grueling work if you’re on a challenging trail or there’s a steep hill in your town that is on your commute. The human mind has always been something that operates on associations. Symbolism was born from that tendency we have.

When you’re out cycling and you see a hill on the horizon, is it any different than in life when you are anticipating a challenge? You feel all the same things, anxiety, nervousness, excitement, preparedness, joy, victory. You’ll work hard to bike up that hill, but your reward is making it to the top—and hopefully, you’ll get to coast for a while after that before the next hill shows up.

Great Lakes Area Cycling Tour

Are you feeling stifled in your day to day routine? Join us on one of our weekend or week-long cycling tours throughout the Great Lakes area. Getting together with other people to go on a journey is a rare experience in our modern world, but it’s a fundamentally human experience.

On our bike tours, we’ll cover moderate distances over the course of the trip, but it’s paced such that you’ll be able to enjoy yourself and really take in your surroundings. We typically ride inn-to-inn and you’ll be able to rest, relax, and partake in good eats!

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Why We Ride: A Second Conversation with Tom & Toni

Tue, 14 Jan 2020 01:58:00 GMT

Early in 2019 we published a blog post featuring Tom & Toni Blanken , friends from Mason, MI. They had a very busy cycling season planned for the year, and I caught up with them in December to get the details on all their riding. I knew from Facebook that they were all across the country and would have stories to tell.

We met at their home in Mason, just south of Lansing. I got right into questioning them, picking up from where we left off; they ended 2018 having bicycled in 34 states, with 16 to go to make all 50. How was their progress in 2019?

Toni jumped right in. “We felt we had to step up our game and go on a road trip…96 days, June 13 to October 17. 45 states now! We hit 11 new ones this summer.”

These 11 new states include Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming. Get out your atlas and you’ll find that Alaska stands alone; Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Montana, and both North & South Dakota are a group; and Missouri and Oklahoma each share a border with Kansas. But how do you put this into a road trip?

Logistics

You can’t be gone 96 days without proper planning. This is Toni’s specialty. She starts with google searches, then email inquiries, and finally telephone contact to make the final details stick. Need ten best things to do in Oklahoma City? Ask Toni, she knows and they did them! The planning is thorough. “We don’t just drive through” said Toni, “We usually spend two nights to get in a ride. Arrive in the afternoon, see the town, and ride the next day. We do the most justice when we have a tour in the state.”

In addition to several self-guided tours of their own design, in 2019 they joined 7 organized tours. The best part of this, when they join an organized tour, the tour operator already has done most of the planning in advance!

The 50-state goal

When did this 50-state thing become a goal? “It was kind of gradual,” Tom said, “trying for 50 states. We started in 2012 when we went across the country, 11 states then (southern route, coast to coast with Bubba’s Pampered Pedalers ). We bought that map you just saw and started filling it in.”

When they hit 20 states, the light was turned on for Toni: “Wow, this (50 states) would be a great goal! We’re real goal oriented, and we’ve run into several others with this goal, who were ahead of us. This summer in Alaska we met up with a couple who were finishing their 50th state, and we got to celebrate with them. That’s how we put it on the table-we saw it in action.”

Adventure and Surprise

This has been quite an adventure, and there were frequent surprises along the way. I asked them about ‘A-ha moments’ and those things on the road which were surprises. Toni was first to reply. “We knew we had to get many states this year. 11 states, that was challenging. As far as surprises, we’re just ordinary people at the back of the pack. We’re surprised how ordinary people like us can do it.”

Tom had a list of surprises. “Alaska was probably the biggest surprise, just the size of the mountains! And the roads were in really good shape, very little traffic, so it was nice.” He had more to say: “Montana was also pleasantly surprising, and so was South Dakota. There was lots to see in South Dakota that we didn’t know about.”

Changes in equipment-new bikes, brought about some surprises. Bigger tires and disc brakes change how you can ride. As Toni tells it, “We made the migration over to dirt roads (gravel grinders). The Mickelson Trail in South Dakota, and the Katy Trail in Missouri, these crushed limestone trails are a place where you can get really close to nature.”

Tom also had a negative surprise this season. He tumbled and sprained his left wrist, making shifting and braking with the left hand difficult. Fortunately it wasn’t broken, and it healed on its’ own after several weeks.

They also had a little learning curve about car maintenance when away from home. Nothing bad happened, just the excitement of being out of your normal routine for oil changes and tire rotation. And after 7 weeks back home, they’re still catching up on household projects, doctor & dentist visits, and all that stuff.

There are many places they’d go back to in an instant. “We’ve done some repeats” said Tom, “we love Arizona, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. We do a lot of riding in Wisconsin, we like Wisconsin…”

“Cheese and beer!” Toni interrupted. “Sometimes we do tours just for the training. We need the mileage, the fitness, so we look for tours that are easy to stage, and you repeat with tour leaders who gave you a great experience.” (Editor’s boast: They toured with Bike Tour Vacations in 2013, ’15, and ’17!).

They each raved about Alaska, and Tom has been looking at a new Alaska tour which starts near Haines, goes through the Yukon Territory, and then back in to Alaska. This tour has long mileage, and the tour sag wagon even gives them the option to skip some of the riding!

Friends on the Road

These two aren’t afraid to make friends, and they have some in almost every state. This summer they crossed paths with old friends in South Dakota, and also in Victoria, B.C. “We had stopped for a quick rest” said Toni, “and a group of riders was coming past. Tom shouted ‘hey, man!’ at one of them. It was Paul Guthrie! ” Paul is a fellow Michigander who lives in Portage. They met on tour in the Porcupine Mountains in 2013 and have been friends since then. Imagine your own surprise running into a friend when you’re both 2400 miles away from home!

Forty five down, 5 to go

Only five states remain on their to-do list: South Carolina, Rhode Island, Delaware, New Jersey, and Hawaii. I asked about the plan for 2020, and Toni replied.

“Next April we go to South Carolina out of Beaufort on a week long tour with Carolina Tailwinds. We go up to Charleston and back over a week. On the way home we head down to Savannah, on a 4-day tour out to Jeckyl Island. It’ll be warm there in April, that’s our hope. Gone a month, then home.”

They’ll be in Calgary in mid summer, next stopping in Glacier National Park or maybe Coeur d’Alene on the way home. September will be a big month for them. “A bike tour in Pennsylvania, then over to Rhode Island, then back to New Jersey, on our own. And then back down the Chesapeake Bay for Maryland & Delaware.”

The Long View

Hawaii will have to wait until 2021, in order to do it properly. Toni is not a fan of flying, so rushing their planning doesn’t make sense. They’ll spend at least two weeks there, and probably have tours on Hawaii and on Maui. Once Hawaii is satisfied, they will turn to the Canadian provinces which border the U.S.

Your List and Ideas

We’d love to hear from you about your tour plans and see the list of states you ride in. We’d also forward any comments for Tom & Toni. Finally, your questions about our tours are always welcome. Please click this link to reach us. Thanks for reading!

The post Why We Ride: A Second Conversation with Tom & Toni appeared first on Bike Tour Vacations .

Why We Ride: The Farmington Center for Active Adults

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 04:09:00 GMT

It’s easy to find bicyclists who have ‘the look’. Folks who roll off 30 or 40 miles with ease, wearing cute bike outfits on carbon bikes. The danger for those of us in the industry is thinking this is the ultimate goal for adults on bikes.

Today we’ll look at bicycling from a different view. There’s a group of bikers who don’t look like a typical bike club, yet they maintain a very active schedule of rides. Cycling for Active Adults in Farmington and Farmington Hills is this group.

Like many groups, they communicate via Facebook. There are regular rides, follow-up posts with photos, and Strava maps of their adventures. Do a little study on their photos and you will see a few department store bikes. Look at their maps to learn the rides are on the short side, and often in subdivisions. Make a headcount, however, and you’ll find healthy numbers of riders.

Short rides, close to home, and no demand for expensive equipment. I had to learn more, so I sat down to chat with two of their ride leaders, Liza Luzod-Chubb and Devon Schwalm.

A Downriver Girl

I first met Liza this past spring when she emailed me to ask about the Kal-Haven Trail Tour and bringing her friends along. The tour sounded good to her, and soon I was invited to speak to their full group. A handful of them joined the tour in Kalamazoo, and two more came along for a week long adventure near Traverse City.

Liza grew up Downriver from Detroit, and had bikes as a youth. As with many of us, marriage and career interrupted her riding until recently. When the city started this group, she wanted to join. Her husband found a used bike, one that was too big and too heavy. After a few rides, she moved on to a better bike. “It’s fun. I like the exercise, it’s good on your knees. I like the breeze in my face, and seeing different places.”

A Thrill-seeker

Devon Schwalm arrived at the group by different means. He was an active adult doing kite boarding, but that requires steady wind. To keep his adrenaline up, he began racing mountain bikes about 10 years ago. For seven years he enjoyed the mountain bike. Then came the accident.

“I was riding mountain bike trails in Ann Arbor with a group. We rode on a difficult trail along the Huron River. At the bottom of a hill in a sharp turn, I went over the handlebars and hit a tree. I was totally paralyzed at that point.”

Devon couldn’t move or breathe. Fortunately one of the riders had mountain rescue training and took control. They were right across from the University of Michigan Hospitals, and it took only 7 minutes for the ambulance to arrive.

“I ended up with a broken neck, a bruised spinal cord, and I was in U of M hospital for two months. I had to learn” he continued, “how to walk again.” That’s a sobering thought for anyone.

I asked him, why join this group? “I became part of the group once I was out riding around the neighborhood, I had no confidence in my own abilities.” This group was able to support him when he needed it, and now he helps support the group.

More Motives

Liza rides for fun, and Devon rides for support. I pressed for more motives, noting that in the group pictures there is a wide variety of bikes and bike quality, and some interesting outfits. “It’s a motley crew” laughed Liza. Devon chimed in: “There’s a lot of people from different situations, and there are different reasons why they’re riding…We’re riding for exercise, and the other big thing, it’s a social group.”

Liza had some more reasons to support the group ride notion. “If I have a problem on the ride, there’s someone along to help. Also you’re a lot more visible riding as part of a group. We don’t ride on busy roads, but you’re still dealing with traffic.”

“Yes, 25 MPH roads and sidewalks” said Devon, “the safest hard surfaces. We’re not riding fast, and we can ride two abreast and talk during the ride.” Liza had another reason to support these rides: Schedule. “When there’s something on the calendar and you’ve committed to go, you’re more likely to go, you’ve got motivation.”

Who’s in charge

There’s about 5 main ride leaders, and several others who can sub on short notice. With about 50 riders over the course of the season, it’s common to have 12 to 15 cyclists on each ride. The group is not top heavy, so the individual ride leaders have the freedom to go where they want. Liza tries to ensure one neighborhood ride each week, to support the members who won’t or can’t transport their bike to a remote starting point.

Farmington Hills is an inner-ring suburb in metro Detroit, surrounded by 4 million people in 3 counties. Virtually all the main roads are classified as high traffic roads by MDOT. This forces the ride leaders to get creative in their routing, and sometimes just riding in subdivisions. I asked if subdivisions cause any complications for them.

“Subdivisions are probably the safest” said Devon, “We communicate and talk about hazards. With a group, everyone is looking out and communicating to each other, and 25 MPH roads are pretty safe. We post our rides to inform members about the conditions, so they have an idea and can choose to ride or not.”

“A lot of people really like to be able to ride from home, instead of using their car to get to a ride” added Liza.

Not all the rides are in Farmington Hills. This year they’ve been to Ann Arbor and Belle Isle, Grosse Pointe, Lansing, Rochester and Romeo, and Windsor, Ontario…Canada.

Growing the Group

“The standing rule of the group” said Liza, “is we ride with the slowest rider, and if you don’t like that, then this might not be your group” (laughs). It’s obvious that these two ride leaders are comfortable with the system they have.

The Bicycle Community

This group focuses on shorter rides close to home, and they maintain a relatively low profile. I wondered: How are they served by the bicycling community, including bike shops, tours & tour operators, and cycling organizations?

“We get a lot of people who don’t have a bike, and they’ll ask ‘what do you recommend?’ I always tell them go to a bike shop. I say if you’re not sure, get an inexpensive bike and ride with us a few times.”

“Right” added Devon, “you don’t want to waste money buying a bike that’s not quite right for you. And you need to ride one a bit to really know that.”

Liza also shares posts from the League of Michigan Bicyclists onto their Facebook page. It’s obvious that these two are aware of the bicycle community in Michigan, and where to find support from it.

The Take-Away

Liza and Devon are comfortable with the mission and activities of Cycling for Active Adults in Farmington Hills. They are in the core group of leaders there, providing a service to adults who otherwise might not ride at all. Their model is based on casual rides, close to home, with no pressure to compete. Let’s celebrate CFAA and other civic groups who provide a service useful to their local communities and to the cycling community. Great job guys!

The post Why We Ride: The Farmington Center for Active Adults appeared first on Bike Tour Vacations .

3 Reasons Why Biking Has Grown as a Lifestyle

Mon, 25 Nov 2019 16:06:00 GMT

Biking has always been around as a hobby as long as bicycles have existed. Biking as a sport has also been popular for quite some time and made even more famous in the Lance Armstrong era of the sport. However, if you’ve been paying attention as of late, you may have noticed more groups of bikers in your area riding around town. Biking has been growing as a lifestyle lately, in part due to 3 particular reasons.

1 – It’s a Great Way to Get and Stay Fit

The western world has been suffering from an obesity epidemic, this much is clear. As a result of this, the culture of America, in particular, has turned to increasing interest in fitness and fitness based lifestyles. Biking is a great way to stay fit, just riding for 30 minutes a day can have incredible health benefits for sedentary individuals. You’re going to be improving your cardiovascular health by riding a bike, but you’ll also develop better muscle tone in your legs and core every time you take your bike out for a spin.

2 – Biking Lets You Explore The World

How often do we commute to work every day, or stay on our pre-planned routes to go to the places we frequent week to week? Do we ever truly recognize our surroundings? When you ride a bike on those same routes, you’re seeing the world up close and personal, in a way you haven’t before. You get to discover all of the little details you might miss if you just drove by haphazardly.

With many citizens working in offices in sedentary jobs, it’s more important than ever to get yourself outside into the great beyond and enjoy the breeze, enjoy nature. This is a huge reason as to why our weekend and weeklong bike tours are popular! They are a great way to get outside, get some exercise, and meet many wholesome people.

3 – There Are More Biking Accommodations Than Ever

The most obvious is the increasingly common bike lane that allows bikers to get on the road instead of biking on sidewalks which may be cracked, have pedestrians on them, and also end abruptly. While they aren’t perfect, biking lanes give bikers a designated place to continue down a long stretch of road while being separated from both traffic and pedestrians via their own lane.

Not only is this great for cyclists who prefer to make trips, commute, or just enjoy a ride, but it also is becoming a more popular and cheaper way to travel about more urbanized areas such as big cities. It’s no surprise that traffic congestion in the US is a problem in many urban centers, public transportation is not always feasible nor reliable—and even those systems are strained. Biking is an incredible way to get outside or at the very least, get out of gridlock.

Week Long Bike Tour Vacations

Come vacation time, choose to be outside and join us on the open road instead of doing the same ol’ same ol’ for your precious days off.

Contact Bike Tour Vacations at (248)-345-6929 to learn about our upcoming tours!

The post 3 Reasons Why Biking Has Grown as a Lifestyle appeared first on Bike Tour Vacations .

Why We Ride: Commuting and Touring with Paul Guthrie

Sat, 16 Nov 2019 21:18:00 GMT

I spent some time recently in Kalamazoo, talking with Paul Guthrie. Paul is a lab manager at Bronson Hospital, a bicycle commuter, a bike tourist, and someone who shares his experiences to motivate others. We spoke on topics including touring, commuting, winter gear, making new riders, and inspiration. The interview began with questions about his childhood bike experience, and how he became an adult cyclist.

The Beginnings

“Well, I grew up near Centreville, Michigan. I remember riding my green Schwinn Stingray to town with my sister, to go to Beal’s Five & Dime Store. Then I graduated to a Huffy 10-speed, and I kept that through college at Michigan State, where you need a bike to get around.” As with many university campuses, MSU has crowded conditions for much of the day, and cars are impractical.

The Huffy died in 1993; garage openings are only so tall. The silver lining? “I got a Cannondale hybrid,” said Paul, “I rode that bike about 1,000 miles a year until 2007, when I got a real road bike…”

I interrupted, asking which bike was his first real adult bike. “It would be the hybrid, it was a quality bike. I got it when I was 32.”

His first century ride (100 miles)? “That was the Apple Cider Century ride.” This is a famous ride at the south end of Lake Michigan. Paul continued “Yes, you cross from Michigan into Indiana and back; 5000 people do that ride.”

His first two real bike tours were with Bike Tour Vacations (hooray!) in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. In 2012 he joined our Great Waters tour, 300 miles in 5 days. The next summer he was along on our Porcupine Mountains tour in the far west end of the U.P. At some point we became Facebook friends, and I noticed Paul posting tours and rides all over the place!

I asked him about his many tours in 2019, and how he got time off from work. “I did 5 tours in 2019.” He continued “I’d maxed out on vacation accrual, and we have some big projects next year with a vacation freeze, so I thought I’d use it up.”

He toured in 3 time zones and many states. As he tells it, “The first tour was 5 days long, road biking in Asheville, North Carolina with a dozen or so friends in April. We rented a house and did it on our own. That was the only tour where I was in a building, the rest were tenting. The next tour was the Great Divide Mountain Bike Trail in Montana, on a Salsa Fargo steel bike with no suspension. It was the perfect bike, a bike-packing bike. I was there with friends, self-organized.”

“The longest tour” he continued, “was 13 days in the Pacific northwest, an Adventure Cycling self-contained tour (no sag wagon). That was with 15 others, it was a great tour. Then I took a weekend tour here in Michigan, the Fargo Sub 48 in Gaylord (gravel and two-track riding). It was a lot of fun.

“And then the last tour was a 7-day Cycle North Carolina tour, Mountains to the Coast . We went from Asheville to the Atlantic coast. We had some rain, but mostly heat. It was 97 degrees, with 102 heat index, uncomfortable in a tent at night. We also had some flooding, too (laughs).”

Picking Tours

Paul rode in 3 time zones this year, and flew to the west coast to tour. “I used Bike Flights (for bike shipping). It was under $100. A lot of tour companies will arrange a bike shop for you to ship to, so that wasn’t a problem.”

Commuting

Paul is very lucky. He commutes to work on his bike, about 20 miles round trip, and his employer has a program in place to help employees commute. I asked him to tell about the Bronson program. “We have the Bronson Bike to Work Club, and there are some incentives and facilities associated with it. I have a bike locker. You can lock the bike securely, you don’t have to take gear off (the bike), and it’s safe. We log our rides every day. There’s maybe 70 people in the program, riding varying amounts from once a week to every day. And there’s a small incentive; for every 5 miles you get a dollar, so I make, golly, $4 a day commuting and I save gas, too! (laughs)”

“The League of American Cyclists” he continued, “gave our hospital a gold level business award for the bike friendly program.”

Why would an employer sponsor a program like this? Construction cost for a parking ramp is between $20,000 and $30,000 per space, plus maintenance and operation. Compare that with some $500 bike lockers…and come to your own conclusion.

We met on November 12, as Kalamazoo was digging out from 10″ of fresh snow. Paul admitted to driving his car to work that day, for safety reasons. “At this time of year, the combination of leaf piles in the bike lane, plus slush…December or January I might have ridden, but yesterday, no…”

Out of 200 work days in a year, how many are bike commute days for Paul? “Typically about 180 days biking. I’ve done 200 days. I started out in fair weather. If there was rain in the forecast I wouldn’t ride. But then I decided to get the right gear, fenders, whatever. (Commuting) adds about 3,600 miles a year to my total…”

Math geeks will know if you want a high mileage total at the end of the year, regular daily inputs are critical. Right now Paul has about 8,500 miles in 2019, with over 40% of that from his daily commute!

I asked Paul what inspires him to do this much riding. His answer: friends. “Gosh, I think what keeps me going is a lot of my best friends I met through cycling. I also find, for commuting, the health and environmental benefits to be worthwhile. Plus, it’s a good way to start and finish the day…”

How are you going to inspire other adults to get on a bike? “Well, people I talk to (have a) drawback about safety concerns. But there’s still many places to ride out of traffic. Get the Michigan Trail Map , there are trails all over the state.”

It gets better. “If you’re really interested, the Kalamazoo Bicycle Club has an event called Bike Camp which is for new riders. It’s a couple of hours over a few weekends. They give you a good introduction on how to ride with others, traffic laws, maintenance, changing a flat tire. You don’t know these things intuitively when you start.”

The Takeaway

Please stay tuned for future stories about motivation. Thanks!

The post Why We Ride: Commuting and Touring with Paul Guthrie appeared first on Bike Tour Vacations .

Why We Ride: A Conversation with Ken Martinek

Sat, 16 Nov 2019 03:27:00 GMT

This season we’re exploring stories of people who have done something unusual on their bikes, and look for their motivation to see how this might inspire others.

Our first story is about a man who enjoyed a simple bike ride across Michigan. Ken Martinek grew up in Plymouth, a city on the west side of Detroit. He had bikes as a child, and still has his Peugeot road bike from college days. But biking was not a huge part of his adult life until about 15 years ago, when on a challenge from his daughter he decided to begin bicycle commuting to his work as an investigative reporter at Fox 2 in Detroit. Then about 6 years ago he started riding in the Michigander, a week-long tour across the state.

The real story, however, is this: Ken may be the first person to ride the bicycle portion of the Iron Belle Trail across Michigan, 925 miles from Ironwood to Belle Isle in Detroit.

Governor Rick Snyder pitched this trail idea back in 2012. In 2015 the Michigan Department of Natural Resources published a brochure outlining the two halves of the Iron Belle Trail: a bike route at about 850 miles, and a hiking route at about 1200 miles. As Ken tells it: “Governor Snyder proposed this state-long trail back in 2012. I’m a news guy, and when politicians make promises or say stuff that they’re going to do, I’ve got to check it out!”

“My original motivation” Ken continued, “was to see what we’re paying for.”

Ken’s pre-ride investigation included some study. “I looked at the interactive map and compared it with MDOT bicycle maps. Of course I googled like crazy. And then I called people like you. You were kind enough to look at my route and the six pages of instructions, and you replied ‘uh, have you ever heard of Ride with GPS ?’ (laughing) “Oh, I’m such a newbie, such a greenhorn at this!”

Full disclosure- I do a lot of mapping and playing with routes, searching for the easiest way to deliver instructions to other riders. Ken picked up on this right away. “I got a subscription and began mapping. Then I got turn-by-turn instructions! I’d mapped out everything so carefully (on Ride with GPS) I didn’t have to do anything on the road except look for ice cream shops.”

Connections

“My first interesting encounter was with Bob Zelinski from Sylvania Outfitters in Watersmeet. I was out of food and water, so I stopped. They were nice enough to fill my water bottles, and I bought some beef jerky. Bob started telling me about Michigan history. I spent 20 minutes with him” he continued, “talking about history all the way back to the last glaciers.”

“And then 400 miles later, along the Au Sable River, I stopped for lunch. This fellow Dave and his dog walked up, he’s waiting for his wife Joann, who is out training for a hike up the Grand Canyon.” (Au Sable has an overlook with 336 steps, and she was hiking up and down with a full backpack.) Dave knows the history of the river, the canoe races, the Lumberman’s Monument…he’s delightful, a wonderful guy willing to share his knowledge of the local area.” Ken had more to say. “Being on the bike gives you the opportunity to meet people and to see things that you would never see from a car.”

Back to the Start

I asked Ken if he remembered why he called me, what his first question was. He was very specific: “How do you get to Ironwood?” It’s not easy. By car it’s four hours from Minneapolis, six hours from Chicago, or ten hours from Detroit! The only air service is from Chicago on Air Choice One , but then you have to ship your bike.

This left Ken with one good option: Indian Trails Bus Line from Pontiac. He explained: “I left my house about noon and got to the bus depot about 12:30 for a 2:30 trip. The bus drove up the east side (Lake Huron) and got to St. Ignace about midnight. We changed busses. I got to Ironwood at 6:30 a.m. central time, sleeping on the bus. Sixteen hours on a bus is a long time, but it was a nice ride.” In fact, the service was great and Ken wasy complimentary to everyone at Indian Trails.

A Solo Tourist

Ken traveled alone for two weeks, a solo cyclist in the Michigan wilderness. “You know, the beauty of solo travel” he told me, “is you don’t have to listen to people complain. You only hear that little voice in your head saying ‘who picked this route’ or ‘what were you thinking! I got lost a few times, planned some turns I never should have…”

Remember, folks, that’s all part of the journey.

Some Good Grub, or Road Trip for the Tour Chief

I asked about food along the route; what was the best dining? “I had a couple of very pleasant surprises, and one near-religious experience.”

“Start with that!” I begged.

“ KoZi’s Kitchen in Otter Lake. I went there on Chinese night. I got two egg rolls, each the size of my fist, sweet and sour sauce, and General Tso’s chicken. The sauce was from scratch, all fresh ingredients. The main course, all fresh, superbly prepared and presented. A gourmet meal… That was the best meal, probably the best meal I’ve ever had in my life. And I’ve eaten at some fancy restaurants before and not enjoyed it as much, or had the quality dining experience I had there. And this is just a little hole in the wall restaurant at a place nobody knows about.”

Honorary mention goes out to the 906 Cafe in Wakefield, famous for their breakfasts, and to a place called Nourish in Cheboygan. “it’s a little new-aged” Ken explains, “associated with a yoga studio. All healthy food, local art on display, and I ordered the kale, egg, and shitake mushroom sandwich. Derek, the nice young man behind the counter said ‘Excellent choice, would you like to upgrade that with sausage and cheese?” Well, heck yes, I want to upgrade! Best breakfast sandwich ever.”

Circle back to Why

By this time we’d been talking for an hour and I had to get off food and back onto the interview. So I asked Ken, how would you attract other people to do this ride? How should you or I or anyone else entice non-cycling adults to get on a bike?

“These are tough questions, and there’s no easy answer” said Ken, “Encouraging people to get on a bike is tough because you have to make some connection with people first. Local bike shops are so important to getting people out on bikes, because they know their communities better.”

Back to motivation. What was your motivation, your inspiration, for 900+ miles on your bike?

“Show people it can be done. A 61-year old guy like me (laughs) can do it. It sounds like an awful lot of miles, but it wasn’t, really. I was ready for a break at the end, but I’m 61! Anybody can get on a bike, even if it’s just for 5 miles. You will feel like you’re 14 again, and if you ride for a couple of days in a row, you’ll feel healthier and you’ll be happier. It’s fun, it’s healthy, and it’s good for the environment. So many benefits- just get out there and try it!”

Need more?

For a transcript of our interview, click here. To see some great tours, click here.

Stay tuned for our next blogs about Why we Ride, including a chat with group organizers in Farmington Hills; learning about a guy from Kalamazoo who tours a lot; and re-visit with Tom & Toni who have now biked in 47 states!

The post Why We Ride: A Conversation with Ken Martinek appeared first on Bike Tour Vacations .

How To Fuel Yourself On Bike Tours

Sat, 22 Jun 2019 19:50:00 GMT

Whether you’re going for a short ride for an hour or less or an all-day effort for several hours. It’s important to understand how to fuel your bicycle ride so that your energy levels stay optimal and also so that you don’t overdo the carbs and calories needed to fuel yourself if fat loss is a goal of yours. We recently put out a post on the best drinks to hydrate yourself on a ride, you can check that out here !

Fat Loss for Cyclists

Cycling: it can be a leisurely stroll through a trail or a full-on effort that demands every ounce of your will power and endurance. Many cardiovascular exercises have the sometimes unwanted effect of spiking your appetite through the roof. Anyone who has tried to lose weight knows, you can burn 500 calories doing aerobic conditioning, but you can also stimulate appetite so ravenous that left unchecked could kill 700-1000 calories easy.

If you’re looking to lose fat as well as enjoy all that cycling has to offer, whether that be cycling around your neighborhood or week-long bicycle tours. There are some simple guidelines to follow when trying to trim some weight while you’re enjoying yourself. Keep in mind that this advice is for when you’re on a ride, not for pre or post-exercise nutrition—but for the sake of keeping it short, I’ll just say protein…lots of protein! It’s important to be thinner, but not at the expense of strength and muscle.

If you’re cycling for an hour or less, arguably there’s no much need for nutritional supplementation. However, people are busy and nobody wants to eat a full meal right before heading out for a bike ride. Your best bet is to keep it light and keep it relatively high fat—the reason being is that unless you’ve been starving yourself for days, your body carries around enough carbs in the form of stored glycogen to fuel you for a 60-minute workout. So, munching on a high-fat granola bar is a great way to stave off some hunger while you hit the trail. Be sure to find a brand that boasts a high-fat content and isn’t loaded with sugars. Some granola bars are just candy bars in disguise!

Nutrition For Weekend or Week Long Tours

For our week-long tours, you’ll find yourself cycling anywhere from 30-50 miles a day, for an average total of 200 miles on our bike tour vacations! Don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of time to relax and sightsee, but 50 miles is 50 miles. Nutrition is one of the major factors that affect your enjoyment of the day. There are two mistakes we often see on our tours from first-timers or inexperienced riders.

If you want to keep yourself steady, just bear in mind that the body can only utilize about 1 gram of carbohydrate per minute. So you can only really use at most around 60 grams of carbs per hour of vigorous exercise. Yet most people who feel as though they are in for a long stretch of cardio such as cycling will guzzle a sports drink or load up on carbs beforehand. The best way to keep yourself level, light, and loose is to sip on your sports drink every 15 or 20 minutes and if you’re getting hungry after the first hour have a banana.

Bike Tour Vacations in the Great Lakes Area

I’m a big fan of KISS—err, not the band, well the band is alright too! KISS is Keep It Simple Stupid! Our bike tour vacations will take you through scenic routes all while you get great exercise and create memories with your tour group. Don’t let some spotty nutrition lead you feeling fatigued or sluggish. If you’re still unsure of how to proceed, don’t sweat it! We’ve been doing this a long time and you’ll be surrounded by many riders who have years of riding experience who will be more than happy to guide you along the path (literally). If you have any questions about our tours you can visit our contact page here or reach us at (248)-345-6929.

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Best Drinks For Long Bike Tours

Mon, 10 Jun 2019 15:04:00 GMT

We’ve all been in this situation: you’ve been riding for who knows how long and you’ve become quite thirsty. If it has been a particularly hot day and you’ve been sweating a ton on top of the physical exertion, suddenly drink choice becomes much more important than usual. Here are the most commonly sought after drinks to keep yourself well hydrated and in tip top shape to enjoy your bike tour vacation.

Sports Drinks

Ahh, the sports drink. We tell ourselves they keep us hydrated and they can be good for us—fortunately, this is true for bikers who are on long journeys! The sugar present in these drinks is not a good choice for those who are not doing long bouts of aerobic activity.

Biking, however, is essentially one of the best forms of aerobic activity you can do. A long bike ride such or a bike tour is so thoroughly enjoyable and can be a mentally relaxing experience, that you may go for longer than you ordinarily would jogging or doing some other cardiovascular work.

Sports drinks come loaded with sugars, and more importantly, potassium, magnesium, and sodium. These minerals keep your electrolyte levels in balance so that you don’t feel lightheaded or dizzy during long sessions of exercise where you’ve lost a lot of these minerals through sweating. If you’ve been pushing your limits, chances are your muscle stores are starved for glycogen and your blood sugar levels are dropping—which can also lead to decreased performance and lightheadedness. That is where the sugar in these drinks comes in handy.

Verdict: Good for long and intense bicycle rides

If sports drinks were the yang of hydrating exercise drinks, then coconut water would be the yin. Many people have turned to coconut water as a sports drink replacement in recent times because of its high potassium content. Considering that many Americans are deficient in potassium in comparison to our sodium intakes, this has been a naturally popular drink in balancing out our sodium and potassium ratios. It is an excellent option for everyday hydration and getting a nice dose of potassium for our daily requirements. Potassium is an important mineral in reducing blood pressure as well.

If you are in the prior example—in a situation where you’re exercising for a long time (greater than 90 minutes) and going at a fast pace, thus losing a lot of fluids through sweat. This is not an adequate drink to have. The worst part about the misconception of coconut water as a good sports drink is that while it is a perfectly nutritious beverage to have in most circumstances, for this situation it isn’t. The reason is that the primary mineral lost during vigorous exercise is sodium, the primary mineral that coconut water supplies is not sodium, but potassium—which keeps sodium in check. If you are already deficient in sodium in the body due to heavy sweating, then drinking coconut water is only worsening the issue.

Try not to let this deflate you if you are a coconut water lover (I am as well), it is a marvelously healthy drink and is even a fantastic way to keep yourself trim year long because it’s a phenomenal aid in reducing bloating from too much sodium—which can help you look and feel better.

Verdict: Good for shorter duration exercise

Water

Water is our lifeblood. In terms of hydration, it doesn’t get any simpler than this. About 60% of an adult human body is made up of water if that doesn’t tell you how important it is to drink in large quantities than I don’t know what is. There really isn’t much to say, water is sufficient for hydration in the vast majority of exercise-related circumstances.

Verdict: A versatile and superior classic

Bike Tours in the Great Lakes Area

Bike Tours Vacations offers a plethora of trail tours that will allow you to sightsee the best bike trails in Michigan. Whether you’re looking for a week-end biking tour to destress from work or are interested in a week-long tour to get out into the great beyond and breathe some fresh air, we’ve got you covered! To learn more about our biking tours, visit our contact page here or give us a call at (248)-345-6929!

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A busy week, and an old joke

Thu, 06 Jun 2019 18:18:00 GMT

In a past life, I was an elevator salesman. My position had a fair amount of customer contact, and it seems that every week I’d meet someone who’d tell me the old joke: “Elevator salesman, eh? That job must have its’ ups and downs.” That seems to be the theme for this busy week.

Normally I’d choose to write about positive events only, yet these past several days have delivered an interesting combination of events that I’d like to share with you.

Flooding in Missouri

Mother Nature has dealt quite a blow to the middle of the country. A cool and wet spring has contributed to very high river levels. The Missouri River is beyond flood stage, and will remain high for weeks. The flooding is causing serious property and crop damage across the region. At this time over 100 miles of the 230 mile Katy Trail is under water. I received this update about 10 a.m. on June 3. It was immediately obvious that I had to cancel our Katy Trail Tour the week of June 16.

One of the advantages of being a small business is the ability to act quickly. I notified our guests before noon, and sent 100% of the refunds by 2 p.m. There is no joy in cancelling a tour or making refunds, however guest safety was our first and only concern here.

I do want to mention that our lodging partners took this cancellation without issue. This includes the Hotel Bothwell in Sedalia, Hotel Frederick in Booneville, Best Western Plus in Jefferson City, Old Dutch Hotel in Washington, and Country Inn and Suites in St. Charles. Special thanks are in order for the Harbor Haus in Hermann, who returned 100% of our non-refundable deposit. We’ll return to the Katy Trail in the future.

Ups & Downs on the Kal-Haven Trail Tour

Forty four guests came out June 1 & 2 to play on the Kal-Haven Trail, our biggest tour ever! Cyclists from Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin turned out for fun. The good news is that we started and ended with perfect weather, with some liquid sunshine in the middle. There’s a reason we label our tours ‘rain or shine’, and recommend carrying a rain jacket.

Thirty of our 44 guests set personal records for distance on this tour. All 44 guests learned about perseverance on Saturday, plus a little about washing the dirt off your bike!

We do our best to plan for safety for guests and their equipment. As part of the permitting process, I told the State Park how many cars we would have overnight at the trail head in Kalamazoo. They sent this information on to the local sheriff. Unfortunately some vandals broke into two of our guest vehicles. This is the first time in 9 years that we’ve experienced any sort of vandalism while on tour.

We’re already in talks with the State Park, and with the Kalamazoo Visitor’s Bureau, on how to safeguard against this in the future. The correct answer will involve a review of police reports from the parking lot (to determine if this is a common event), and possibly the option of a different starting point at a secure parking lot.

What’s to come this summer?

Absent the Katy Trail, our busy tour season starts on June 23 in Traverse City. We’re a little staff-heavy on most tours, so the Tour Chief gets to bike a few more miles this summer. It will be a busy season, since we already have 25% more customers vs. any prior year. We have 4 fresh faces on our staff. For the first time ever, several guests are going back-to-back on tours!

I’ll try to keep the blog and interview program up this summer, but my first focus will be on our tours. As always, your comments and suggestions are appreciated. Thanks for reading!

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Free Bike Repairs- The Bike Medic

Sun, 19 May 2019 21:16:00 GMT

Dexter is a small town just west of Ann Arbor. On a recent ride there, a friend pointed out one booth at the Farmer’s Market. Nestled under a canopy I saw a handful of people, a rack of tools, and a few bikes. The Bike Medic was open, giving out free bike repairs. A woman came out to greet me and explain what they do, and she handed me their brochure.

We chatted for a few moments, and it turns out she is Dee Rittinger, wife of Bill Rittinger, the Bike Medic. Bill was out of town this Saturday, up north on Bois Blanc Island. I gathered some contact information from Dee and made plans to chat with him at a later date.

A Local Boy Makes Good

I came back a week later for coffee with Bill, the Bike Medic.

Bill Rittinger grew up in nearby Saline, Michigan. When he was young, he rode his bike all over town visiting friends. Along with his brothers, he fashioned some bike jumps trying to be Evel Knievel. Like many others, he took a break from riding for college, at the University of Michigan. Then marriage, kids, and a career as a Certified Public Accountant. Fortunately for Bill (and for us), he came back to bicycling. In 2003 a friend invited Bill on a 10-mile ride, Dexter to Delhi Mills Metro Park and back. As Bill told me, “Huron River Drive is neither flat nor straight, so it was a challenge. I’d never been on the open road before, and I enjoyed it. I caught the bug, and have been riding ever since.”

His current bike is a carbon-frame Specialized Roubaix, plus a mountain bike at the family cottage on Bois Blanc island. I asked about his riding, roads vs. trails. “You know” he said, “that’s changed over the years. I used to do a lot of road riding. Now I ride a lot on the Border to Border Trail here in Dexter. Unfortunately, one reason for changing is that drivers are distracted. There’s more accidents, and I’m more cautious.”

Why Bike Medic?

He’s got an interesting Saturday gig, the free bike repairs at the Bike Medic. I asked him to explain why he does this. His answer:

“Partly because I like biking, and I like to expose people to biking. The better your bike works, the more you enjoy it. The other thing is, I just like to serve my community. As our brochure says, I like to do that in a way that offers something free to folks and make them happy. Wow, something is really free…get them to think about that.”

There’s more to the story. This is part of a Christian outreach program, and two local churches help sponsor the booth. Bill has an explanation for outreach based on scripture, and you can read more here. Bill has a clear set of reasons why he should give up his Saturdays. With a dozen or more volunteers on his staff, I was curious about their motivation. How did Bill get their values to line up with his, and get them to come work for free?

“Well, that’s interesting” he replied. “I just asked if they want to come share in this ministry, that’s all. Most of the volunteers attend either Scio Community Church , or Dexter Gospel Church. I’ve had communication with both churches, and they understand my motivation. On Friday we had a training session and talked about the mission of the ministry, along with how to change tires and adjust derailleurs.”

Bill and his crew have picked up repair knowledge by study and repetition. The Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repair is in use, and they power through routine repairs- cables, rim brakes, derailleurs and chains. Some repairs are too big for the clinic and get referred to bike shops: cassettes, bottom brackets, hydraulic brakes, and bent hangers.

Cleaning my bike

I brought along an old road bike, to get some equipment removed from it before selling it: a non-functional computer & sensors, and some aerobars. Bill’s crew did that and more, including cleaning the chain, checking the derailleurs, and making the bike pretty again.

There is nothing aggressive about their Christian outreach. Bring in a bike and they’ll hand you a brochure. While they are happy to talk about their faith, they also are cautious about being too fervent. If you bring in a bike for repair, it will be cleaned and repaired for free, whether you talk with them or not. As Bill says, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

Bike Shop Business

Dexter Bike and Sport used to be Bill’s favorite bike shop, but they closed the shop a while back. Now Bill likes Aberdeen Bike in Chelsea, and Wheels in Motion in Ann Arbor. I asked Bill if there was any pushback from the local bike shops: “No, in fact they offer parts at a discount if I mention what I’m doing.”

What’s the budget to run this operation? And what metric does Bill use to justify his time and effort? “You know what, I don’t pay too much attention to the budget.” (Interesting comment from a CPA.) “The churches support me, they contribute enough to buy tubes and tires and some other supplies, and one of them even provided the repair stand. On a typical Saturday we probably run through $30 or $40 of tubes & tires.” Bill is also thrifty, recently scoring a box full of inner tubes at a bike swap meet.

Is there a Bottom Line?

But effective Christian outreach is tough to measure. So what is it that drives Bill and his crew to come back next year, or even next week?

“Well, it’s interesting because we serve at the pleasure of the Farmer’s Market. If they don’t invite us back, we’re done. The fact they’ve invited us back 4 years in a row speaks to that. They’ve been asked ‘when is the bike medic coming back?’ That gives me encouragement. I also think about – is there a stream of bikes coming in for repair? If bikes are coming in, I’m needed. I’ve got volunteers lined up to serve, so I’m needed. ”

Final Question

I wondered aloud to Bill if there was anything in our interview that I missed, or that he’d like to tell about. “We live in a time where people are very jaded, so one of my goals is giving (the public) a pleasant experience about what a Christian can be. I want people to walk away thinking ‘oh, that’s different than what I thought’; that’s all I need.”

You can see Bill and his Bike Medic crew at the Dexter Farmer’s Market on Alpine Street, Saturdays now through June 29.

For questions or comments about this article, or to learn more about some great bike tours, please drop an email to jim@biketourvacations.com

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Do It for Dan Memorial Ride

Tue, 07 May 2019 17:32:00 GMT

This past Sunday was a day for celebration. With sunny skies and temperatures in the mid 70s, it was a perfect spring day. Maybe you headed to a local pub to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Perhaps you had a picnic lunch out on the patio. Maybe -like me- you had a more serious tone to your celebration.

On Sunday at about 4 p.m., over 500 cyclists gathered at Island Lake State Recreation Area for an event called “Do It for Dan Memorial Ride.” You see, on April 25 Dan Horal was someone with the bad fortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Dan was struck by a car piloted by an inattentive driver, and he died two days after the crash.

The Bicycle Community Mourns

Why this is difficult

Yet here’s the kicker: Dan was riding in a safe place. Island Lake State Recreation Area is a popular destination for many outdoor recreationalists. Bicyclists, fishermen & women, hikers, hunters, kayakers, runners, and others gather regularly there to be outdoors. The park has only one entrance & exit to outside roads. In other words, there is no connection by road to anywhere else. No subdivisions, no shopping or commercial areas, nothing but recreation and low traffic count. The speed limit is only 25 MPH, and the roads inside the park are not designed for any higher speed. Island Lake is a perfect place for bicyclists to practice riding on paved roads with motor traffic.

Why we need to act

We can’t know what the driver saw, or why he failed to see Dan. The driver who caused this death is not our focus. It’s more important that we take this discussion to a higher level, and talk about traffic safety. We need to focus on better driver education. We need to understand and focus on infrastructure design to make safe roads and highways. And by ‘we’ I believe the discussion needs to include all roadway users, not just bicyclists.

There is a practical way to keep the momentum from this Memorial Ride moving ahead. The League of Michigan Bicyclists has an event coming up soon, the Bicycle and Trail Advocacy Day at the capitol in Lansing. If you feel passionately about this issue, please register and join this event. The focus this year is on distracted driving, and how we can take action to make our roads and highways safer for all users.

Post Script

If you see a bike painted white and sitting on the side of the road, you’ll recognized that someone on a bicycle died there in a collision. There will soon be a new Ghost Bike in place near Kent Lake Beach in Island Lake State Recreation Area. Let’s turn our efforts to advocate for safer roads for all, and some day make Ghost Bikes a thing of the past.

PSS

Thank you to Shaun and Dawn Bhajan of Hometown Bicycles in Brighton for your efforts in supporting this event, and thank you to Travis Plotner of Wheels in Motion in Ann Arbor for your photographs. Both of these bicycle shops are doing a great job of building the bicycling community.

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Michigan Bicycle Tour: Ride to Pictured Rocks

Fri, 03 May 2019 20:50:00 GMT

Considered the most beautiful place in Michigan by many, the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore combines all of the stunning aspects of Michigan’s natural splendor into one fantastic location. If you’ve ever wanted to truly experience the beauty of Lake Superior, there is no better place to do so. Located on the south shore of Lake Superior, this park is the largest summer attraction in Munising. Read on to explore the beauty of our latest Michigan Bicycle Tour: Ride to Pictured Rocks .

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

The Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is one of the four National Lakeshores managed by the National Park Service. This park offers 12 miles of serene beaches, five miles of impressive sand dunes, and a multitude of waterfalls and lighthouses. Sandstone cliffs rise 50 to 200 feet above the water. The Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore offers over 100 miles of hiking trails leading to remote streams and lakes. This lakeshore is an incredibly popular kayaking destination, as there are many shipwrecks, coves, and cliffs to explore and discover.

During our Pictured Rocks bike tour, you’ll discover why we love the Pictured Rocks so much. On our layover day in Munising, we’ve planned a pontoon tour for you. You’ll experience the majesty of the Pictured Rocks up-close-and-personal. Finish the day exploring its world-renowned hiking trails, serene woodlands, and towering sandstone cliffs.

Pictured Rocks is a fantastic destination for a Michigan bicycle tour. Stay longer for day hiking, boating, backcountry camping, fishing, hunting, kayaking, swimming, scuba diving, and snorkeling. While our bike tour will be held in the summer, it is also a great winter destination for winter camping, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, ice climbing, and cross-country skiing.

The Pictured Rocks Bike Tour

If you’re looking for a different kind of vacation, ride with us to experience all that Michigan has to offer.

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Update Your Tour Packing List

Mon, 15 Apr 2019 02:01:00 GMT

Equipment and technology keep getting better, making bicycling safer and easier. Get on board with these changes, and update your tour packing list to keep up with these improvements.

Safety First here! Be sure you pick up a set of USB-rechargeable LED lights for your bike, flashing white at the front of your bike, flashing red on the back end. Great lights are now available for the cost of lunch. Be like the Tour Chief and have these lights in operation EVERY TIME YOU RIDE. No excuses on this one. Your safety on trails and on public roads is our first priority, and some high quality LED lights help show that you are a safe cyclist.

Bring your smart phone along, and be sure you’ve added a few apps for navigation (we have electronic navigation available on all our tour routes). We like Ride With GPS because it has great audible signals to tell you when to turn, plus there’s tons of data to play with then you get home. Map My Ride and Strava also are great apps for navigation. You already have the smart phone which works with the free versions of these apps. You might even select an app with a paid subscription to get more features.

If you’d like a tutorial on managing a ride app, please contact Tour Chief Jim for a cheat-sheet on this, plus a custom ride link near your home.

You’ve got a cell phone, but riding all day in the boonies can drain the battery fast. DO pick up a portable battery for your phone, so it will last for a full day of touring. We also recommend bringing along a charging block with 3 or 4 USB ports. Why so many ports? One is for your phone, two are for your safety lights, and the 4th port will be used for the spare battery pack. Do you have a bike computer? Bring it along and use it, just remember it’s one more device to keep up with.

Here’s a tip or two: Use Airplane mode on your phone when running navigation. You’ll still get navigation, and your phone won’t be searching for cell towers all the time. Also, remember to charge all devices as soon as is practical at the end of the daily ride.

This Electronic Stuff is Important!

Navigation on your phone is also a safety item, even if you prefer cue sheets and maps. Our recent experiments suggest that phone navigation is more reliable that paper maps, and it eliminates fumbling with paper- and for some of us it takes out the need for reading glasses!

The Basics

You’ve got a nice bike, a few bike outfits and some riding shoes, and a helmet for safety. Don’t forget gloves, and bring your eye protection! Your local bike shop probably has some shades for you, and you might also look at safety glasses from your favorite hardware store. Be sure to add sunscreen and aloe to your toilet kit. Click here for our most current tour packing list.

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The Link Between Exercise and Happiness

Thu, 04 Apr 2019 15:07:00 GMT

Regular exercise has been shown to ward off diseases caused by obesity and chronic inflammation, such as depression, high blood pressure, anxiety, diabetes, heart disease, brain fog, and more. If you didn’t need another reason to exercise more, here’s another one: regular exercise has been shown to change how the brain functions and reacts. As we age, perceived and actual cognitive function declines (also known as brain fog/feeling fuzzy etc.). Exercise can help you lower your blood pressure, improve levels of physical fitness, prevent depression, and look better. The link between exercise and happiness is real.

Researchers at the University of British Columbia found that regular aerobic exercise has the potential to boost the size of the hippocampus, the area of the brain associated with verbal memory and learning. It is estimated that by the year 2050, more than 115 million people will suffer from dementia worldwide, so this research could not have come at a better time.

The Brain and Exercise

Exercise helps with thinking and memory through multiple pathways. Exercise helps battle inflammation, reduce insulin resistance, and stimulate the release of numerous growth factors. These growth factors include new blood vessels in the brain, improved health of existing brain cells, and the growth and survival of new brain cells. Studies have also shown that the medial temporal cortex and prefrontal cortex have a larger volume and size in people that work out versus people that don’t. These areas control memory and thinking. So, if you are looking for an increase in working memory, verbal memory, learning capacity, and thinking speed…. Exercise may be the answer to your concerns.

Benefits of Exercise

Exercise is linked to an increase in the production of positive hormones such as dopamine and serotonin, as well as antibodies, which are special types of proteins produced by the immune system. Antibodies help fight off potential infection from antigens such as viruses and bacteria. Exercise has been shown to increase antibody production by about 300% when compared to people who do not regularly exercise.

Exercise and Depression

Looking for an all-natural treatment for depression? Look no further than aerobic exercise. According to a Harvard Medical School article, about 1 in 10 American adults regularly experience depression; while these numbers may seem high, there is a silver lining. Exercise has been shown to have similar efficacy towards the treatment of depression when compared to antidepressant medication. While severe, treatment-resistant depression may need additional treatment, exercise has been shown to help even the toughest cases. Exercise, as mentioned above, also helps cut down on negative symptoms associated with obesity and other health ailments; this, in turn, may alleviate some of the things that are causing the depression in the first place.

Exercise stimulates nerve growth in the hippocampus, an area of the brain that is associated with mood regulation; the hippocampus has been shown to be smaller in depressed individuals. Regular exercise can improve your mood through neuronal growth. Our best advice? Pick a form of exercise that you enjoy and get to it!

At Bike Tour Vacations, you already know what our favorite form of exercise is… the health benefits of cycling are numerous and can alleviate many of the mental and physical stresses of life in a healthy and safe way. Check out one of our previous blog posts about the numerous health benefits of bicycling .

We hope to see you on the trail!

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When I grow up…I want to be like Tom & Toni!

Fri, 22 Mar 2019 02:29:00 GMT

There are perks which come from being a tour leader. Varied travel, exciting times outdoors, and sampling different cuisine are all great. Perhaps the best perk is making new friends along the way. For this post, I’d like to focus on Tom & Toni Blanken , three-time tour guests and all-around good guys.

Early Start

Toni got her first bike the day mom brought a new baby home from the hospital; apparently her dad thought getting the kids out of the house would help! Tom also started riding as a child, and has never stopped. I asked, did either of you take a break from riding, for a career or for family?

Toni : Yes, I didn’t get back after my teen years until I was 32. Then I launched right back into DALMAC, Shoreline West, the whole routine. A friend got me into a really nice lightweight bike with all the gear, and he coached me into the sport.
JP : (to Tom) And you never stopped.
Tom : I never stopped. A friend of mine, in our neighborhood, we struck out on our own from Lansing to the bridge in a pair of jean shorts (laughing). We had our wives follow in a camper, in the 70s. Yes…we learned not to swim in a sandy creek with your shorts on because it really chafes you (lots of laughing)! When we got up toward the hilly country and I swore I’d never get on a bike again, but I never did quit. Once my daughter turned 10, I took her on the Pedal Across Michigan ride (PALM). Then Toni and I, we met on a bike ride in 1994, East Shoreline ride.
Toni : We both immediately bonded…

A second chance

JP : This is a second marriage for each of you. How has cycling helped your marriage?
Tom : Oh, my goodness. It has been such a bonding experience because we go for the adventure, and each day is a new day. Going from point A to point B, together 24/7 and seeing what God has put out there for you. It’s a great bonding experience. We don’t like it when we can’t ride together.
Toni : Yes, we usually ride together. He slows down for me. Sometime spouses will separate, the husband rides faster, but we always stay together. We’re a team, we like the adventure together.
JP : I think I noticed the last time I rode with you, that you’re OK with your own speed, whatever it is. There may be people in the group who are faster, or who are slower, and that doesn’t bother…
Toni : Absolutely, good observation.
Tom : We prefer riding at our pace…
Toni : This isn’t easy, always, and to us it’s easier to do our socializing off the bike vs. on the road, being caught up in someone else’s pace. We tend to do our own thing, we’re not fast. We don’t worry about coming in with the bulk of the group. If you run into folks at lunch, great, but usually there’s plenty of time for that at night to get to know people. We don’t worry about trying to keep up, if we did we wouldn’t be doing this, probably.

How much riding do two people need at 7 years into retirement?

Tour Priorities

JP : Everybody has the internet, and you surf and look at tours, friends send ideas, and you have to cut through all this information. Let’s prioritize tour factors which might include price, location, date, tour operator, tour size, camping vs motel, tour distance, tour duration in days, what’s the most important factor?
Toni : We both agree, location is #1. We want to hit all 50 states, and we have 16 left.
Tom : Alaska and Hawaii still need to be done…

Toni : We have plans for Alaska and the northwest. We have a tour in Washington, then we might fly to Anchorage, then come back and drive through Idaho…

Tom : And our minimum in a state means we’re going to do a full day ride in that state, even if it’s our own plan, 30 or 40 miles. And to help do that, we bought a trailer hitch mounted bike rack. Drive in, get on the bikes quickly, and be done. The bike rack is a very nice thing.
Toni : Back to the question, we’re done with camping, so hotel tours. We did years and years of camping on bicycle tours, but now we’re getting up there…
Tom : In 2012 we did 3,000 miles coast to coast, all camping, and that fixed this for (no more) camping.

Privacy and internet

Toni : And your own bathroom! And the internet! So we have location…and if we’re in the right spot, we like a nice long tour, seven to 14 days. We like to just get immersed in the area. We pick where we’d like to explore, we just did a bunch on the east coast, Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire. One tour was 10 days, one was two weeks, and that really allowed us to immerse ourselves into the northeast. And if you spend a few weeks on a tour, it’s bonding as a couple, but there’s also bonding in the group…

Tom : We’ve got friends all over the U.S. now…

JP : So, what app are you using for navigation?
Tony & Tom in sync : Ride with GPS!
JP : Ride with GPS, they are wonderful!
Tom : And if all the ride leaders would use that, it would make it so nice!

(Note: at Bike Tour Vacations we use Ride with GPS on every tour!)

Safety Lessons

JP : What are you doing about your own safety on the roads?
Tom : Safety-that is one of the reasons the two of us like to ride together, we figure it’s a lot safer. On tours with a cue sheet, we’re good at deciphering the cue sheet and mapping. If you can figure out where you’re going easily, it tends to make it safer. You can ride safer. We usually do not ride two abreast, even on country roads with no cars, some are so small you think it’s somebody’s driveway. The other thing is bike trails nowadays are so nice. We always use helmet mounted rearview mirrors, and I carry one as a spare part. We try and follow all the rules of the road that a car would…

Toni : It’s a very intense sport, especially when you’re in traffic, but the more you are out there, the more confident you get, the more adept you get at deciding how to handle the traffic situations that you get into. We have years of experience out there now. One more thing about safety, which we’re doing, we’ve actually started to enjoy the dirt roads and trails (gravel riding) on our hybrid bikes. There are premier trails in Michigan that are limestone or dirt or gravel, and we do this to get out into nature, and there’s no better place that out on a remote trail, many of which have facilities along the way.

New Safety Tip

Tom : On our very last ride this year, the ride leader, instead of reading the safety notes that the insurance company told him to say, he went around the room and asked everyone what they do for safety, and each person came up with one or two ideas. It was really very nice. This was a Bicycle Adventure Club tour in Kentucky.

Toni : They’re volunteer led tours, but that was a great technique. It was the first time we ever had it happen, and it was very engaging. It’s also a good for group bonding.

And also, not on safety, on the last tours, every night at happy hour we had a group question for bonding. They would ask one thing, like ‘what is your hobby’ and went around the room. We didn’t elaborate because there wasn’t time for that, and then you would use that tip for dinner conversation. We had about 4 nights with bonding questions, plus joke night…
Tom : They lifted the rules about politics and religion, you could have a joke about everything…
JP : (laughs) That’s pretty thin ice!
Tom : That was a good rule though, no conversations about politics or religion at all…
Toni : But in a general dinner conversation, 6 to 8 people, you just keep the conversation on the happy hour question. This really helped to get to know people quickly.

Prison Ministry

JP : So, to go back to religion, Tom, tell me about your prison ministry
Tom : That was one thing I brought up during the (question time) what kind of hobby do you have? So on the first tour that this question was asked, I answered that I’m in a prison ministry, and I go into prison and I have a lot of good friends in prison. I’ve followed 3 of them after they got out of prison. The comments that I got the next day, and discussion at one whole dinner after that, a lobster dinner in Maine, was talking all about that.
Toni : People were very interested in that. Tom was actually kind of embarrassed by all the attention he kept getting, like ‘dang, I like to stay under cover a little more’ but people were keenly interested. From our experience, the inmates are often quite forgotten, you know, tucked away. So when you start hearing about it, they ask ‘why would you want to do that’ and ‘what’s it like’ and…
Tom : Yes, people would come up and say ‘well, that is the best hobby mentioned out of the entire night!’

So what else should I ask?

Toni : Well, you can make age irrelevant if you just keep on moving!

Tom : We divide the duties for touring. I take care of all the mechanical items, bikes, purchasing of bikes, and Toni does all of the research, registrations, planning our routes across the country…
Toni : I could have a second career as a tour guide because of all the research…

JP: Call me when you’re ready…

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Our Upcoming 2019 Bicycle Vacations

Fri, 01 Mar 2019 15:13:00 GMT

We’re heading into our 9th year of our bike trails, which span Minnesota, Missouri and Michigan; our tours span all 5 Great Lakes, from Lake Ontario and Erie in the east, across Lakes Huron and Michigan, and finally on to Lake Superior. Our tours are designed to feature the best routes with the lowest amount of traffic while providing a clear view of the beautiful scenery that Michigan, Minnesota, and Missouri have to offer. Our bike vacations are suitable for pairs and solo riders, and we’ve developed strategies to make sure everyone feels included in the group activities we facilitate. Just take a look at or five upcoming tours in June and July:

The Kal-Haven Bicycle Tour: June 1-June 2

Katy Trail Bike Tour: June 16 – June 21

This Missouri trail will take you on 225 miles of 97% traffic-free, beautiful landscape from Sedalia to St. Charles. Our overnight stops include lodging in Sedalia, Booneville, Jefferson City, Hermann, and Washington, with our tour dining including lunch on two days, dinner on Sunday and Thursday, and breakfast Monday-Friday. For solo guests, the price of the tour is $1,649, with two guests in a shared hotel room at a cost of $2,698.

Grand Traverse Bicycle Tour: June 23-June 28

If you want to see the best of Michigan, this is the bike vacation for you! This tour is one of our “comfort tours” and is suitable for beginners; we take our time, enjoy the scenery, and travel shorter distances to take it all in. This tour includes 30-45 miles per day, with a fee of $1,499 per person. The cost for a double occupancy or solo guests in a private room are only $1,949.

Pictured Rocks Bike Tour: July 7 or July 28

This is a brand-new tour slated for 2019! The tour will take 6 days in total, with trails through Manistique, Shingleton, Munising, and a private pontoon tour of the pictured rocks. Enjoy beautiful hiking and views of waterfalls and the pictured rocks in Alger county. We’ll head to Curtis for dinner at a historic Civil War-era inn and back to Manistique to finish the tour. For one guest in a private room, the cost for the tour is $1,599. For two people/two beds and one room, the cost is $1,299 each.

The Great Waters Road Bike Tour: July 14 – July 19

Perhaps our favorite bicycle tour, this will introduce you to the Great Waters of the Upper Peninsula. You’ll see three Great Lakes (Huron, Superior, and Michigan), the Mackinac bridge, the Soo Locks, the Neebish Cut, and more! We’ll also take a stop at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and ride to Tahquamenon Falls later that day. Six days and five nights of fun will only cost $1,499 for one guest in a private room. Two people/two beds, and one room will add up to $2,498 (or $1,249 each).

Midwest Bike Vacations

If any of these tours sounds like the right fit for you, do not hesitate to contact us at (248) 345-6929 or visit our contact page! We aim to provide the absolute best bicycle tour vacations in the Midwest United States.

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Let’s get electric!

Thu, 21 Feb 2019 22:21:00 GMT

For some time now we’ve felt that a fleet of electric bikes would be a great addition to our tours. Think about it. You and your spouse or ride partner love to ride, but ride at different speeds. One of you might opt for the electric bike to level the playing field. So a week ago we picked up several e-bikes, and are testing them now.

We’ve had guests bring their own e-bikes on tour in the past. Every time they used it to hang with their friends, instead of lagging behind on a standard bike. This is a good thing.

Subject to size & availability, the bikes will be available on most of our tours for $250 per week, or $100 on our weekend tours.

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Motivational Quotes

Wed, 20 Feb 2019 17:42:00 GMT

Overcoming adversity. Doing things that others won’t. Getting off the couch and driving to the gym or getting on your bike despite a long day at work. These are all common actions of some of the world’s most successful athletes, business owners, and people. Our shared human experience has taught me many things about life; seeing others rise to the occasion, despite hardships or enervation, can be a powerful reminder of the strength that is inside all of us. Motivational quotes regarding fitness and life demonstrate the robustness of certain individuals; observing the inner strength of other humans, in turn, can help you foster and develop your own personal brand of solidity. Here are just a few of my favorite quotes:

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit.” – Aristotle

“Nothing will work unless you do.” – Maya Angelou

“Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t.” – Jerry Rice

“We cannot start over. But we can begin now and make a new ending.” – Zig Ziglar

“Just believe in yourself. Even if you don’t. Pretend that you do, and at some point, you will.” – Venus Williams

“No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.” – Tony Robbins

“Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do.” – Oprah Winfrey

“Making excuses burns zero calories per hour.” – Unknown

“Don’t count the days. Make the days count.” – Muhammad Ali

“It’s not about perfect. It’s about effort. And when you bring that effort every single day, that’s where transformation happens. That’s how change occurs.” – Jillian Michaels

“The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion. That’s what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they’ll go through the pain no matter what happens.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan

“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford

Great Lakes Bike Tours

Group exercise has been shown to help motivate and inspire many people while working out; some say our competitive nature may push us past the point of comfort. Seeing another biker peddle past you 20 miles into a ride, despite physical exhaustion, can also be the encouragement you need to keep on riding. Will power, companionship, and positive influences are all things that come with our bike tours; combine these factors with breathtaking sights, motivational tour guides, comfortable lodging, and wonderful restaurants, and you have a recipe for success that can help push anyone to the next level. Our week long tours combine beautiful scenery and safe, quiet country roads that emphasize the local roots of our Great Lakes tours. Make your next vacation something that you can be proud of. Bike together for a time to remember.

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Personal Involvement in Bicycle Advocacy

Wed, 20 Feb 2019 17:20:00 GMT

It’s a familiar story. You attend a conference and hear from a few keynote speakers. Each has a story to tell, and most are comfortable at the podium. You listen, maybe taking a few notes. Then the speaker says something which sticks in your head, and you recognize there is a story to be told.

Eleanor McMahon has this story. She was a keynote speaker at a bike conference recently. Her story was engaging, and when she finished I knew there was more. We sat down to chat, and here is her story.

Eleanor grew up in Windsor, Ontario, a rust-belt city just across the river from Detroit in the heart of the Great Lakes. She’s the youngest of 7 in an Irish-Catholic family. She had a driver’s license but rarely had the opportunity to use the family car, a Chrysler which rolled off the assembly line where her father worked.

“When I was in high school”, she said, “I had a bicycle. Having a bicycle was freedom. It allowed me to explore parts of the city that I hadn’t before. The bike was freedom, and I’ve ridden bikes all my life.”

She paid for University and a semester abroad by working summers at Chrysler. After graduation, her French language skills came into play. She spent 8 years in Ottawa staffing in Parliament, including a stint as Press Secretary to Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien. After 8 years on the hill, she left government for a successful business career.

Tragedy

Fast forward several years. She was 37 when she met Ontario Provincial Policeman Greg Stobbart, and 39 when they married. They were active cyclists, yet Greg was the unfortunate one. While training for a triathlon he was struck and run over by a driver who had a suspended license. The driver pulled out to pass while going uphill in a commercial vehicle. This was unsafe to begin with, and he had to swerve back to avoid oncoming traffic. Greg was killed in the crash.

Eleanor spoke the initials of this motorist but never mentioned his name. We did not discuss the reason for his suspended license. These are minor facts in a story where the crux of the issue is regard for the law. Those who drive with revoked or suspended licenses are risk-takers. Two months after killing Greg, this driver caused another accident.

The motorist was convicted in his first trial but he appealed. The second trial was going to send the driver to jail. “He knew he was going to be convicted” said Eleanor, “so he made a deal with the crown and his sentence was reduced.” Just one hundred hours of community service and another temporary suspended license.

Unequal Protection

We road users – motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians – depend on the motor vehicle codes to keep us safe while using public roads. Yet there are instances where the laws don’t help.

Eleanor had heard stories from her husband and from other Ontario Provincial Police officers, “Oh my gosh, I pulled ‘that guy’ over again.” She continued, “Previous to Greg’s death there was no encompassing charge for repeat offenders, people who repeatedly drove under suspension.”

A Call to Action: Change the Law

Eleanor and her family had been battered by all this. She and her brother decided to turn this tragedy into something positive-a new law to help police keep the roads safe. With her background in government, she knew a broad base of support was necessary. It was never an option to do this just because she had special privileges from working in government. “I wanted to make the case and get it done because it was the right thing to do” she said.

Working with the Chief of Ontario Provincial Police, they presented the business case for a change in the law. This law would help the OPP keep dangerous drivers off the roads. After some very hard work, Greg’s Law passed in 2009. Finally the police had a valuable tool to help protect us.

Unexpected Benefits: A Change the Culture

Fifteen years ago there was no advocacy group for bicycling in Ontario. Eleanor saw a need for this, so she wrote a business plan to help learn if such a group would succeed. This group would need a broad base of support, and would have to be attractive to regular cyclists.

Eleanor is also convinced that road safety is not political. “Never! Never should (safety) be political. There was a perception that cyclists represented a certain cohort of the population, and that is wedge politics. I called that out immediately.”

In order to fight the perception, she built a case based on facts. Facts of who actually rides, how often, how many miles. This showed a broad spectrum of citizens regularly on bicycles for commuting and for every day errands, and they’re out year-around!

Share the Road Cycling Coalition was launched as an advocacy organization representing all cyclists in Ontario, and continues to this day. Eleanor was the director for a while, but she knew enough to step back from the reins and move on.

Member of Parliament

From university to Press Secretary to the Prime Minister, to a career in business, then a marriage cut short by tragedy, and then advocacy. First for Greg’s Law, then Share the Road. How do you follow up on that? Run for Parliament.

Eleanor was elected to a single 4-year term to the Ontario Provincial Parliament in 2013. During that time she served on the cabinet as Minister of Tourism Culture & Sport. She worked hard to advance cycling. You can read more here and here.

Forgiveness

No one plans for a tragedy. In order to cope with the unspeakable, Eleanor was able to forgive the driver who caused it. “I was able to forgive this man because I had to” she said, “because I didn’t want him to occupy my every thought. I didn’t want to be a vengeful person, that’s not who I am. My saving grace was the ability to pour my energy into making a difference in people’s lives.”

The Take-away

Tragic events can change our lives. Eleanor McMahon, already proficient at public policy issues, has turned a sad event into advocacy for a series of public policy advances. Advocacy belongs to each of us; let’s follow her example to work on policy, and prevent the next tragedy.

________________________________________________________

Click here for a full transcript of our recorded interview: Interview with Eleanor McMahon

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Safety at the state level; an interview with John Lindenmayer

Wed, 30 Jan 2019 19:12:00 GMT

Public policy and advocacy contribute to bicycle safety in many ways. The League of Michigan Bicyclists is active in setting this policy, and in advocating for vulnerable roadway users. I met recently with LMB Executive Director John Lindenmayer to get an insight into how this all works.

John grew up in west Michigan, in Berrien County. He now lives in Lansing with his wife and 2 young boys. He’s been with the league for 15 years, and became Executive Director about 4 years ago.

Mission Statement

The League is out to promote bicycling and the safety of all bicyclists on Michigan roadways. That’s a pretty broad statement, so I asked John how he prioritizes his activities to meet the mission.

His reply: “Well, the way I see it, there are two big facets of that mission. The first is that we promote bicycling in Michigan. That’s pretty open-ended, which gives us a lot of leeway and a lot of fun. It allows us to stretch a little bit and branch out, anything that encourages people to ride bikes.”

“The second part of our mission is safety driven. We’re focused on road cycling. We work with other groups who focus more on trails and mountain biking. Road cycling is our niche, in terms of advocacy, education, and safety.”

Success in 2018

Last year was a high water mark for the League. Seven different public acts, each pushed by the League, were signed into law. Electric bikes are now recognized as bicycles (not mopeds), and you can no longer get a ticket if your bike rack obstructs the license plate.

More important, Michigan took major steps to promote safety. Motorists are now required to have at least three feet clear when passing a bicycle. In addition, driver training courses must add time teaching about non-motorized road users, and how to safely navigate around them in a motor vehicle.

Clean-up for 2019

Passing the new laws doesn’t mean the hard work is over. Education is a priority, according to John: “We’re going to have to do a fair amount of public engagement and be creative. We’ll have to find community partners who can help get this message out to the drivers.”

The driver’s education curriculum has to be developed. “We’re working on it right now. We’re partnering with the Department of State who oversees the driver training education curriculum. We want to walk young drivers through some common scenarios they’ll see on the roads. How do you (new driver) drive around those (bicycles and bike lanes)? How do you safely interact with bicycles?”

New Initiatives-No more screens to faces

What is on the agenda for new safety initiatives? Good stuff.

“Distracted driving” said John, “seems to be the issue that really resonates with the cycling community, and to a much broader community as well. We think there might be some opportunities for coalition building.”

This issue affects everyone, so identifying partners is key. John continued:

“There’s a host of groups working on this. The auto industry, the insurance industry, to other groups like us who represent vulnerable roadway users- bicyclists, pedestrians, people with disabilities. I think we can pull a real diverse group of stakeholders together. It’s pretty much common sense. We just have to break this addiction of screens to faces, especially while driving .

There’s more

You’ve seen ‘Bikes May Use Full Lane’ signs in other states, but they’re not allowed in Michigan. MDOT has given an indication they may like a change, especially since the ‘Share The Road’ signs seem to be directed at no one in particular. The League will push this issue forward so that it has a chance to become part of the code.

Board of Directors

I asked John about the board, and his interaction with them. There are 12 members on the board, and they are diverse in their makeup. The board sets the annual budget, and oversees his position as director. “The board is very high-level. They adopt a long range plan every 3 to 5 years, giving staff direction on where to prioritize our limited resources. They help recruit supporters, and help with fundraising.”

“We have a great board right now. They provide guidance, but leave it to me and my staff to administer the goals and make it happen.”

John is modest about his impact on the organization, but he has overseen a doubling of the staff since becoming director. I asked him to name an instance where the board followed his lead on an issue. His answer:

“So since I took the Executive Director position, there’s two new projects I’ve added which I’m really excited about. One is the Micro Grant program. We’re giving funds out for projects which meet our mission, and which help under served populations bicycle more. We’ve done two year’s of these grants, and we’re excited to do our third round this year.”

“The other thing the board was excited about is our one-day event called HUB-Fest. We wanted to host a celebration (for all bicyclists). It’s really four events in one, with a big after-party.”

HubFest will include some road rides, a gravel grinder ride, a wine tasting event, and a family-friendly ride. There’s 3 bands at the party, too. You can read more about it here.

Advocacy for All

The League of Michigan Bicyclists has a great structure, and it allows for everyday folks to participate on different levels. Guests on their tours contribute to the micro grant programs. The Lucinda Means Advocacy Day allows you and I to become bicycle experts for a day, meeting with the legislature to improve roadway safety. The results of these concentrated efforts benefit all roadway users.

If you live in Michigan and ride a bicycle, please join and support the League of Michigan Bicyclists .

Coming soon:

Our fourth safety blog post focuses on Eleanor McMahon, former member of the Ontario parliament, and founder of the Share the Road Cycling Coalition. She overcame the devastating loss of her husband to a cycling crash by turning it into motivation to change the culture and the traffic laws in Ontario. Stay tuned!

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Campus Bicycle Safety: An interview with Tim Potter, Michigan State University

Tue, 29 Jan 2019 19:20:00 GMT

Bikes on campus, our interview with Tim Potter

Today there are many different environments for urban cycling. Modern university campuses are often crowded places on the urban scene, and they present some special challenges regarding bikes and safety. We recently went to Michigan State University to discuss this.

Tim Potter is the general manager of the Michigan State University Campus Bike shop. He’s also their Sustainable Transportation Manager. As he explains, “I’m the guy that is most interested in advancing non-motorized transportation on campus.” Tim maintains an active image on social media, with frequent postings about bicycle safety and advocacy.

Bikes and MSU

College and University campuses are unique places to ride a bike. There’s a large number of people moving about. Some are students, others faculty, and many others are support staff. They’re all focused on a job, not on walking or cycling. Said Tim: “We’re right in the middle of it. We’ve got 17,000 students in campus housing (out of 50,000 total) plus another 12,000 faculty and staff. It’s a small city with 20,000 cyclists.”

MSU is a big place, at 5,200 acres. There are 27 miles of campus roads, and over a hundred miles of sidewalks. This makes riding on campus unique. Tim explained some more. “The layout of campus is a little different that your city or country riding. There are multiple ways to get around, pathways, sidewalks, and roads. You have a lot of intersections when you’re off road. In the city you don’t have as many options.”

“Around here you have to have your head on a swivel. There are diagonal intersections, maybe 5 or 6 different pathways intersecting all at once. During class change time when it seems like all 65,000 people are moving, it feels like Chicago or New York City, it’s so crowded. The roadways tend to come to a stop because there are so many people trying to drop off friends…”

A mix of infrastructure

It’s an adventure getting to Tim’s campus office. I parked and had to walk about a half mile using sidewalks, roadway, and a mixed-use pathway. According to Tim, the pathway took a long time to get funded and built. Originally built as 18″ wide pairs of concrete strips (think old wagon wheel tracks), these spaghetti noodles went around the campus. The old concrete is gone now, replaced with both mixed-use pathway and bike-only pathway.

The pathway is mostly complete going east to west across campus. There’s an interruption for constructing the Broad business school, but even that will bring improvements when finished.

One bigger hurdle will be replacing the bridge on Farm Lane crossing the Red Cedar River. Due to flood concerns, this bridge is critical to public safety in Ingham County. Right now there are no bike lanes south of the bridge, creating a bottleneck for cyclists going south. A new design holds promise that the campus will have its first north-south bike friendly street.

An Education Opportunity

We chatted a bit about cycling education, about how students (and the rest of us) ride around, and the practice of riding bikes on sidewalks. One frustration we share is the variability of traffic laws. In some communities including MSU, bicycles are forbidden from riding on sidewalks; in other places this behavior is expected.

In Michigan the motor vehicle code allows for bicycles to ride on the street, following all the rules for motor vehicles. There are cities where it’s illegal to ride a bike on the sidewalks. Yet on the MSU campus it seems there are equal numbers of pedestrians and bicycles on sidewalks even though a campus ordinance clearly prohibits bicycles from riding on sidewalks .

There is no time at student orientation to cover how to bike safely around campus. So how does a bike safety message get out, and who is responsible for it?

There is no easy answer to this question. The University is concerned first with academics; bike safety is far down the list. The police are busy with motor vehicle safety, and appear to have little time left over for pedestrian and cyclist safety.

Tim was scolded once, in Davis, California, for biking on the sidewalk for a very short distance to get to bicycle parking. As he said, “there’s this mindset in Davis, you just don’t ride on the sidewalks, and the residents will help enforce it, not just the police. And in Chicago, too, I had an older woman yell at me for riding briefly on the sidewalk to get around a road block. I think the difference is long term residents help enforce things.”

On a campus with 8,000 new freshmen every year and turnover from graduation, few people get to be a long term residents.

The Take-away

Tim doesn’t set policy from the campus bike shop. The University, and the campus police, each lack the time and resources necessary to address how bikes are used on campus. That leaves cycling citizens like Tim trying to fill the void through their own personal behavior, on the bike and by posting bike safety topics online.

Our interview covered many topics including biking a thousand miles at age 15, racing in Japan, and having several grand children. You can read the full transcript here .

Coming Soon

Our next two safety posts look at safety and policy at the state or provincial level. We spoke with John Lindenmeyer of the League of Michigan Bicyclists, about their recent successes, and future goals for the organization.

Then, the story of Eleanor McMahon, a woman who- after losing her husband in a cycling crash- worked to change the culture and the law.

As always, your comments are appreciated!

Please Stay tuned!

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Health Benefits of Bicycling

Tue, 15 Jan 2019 21:32:00 GMT

Everyone knows that being fit and healthy is comprised of two main components: a healthy diet and a moderate amount of exercise. Regular physical activity can help protect you from cancer, mental illness, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and arthritis. Riding your bike regularly can help reduce the risks associated with a sedentary lifestyle and can improve your cognitive functioning. Bicycling is a low-impact and healthy activity that is enjoyed by children and adults alike; its cheap, clean, fun, and doesn’t leave any lasting impact on the environment. An estimated one billion people ride bicycles every day, be it for recreation, transportation, or sport.

Improve Your Health Through Cycling

Experts estimate that it only takes two to four hours to improve your health through physical exercise. Cycling causes less strain and injuries than other comparable exercises, is great for building muscular endurance, and doesn’t require a large amount of physical skill. Cycling is known to increase aerobic fitness capabilities, stamina, and strength and can also be as fun and time-efficient as you want it to be. If you’re going to the store for a few small items, cycle there instead of driving your car! Your body and the environment will thank you.

Cycling provides an experience that other forms of exercise simply can’t compare to. Rolling down a hill at over 10 miles per hour can provide a rush and thrill unlike a simple jog or run.

Cycling and Physical Health

An aerobic activity is any activity that works your lungs, blood vessels, and your heart. Cycle regularly to sweat, breathe deeper, and give your metabolism a nice stoke. The various physical benefits of regular cycling include:

Bike Tours in the Great Lakes Area

Bike Tour Vacations offers many trail tours on the best bike trails in Michigan. Some of the trails we’ve ridden include the White Pine Trail from Grand Rapids to Cadillac; on the Pere Marquette Trail from Midland to Reed City; on the Alpena to Cheboygan trail; and on the Kal-Haven Trail from Kalamazoo to South Haven. We cater to solo riders and couples alike and promise to provide a unique and fun experience that combine safe routes with beautiful scenery. Our tours touch all 5 Great Lakes, from Lakes Ontario and Erie in the East, across Lakes Huron and Michigan, and on to Lake Superior. Give us a call at (248) 345-6929 or visit our contact page to learn more.

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Group rides and bike safety: An interview with Dan Harrison

Thu, 03 Jan 2019 16:51:00 GMT

We ride bikes for many reasons. There are great sights available on tours or on Saturday bike rides, health benefits from cycling, and the fun you have on the bike with your friends. These are wonderful things, but they’re best available AFTER you’ve designed some safety into your riding experience. To learn more about planning for safe rides, I talked with Dan Harrison, a Ride Captain and former officer of the Ann Arbor Bicycle Touring Society (AABTS).

His adult cycling started in the mid 1970’s. “I remember I was working in Detroit then, and I bought my first nice real road bike. At about the same time there was Bike Centennial; that’s where many of the adults who ride today first got into cycling.”

Fast forward to 1988 and his future wife Jan. With several thousand miles under her belt, she got him to join the AABTS, and he became an officer of the club in 1989, responsible for 30 years of potluck meals. He also became a ride leader about that time.

Ride Leader Qualifications

Does the AABTS provide safety guidelines for Ride Captains?

“Yes, we do. We have a chair of the safety committee. On our website there is a ‘Rules of the Road’ page full of safety guidelines. Also there’s a 4 or 5 page post, Tips for Ride Captains, with general safety and how to run a ride.”

There’s more. The AABTS “offered the Effective Cycling Courses about 15 years ago, probably 3 times with 20 to 30 people each time. It also included Red Cross first aid training. I’ve also been a member of the Bicycle Adventure Club, and I’ve arranged some of the ride leader seminars for that club. For 4 years I’ve discussed safety there for 20 to 40 people.”

Safety on a Group Ride

“The first thing is to pick really good routes which are safe. The second is to talk to new people (on the ride) about how to be safe on the bike. When riding, I’ll also nicely give people safety tips. On our Friday ride, there’s a mix of road and paved trail, and you have to slow down on the trail! Your road bike is a sports car compared to family bikers or walker. Cyclists need to be friendly and courteous. “

“One other point, a bicycle is very quiet on the trails. You can come upon a walker and they are shocked sometimes, they don’t anticipate quiet bicycles! So a tip for bicyclers, make sure you’re vocal, so the walkers know in advance that you’re passing them.”

Why be a ride leader?

After 30 years of leading rides, I find it remarkable that Dan is still a ride leader. I asked him, after all this time, what could be the motivation to continue?

“You know, not everyone is suited to be a leader. Many folks are very good riders, but they don’t have the social skills or leadership skills. You lead by example. I’m motivated do it, though, because I like riding with groups.”

It’s not just biking in groups, though. Dan’s level of engagement continues at a personal level.

“I really enjoy new folks who come out to ride, and I’ll spend time talking with them, telling about the club, places to ride, what to anticipate, safety and nutrition. But as a conversation, not a speech.”

Safety is a big subject

My take-away from this conversation can be distilled to a few points. First, plan your route before you go out. There are many good navigation planning aids available at no cost (drop me an email if you need a list). Next, if you’re riding with a group, be sure you’ve set expectations on rider behavior, and don’t be afraid to discuss safety when you’re out riding. Finally, be courteous and be sure to communicate with those around you.

Want to read more? Please check out the Ride SMART page from the Cascade Cycle Club, and the Ann Arbor Bicycle Touring Society Safety Guidelines . If that’s not enough, take a look at the full transcript of my Interview with Dan Harrison .

Looking for a tour? See some great ones right here!

Ride Safe, my friends!

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On the Road Bike Repairs

Tue, 01 Jan 2019 16:18:00 GMT

Who doesn’t love a new bike? A foam-wrapped collection of parts in a cardboard box can be transformed into a tool used for recreation, competition and, exercise; however, bikes do break down on the road, even if you are taking all maintenance and preventative measures. Repairs on the road are a necessary part of the game, and being prepared for an eventual mechanical failure is something that all seasoned cyclists account for. Read on to prepare yourself for impromptu breakdowns and hiccups.

Crankarms

Crankarms can be notorious for loosening, especially one equipped on a new bike. The use of pinch bolts can help prevent loosening, but should always be checked regardless. Old square tapers are more prone to loosen, so make sure to check the crankarm after each long ride. Make sure to always carry an appropriate hex wrench, which generally range from 8mm to 10mm. You can carry all of your tools in a small pouch affixed to the seat post.

Wheels

A wobbly wheel can slow you down and eventually cause damage to the spokes if not taken care of. Spokes, especially new ones, have a tendency to stretch, causing the nipples to bed into the rim. This can result in a wheel going out of true. To remedy this, run your hand over the spokes midway between the hub and rim while the wheel

Torn Tires or a Ripped Sidewall

Usually when a tire tears, the inner tube will pop through the compromised tire. Many cyclists choose to carry an extra inner tube (or two) with them during very long rides to prepare for the worst. You should also carry a patch kit to make sure you are never unprepared. You’ll need to reinforce the tire in the spot where it tore. A patch kit, duct tape, or mylar wrappers can do in a pinch. Don’t forget to replace the tire when you get home!

Loose Pedal

A loose pedal can result in the destruction of the threads and a rounding of the hole, which can absolutely destroy your crank. To avoid a repair bill, snug the pedal into the arm. If the hole is still round with minimal damage to the last few threads, try to thread the bike pedal into the hole from the back end of the crank and remove it. This can result in a re-cut of the damaged threads, which may allow you to install the pedal from the correct side.

Bent Derailleur Hanger

A tweaked hanger can upset the alignment of the rear derailleur and cause poor shifting. If you decide to keep riding, shift the rear derailleur to the rear wheel. A large number of bikes have replaceable hanger, which are designed to bend or break in the event of a crash or tip-over. To straighten a bent derailleur hanger, shift it to the smallest cog and use a hex wrench in the bolt to bend the hanger until it aligns with the cog. Slowly shift to 2nd gear and make sure the derailleur aligns with the cog. The low limit screw can be adjusted so the derailleur won’t go past the cog, which prevents the bike from shifting to the lowest gear. This will make sure that you won’t ruin your bike’s wheel, frame, or derailleur.

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Life Lessons From a Bicycle Traveler

Tue, 11 Dec 2018 21:32:00 GMT

In 2012, a 24-year-old Polish-Canadian cyclist named Kasia Szewczyk won the Bicycle Touring Pro annual scholarship to help support her first bicycle tour. She rode from Barcelona, Spain to Istanbul,Turkey while simultaneously working on a fundraising project that brought in $10,000 for the Canadian charity “World Literacy Canada”. As Kasia puts it: “bike travel is about the journey, not the destination. It’s a reality check, and we pedal in awe of the raw and real experiences that we encounter along the way.” After completing the ride, Kasia shared her stories and experiences, culminating in five life lessons learned while out on the road:

The clock stops ticking for no one person and the road continues on into the horizon; try as you might, you’ll never quite reach the end of it. New towns always appear after an old town while on a bike tour, and no culture, country, city or person is completely the same. This is why travel really is all about the journey within; situations and environments are always changing, with adaptation the only possible answer.

“Every bicycle traveler that I have met thus far, has either consciously or without realizing it followed a singular rule when on the road: never turn back and ride the same way you came. Whether you’re lost, need water or are tired and want to rest, it suddenly becomes paramount, some force deep down within us rears it’s head and cries: ‘never turn back!’”

Kasia reflects on her bike journey: “Great feats are really a compilation of numerous, not-so-amazing feats”. A 20km ride in and of itself is not very grandiose. Repeat this 100 times, however, and you have yourself a very impressive story and bike tour. Every step in the right direction, even if it is the smallest step, propels you forward.

It’s the same principle behind the idiom: “look after your pennies and the dollars take care of themselves”. Every major accomplishment or achievement is built upon numerous small steps, eventually culminating in one very large achievement. People may look at Jeff Bezos and stand in awe of Amazon; however, people rarely think about the thousands of tiny steps it took for the internet giant to get where he is.

Don’t put off your dreams, no matter how “crazy” people may think of your idea. Go after them now and don’t keep putting things off that you’ve been wanting to do for years. Kasia notes: “when your mind is focused and your intention formulated, circumstance really does align itself with your dreams, making the seemingly impossible miraculously possible.”

If you want progress for your future and have a real desire for change, prodding things in the right direction is necessary. Many times over, Kasia was told how dangerous and irresponsible it was for a young woman to traverse Europe by bike, alone. You think that stopped her? This serves as a strong reminder that when your intentions are clear, stars really do begin to align.

Living life with a clean slate, free of expectations, is probably the healthiest way to live. Everyone’s eyes see a little bit differently, and just because a guy’s opinion of that “terrible campground” was negative doesn’t mean you’ll see that campground the same way. Kasia remarks “I challenge you to cycle and travel with an open mind and heart – it’s the only way to see the world through your own eyes.” In essence, she is saying to take all of the advice people give with a grain of salt.

Be patient. “An understanding that everything, enjoyable and unpleasant, is ultimately a finite experience, makes for a healthier outlook on life. It helps us to once again glimpse the bigger picture and recognize the details for what they are”. That long ride up the hill doesn’t last forever and neither does the descent. Neither do the sunflowers, the sunset, or a phone call from an old friend. “Experience it all in the moment, remember patience and understand that this too shall pass.”

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Interview with Pam Stevenson: Cyclist, swimmer, and cancer survivor

Mon, 10 Dec 2018 16:28:00 GMT

When I look at my cycling friends, I see many folks who are fulfilled with their families and careers, and participate in life from the healthy side of things. Few difficulties are present aside from occasional sore muscles. And then I see Pam Stevenson.

We met in June 2015 after Pam had just completed surgery and an aggressive course of chemotherapy. She was along as a guest on our Ride to Pictured Rocks tour. Shortly after that she joined our staff for several tours, in northern Michigan and at Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Pam’s story aside from the cancer is fairly normal: Detroit girl from the east side, with a nursing degree from the University of Michigan and a fulfilling career as a nurse; happily married, two children and two grandchildren. During all this she was active, running for the stress relief it offers, then morphing (as many of us do) into cycling. In her spare time she even earned a second degree from Loyola University, a Master’s Degree in Pastoral Ministry. All this was interrupted with a cancer diagnosis, followed by treatment, followed by a renewed outlook on life.

Since cancer, Pam has retired from nursing, been on our tour staff twice, traveled a bunch on other bike tours, and started a new endeavor, Coffee with Pam.

The Interview

I got her to sit still for a moment and answer some questions. Here’s our interview with Pam Stevenson:

JP: You grew up in Detroit, riding your bike. Tell me about that.

Pam: I used to ride my bike to Lipke Park. The park is where we would run, play baseball, and swim. It is on Detroit, on the east side, 8 Mile and Van Dyke area. We had a lot of fun, but our biking was limited to the sidewalks back then.

JP: Were there sports in school?

Pam: Limited, in grade school there was basketball and baseball. I played baseball, and I was a cheerleader, I was always an encourager and still am.

JP: You retired from nursing, what specialty?

Pam: I was a nurse for 40 years. The first half was spent working in surgical intensive care units. The last half was in Mastery level case management, and ending in the emergency room at the University of Michigan Hospital. I was fortunate to be employed at the UM Medical Center for 25 years.

Life after Cancer

JP: OK, you’re a cancer survivor…

Pam: Yes…I’m a 4-year survivor from breast cancer. I think that (the cancer experience) was one of the best gifts I’ve ever had. Choosing my attitude, and learning how to work through a very scary thing like cancer. I’m happy that it happened to me.

JP: Remarkable. Did cancer bring your retirement closer?

Pam: Yes, I had intended to work until age 62. I was diagnosed with cancer when I was 56. I chose to work with a life coach to retire because I liked my career, I wasn’t ready to end it. I didn’t want to give up what I thought was a very productive, humanist, viable and rewarding career.

JP: So before you had cancer, you were a runner, a cyclist, and a swimmer…

Pam: Yes, actually I learned how to swim after the cancer, with the Milford Athletic Club for almost 4 years now. I’ve competed at the state meet level, and at local levels.

JP: What’s the best part about cycling?

Pam: Oh, the best part is that while on my bike, I feel like I’m flying, and that I’m as free as a kid (laughs). That’s why I love being on a bike.

JP: Tell me about your recent bike trips.

Pam: This year we did the middle Tennessee cycle tour, it was a really fantastic trip, averaged 65 miles per day for 5 days. We stayed at wonderful places, ate great food, and biked all day with really cool people.

JP: Did you cycle out west?

Pam: Last year we cycled out west on the Circle Greater Yellowstone tour, which is a great tour a once in a lifetime event because we got to see the eclipse of the sun at its’ peak in Idaho.

JP: Was it a camping tour?

Pam: Yes it was, so we hired a Sherpa. We stayed in a tent, and everything was done for us except the riding on the bike, we had to do that!

A new Purpose

JP: Tell me about the coffee venture that you’re doing.

Pam: Well, I’ve had a lot of encouragement from friends along the way who know me, and when I decided to retire from nursing I was content with just enjoying my retirement because I had spent 40 years at a pretty tough job. But friends have urged me to continue to be productive in whatever ways I could brainstorm. My effort with “Coffee with Pam” is that I’ve always been an advocate, and it’s my way so I can continue to advocate for people in the second half of their life.

Basically Coffee with Pam is a time when I meet with someone, and provide empathetic listening and mirroring. (It’s) advocacy for them to help understand where they are, heighten their self awareness, and just (let them) feel like someone is present, cares and is really listening. I think one’s ability to be self-aware is essential if we’re going to make the world a better place. A person has to understand who they are first. An un-examined life can be much less fulfilling.

JP: Your qualifications…

Pam: Well, as a nurse, I’ve received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan in Nursing. As I was nearing the end of my career I was searching for more meaning…and I decided to get a Master’s Degree in Pastoral Ministry from Loyola University. So that’s another reason why this “Coffee with Pam” venture makes sense for me. I’ve always done counseling, I’ve always done advocacy, I’m a listener, I’m an empath.

JP: Loyola is in Chicago…

Pam: I took a 4-year course locally in Lansing, with the same group of people. We met once a week for 4 years and we received our Master’s Degrees together. Yes, the men are now deacons in the Catholic Church, and I am not a deacon in the Catholic Church because I’m a woman (laughing). I also no longer practice Catholicism but treasure its’ deep relevence in my life. I’m a very spiritual person, but I’m not religious. When I relate with someone, I relate with them on a deep level. That’s what I did in my (nursing) career. That’s why this endeavor is something natural for me to do, to meet someone where they’re at, and to have real conversations. You know, I’m not good at cocktail parties, I’m not good at chit-chat (laughs). I’m used to talking about what is meaningful and what is real- like “tell me how your life is going”, and I expect the person to give me an honest answer

JP: That’s hard to do…

Pam: A lot of people aren’t comfortable with that, but the ones who are looking for that kind of conversation talk to me, and it happens all the time.

JP: And I suppose that if someone needs conversation, and they don’t know you, it might make it easier…might it?

Pam: Oh, well for me it doesn’t matter if I know them or not, but for them, it might make it easier. All I know, is that my whole life I’ve been approached by people who tell me their life stories. I think it’s because I look like someone who cares, and I have a talent at listening. I also can see the big picture, I’m very intuitive. I don’t always give all my intuitiveness back to them, but they can sense that I’m connected.

An Advocate, not a Therapist

JP: Can you differentiate between what you’re doing in your role here, and that of a licensed therapist?

Pam: Well, I’m a licensed nurse, and nurses are natural counselors. I have a lot of education in psychology and the sciences, and 40 years of career experience. In my career I’ve met with thousands of people; I’ve met them where they’re at. In the midst of their suffering; in the midst of their trials. My experience really has honed my skills.

I wouldn’t call myself a therapist, but I am a pastoral minister. “Pastoral” means actively engaged in promoting a person’s daily life, not in a theological way or philosophical way, but in a practical way.

Retirement

JP: So, when other people are looking at retirement, what are your thoughts? How do people mentally prepare?

Pam: Like anything else that’s difficult in life you have to really feel the discomfort of it, and move through that discomfort. Feel it, talk about it, that’s a lot of what I do. I help people recognize what they’ve done in their life already, and what they liked about it, and understanding that these years, post-retirement can be very productive. For some of us, it’s the best time of our life…for me it is! I feel that you transition from your former work, and you move into a new process, new plan, new options, a new identity, the second half of life.

JP: What’s your next bike trip?

Pam: My next trip is either to British Columbia, or (to ride up) Mount Lemon near Tucson. I also would like to do Iowa, the Ragbrai ride.

JP: Thanks Pam. If you’ve got questions or comments for Pam you can reach her at Pamelachasestevenson@gmail.com.

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Gifts for Cyclists

Wed, 05 Dec 2018 14:34:00 GMT

Looking for that perfect gift for your cycling buddy? There’s no shortage of awesome gifts for cyclists out there. From equipment to excursions, buying gifts for cycling enthusiasts is probably one of the easier tasks on your holiday shopping list. We’ve gathered a few options we know WE would love to make it even easier.

A Week long Cycling Tour

If you really want to be the envy of every other gift giver in your Secret Santa group this year, we self promotionally suggest a week-long bike tour for Summer 2019 ! Imagine the look of glee on your friends face when they find out they’ll be biking the Minnesota North Shore or Niagara Shores. This is a gift that will get you major kudos for years to come.

A Bike Bra

A bike what? Yes, it’s called a bike bra and while it sounds silly, it’s majorly useful for traveling cyclists. It covers and protects the front of the bicycle so no bug corpses or dirt gather on the bike while in transport on top of a car. It really comes in handy for traveling to races to trails. They can be found at most bicycle shops and are available on Amazon , too.

Collapsible Bike Helmet

Helmets keep us safe, but helmets are bulky. They don’t fit well in bags, or anywhere else really, so a collapsible helmet that can be tossed easily in a travel bag is a cyclists dream. This one from Uncommongoods is especially good-looking.

A 360 Video Camera

The Rylo 360 Video Camera creates some seriously amazing 360 videos, and what cyclist wouldn’t want to capture their adventures in 360 degrees? It’s lightweight, comes with stabilization technology, mounts easily to standard mounts, comes with an app to edit and control, and a whole host of other features that you can check out here .

Bicycle Wine Rack

For romantic bicycle rides for two, or hey, maybe just a relaxing trip for one, the bicycle wine rack is the perfect accessory. Rides that end in picnics are some of the best, so add this nifty accessory to your gift list and start planning!

Bicycle Bookends

If your friend is a cyclist and an avid reader, we’ve got the perfect gift. These bicycle bookends will tell your friend that you definitely know at least two things about them.

LED Bike Wheel Lights

For the flashier cyclist, these LED wheel lights are both stylish and safe. They attach to the inside of the wheel and create a whirl of color when the bike is in motion. You can choose from multiple colors, and even buy multiple packs to create unique color designs.

Bike Tour Vacations

Any of these items will make your cyclist happy for the holidays. We hope we made your shopping a little less hectic this year! Happy holidays from Bike Tour Vacations!

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Finding biking, a second time

Mon, 29 Oct 2018 21:56:00 GMT

Part 2 of our series, Who Rides a Bike?

Three Paths to today

When pressed for their cycling history, they gave three very different answers. Margaret has the most extensive bike story, going back over 40 years, riding a dark green Raleigh Grand Prix in the 1976 Bike Centennial ride across Kentucky. Then came marriage and children, and a career as a librarian, which put bicycling on hold a bit.

Fast forward to modern times, and children are grown and out of the house. As Margaret said, “You know, you don’t do it for a long time, because mothers…you have kids, you do what everyone else wants. Now that I’m older I have the time. I thank the lord that I have these good friends that will go with me.”

“We’re new to intense cycling” said Sue Hansen, “just in the last few years, that’s when we started riding as a group. We needed an instigator, and that was Margaret…”

Margaret the Instigator

Margaret added: “Because the miles go faster with your friends. Sometimes you just have to ask people, to put out the invitation, and most people will say ‘yeah, I’ll try that biking’.

Sue Charleville jumped in: “She’s a natural leader. I have a hobby, which is horses, and I met Margaret through that. But then, my kids were out of the house, and hers were too, and I wanted to hang out with Margaret. She put on Facebook ‘I’m going on this bike ride, does anybody want to come along’ and I’m in! I wanted to spend more time with her.”

Sue C is the most recent adult cyclist in the group, only joining in about 2 years ago. She also is a nurse. Said Margaret: “Shes strong, from riding those horses, she’s a strong rider!

Margaret is the instigator, Sue C is the newbie, and Sue Hansen is the analyzer. A yoga instructor, she started adult riding about 7 years ago, when her husband Joe got her a bike (he rides at Kensington Metropark after work, and also goes to spin class ). Sue would ride the dirt roads near her home, and then something changed. “Margaret organized the library event, on the ( Lakelands ) trial. Then we had the big one, when we went to Missouri, that was my first big ride.”

The Katy Trail

It’s a pretty big ride, taking on the Katy Trail. Stretching 230 miles along the Missouri River, this limestone trail offers challenges. “I didn’t think that we were going to be able to ride 60 miles in one day, but we did! We were always trying to be at the end (of the group) so we didn’t have people saying ‘move over’, we wanted to be at the end so we could enjoy ourselves” said Sue H.

“We were always the last one’s out of camp” Margaret reminded Sue with a laugh.

“But we had so much fun! It was like a vacation because we didn’t have to cook, or clean, or take care of anybody else.”

Self-Reliant Riders

All 3 women are able to change a flat. Each has studied maintenance at clinics sponsored by a local bike shop . “I like to try to repair bikes, because I think hands-on is a good thing” said Sue C.

They also have a pretty good fit to their bikes. One could use a new seat, and another maybe should look at handlebars. Regardless, these 3 are capable and ready for whatever their next bike challenge might be. This includes introducing newcomers to the sport.

I asked about how they would entice people to join.

“I would go with them and ride slower” said Sue H, “just get them to enjoy it. After they accomplish something, they get a little confidence, and the try something else.”

Safety

We chatted about safety on the roads, and the differences between riding a horse and riding a bike; the horse sometimes has a mind of its’ own! All 3 are familiar with the new Michigan law requiring vehicles to leave 3′ clear when passing bicycles, and the new driver training requirement for an hour of class time devoted to non-motorized road users.

One new safety feature that has their attention: the use of rechargeable flashing lights during daylight hours.

These three are still more comfortable on bike trails, where interface with traffic is nearly non-existent.

Look to the future

We were reaching the end of our time when I asked about upcoming events, a topic which quickly got Margaret and Sue C planning a ride across America! Closer in terms of the calendar, their plans include a decorated bike parade in Lansing in a few days, and renting fat-tired bikes for some winter fun.

“I hope I’m still biking into my eighties” said Margaret, “I really love it”. She added “I could get obsessed and go on all kinds of trips and never see my husband (laughs)”.

I need to talk to him, because you know, cycling is for everyone!

Final Note

Three adult women, having grown their families and had successful careers, have come back to bicycling in a big way. They have created their own support group; they’re willing to share this knowledge with others; and they’re planning more great events on bikes. Way to go, ladies!

If you’d like more information on our weekend or week-long tours, please check out our website; to read a transcript of our conversation click here . Thanks!

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Who goes on bike tours? A profile of a solo tourist.

Wed, 03 Oct 2018 11:55:00 GMT

Who goes on bike tours? Where do these crazy people come from, and what makes them tick? These questions, and a dozen others, are the focus of a new series of articles here.

Our first interview is with solo tourist Caroline Richardson , who in August followed our itinerary for a 600-mile trip around the north half of Lake Michigan, carrying some personal gear and a few repair items.

I sat down with her a few days back, and here are portions of the interview.

CR: I guess the answer to that is mostly I don’t ride as much as I’d like to. I do hope to increase my biking substantially over the next few years because it’s better for my health, my physical health, my mental health, and I have a bit of freedom now that my kids are older.

JP: Where did the idea for a Lake Michigan bike trip come from?

CR: Well, that’s a complicated question, but basically because I haven’t been riding as much as I’d like to, and I’m not as strong as I’d like to be, I wanted a relatively tame route. It seemed to me that if you rode around the edge of a lake it would be relatively flat and that sounded good to me. Plus I thought it would be beautiful, and it’s nearby. I dropped my son at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp very close to the starting point, and it all worked out timing wise. I didn’t have to pack up the bike, fly anywhere, do anything crazy like that. Just drive there, drop my son, and go.

JP: So you told some friends about this trip.How many of them looked at you and said “you’re crazy”?

CR: Most of them really didn’t understand what I was talking about (laughs), and they all thought that I was going with a group…nope, I’m going by myself, and they’re all like, why? (laughs)

JP: So, the obvious question, you’re a single female out there, did you feel unsafe at any point on the trip?

CR: The only time I felt unsafe, there was one, maybe two times, there was an aggressive driver who was yelling at me…but I don’t think that was gender related, that was an irritable person on the road and I think they would have been irritable to anyone.

The Research Side

JP: Let’s go back to your work. You’ve done a lot of research on physical activity and how it helps your patients. What did you learn from this research, if anything, which helped you on this bike ride?

CR: Yes, so I do diabetes prevention research, and one of the things we’re looking into right now is lower carbohydrate diets. One of the most interesting areas is the interaction between physical activity and lower carbohydrate diets, because most people think you have to carb load to do a big physical activity adventure. But the truth is you can actually burn fat as your fuel instead of carbs as your fuel, pretty efficiently. Your peak performance is dulled a little bit, but if you’re going for length and slow & steady (laughs). I’m not a fast rider, I’m a slow steady rider…when you ride all day at a slow steady pace, that’s perfect for burning fat. I was able to eat a protein heavy, fat heavy diet without may carbs. I ended up losing about 5 lbs in 10 days, which is pretty amazing.

JP: Does anything from this trip translate back to your research?

CR: Absolutely. As I was riding i was definitely paying attention to carbs vs. protein vs. fats. I’ve been on rides…with the standard cycling diet of bananas and granola bars and Gator Aid, and did not feel nearly as good or get as much (cardio) benefit or weight loss wise as I did on this bike tour…focused more on protein and less on carbs. I think there is something about metabolic flexibility where you can either burn fat or you can burn carbs and you’re not so tied to one or the other, which we’ve gotten out of the habit of using. It’s interesting that you can bring back metabolic flexibility pretty quickly if you limit your processed carbohydrate intake while you’re cycling 60 miles each day.

JP: What is your advice for other people who might have a similar idea kicking around in their head?

CR: Just do it. You can go as slow (or fast) as you want. A lot of people are like “oh, I could never do that.” Well you could, just slower, or fewer miles, or take more time. A day is a long time, and you can get pretty far if you just keep going…it was a great ride.

What She Used

Equipment: Seven titanium bike , Ortlieb panniers and handlebar bag, Coros helmet with bluetooth and bone-induction speakers, iPhone & external battery pack (for navigation), USB-rechargeable front & rear lights.

Take along 30 lbs of stuff: two bike outfits & toiletries, and the unused things: cold weather clothes, large first aid kit, tools and repair items. You can click here and read our full transcript of the Richardson interview.

We love your comments and questions, so please drop us a note!

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The Most Powerful Questions in the World

Sat, 15 Sep 2018 19:34:00 GMT

A good coach is going to tell you what to do. An exceptional coach is going to make you think; by asking the right questions, a professional life coach is going to guide you through the process of self-discovery and contemplation, often resulting in a client creating their own solutions. Life is all about moments and breakthroughs: the inquiries listed below are just a few of the questions that the Forbes Coaches Council asks its members:

Problems. Life can be full of them. How you react and respond to inevitable fires will ultimately make or break you or your business. Reflective questions such as these can lead to epiphanies: often times, it leads clients to focus on errors in past judgement and reflections on why certain strategies did not work. Asked by Randy Goruk of The Randall Wade Group, LLC.

Sometimes, a person’s value system can be a bit skewed. Sometimes, a person may not even know what their most important “thing” is. As Linda Zander, author of Super Sized Success puts it: “it’s surprising that most clients have never been asked this question and have to dig deep to discover their truth”. If you truly know what your core driver and purpose in life is, this knowledge can narrow the seemingly infinite amount of possibilities life has to offer. Sustainable success is often about intense, focused effort; knowing what drives you can help get you there.

Simple and to the point. Mary Schwab of Inspired Leadership often asks this question to clients who are going through something that impacts them emotionally. Reflection on this point can lead to a few different scenarios: when we put words to potential outcomes – generally speaking – even the worst outcome isn’t that bad. It can also spur someone to take small steps towards action that will improve their emotional or financial situation.

Will your hopes and dreams become realities? Everything starts as an idea; sadly, some ideas remain just that: ideas. Maria Lena Popo of AMP10x reflects: “Most clients come to me with big goals that they have yet to achieve even though they have had them for many years… [this] question is valuable because it helps them recognize that they’re making choices every single day that will determine whether their hopes become realities”.

This is a question that Joyel Crawford, CEO of Crawford Leadership Strategies, LLC, often asks her clients: “I like to ask this question because it helps a client stop and start visualizing what they want and see in their lives”. Goal-setting is much easier when you know what you want, and actionable thought is one of the keys to get there. Imagining what success looks like – and subsequently, yourself in a position of success – can trick your brain into already being there, making the task at hand appear easier. Everyone’s vision of success is different and learning what your vision is can help make all the difference.

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Best Bike Tours in the Midwest

Fri, 06 Jul 2018 17:30:00 GMT

The Midwest and Great Lakes Region have some of the best bike trails in the country. Though this area may have a reputation for being a little cold and formidable, especially during spring and summer months it provides a perfect backdrop for a variety of bike tours and bike tour vacations. If you are searching for a way to have a getaway this summer while also staying active, a Great Lakes bike tour or Midwest region bike vacation is the perfect opportunity for you. There are a variety of bike tours throughout Minnesota, Michigan, Kentucky and more, so make sure you do your research before embarking upon a Great Lakes bike tour. This will help you ascertain the difficulty of the bike vacation, as well as the sights you will see and other general characteristics of the Midwest bike tour. Below, we have listed some amazing bike trails you may want to check out upon your Great Lakes bike vacation.

Wisconsin: Elroy-Sparta Trail

When searching for the best bike tour in Wisconsin, look no further than the famous bike trail, the Elroy-Sparta Trail. The Elroy-Sparta Trail will take you and your fellow bike tour companions through woodlands, wetlands, farms, rolling fields and more picturesque Wisconsin scenery. The small town of Elroy is where the converted rail-trail begins. You may not have heard of the little town of Elroy (it’s just northwest of Madison), but it is the perfect backdrop for this Wisconsin bike tour vacation. Old tunnels and a variety of trails help to add to the mystique and beauty of this Wisconsin bike tour.

If you are looking for a bike tour in Michigan, the Little Traverse Wheelway is probably your best bet. Linking tiny, beautiful towns, Charlevoix, Petoskey and Harbor Springs- this bike tour showcases stunning scenery. It is also a great option looking for those who want a stunning Midwest bike tour without all of the physical difficulty- the Little Traverse Wheelway does not have hills. But it does have amazing views! Perhaps the best are those just south of Petoskey, where you’ll ride through Petoskey State Park, on Lake Michigan. It is truly a quintessential Michigan bike tour experience. However, Kal-Haven Trail is also another great Michigan bike tour option.

Kentucky: Adkinsson Greenbelt Park

Adkinsson Greenbelt Park showcases a beautiful paved trail perfect for a Kentucky bike tour. Weaving its way through the city of Owensboro in Daviess County, Kentucky, this fabulous Kentucky bike tour offers a showing of parks, neighborhoods and the opportunity to participate in a variety of recreational activities. Kentucky is a great location for a bike tour, especially if you are interested in a Bourbon bike tour.

If you are searching for a bike tour in the Midwest or Great Lakes region, look no further than Bike Tour Vacations. Bike Tour Vacations has a wide selection of beautiful bike tours in the Great Lakes area- check one out this summer!

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Navigate by smartphone

Mon, 25 Jun 2018 16:49:00 GMT

Turn-by-turn directions

If you don’t have a bike computer with GPS service, how can you navigate by smartphone? This question has come up recently and I’d like to share a discovery.

Like many tour operators, I use several online mapping services including Google Maps, Map my Ride, and Ride with GPS. These services share some common features and excel at one or two: Street View on Google Maps has a better ‘feel’; Map my Ride has a nice mapping tool; Ride with GPS plays better with other devices and is my favorite for use with the ELEMNT computer.

Several guests have asked about navigation on their smartphone. After some research, I discovered that by upgrading to a monthly basic service fee at Ride with GPS, my routes will now guide me in real time.

Get Connected in 4 easy steps!

I’ve designed dozens of tour routes online, and I’m happy to share. A friend has emailed me a route which I was able to upload, save and follow, so I know this feature works. There are a large number of untested features, including storing routes on your phone for use when there is no cell service. I’ll put this to the test soon in the Upper Peninsula.

Know where you are before you ride

Electronic mapping is great, but I’m certain you are best served when you understand the route before the ride begins. On our tours guests will receive a printed map for each days’ ride, in addition to turn-by-turn directions. At breakfast we give verbal instructions to get to the lunch spot. At lunch additional instructions on finding the hotel at the end of the day. Remember, when you’re on tour in a new place you will be in unfamiliar territory, and a paper map can provide a lot of confidence and self reliance to your ride.

Smartphone vs. Bike Computer

The basic Ride with GPS service described above is designed for turn-by-turn directions and lacks most of the other features you might have on a computer. The advantages using your phone include having fewer devices (think chargers, mounting systems, etc), and having to learn less about operating the device.

Share your thoughts

Did we miss something here? Please drop a note , we read them all. If we publish your item, you’ll get one of our tee shirts! And remember you can find some of the best tours right here!

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How to Ship a Bike

Mon, 25 Jun 2018 16:11:00 GMT

Ship a Bike

I’ve been aware of bike shipping services for several years. In fact, seven or eight guests have shipped bikes to our Upper Peninsula tours at various times. I’ve just send one of my older bikes to my son in New Jersey, to be his commuter bike, and here’s how I did it.

Box it up

The basics are simple:

In total this took about half an hour, including 15 minutes at the bike shop, and 15 minutes packing. I had to remove the seatpost and clean it, pull off 2 pedals, and remove the front wheel. I taped the skewer to a spoke for the trip. One screw held the handlebars, and they were quickly off and fastened to the top tube. After a few minutes with package tape, the box was sealed.

Look at your shipping options

The box was 58″ x 33″ x 8″, and 35 pounds according to my bathroom scale. I searched three online sources for shipping cost from Detroit to New Jersey: An internet based broker (about $253); a name-brand parcel delivery service (about $162); and ShipBikes.com , just $48.10! It took only minutes to create the account and purchase shipping labels. The package was delivered to the local FedEx drop off only a half mile from home, on a Monday morning. They delivered in New Jersey just 2 days later!

Let me recap that: a free box, $48 fee, two bolts to remove the seat post, one screw to take handlebars off, remove two pedals, and pull off the front wheel. Piece of cake! Adam sent a report from New Jersey- no damage during shipping, and less than 10 minutes to assemble the bike.

This is a very powerful bit of information if you’re considering a bike tour at a remote location and you wish to avoid renting a bike.

Share your thoughts

Can you add to our story? Please drop us a note , we read them all. If we publish your item, you’ll get one of our tee shirts! And remember you can find some of the best tours right here!

The post How to Ship a Bike appeared first on Bike Tour Vacations .

Buying a New Bike, Part 3: The Final Fitting

Wed, 16 May 2018 18:22:00 GMT

The past 4 weeks have raced by quickly, and for a host of reasons. Buying a new bike and testing it have occupied much of my time. I now have a dozen rides and 250 miles on the new bike, with a few minor adjustments along the way.

It’s all in the proper fit

I returned for the final fitting 10 days ago, with well over 150 miles on the bike. I’m amazed at the time and precision work that Jessica put into this final fitting. The adjustments on the bike were fairly minor-a new stem with additional rise, and 3/8″ added to the seat height. The hard work this time went into measuring my knee placement, then adding some shims and adjusting the clips on the bottom of my shoes.

The saddle provided with the bike is best described as a torture device from the middle ages. Jessica has a seat-fitting tool which we put to good use. The tool is a memory-foam pad, and you sit for a moment, then she measures the dimples to determine size. My new saddle is a WTV Volt Comp, size medium, about $45.00. It is deluxe!

The Take-away

I have several conclusions on the process of getting a new bike. First, getting a proper fitting is paying big dividends: I have the correct size bike; I saved shopping time by only looking at bikes which fit; and I’m not as fatigued after riding.

I remain in love with the new electronics. The Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt computer and iPhone app provide remarkable data. The Bontrager Flare light set is a great safety enhancement, generating much more respect from passing motorists when compared to my past lights.

Future Story

I’m filled with questions about the fitting process and how it relates to other styles of bikes, and I’m curious about how to find a good fit on a limited budget.

Share your thoughts

Your comments on this are always welcome, and I’d love to hear some success stories on bike fitting services from your local bike shop. Please drop a note , we read them all. If we publish your item, you’ll get one of our tee shirts! And remember you can find some of the best tours right here!

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Buying a New Bike, Part 2

Wed, 02 May 2018 19:47:00 GMT

From Bike Fitting to Sales Floor

Armed with my personal bike fit information from Fitmi!, I set out to buy a new bike. My friend Don Campbell works at Wheels in Motion in Ann Arbor. Don and I were work mates for a while selling elevators. He is also a champion mountain biker, regularly standing on the podium after races.

He had a selection of bikes picked out for me, from Kona, Jake, and Trek, so on a cold March afternoon I rode each through spitting rain. The important features we had already discussed: disc brakes & thru-axles, 32C or wider tires, and a compact crankset.

Each of the bikes were fine, with minor differences in features and ride. I had to refer to the sizing guide from my recent fitting, and had several texts back & forth with Jessica at Fitmi! She was quick to rank the bikes based on my fitting data, and the Trek Domane was the obvious best choice.

Operator Errors 1 & 2

Once home I re-read the specs, and discovered the model selected had only a 2×10 drivetrain. Ugh! Never mind that I’ve had 15 years on a 2 x 9, everyone knows that 2 x 11 is it! I called the store the next morning and upgraded one model, securing the 2 x 11 drive with Shimano 105 components. For $200 I satisfied my ego, even though this added a week to delivery. I was off to visit grandkids for a week, so this timing was just fine…until I started to look at specs again.

The Waiting Game

With this last change the delivery date was pushed out to April 23. I took a look at my 2017 ride data for the same time period and found 6 rides with about 120 miles. Three more weeks riding my other bikes would be just fine. Mother Nature had other ideas, sending a cold and wet April. Very little riding weather, so the delay was OK.

Early Arrival

I sent Don a text on April 16 asking him to check on delivery. He confirmed April 23. On Wednesday the 18th he texted saying the bike was in and all assembled, ready to go!

I was able to pick it up that afternoon. Arriving at 5 p.m., they brought the new bike out and I started talking with Matt about accessories. First up, a water bottle cage in matching accent color, and a set of blinking lights lights with USB charging ports. The big money went to a new Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt computer and Bontrager Duo Trap Sensor . These devices work seamlessly together to provide tons of great data. Chris was pressed into service installing these items while Matt had me finish some paperwork. Total pickup time, including some minor fitting time and a quick ride, 90 minutes.

An Electronic Experience

Sometimes a bike is a bike, and sometimes it’s not. I got home about 9 p.m. and began to read about my new bike toys. Agenda for the night, charge the computer and both lights. Next, download the phone app to control the computer. Then, finish the day with some YouTube videos about using the new computer.

First Impressions

After 5 rides and 130 miles here are some thoughts:

1) You still have to pedal to move; speed is not free on a new bike
2) The new blinking lights do an outstanding job of keeping traffic a bit further away
3) Trek IsoSpeed couplings do a great job of reducing vibration
4) I love the ELEMNT computer, the integration with my iPhone, and the ease in uploading routes
5) The handlebars feel thin and need much better padding

I have a final fitting soon, plus some tour events this month to try the new bike.

Share your thoughts

Your comments on this are always welcome, and I’d love to hear some success stories on your new bike from your local bike shop. Please drop a note , we read them all. If we publish your item, you’ll get one of our tee shirts! And remember you can find some of the best tours right here!

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The Importance of Hydration While Biking

Sun, 15 Apr 2018 17:41:00 GMT

If you are a biker, you probably know that drinking water while riding is very important. However, the importance of agua certainly transcends that. Many people have questions about hydration, especially as it concerns biking. It is a helpful thing to have a little knowledge and a lot of common sense as it regards water and its importance while riding a bike.

How Much do I need?

One thing people wonder is how much water they need to drink in a day. You may have heard that people each needs 8 glasses of water every single day. And this is a great goal. But of course, your body chemistry and makeup will also determine how much water you need. Most people can let thirst be the guide of how often they drink. Another guide is, well, your pee. If your urine is dark this indicates dehydration, whereas lighter pee indicates that the person is well hydrated. If your pee has no color at all, this could signify that you are drinking too much.

Guidelines

There are also some guidelines about how much water people need. According to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, most women need 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids daily, while most men need 15.5 cups (3.7 liters). Also, you should know that one fifth of your daily intake of fluids will come from food as opposed to drink. Also, when you are biking or exercising more, you will obviously need more water than when you are sedentary. This is because when you are properly hydrated, your body will be able to function better.

Try a Sport drink

Some people wonder if they should drink a sports drink instead of regular water when biking. These can be a good option, because they have electrolytes in them. When you sweat because of a physical activity like biking, your body will lose electrolytes and water, so the fact that sports drinks help you replace electrolytes and water both is pretty cool. However, you will want to make sure that you are complementing sports drinks with regular water.

Of course, the fact that you are burning so many calories will mean you need to replace them- both with liquids and solids. But it’s definitely worth it, due to the astounding benefits biking can provide. Biking is a great way to lose weight as it raises your metabolic rate, builds muscle and burns body fat. Many people think of running when they think of a fat-burning exercise; but while running does burn a lot of fat, it’s not kind to you if you’re a little larger than you’d like to be and puts undue stress on your body. Not only is biking agreeable with your body, it also really works. Steady cycling burns about 300 calories per hour, a large portion of the 2,000 calories research suggests you should be burning per week.

We’ll Help You Hydrate

If you are interested in biking and how it can impact your health and life, check out the rest of Bike Tour Vacation’s biking blogs. And if you wanna put your practice into action, sign up for one of Bike Tour Vacations’ amazing bike tours today.

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Buying a new bike, Part 1

Fri, 30 Mar 2018 14:59:00 GMT

Buying a new bike!

Bikes change faster than computers or smartphones, which makes buying a new bike challenging. New materials, better engineering, and new designs all propel the sport forward. In 2003 we could divide the world into road bikes and mountain bikes. Today those categories have exploded. The road category includes, tri bikes, aero racers, road bikes, gravel bikes, cross bikes, and more. Fitness bikes abound, along with comfort bikes and cruisers. Mountain bikes have had a similar evolution.

I’ve ignored these advances for quite some time because 1) I’m not fond of shopping, and 2) my bike was working just fine. Two factors changed my mind. First, a friend upgraded to a new bike a year ago, and I’ve observed that he is probably 15% quicker than before, and much less tired at the end of a ride. Perhaps more important, my own flexibility and comfort on the bike have been decreasing over time (likely cause: grandchildren). Each spring it seems the handlebars have grown out half an inch or more.

Because of this, I’ve been planning this process for several months. Here are my thoughts on research and buying a new bike.

Step 1: The Bike Fitting

It took about 25 minutes before she knew the proper bike geometry for me, ruling out about 85% of the bikes on the market! Entire brands were tossed aside due to a combination of height of the handlebars and length of the top tube. Her first choice for me was something in the Trek Domane line, road and gravel bikes known for a taller handlebar height, shorter top tube, and more upright riding position.

Jessica impressed me with her method of identifying my physical quirks, adjusting the test bike to get the data, and then looking to see which bikes fit (and which bikes should be left for others). Jessica also sells bikes, but not the Trek line. She could have recommended something in her store and swapped seat posts and handlebar stems, but she didn’t. Her desire is first to find the right bike for the rider. In this regard I believe her advice is independent and true.

For the doubters in the crowd, Jessica backs up her claim to fame with training certificates from Serotta Cycling Institute and from Slowtwitch.com

Bike Store Fitting Service

Can you get a good fit at your local bike store? Of course you can. It’s likely you will show up with fewer issues than I have, and there are many bike stores with excellent fitting service. I’m a big believer in a long-term relationship between you and your local bike shop, especially when contemplating a major purchase. Please take the advice to get the fitting first, then you can turn your attention to the fun of buying a new bike- colors, features, frame styles, etc.

Five Questions with Jessica

Jessica is bright and talented, and eager to share her knowledge with you. I interviewed her after my fitting, covering many topics. UPDATE APRIL 16: Listen to our voice recording with Jessica. Three weeks after the recording and I’m still impressed with her excitement about bike fittings. You can also read the full transcript here, but please check out the 5 questions below:

JP: How’d you get into this business, and why?

Jessica: I got into college and fell in love with the idea of living my life on a bicycle, that was very attractive to me. After graduating from U of M with a linguistics degree, I decided the first logical step was to work at a bike store. So I worked at Two Wheel Tango and it quickly became apparent that I was there to stay. I was good at my job, and the store sent me to bike fit school.

JP: Are you a coach?

Jessica: No, that’s a separate profession. Really it’s my job to fit the bike to how the body presents. It’s much easier to adjust the bike than it is to adjust the body.

JP: Where do your customers come from?

Jess: Well… most of my customers come from the Ann Arbor area. But lately I’m getting a lot of clients from Grand Rapids area, and further out in Detroit, more like Grosse Point Area north of Detroit, versus the Novi and Livonia crowd. I see a lot of people from Lansing, and pretty regularly since I started. There’s a large triathlon community there, and I see a lot of those people. Typically I’ll fit one or two people from a team or a club, and then the word gets out…

JP: So, 10 cycles go by on the street, can you spot (fit issues) from up here (2nd floor window)?

Jess: (shouts) YES, absolutely!

JP: Final thoughts?

Jessica: If I could yell one thing out from the mountain tops it would be to get a fit before you buy a bike! So yeah, it’s really nice to be in a position where I can be 100% honest and open and look at all of the brands out there equally as contenders and rule them out if they’re not the best fit for you.

Share your thoughts

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Ideas and Tips For an Active Vacation

Fri, 23 Mar 2018 14:22:00 GMT

There are plenty of people who like to simply relax on vacation. These people dream of warm sands, being horizontal and having a frosty drink in their hand. However, there are of course, those who prefer a more active vacation. At Bike Tour Vacations, we understand that you’re looking for a vacation that is fun yet challenging, active yet at times relaxing. With that said, we have prepared a blog post that entails awesome ideas for the next active vacation you take.
One way people can stay fit and active while on vacation is to go on a hike. This is probably among the easier and cheaper ways to have an active destination. It gives you a lot of freedom and autonomy- there are so many cool parts of the country- and of the world to walk around and explore on foot. You can see the sights in cosmopolitan areas or you can find hidden gems in the wilderness, whatever floats your boat. There are so many different cool places to hike around the world, but consistently, people love to hike The Grand Canyon in Arizona, The Appalachian Trail, Kilimanjaro, the Snowman Trek, the Inca Trail, the Torres del Paine in Chile and El Camino in spain. Of course, there are many more options than just the ones listed- you should check out local hiking spots near you. More often than not, there are awesome, highly rated hikes right near you. Whatever your ability level and personal interests, you can find the right hike for you.
However, a hike may not be what you’re looking for. In this case, you may consider a bike tour or a bike vacation. If you want to pick up the pace and cover more land than you would in the case of a hiking vacation, you might try biking. You can set the speed, and cycling gives you the freedom to explore the lay of the land wherever you choose to travel. Also, the simple endorphins and rush of wind can be a magical experience for a lot of people. Bikes are used all over the world and for good reason. They can be used to explore such bike friendly cities as amsterdam, copenhagen or almost anywhere in south east asia. Southeast asia is famous for its cyclists and it’s a great place to take in lush scenery on bike. Of course, you can also choose more domestic options- there are plenty of cool bike trails across the country. The Great Lakes area is particularly known for its good bike trails and biking options.
Of course, there are other kinds of active vacations. You could ride horses on your holiday, you could go zip lining or try your hand at navigating rope bridges and more or you could opt for an aquatic paradise where you can splash around. However, if it’s biking you’re after, look no further than Bike Tour Vacations. Our bike tours are the perfect blend of fun, exercise and relaxation!

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Choosing the Perfect Bike

Tue, 06 Mar 2018 17:42:00 GMT

Choosing the Perfect Bike For Your Touring Vacation

This article was provided by freelance writer Jane Bell.

The post Choosing the Perfect Bike appeared first on Bike Tour Vacations .

How Biking Can Improve Your Mental Health

Tue, 20 Feb 2018 16:22:00 GMT

You probably understand that biking possesses a lot of impressive benefits in regards to your physical health, but did you know it can help your mental health a great deal too? Well, it can. In addition to the immense physical advantages obtained from biking (including: decreased blood pressure, improved cholesterol levels, lower weight, reduction of risk for heart disease and type two diabetes and much, much more), biking can provide a better brain for you and your future.

There has been a lot of research recently on how biking can help your brain obtain better connectivity. White matter is matter found below the brain’s surface and can be compared to a public transit system in terms of connecting different parts of the brain to their other, respective parts. If anything in this system breaks down, cognitive defects or other terrible issues could arise. However, thankfully, when you practice motor skills or engage in other processes that highlight the white matter system, your risk for system malfunction decreases significantly. In fact, a study in the Netherlands even corroborated this thinking. Using both healthy and schizophrenic patients, the study had half the subjects (chosen randomly) participate in a biking program. The study found that biking increased the integrity of the white matter in the brains of both healthy and schizophrenic individuals. So, what are you waiting for?

Another thing that’s great about biking is that it allows you to produce more BDNF. What is BDNF you may ask? Well, BDNF is brain-derived neurotrophic factor and it improves brain function and lowers your susceptibility to brain diseases, such as alzheimer’s and parkinson’s. Furthermore, BDNF helps maintain neurons and supports the creation of new ones. In fact, a recent study highlighted the biking by-product BDNF. Using patients with health conditions like increased blood sugar and pressure, the study had subjects participate in regular biking exercise. By the end of the study, the BDNF levels in all of the patients were higher.

Another awesome benefit of biking is that it can improve your memory and reasoning skills. Biking is able to do this because it is form of aerobic exercise and subsequently supplies a large blood flow to the brain. This is why you may see older people who exercise often being able to keep up mentally, in comparison to their more sedentary counterparts. If you want to keep your mind active and functioning even into old age, aerobic exercise is really the way to go. Biking is especially good because it isn’t as hard on your body, as say, running, so you can continue to engage in it until your later years and beyond.

The last thing that is really cool about biking and how it affects mental health is the fact that biking is a great way to relax and enjoy one’s self. Maybe this doesn’t sound like the most scientific dynamic, but being able to relax can actually do great for one’s mental health, especially if one is afflicted with anxiety or depression.

If you are interested in obtaining one or more of the benefits we listed above, check out Bike Tour Vacations. You can improve your logic and increase BDNF all while pedaling through the beautiful Great Lakes area.

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Can you Hear the Beat? It’s Bicycle Rhythm!

Sat, 17 Feb 2018 21:33:00 GMT

Is there Rhythm to your Bicycle Year?

I’ve been in the bicycle tour business since 2011, long enough to develop a sense of rhythm and timing. This is also long enough to understand the flow of work and events over the course of the years, and to define the seasons . I ride a bicycle about 200 days per year, yet I think about riding daily.

The Obvious Season

Since most guests sign up months in advance, when the season arrives I can focus on running safe tours.

The Preparation Season

When the leaves turn color and guests are gone, I ride regularly with the local Ann Arbor club about twice each week. The funny thing is, fall is the busy season in the office.

The Travel Season

The dark months are also travel season for your Tour Chief, for both business and pleasure. November has the Bike Tour Network conference, plus visiting family- a trip to see mom in Minnesota, and spending Thanksgiving with a son and his family. January has a trip to Des Moines via Chicago for our display at the Iowa Bicycle Coalition Expo. Next up on March 3 is the Quiet Water Symposium, a consumer show in East Lansing. I’ll meet potential guests and hopefully snag a few for tours.Throw in a vacation to Arizona to scout for winter tour ideas, and you can see it adds up.

The travel season is almost never over! We’ll be present at the Horsey Hundred Tour this Memorial Day weekend near Lexington KY, meeting riders at our booth and on the road.

The Selling Season

But these winter months also represent the busy selling season with calls and emails from potential guests. Also, I occasionally get invited out to speak about bicycle touring at local bicycle clubs.

The Off Bike Activity Season

Winter offers many activities which do not involve a bicycle. This year my daily plan includes heading to the gym for an 8 a.m yoga class, followed by a fitness class. Yoga is wonderful for the stretching, balance, and relaxation techniques. The fitness classes let me explore weightlifting and other exercises which I might miss during the active riding season. There’s an added bonus with early a.m. classes- no morning phone or computer time!

The Anticipation Season

I’m shopping now for a new bike. I’ve tossed my worn out bike clothes. Stacks of maps and tour routes litter the office, and I’m always thinking of where to ride next. If that weren’t enough, there’s excitement in providing updates to our guests on their tours. All this makes me eager to get out and ride!

I have my Bicycle Rhythm

The bicycle has helped me find a rhythm to the seasons. On a personal level I need the thrill of riding, along with the challenge of maintaining my physical being. Professionally, working on bicycle things keeps my mind active and involved.

Tell us Your Story

Take a moment to examine your calendar, look at your bicycle, and find the rhythm you have. If you like what you see, drop us a note and tell your story. Ten lucky riders will get some of our Swag, along with a chance to be mentioned in a future blog!

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Hometown Bicycles, our friends in Brighton!

Tue, 13 Feb 2018 21:33:00 GMT

We’re glad to have Hometown Bicycles as our friend. You probably already know they are a great place for new bikes, equipment, service and repairs, but did you know they never stop working on community involvement? It’s inspiring to see this commitment to our community. See their website here- https://myhometownbicycles.wordpress.com/

A benefit for you

In honor of Hometown, you can take advantage of some great offers. Join any of our 4 weekend tours for only $69 per person. This includes our Kal-Haven Trail Tour, and the Grand Traverse Weekend Getaway with 3 events: Women’s Mountain Bike Tour; Open-class mountain bike tour, and Wine & Cheese tour. See all the weekend tours here:

Thinking of a week-long tour? We have 5 of them across the Great Lakes, from Niagara in the east to Duluth in the west, plus three great tours right here in Michigan. Take a tour with us, at a savings of $200 per person off the regular price.

These are real savings for you, and are not offered elsewhere.

It’s easy to register

Just click the link below, print the form, and mail it with your check by April 30. This offer is for mail orders only, credit cards not accepted, prior sales excluded. Offer expires April 30, 2018.

2018 Hometown Offer

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How to Choose the Best Bike for Your Needs

Fri, 02 Feb 2018 15:34:00 GMT

Your bike will be with you for a long time, so it’s important to pick the one that is able to best meet your needs. But first, you have to determine what your needs are. How long will you be biking? Are you just biking occasionally or planning a larger trip? What terrain will you be facing? Perhaps you are going on a Bike Tour Vacations’ trip. In that case, the Great Lakes area has its own needs which you should be cognizant of. While you ponder the nature of your trip, we’ll let you know which bikes go with what rider, which setting and more. Kind of like a choose your own adventure!
In terms of buying a bike, there are more bicycle-related inquiries you will want to think about. What have you ridden with before? What have your friends ridden with? Get a perception of the brands and other people’s experiences with them. This will help you have a more informed decision when getting down to buy. So what different kinds of bikes are there? Well, let’s get into it.
Road bikes are some of the most popular bikes on the market. They are generally ridden on, you guessed it, roads. They can go very fast on smoother surfaces like streets, but should not be ridden in all-terrain settings. As far as what they look like, they have skinny tires and a parallel handlebar and bike seat. They are usually light, especially when being used for road-racing. Some people will take these bad boys slightly off road, such as on paved trails. But primarily, they are not the best choice and will prove unstable on trails/off-road settings. Also good to know about road bikes is that they should not carry very heavy loads.
Mountain bikes are pretty much the opposite of road bikes. They are for trails and other off-road riding. Their bodies are made and crafted specifically for off-road travel and durability. They have flat handlebars, usually, and a low gear range that you may use when pedaling up steep trails (you will want the least amount of resistance for this task). One element that is central to a mountain bike is the suspension. These are also often referred to as shock absorbers. They can come on the front or back. Those bikes with front shock absorbers are called hardtails, bikes with shock absorbers on both the front and the back are commonly referred to as full-suspension bikes or duallies. Mountain bikes that don’t have shock absorbers are called rigid.
There are many other, more specific types of bikes, including hybrid bikes that contain elements of both of the bikes we just mentioned, but mountain and road bikes are the read bread and butter of the activity. If you are interested in learning more about the joy of biking, check out our other blogs, or sign up for one of our renowned Bike Tour Vacations’ trips today.

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It’s 2018 and Biking Is En Vogue

Thu, 18 Jan 2018 17:31:00 GMT

As we discussed in our last blog post, biking is a form of travel that has been around for centuries. It is a curious form of travel, because it has stayed popular for longer than many fad-inspired forms of transportation. This is perhaps because it is popular due to it’s transitive nature, as well as its value in terms of recreation and exercise. Whatever you choose to ride your bike for, we can all agree that bicycling is enjoyable and popular for many, regardless of background, age, gender or any denomination.

As popular as biking is, it seems to be experiencing a spike even now. More people are biking than ever before. So what is this due to? Well, there are several reasons. One is that biking is being promoted by the many celebrities who bike in the spotlight. As we discussed in our blog, Celebrities Who Bike, there are many celebrities who enjoy biking. The list includes: Jennifer Aniston, who was a bike messenger, Matthew McConaughey, who likes to bike with Lance Armstrong, Pink, who says she bikes for exercise and fun, and George W. Bush who created the Warriors 100k, the biking fundraiser he started to help our troops, and Patrick Dempsey, who is arguably the most devoted cyclist out there. He not only bikes for fun, but for charity as well. He started the Dempsey Challenge- a bike event that raises money for the Patrick Dempsey Center, which supports individuals and families with cancer. The Dempsey Challenge includes bike rides with distances of 10, 25, 50, 70 and 100 miles.

But celebrities aren’t the only inspiration behind this wave of bikers. It seems that a lot of young bikers are taking nods from cities like Amsterdam and Copenhagen, whose vast and vibrant biking cultures stem from more environmental reasons. Amsterdam has created a ton of bike lanes as well as created city planning projects that include shared streets for bikes and public transit, such as train or bus. The trend for this project and Amsterdam as a whole is to go completely car-free. Because of their proclivity for biking and using public transit, the city is free from a lot of the greenhouse gas emissions that are a part of almost every other city in the world. Copenhagen has similar biking plans. Over the past twenty years, Copenhagen has seen a 68 percent increase in biking. This can be broken down to the creation of a bunch of bike paths and lanes as well as the social push and subsequent policy for biking recognition. Currently, the city has a goal of getting 50 percent of all journeys being made via bike. We will see what happens!

Even if you don’t live in Copenhagen or Amsterdam or aren’t a celebrity, you can still enjoy biking. It is popular for a reason and if you’re looking to experience the best of biking, contact Bike Tour Vacations and sign up for a Great Lakes bike tour today!

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History of the Bicycle

Sat, 06 Jan 2018 19:56:00 GMT

The Bicycle

The bicycle is not the most recent or technologically advanced invention, but the relevance it still holds today is pretty astounding. Two wheeled vehicles that transported people started appearing in the early 1800s, lacking the name bicycle.

The very first model of two wheels being arranged in order was the German bike prototype called the Draisine, which was invented in 1817. It wasn’t until the 1860s, in France, when the term bicycle was coined. This was a long time ago, and may seem like it has little to do with modern bike-riding. Biking of any kind certainly piques Bike Tour Vacations’ interest and we are sure it will pique your interest too! It’s always good to know the origins of the hobby you must love, finding out where something is from is certainly telling.

Early Origins

Like we said, the first model of the bike came in the early 1800s. However, sketches of bikes came much earlier than that. The earliest known sketch of a bicycle came from Gian Giacomo Caprotti, in 1534. Caprotti was a pupil of the famous artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci. However, there has been some question about this and basically, there were many influences, and influencers that contributed to the first sketch of the bike and the first bike itself.

For example, there are some accounts that contend that someone who went by Comte de Sivrac developed what was called a célérifère in 1792 at the Palais-Royal. However, this notion is unverified and subsequently, the unequivocal earliest bike demonstration is the Draisine. The DRaisine was invented by German Baron Karl von Drais, a German civil servant. His design was patented in 1818 and soon became commercially relevant and available. The design was enjoyed by many British cartwrights, who brought production value to the venture.

Changes

Throughout the 19th century the design of the bike witnessed some mechanical changes. During the period from the 1820s to the 1850s, three and four wheeled bikes prevailed; this design hailed rectly from that of the Draisine. In the 1830s, specifically 1839, the idea of a two-wheeler came into play, conceived by Kirkpatrick MacMillan, a scottish blacksmith. Since this time, the bike has seen many improvements, including higher wheels making bikes farther off the ground. Another Improvement that is especially pertinent in this day and age is the advent of new safety features that accompany modern bikes.

Different bikes have been different throughout different periods of history; the Flying Pigeon was wildly popular in the People’s Republic of China, the Roadster was ubiquitous in late 19th century Europe, and the cruiser/racer are both popular in more modern Northern America settings. Though the bikes may vary, the love of bike-riding experienced by those upon them remains steadfast. If you feel as passionate about bikes/biking as we do, try out a tour with the renowned Bike Tour Vacations!

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Purdue Wine & Cheese Tour

Fri, 05 Jan 2018 17:23:00 GMT

Grab your calendars and look ahead to May 18-20, and mark down the Purdue Wine & Cheese Tour . This great new event includes a casual weekend of bicycle riding around Grand Traverse Bay and Traverse City, Michigan. Bike Tour Vacations has provided touring here since 2011, and our routes allow you to get to know this beautiful area better. We’ve teamed up with the Purdue Alumni Association to offer this Wine & Cheese Tour for you.

Three Days of Fun

Friday you can join our 1 p.m. ride for a spin around Traverse City. Located on Grand Traverse Bay, this town has a famous waterfront and lighthouse. It’s the Cherry Capital of Michigan, and the surrounding area is full of orchards and vineyards. Special for Purdue Alums, we cap our afternoon ride with a wine tasting and reception.

Sunday we ride out on the east side of Old Mission Peninsula, and along the way you can stop at 2 Brothers Winery for an optional tasting. Lunch will be at the General Store, and our return can include a tour of Mission Point Lighthouse, and an optional stop at Pumpkinvine Brew Pub. Purdue Wine & Cheese Tour, with a Brewpub!

The tour ends on Sunday with return to Traverse City, and you may opt for an extra night at the hotel. We’ll send details out with your registration confirmation.

It’s easy to reserve your spot. Just scroll to the bottom of the page to the registration link. Tell us your name and email address, and we’ll send a PayPal invoice; you can pay by check or credit card.

What is included

Your paid registration gets you lodging at the Quality Inn on Friday and Saturday, May 18 & 19; our mapping service, a guide riding on the ground with the group, sag support including minor repairs, water, fruit & other snacks, a yoga session on Saturday afternoon, and more! Breakfast on Saturday & Sunday, plus Saturday dinner with our group. It will be a ton of fun!

What to Pack

This should be an easy weekend away for you, and we’ll send a full packing list. Bring your bike and an outfit or two to ride in, and some casual clothes for dinner.

Need to Rent a Bike? If you’d like to rent a bike for the weekend, please let us know. There are several great bike rental places in Traverse City. We recommend you reserve your bike soon!

Register Here! It’s so easy to register. Click the Buy Now button below, select either Solo Guest, or Two Guests in a shared room, and follow the PayPal instructions. Thanks!

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How to Bike During the Colder Months

Thu, 21 Dec 2017 20:27:00 GMT

Can you bike in winter?

Biking might seem like more of a spring or summer activity, but it’s also surprisingly fun in the colder months. Especially here in the Great Lakes region, where we aren’t afraid of a little cold! Rain or shine, cold or snow, we wanna get to our favorite activity- biking. Most of our tours are centered during the warmer months. Even though long rides can get uncomfortable in winter, there are plenty of ways you can keep biking all year long, especially if you are willing to implement shorter rides.

We will break down how you can adequately prepare for a winter bike ride in three sections: keeping warm, remembering gear and protecting your bike. If you follow the tips listed below, you should be good to go on any bike rides, even in December, January and February, the notoriously coldest months.

Try Warm Clothing for colder months

First, we start with how you’ll keep warm on even a longer bike ride. Obviously, this has a lot to do with selecting the right clothing. Please try and layer clothing for an optimum winter bike ride. Start with an incredibly warm layer for the base. Because your body makes decisions regarding your core, you should have the heat near your core for best results. After you engage the initial layer, you can keep adding layers until you feel comfortable. The objective behind layers is that you can take them off when you get hot while riding.

Also, for extra effectiveness, you will want your outermost layer to be waterproof, i.e. a rain jacket, as it will make sure you and your other layers don’t get damp, as that will initiate a horrible riding experience. Be sure you protect your extremities. You should have on thick socks and thick gloves that prevent frostbite. Include an air activated heat packer or hand warmer packet in your gloves or shoes as this will keep them toasty and less susceptible to the dreaded frostbite.

Remember your gear

Next, there is a lot of gear you will need to take on your trip- gear you might not usually have to take on a warmer trip. This gear includes: two pairs of gloves to switch as temperature changes, lighter gloves to provide for more dexterity, wool socks to make sure your tootsies stay warm especially in case of getting your feet wet. Also you could pack a ski helmet as they will keep your head warmer than a regular bike helmet. You will also want bike lights and a bike pump, obviously. Do not forget anything that you bring on a regular trip.

Protect your bike

Lastly, you want to make sure you take care of your bike in the colder months. This includes: washing it after every ride and also making sure it defends itself against slush via race blades. For more bike tips, or to schedule a bike trip, contact Bike Tour Vacations today!

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Brothers and Others, a Private Tour

Fri, 08 Dec 2017 01:34:00 GMT

Private Bicycle Tours

Private Bicycle Tours are an important part of our business , occasionally mirroring our public tours but with custom enhancements. These might include upgraded lodging or dining options, additional mileage, etc. In March 2017 a question came in from a private group, asking for a private tour of 2 weeks duration and 600 to 700 miles.

Their idea was fairly straightforward. Cycle around the north half of Lake Michigan, starting in Manitiowoc, Wisconsin, heading across the Upper Peninsula, ending in lower Michigan to Ludington. The Badger Ferry would connect the start and end points.

More Days, More Miles

Joe Ossmann was the lead contact from the group. After just a few phone calls we established a good working rapport. In short order the route was down on paper, 11 days of riding to cover 600 miles. After a few days to get most of the lodging secured, the budget was complete. We included lodging, dining, maps & routing, sag and luggage service. The only thing not present vs. our public tours was a second staff member to guide them on the ground.

Joe was sure they had 6 riders, with the possibility for as many as 10. I sent the proposal to cover the options, and after a conference call with the group, we had come to agreement to proceed with the tour.

Upper Peninsula Challenges

August 25 arrived quickly, and I was on the evening ferry to Wisconsin after enjoying a 20-mile ride near Ludington to see the end of their route. On Saturday I got to ride the first 15 miles of the tour route, a lovely bike path up to Two Rivers and back.The guests began to arrive about 1 p.m., and everyone was in by 4, assembling bikes and greeting each other.

Our crew

We had brothers Rich & Ron Fowler, one from Nebraska and the other from California; Dennis and Alan Cook (Sacramento and Chicago) and their nephew John. Joe from Michigan, Gordon from Delaware, and Fred from Rosewood CA. Take John out of the picture and you have 7 grandfathers with 27 grandchildren!

Over 80% of our route was on territory we cover on other tours. Surprisingly, we were only able to use familiar and tested hotels on two nights. Fortunately, all the new hotels lived up to their part of the bargain. Our guests were pleased with their service.

In conclusion, this was a great Private Tour. We set new company records for duration and mileage, and also for testing new hotels.

If you have a group who would like a Private Tour, please give us a shout and we’ll get out a proposal based on your needs!

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The Complete Guide to Family Biking

Sun, 19 Nov 2017 21:41:00 GMT

Learn about Family Biking

Once you have developed a love for cycling and going on bike trips, you will obviously want to translate that love to your family. You will want to start planning elaborate biking trips and orchestrating every detail. And while you should 100 percent pursue a bike tour vacation, please slow down a little to make sure that you’re including features for every member and personality in your family. In this blog post, Bike Tour Vacations gives you some tips and tricks to help you plan the ultimate family biking experience.

Consider the age of your kids!

One of the first things you’ll want to consider before planning your fun-filled family bike trip is the age of your children. Just because you have young kids doesn’t mean you can’t still pursue a bike trip, but you will just have to make some modifications most likely. As a guideline, most bike parents choose to wait until their child is at least a year old until they make them a passenger, so that their head is more developed and can fully support a helmet. Once your baby/toddler is a bit older, they can comfortably fit in a child carrier that attaches to your bike. Many parents may worry about the integrity of these carriers, so make sure that you are getting a quality carrier to ensure safety, security and peace of mind.

For young kids, you may want to consider the option of a tandem bike so you can help control the speed and pedaling of the bike to ensure absolute safety. Once your kids get a little older and you have begun to teach them how to ride a bike, it is appropriate for them to ride safely. Obviously, start with training wheels and only when you and your child feel comfortable should you transition them to normal bike riding.

There are a lot of guidelines you can find online that entail instructions on teaching your kid how to ride a bike, which can be a daunting process to a lot of parents who worry about their children’s safety. The key is just to go slow and to supervise them every step of the way. Eventually they will be riding no problem!

Obviously with older children and teens, they will ride their own bikes no worries, but you will want to make sure they have a good-fitting helmet and bike that they feel comfortable riding (i.e. is a comfortable size). This is especially important on a longer bike trip as an uncomfortable bike or helmet can sabotage the entire bike tour vacation.

It’s also important to be cognizant of the varying levels of fitness within your family. You don’t want to exhaust one member, nor do you want to leave someone feeling not challenged or feeling that they aren’t having fun. It may be a stressful thought thinking about planning the perfect bike trip for every member of your family, but don’t worry, Bike Tour Vacations has a variety of fun-filled tours, ranging from options better-suited for couples to trips your kids will love. Whatever your bike tour needs are, Bike Tour Vacations is happy to help.

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What to Pack for a Bike Vacation

Fri, 03 Nov 2017 12:41:00 GMT

If you are planning a bike vacation, packing is an important part of preparation. Once you’ve selected which Bike Tour Vacation you want to go on, you will have to start buying some supplies, or rounding up what you already have. The central rule behind packing for a bike trip is: less is more. This is because the less weight you carry, the more fun the bike ride will be. Here is a comprehensive checklist of things you will need on the trip while you are biking:

However, you aren’t going to be on your bike the whole time so it is also important that you bring some clothing and gear for down time. These include (but are not limited to): sun hat, bathing suit, camera and charger, rain gear for not biking, casual attire that will be comfortable to wear when you are engaging in downtime activities or sightseeing, a sweater or jacket for cold evenings and anything else that may make you more comfortable while off the bike.

Also you will just need some regular travel essentials and miscellaneous items. Here, Bike Tour Vacations gives you a comprehensive list:

Lastly, there a few tools you may need, but if you are traveling with an esteemed bike company like Bike Tour Vacations, most likely, the leader of the tour will have everything covered on that front. But it’s not bad to prepare, just in case!

You may not need all of the gear we’ve listed in this blog, but it’s good to know all of your options. Contact Bike Tour Vacations today to figure out exactly what you need to bring and how you can schedule your next bike vacation!

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Celebrities Who Bike

Sat, 21 Oct 2017 15:23:00 GMT

Biking has become a huge trend for everyone, from all walks of life. Even some of our favorite recording artists or stars of the silver screen enjoy cycling for fun, exercise or transportation. Here, Bike Tour Vacation lists a few popular celebrities who partake in our favorite activity- riding a bike!

Patrick Dempsey

Dempsey is probably the celebrity who enjoys biking the most. This “Grey’s Anatomy” star enjoys cycling for fun, exercise and charity! He started the Dempsey Challenge- a bike event that raises money for the Patrick Dempsey Center, which supports individuals and families with cancer. The event includes bike rides with distances of 10, 25, 50, 70 and 100 miles.

Jennifer Aniston

The “Friends” star was once a bike messenger in New York City, which she has famously referred to as her “toughest job.” she obviously has a very different job now, but she can still be seen making biking look hip as she whips around New York City, or wherever she happens to be.

Matthew McConaughey

This Texas native considers biking to be “alright, alright, alright.” He can be seen biking alone or with fellow Texan, Lance Armstrong, who is both a biking buddy and longtime friend. Even in the wake of the doping scandal that rocked Armstrong’s world, McConaughey eventually defended his buddy, standing by his side during the tough time (though, was, admittedly pissed at first).

John Kerry

U.S. Senator and almost-president John Kerry enjoys cycling. So much so that he has been seen biking with cycling great Jonathan Vaughters (former professional racing cyclist and current manager of the Cannondale Professional Cycling Team) in Colorado.

P!nk

Spunky singer P!nk (real name: Alecia Moore) is a huge fan of cycling for transportation, exercise and advocacy. She has been quoted talking about how biking is a much better alternative to using horse-drawn carriage (as is popular in New York City). This stance is part of a PETA campaign that the singer is currently involved in.

David Byrne

Byrne, who was once the lead singer of rock band “The Talking Heads” is a huge advocate of biking- so much so, that he wrote a book about it! In 2009, he published “Bicycle Diaries.” And his love for biking hasn’t fallen off, he has since been quoted saying: “There’s a certain amount of freedom involved in cycling,” in an interview with The Guardian. “You’re self-propelled and decide exactly where to go.”

George W. Bush

Our former president enjoys biking so much that he implemented it to be used for a cause that is near and dear to his heart. He created the Warrior 100k as part of the Bush Institute’s Military Service Initiative. The bike ride is in solidarity with and appreciation for the sacrifice of those who have served our country and supports organizations that honor America’s veterans.

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Your Complete Guide to Biking as a Family

Sat, 07 Oct 2017 15:12:00 GMT

When riding a bike is an important part of your life, it’s obvious that you’d want to pass that happiness onto your children. Family biking is not only a healthy, affordable, and sustainable way to get around with your kids, but an amazing opportunity for the little ones to get to know the area around them and to engage in family fun. While the way you ride will certainly undergo some changes once you become a parent, it doesn’t mean you need to bike less or drive more, it just means you’ll need to adapt. In the following post, we’ve outlined some tips, best practices, and gear ideas for biking with children of any age. Happy biking!

Start fresh: Get a good night’s sleep the night before and a good meal about an hour before heading out.

Safety tools: It’s important to remember different safety tools for a bike trip with children and also to remember a general first aid kit, as scraped knees and bruises are plentiful when working with first-time riders.

Choose beginner terrain: Especially if you have young children, its incredibly important to pick a biking area that can be easily accomplished. Namely, you want to stay away from mountainous, hilly, or rocky terrain for first time-bikers.

Clothing : You want to make sure you and your kids dress for comfort and utility, not for fashion, on a family bike ride. You will want to be wearing layers in case it gets too hot or too cold and it’s also never a bad idea to wear a rain jacket, especially if you live in an area that frequently experiences rain. Also, something you may not think about is wearing pants that aren’t too long to avoid any fabric getting into the bike gears. Also, there are some biking accessories you will need to remember, including water and snacks, as well as a bike helmet, which is completely necessary.

Helmet fit: Bike helmets are mandatory. Helmets can save your life, if you’re wearing them right. They should fit tightly on your heads and not allow any room for movement. They should sit level and low on the forehead, approximately a few finger widths above the eyebrow. A good rule of thumb is to do the yawn test with your children, the yawn test is when you ask your kids to yawn wide and the helmet should, if fit right, pull down on the head.

A-B-C check: Make sure tires have plenty of air, the brakes work and the chain has plenty of lube to work properly.

Saddle height: Kids like to have their seats low when starting out, but make sure their leg is almost fully extended in the 6 o’clock position (bottom of the pedal rotation) to get enough power when pedaling.

Though biking with your kids is certainly fun and doable, as showcased in the blog above, most of our tours are geared towards adults. With that said, if you and your significant other need a little time off parent-duty, book one of our fun, exciting bike tours or vacations today.

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Best Bike Trails in Wisconsin and Minnesota

Sat, 23 Sep 2017 17:16:00 GMT

Wisconsin

The Glacial Drumlin State Trail

The Glacial Drumlin State Trail is a bike trail legend in Wisconsin. It runs 52 miles between Cottage Grove and the Fox River Sanctuary in Waukesha. The fairly level grade and smooth limestone and asphalt surfaces make this 52-mile trail suitable for bicyclists, walkers and joggers. There is a section of the trail near the town of Dousman that has been paved with asphalt suitable for in-line skating. Not only is the trail used for day-time activities, the surrounding areas comprise a great campsite. Also, if you’re a camper, make sure to check out areas in which you can camp, which include: the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest, Lake Kegonsa State Park, Capital Springs State Recreation Area and at at the Sandhill Station State Campground.

400 State Trail

The Wisconsin 400 State Trail is located between Reedsburg and Elroy. There are many enchanting towns with picturesque scenery between Reedsburg and Elroy, they include: La Valle- 7 miles from Reedsburg, Wonewoc- 7 miles from La Valle; and Union Center- 4 miles from either Wonewoc or Elroy. The 400 State Trail offers beautiful scenery, bountiful wildlife, sandstone outcroppings, rolling farmland and runs parallel with the Baraboo River. The 400 State Trail has something to offer in every season.
Another feature of the 400 Trail is a 7 mile horse trail which parallels the trail between Wonewoc and La Valle. The 400 State Trail is part of the 101 State Trail System and links with the Elroy-Sparta State Trail, the La Crosse River State Trail and the Great River State Trail.

Minnesota

The Mesabi Trail

Located in northeastern Minnesota, the Mesabi Trail is a premier bicycle trail winding through some of the most scenic parts of the state. Currently over 120 miles of trail offer convenient accessibility at numerous entry points. But there’s more to look forward to! When completed, this well-mapped and well-maintained trail will traverse over 155 miles connecting 28 communities, making it one of the longest paved trails in the United States.
The roads once served as logging and general industrial roads but now they offer fun activities such as biking, inline skating hiking or walking. Winter activities may include fat tire biking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and winter hiking- but the trail is not necessarily groomed for these activities. Some portions of the trail offer snowmobile access, perfect for Minnesota winters.

Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area

This area was once mining pits and rock deposits, but it now boasts regenerated vegetation and clear lakes that draw a wide range of recreation enthusiasts. Twenty-five miles of natural shoreline can be explored by boat or canoe or you can stick to the many activities (hiking, jogging, walking, biking) that you can do on the nearly 5,000 acres of land.

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Biking Witnesses Rapid Growth in Popularity

Sat, 09 Sep 2017 17:14:00 GMT

The number of people who commute to work by bicycle increased about 60 percent over the past decade according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

During the years 2008-2012, about 786,000 Americans commuted by bicycle, up from about 488,000 in 2000, the Census says. That jump is the largest percentage increase of all forms of transportation tracked by the 2000 Census and the 2008-2012 American Community Survey.

Bicyclists still account for fewer than one percent of all commuters. However, some large cities doubled their rate of bike commuters. Portland, Oregon had the highest bicycle commuting rate at 6.1 percent, up from 1.8 percent in 200. Minneapolis saw its bicycle commuting rate jump from 1.9 percent to 4.1 percent.

A large reason behind this increase is that cities are encouraging cyclists by creating bike lanes and bike-share programs. Bike-share programs are popping up all over the country, spearheaded by such campaigns as CitiBike in New York, Capital Bikeshare in Washington D.C., Divvy in Chicago, Austin B-cycle in Austin, Nice Ride Minnesota in Minneapolis, Hubway in Boston, Bay Area Bike Share in San Francisco, Denver B-cycle in Colorado, Charlotte B-cycle in North Carolina and Bike Chattanooga in Tennessee. But the programs don’t have to speak for themselves.

These bike share programs tend to have desirable effects. A 2015 study in Transport Reviews looked at systems in five cities, including Washington, D.C., and Minneapolis and found that users substituted rides via bike shares for car trips 8 percent of the time in D.C. and almost 20 percent of the time in Minneapolis. A separate study on D.C.’s Capital Bikeshare found that it contributed a modest but noticeable two to three percent reduction in traffic congestion. And a 2014 report from the NYC Department of Transportation found that even though some traffic lanes were converted to protected bike lanes on various streets, travel times for car traffic remained steady or improved: on Eighth Avenue, they were 14 percent faster, for example.

“In recent years, many communities have taken steps to support more transportation options, such as bicycling and walking,” said Brian McKenzie, the author of the U.S. Census Bureau Report.

Celebrities have also taken to the biking trend. Known as McDreamy in Grey’s Anatomy, actor Patrick Dempsey is an avid cyclist who has befriended some of the top pros in the sport. He also started the Dempsey Challenge- a bike event that raises money for the Patrick Dempsey Center, which supports individuals and families with cancer.

Matthew McConaughey is also a big fan of biking- he’s been spotted on several rides with his buddy, cycling superstar, Lance Armstrong. Another famous Texan that’s been seen on a bike recently is former president, George W. Bush. Bush can frequently be seen riding his bike around his Texas ranch and come his 70th birthday, he celebrated by hosting a 100 km mountain bike ride that raised funds for wounded veterans

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Astounding Health Benefits of Biking

Sat, 26 Aug 2017 17:54:00 GMT

Biking regularly promotes a slew of health benefits. This low-impact, low-stress exercise will surely help you achieve improvement in your health and life in general. The nice thing is you only have to cycle for about two to four hours a week to earn a host of the benefits. Biking is an incredibly realistic exercise option, because it’s something you’ll find yourself wanting to do. You can bike in any location of your choosing, as compared to other physical activities that keep you indoors or require special times or places. Cycling is also incredibly practical if you utilize it as a mode of transport, by which you can replace sedentary time spent driving. However you choose to do it, cycling certainly promotes a healthy lifestyle in the ways listed below.

Increased Cardiovascular Strength

Bicycling regularly can boost your cardiovascular health, cutting your risk of heart disease by 50 percent, recently confirmed in a study by the University of Purdue. How does this work? Bicycling increases your heart rate over a substantial period of time. Having your heart beat rapidly increases blood flow throughout the body which strengthens the heart and dramatically reduces blood fat levels. All of this helps to prevent cardiovascular issues and symptoms of heart disease such as heart attacks and strokes.

Increased Energy Levels

Biking is an endurance exercise that can be done without too much muscle fatigue or stress on the joints. These longer distances (and allotted amounts of time) require your body to draw upon its stored energy to continue. Subsequently, the body has more stamina, which leads to an equilibrium increase regarding energy. A rise in energy levels leads to a better mood and improved productivity and quality of life as well.

Help Prevent Cancer

Seriously. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association recently looked at nearly 14,000 men and concluded that those with a higher fitness level as they approached middle age were at a lower risk for lung and colorectal cancer. Gastroenterologist Dr. Ana Raimundo has also studied how biking and other exercise help decrease the risk for bowel cancer.

“Physical activity helps decrease the time it takes food to move through the large intestine, limiting the amount of water absorbed back into your body and leaving you with softer stools, which are easier to pass,” explains Raimundo.

“As well as preventing you from feeling bloated, this helps protect you against bowel cancer.”

Burn Fat and Lose Weight

Biking is a great way to lose weight as it raises your metabolic rate, builds muscle and burns body fat. Many people think of running when they think of a fat-burning exercise; but while running does burn a lot of fat, it’s not kind to you if you’re a little larger than you’d like to be and puts undue stress on your body. Not only is biking agreeable with your body, it also really works. Steady cycling burns about 300 calories per hour, a large portion of the 2,000 calories research suggests you should be burning per week.

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Brothers and Others, a private tour on Lake Michigan!

Fri, 25 Aug 2017 22:30:00 GMT

Tour Chief Jim is off on a new adventure, hosting the Brothers & Others Group on a trip around the north half of Lake Michigan. This is our longest tour ever, both in number of days and in mileage.

Our guests arrive in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, on Saturday August 26. We begin pedaling on our 600-mile, 11-day adventure on Sunday. Highlights along the way include Door County Wisconsin; a private charter boat ride to Cedar River, Michigan; The Mighty Mackinac Bridge; the Tunnel of Trees; a spin on both the Little Traverse Wheeleway and on the TART Trails near Traverse City; plus sand and sand dunes and the beauty of Lake Michigan.

Be sure to check back for daily updates!

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Bike Tour Vacations’ List of Top Midwestern Breweries

Sat, 12 Aug 2017 16:48:00 GMT

The Midwest is a major destination for beer enthusiasts. The heartland has created world-famous beers such as Miller High Life and Budweiser, but recently, it’s been manufacturing and serving craft beer like no one’s business. Check out one of our brewery bike tours, like the Hops and Hard Cider Tour or a Motor City Brew Tour to experience the best beers in the region while on a fun bike tour. Showcasing our love for Midwestern beer and breweries, we compiled a list of the best breweries in the Midwest/Great Lakes Area:

Virtue Cider in Fennville, Michigan

Featured on our Hops and Hard Cider Tour , Virtue Cider is a picturesque cidery in Fennville, Michigan. Gregory Hall, a brew-master with a 20-year tenure at Goose Island Beer Company (where he won 14 consecutive Great American Beer Festival medals) founded Virtue Cider in Chicago in 2011 and started the Michigan location in 2013. After leaving Goose Island, Hall embarked on a pilgrimage to study cider with top cider-makers in England and France; he then brought this knowledge to one of the biggest apple-growing states in America, Michigan. Check out this beautiful cidery and its delicious, refreshing variety of ciders with Bike Tour Vacations today.

Summit Brewing Company in St. Paul, Minnesota

With humble beginnings during the origins of the craft beer movement in America (i.e. the 1980s) Summit has evolved into a 240,000 barrel-a-year behemoth. Its been over 30 years since owner and founder Mark Stutrud brewed Summit’s flagship Extra Pale Ale. The brewery has an organic, home-grown feel, arguably due to the fact that they’re independently owned and operated. So next time you’re in the midwest, try one of their popular offerings such as the Sága IPA or the Fest Bier, a fine rendition of a Märzen.

New Glaurus Brewing Company in New Glaurus, Wisconsin

New Glaurus has inspired in-state pandemonium for years, but their rising popularity is drawing outside visitors. Fruit beers like Raspberry Tart and Serendipity have traditionally drawn the most fanfare, especially in terms of craft beer enthusiasts; but then New Glaurus went and dropped Scream (a double IPA) in 2015 and that has since been among their most popular selections. Run by a charismatic couple, Daniel and Deb Carey, New Glaurus offers such attractions as free self-guided tours, a spacious tasting room and their famous Hard-Hat Tours. The Hard Hat Tour comes complete with a brewery ambassador, who takes visitors on a complete behind the scenes tour of both of New Glaurus’ brewery locations: the original Riverside Brewery and their new, state-of-the-art location, Hilltop Brewery.

Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago, Illinois

After Goose Island’s acquisition by AB InBev, many beer purists have complained of the company losing their craft cred. But however you feel on the topic, it’s undeniable that their beers are damn good. Their Chicago brewery was originally built in 1995 and has more than doubled in size since originally built. Their pints are created using 32 fermenters, 15 different yeasts, state-of-the-art filters, centrifuges and a 50 barrel JV Northwest five vessel system. If that was a lot of information to take in, cool off with one of Goose Island’s sought-after stouts or one of their sours like the blackberry-infused Juliet.

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Best Regional Bike Trails Throughout Michigan

Fri, 28 Jul 2017 19:35:00 GMT

Northern Michigan

Little Traverse Wheelway

Beginning at Waller Rd. and US 31 and ending at Kosequat Park, Little Traverse Wheelway is a picturesque 23.7 mile trek through Charlevoix and Emmet Counties. Paved except for a .6 mile wooden boardwalk over wooded wetlands, the trail takes you through several state and city parks, including Petoskey State Park. Along the way there are three replicas of historic arches inscribed with the words “No Teaming or Driving,” reminiscent of the horse and buggy origins of the path. There are also several popular tourist attractions along the way; the tunnel under U.S. 31 connects to the quaint shopping district of Petoskey and the path connects to Little Traverse History Museum. From the wonderful views of Lake Michigan to the smorgasbord of cultural activities, Little Traverse Wheelway is a can’t-miss.

Southern Michigan

Detroit RiverWalk

Detroit’s former industrial riverfront has been transformed into a promenade where residents and visitors can now access the water. Detroit Riverfront Conservancy has raised $121 million toward a $140 million goal of ensuring all components of the riverwalk are constructed and maintained. Their efforts have not been in vain: the 3.5 mile trail is pegged to have had an economic impact of $43.7 million, thus far. The riverwalk is not just economically positive, though, it has also displayed immense cultural and social benefits. It has revitalized the area by spurring such developments as the Math and Science High School, Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority, Presbyterian Village and Manor and many restaurants and breweries. Also, the River Days Festival (which attracts 150,000 visitors) and Reading & Rhythm on the Riverfront are popular events held on the riverwalk. Check out the revitalization of Detroit’s downtown with a Michigan bike vacation today.

Eastern Michigan

Bay City Loop

This 17.8 mile trail through Bay County boasts an extensive boardwalk system across the Saginaw River as well as wide sidewalks throughout the city, with helpful way-finding signs. The path takes you to the Bay State Recreation Area as well as the Fred Andersen Nature Trail, where you can hike or visit the nature center. The trail also features the best of Bay City- you’ll encounter shops, numerous parks, a marina, the farmers’ market, a community theater and a community center.

Western Michigan

Kal-Haven Trail

This 34 mile trail is Michigan’s first state-owned rail-trail and its second rail-trail conversion. It is the introductory segment of the Great Lake to Lake Trail a 250 mile trek from South Haven to Port Huron; Kal-Haven is a great way to experience some of the highlights of the longer trail. The path features beautiful scenery, popular beaches, rustic campgrounds and a limestone surface for most of the ride.

Upper Peninsula

Iron Ore Heritage Trail

Enjoyed by snowmobilers, cross-country skiers, and road and mountain bikers, this 47 mile pathway highlights the prettiest sights in Marquette County. Crossing the Marquette Iron Range, the trail is a perfect way to experience quintessential Upper Peninsula sights and culture.

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Four New Places to Bike in the Great Lakes

Fri, 14 Jul 2017 18:40:00 GMT

These Great Lakes bike trails are either new or expanding and are a great, fresh option for further exploring the Great Lakes Region. Of course, if you want to stick with a classic, try one of Bike Tour Vacations’ tours in Detroit, Wisconsin or Minnesota.

Cleveland Metroparks Trail System

Cleveland Metroparks is an expansive system of nature preserves in the Greater Cleveland Area. The system spans over 21,000 acres and includes hundreds of miles of walking, bicycle and horse trails. It also boasts picnic areas, nature education centers, fishing spots and golf courses. The Cleveland Zoo is also in the district. But for as large of a quantity of attractions Cleveland Metroparks features, they also offer quality, especially regarding their bike trails. The park system has nowhere to go up as they were recently awarded an $8 million federal transportation grant to help connect isolated neighborhoods to existing trails, green spaces and public transportation. This effort was done as part of an even larger ($16.5 million) Metroparks initiative entitled “Reconnecting Cleveland,” which aims to build bike and pedestrian trails across the system to make it even more accessible and visitor-friendly. If you get the chance to visit Metroparks, make sure you ride down the Whiskey Island Trail, which takes you to Whiskey Island on Lake Erie via a newly-constructed bridge.

Copper Harbor Mountain Bike Trail System

Even farther north than Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Copper Harbor is truly a remote destination. However, its inaccessibility hasn’t deterred mountain bike enthusiasts from flocking by the thousand to the small town in the past few years. Arguably the most popular bike trail in this new bicycling metropolis is the “Flow,” which starts at the top of Brockway Mountain and ends on the west side of Copper Harbor. This gravity-defying ride is chock full of thrills and jumps and helped Copper Harbor attain status as a silver level ride center. But don’t worry, there are plenty of other trails for those that don’t consider themselves adrenaline junkies. Try the “Woopity Woo,” which makes a loop off of Garden Brook Trail and then has you decide which direction to go in (don’t worry, both options are incredibly picturesque).

Lake Country Recreational Trail

This 15-mile trail, located on the former Milwaukee-Watertown Interurban Railway, is consistently ranked as one of the best places to bike in Minnesota. It showcases views of the surrounding mid-kettle moraine area, including: the Landsberg Center, Pewaukee Lake, Naga-Waukee Park and War Memorial Golf Course, Lake Nagawicka, the historic City of Delafield, Upper and Lower Nemahbin Lakes and Roosevelt Park. Now is the perfect time to go as well: officials are planning a 50-mile nearby trail network on 6,500 acres of county land between the Split Rock River and Beaver Bay.

Elroy-Sparta State Trail

Okay, the Elroy-Sparta State Trail isn’t exactly new. But the “Grandaddy Ride,” which was started in 2015 by a coalition of the Elroy Sparta Bike Trail Communities, is very new and continues to grow each year. This event raises money for local community charities as well as a charity selected by the organization each year. It’s a great opportunity to do something philanthropic while experiencing one of the coolest bike trails in America. The oldest rail-trail conversion in the United States, the trail is a 33-mile journey from Elroy to Sparta, featuring rolling hills and farmland. You will also pass through three hand-dug railroad tunnels on your trip, shrouding your experience in (temporary) darkness. The tunnels are a huge attraction: two are 1,600 feet and the other is 3,800 feet. They stay cool at 50-60 degrees, regardless of outside temperature. Riding through them evokes an older Midwest, reminiscent of the year in which the trail was created, 1967.

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The 5 Best Cities in America for a Bike Vacation

Fri, 30 Jun 2017 16:26:00 GMT

The newest thing to blow into the Windy City? Bike lanes and lots of them. Shortly after re-election, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel promised bike reform, announcing that 50 miles of bikeways would soon be erected. Making good on that promise, Emmanuel created The Link Loop Project, a public transit initiative that has created new protected bike lanes on major roads, cleared space for pedestrians and created more sidewalk space by removing bus shelters. But biking in the Windy City isn’t just for practicality, it’s also really fun. On your next bike vacation, check out such trails as the North Shore Channel Trail, which takes riders on a modern art adventure through Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park, or the Bloomingdale Trail, where you can spend the calories you saved up biking on the many food and beverage options scattered throughout the pathway.

Portland

Riding a bike to get around in New York City is a no-brainer and has been a preferred method of transportation for many new-yorkers for quite some time. But that grew exponentially with the 2013 election of Bill Bill de Blasio, who instituted a large safety initiative that included a Vision Zero Policy which reduced speed limits citywide to 25 mph and allotted $100 million to the redevelopment and installation of protected bike lanes. These new laws helped protect local bike trail favorites, including the Hudson River Greenway, which winds from lower Manhattan to Hell’s Kitchen, showcasing views of the George Washington Bridge, and the Ocean Parkway bike path, which runs from Kensington, Brooklyn all the way down to Surf Avenue in Coney Island.

The Hidden Beauty of Lexington, Kentucky

Fri, 16 Jun 2017 16:13:00 GMT

Lexington, Kentucky is a well know destination for horse racing enthusiasts. A charming, southern city with beauty at every turn, Lexington is a wonderful location for a biking tour. Bike Tour Vacations offer a weekend tour package known as the Kentucky Ramble which gives you a chance to immerse yourself in the rolling hills of the Bluegrass State and experience the beauty of the Appalachian Mountains. Guests get a chance to enjoy some southern hospitality before going on a biking tour through the area. You’ll get a chance to see the horse farms, distilleries, and miles upon miles of beautiful Bluegrass Country lanes. While spending some time in Lexington, there’s plenty of wonderful things to do and see in the area.

Keeneland
All year round, Keeneland attracts visitors to its historic horseracing arena. The significance and extensive history of these race grounds make it a popular tourist destination even when races are not in session. Keeneland opened in 1936 and has been one of the top attractions in Lexington, Kentucky ever since, with annual races becoming a traditional event. The race grounds also host practice meets for jockeys and horses training for the Kentucky Derby, as well as various horse auctions throughout the year. Be sure to stop in and take in the view of the race track, tour the indoor facility, and check out the sales complex. You can visit Keeneland’s website to check out upcoming events and purchase tickets,

Mary Todd Lincoln House
Another interesting location to check out on our bike vacation tour is the childhood home of Mary Todd Lincoln, the 16th First Lady, and wife to President Abraham Lincoln. The house has been memorialized and preserved, and is now open to inquisitive tourists and history buffs. The Mary Todd Lincoln House is the first historical location restored in the name of a first lady. Their home displays a collection of authentic artifacts from both the Lincoln and Todd families, including portraits, furniture, and various other pieces of décor. Guided tour and interpretive information on the Lincoln and Todd families and their lives are available for those who want to take a deeper look.

Kentucky Horse Park
One of the most well-known working horse farms in the area, the Kentucky Horse Park is a 1000-acre, open plain facility that is sure to be a hit with any equine enthusiast. Visitors of the park get a chance to tour the facilities and horse stables or catch the Horses of the World show, which runs twice daily. A wide variety of rare and exotic horses from all over the world make an appearance, complete with riders dressed in authentic garb. The International Museum of the Horse is also located on campus and is open to the public all year round. The Kentucky Horse Park is a Smithsonian Affiliate and houses a vast collection of authentic horse memorabilia and its interpretive literature. It frequently hosts a wide variety of events, ranging from horse races to concerts to various sporting events. Campgrounds are available on site, and of course, carriage rides, horseback riding, and horseback riding lessons with a trained expert are offered to equine enthusiasts.

These are just a few of the beautiful locations you can visit in Lexington, Kentucky. Bike Tour Vacations offer an excellent weekend tour known as the Kentucky Ramble between September 28th and October 1st. The Kentucky Ramble gives you a chance to take a bike tour through the rolling hills surrounding the Lexington area, stopping to see all the important locations along the way. For more information, contact Bike Tour Vacations at 248-345-6929 or jim@biketourvacations.com.

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Facts about the 5 Great Lakes

Fri, 02 Jun 2017 16:55:00 GMT

If you have signed up for any Great Lakes vacation tours , you will certainly have plenty to look forward to. A Great Lakes Tour offers plenty of unique sights and experiences that should be on anyone’s bucket list. In order to help prepare you for any upcoming bike tours, here are some facts about the 5 Great Lakes.

Lake Superior

The largest of all of the great lakes, Lake Superior is certainly a sight to behold. It is found on the northern edge of Wisconsin and touches the eastern edge of Minnesota. That should give you and little idea of how big it really is. Superior’s deepest point is 1,300 ft. It is also a wonderfully clear body of water. It is also surprisingly warm for most seasons. During the winter, the Lake barely ever gets below 30 F. We told you this would be a vacation, didn’t we?

Lake Huron

Lake Huron will certainly be a fascinating place to visit. There are several shipwrecks found in the lake. It receives the flows from both Superior and Michigan. Many explorers used to see Huron as separate from the other lakes due to it being so far away from them. It also features beautiful forests to see along the path.

Lake Michigan

The third largest of the great lakes, Michigan is an extremely beautiful freshwater lake. It actually connects to Lake Huron. From a hydrological point of view, they are both technically one lake. But both of these areas deserve individual recognition. One cannot ignore the amazing circular formation, as well as the special visual effects it presents. We are referring to the lunar tidal effects that show up.

Lake Erie

The eleventh largest lake in the world, Lake Erie is the warmest of the Great Lakes. It features plenty of fascinating fish and is definitely not a spot to miss. It has wind setups from the East to the West. Most of the water comes from the Detroit River water. This water makes it to Erie by the upper Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, and Huron).

Lake Ontario

Ranking fourth among the great lakes in terms of maximum depth, Lake Ontario is the 14th largest lake in the whole world. It has a very rural basin and features a few urban locations. It is known for lying at the base of Niagara Falls. If you are looking for a flow of beautiful mist and watery waves on your bike tours, then Lake Ontario is the place to see.

We are merely tracking the facts regarding the Great Lakes vacation. But simple facts cannot communicate the sheer beauty that you will feel on your get going on the Great Lakes vacation. For more information on our upcoming bike tours, please feel free to contact us here today. Please see here for our terms and conditions .

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How and what to eat for a bike ride

Fri, 19 May 2017 15:12:00 GMT

There are a few things to prepare for before going on a bike tour vacation. Some of those things include what to wear and how to stretch before each ride. But another important factor is our diet. What are the best foods to eat for a biking tour? Here is some information on how and what to eat for your upcoming bike tour vacation.

Note: With all of these food suggestions, we realize that each person’s body is different. So be sure to talk to a nutritionist or doctor to see if these suggestions are right for you.

What to eat

It is essential to maintain a diet that supports your biking tour. This is primarily done through carbohydrate levels. You need to keep your carbs up so that you have the energy to ride as much as you will. For rides over 1 hour, it is generally wise to eat 30-60 grams of carbohydrates per hour. This can vary depending on how your body functions. If you are looking for 30 grams of carbohydrates, any of the following foods may be able to suffice: 500ml bottle of commercially available isotonic sports drink can work well. Energy gels are also an option. 1 ½ carbohydrate energy gels should work. For a sweeter taste, try a small handful of jellied sweets. You also can’t go wrong with a natural, large banana (1 per hour).

How to eat

As mentioned earlier, those foods go well with a biking tour over 1 hour. Some can be conveniently placed in your pocket. However, rides under an hour do not require eating during the ride. You will have plenty of fuel for your body before the ride. We recommend waiting 2-4 hours after a good meal before going biking. If you had a smaller snack, then it is best to wait 30 minutes – 2 hours. Breakfast should consist of whole grain, carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fat. Again, you don’t want to be digesting food while riding. That is an efficient way to make you vomit. So if you are going to eat before the ride, give yourself enough time to digest.

What not to eat

There are certain foods I would avoid eating before a ride. These include high-sugar cereal. Yogurt and Citrus fruits are also bad for before the ride. I would avoid pancakes with syrup as well.

What to eat afterward

Once the ride is complete, you will want to eat something that will refill your energy, but also nurture your muscles. I would wait for about 15 minutes after the ride is over for the day. This requires some carbohydrates and protein. Certain suggestions would be specialty recovery drinks, a peanut butter banana smoothie, or a baked potato.

For more information on booking a bike tour vacation, please be sure to contact us here .

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Why a Bike Vacation can give you the rest you require

Fri, 05 May 2017 20:51:00 GMT

Working a 9-5 job at a desk does not sound so straining to someone who has never had that kind of job. But once you get into the routine of that kind of profession, your physical wellness can become really stagnant. Your body and mind can become seriously lost in the routine that you lose your sense of enjoyment. This is often the reason that we look forward to vacations coming up. However, if you really want to rejuvenate, why go on a vacation that you’ve been on millions of times before? Why not try something new and adventurous? A perfect example would be a bike vacation.

Freedom and Energy

Going on a bike vacation can be the energy kick-start that you’ve been looking for. It might sound exhausting at first. Why would I want to tire out my body when I am already tired out at work? The thing about bike tours is that, although they do feature physical activity, they make you feel a lot better. Think about it. You can take a break from the mental and physical strain of work, and go on a freeing adventure on the road. There are no deadlines or cold computer screens. You can just breathe in the air, run down the horizon, and let your imagination soar. It allows you to free yourself and enjoy the world around you.

Grow in Community

Going on a bike vacation is more than just exercise. It is a community of adventurers. You will be experiencing beautiful sights and sounds, but you don’t have to do that by yourself. You can go with friends and family. An adventure among familiar people is a chance to grow towards those other people. Bike tours offer the opportunity to bond with others more than any other kind of trip can. You are challenging yourself and others throughout the journey. It can be a chance to explore and find new locations that you and your family will cherish. Just organizing the trip for them will be an excellent gift. The bike tours are available year round for all seasons. This way, it can fit into anyone’s schedule. If you can only afford a weekend for everyone, then there are plenty of upcoming events . The same goes for weeklong trips.

Freedom from the Routine

There are many great opportunities that come out of a vacation. The scenery, the challenges, and the adventure is everywhere. But the real benefit comes from the much-needed break. A break from the routine and the expected. If you are in serious need of a change of scenery, then a bike vacation just might be the R&R you require. For more information on our services, please feel free to contact us here .

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Top 4 stretches to perform before biking

Fri, 21 Apr 2017 19:59:00 GMT

A biking tour vacation is not just an exercise in seeing new areas. It is an exercise period. Biking over long distances challenges your body’s muscles. Therefore, there are a few stretches you should perform before setting off on your next ride. Here are a few biking stretches that should come in handy.

Note: if you are over the age of 50, be sure to check with your doctor to make sure that these stretches are safe for you.

Leg Swings

Although a bike vacation will only last for a week or a weekend, it will feel like forever on your hips. So in order to prepare for your upcoming bike vacation , you will have to do some hip-based stretches. To perform the leg swings, stand with your bike to one side (be sure to hold the seat in order to remain stable). Swing your outside leg forward and backward. Keep it straight and extend the length of the swing with each repetition. Repeat this 10 times. Once that is complete, turn to face your bike and swing your leg side-to-side, stretching the outer hip, thigh muscles and the groin muscles. Repeat this step 10 times, before switching sides to train the other leg.

Hamstring stretch

First, stand up straight. Bend over at the waist and let the arms dangle to the ground. This will allow you to bend your knees slightly outward. Be sure to perform this with steady, deep breathing each time. Performing this stretch will prepare your hamstrings for any bike vacation.

Cat-cow stretch

The cat-cow stretch is done in order increase flexibility in the gluteal muscles. To perform the stretch, you must first get on all fours, with your shoulders over your wrists and your knees underneath your hips. Now inhale as you gradually arch your back. Let your belly drop to the floor, while you let your hips and shoulders rise up. Then exhale as you reverse the position, rounding your spine and tucking in your pelvis. Repeat what you just did for 30 – 60 seconds. By looking at the positions, you can see why this is called the cat-cow stretch.

Heel-toe Walk

Your ankles are crucial to a healthy biking tour vacation. You will have to make sure that they are flexible enough for the trip. In order to perform the heel-toe walk, first step forward, landing on the heel of your right foot. While staying on the heel, briefly lower your torso down over your right leg. Then, raise your torso back up and transfer the weight onto your right foot (rolling from the heel to the ball of your foot). Rise up on the ball of your foot and high as possible. Then lower down and take a step forward with your left leg (landing on your heel). Walk like this for 30-60 seconds.

For more information on our biking tour vacation services, be sure to contact us here .

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Ideal clothes for biking

Fri, 07 Apr 2017 18:31:00 GMT

When going on a bike vacation, it is necessary to prepare for the expected journey. This preparation could be in terms of which bike to use or what to eat, but it also refers to what to wear for such an occasion. There are certain elements of apparel that go great with bike tours. They can enhance your comfort and function during your biking course. Plus, if chosen right, they can be quite fashionable. Well, without any further ado, let’s see the top 5 clothing items to wear for your upcoming biking tour.

Legwarmers

Legwarmers work well with cold conditions, which are to be expected. However, what is also to be expected is changing conditions. Leg warmers can be taken off much easier than tights. Tights help keep you warm, but if the tour suddenly becomes too hot then you are stuck with them. You can’t be going on bike tours in your underwear. But the great thing about leg warmers is that they can be ripped on and off at will. Knee warmers work well too.

Wool socks

Aside from your legs, you also need to have the proper materials to keep your feet warm. You don’t want to just rely on the kinetic energy that your feet are making. But some socks are better than others. Wool socks work wonderfully for a bike vacation in cold weather.

Rain Protection

As mentioned earlier, the weather conditions can change while on a bike vacation. It is generally a good idea to always bring rain clothes. Rain jackets for cycling are usually recommended. We also recommend wearing layers of clothing. Wicking fabric close to the skin helps move the sweat away from you. There are also water-resistant rain pants to choose from. It is always best to have these types of clothes on stand-by. Sometimes the sun can be bright, and other times the clouds can come out of nowhere. Either way, you want to be sure that you go biking safely.

Cycling gloves

This one may seem a little unnecessary. However, short finger gloves add a few benefits to your biking tour experience. They allow you to hold a tighter grip while biking. You don’t want your handlebars getting uncomfortable after a while. You want to be able to hold for a good ride without your hands getting sweaty. They also help protect your hands in case of a crash and burn incident. Besides, they also look pretty stylish.

Cycling shoes

The right shoes make a big difference in your performance while on the bike tour. You need shoes that go well with peddles and do not tire you out over time. The right shoes won’t slip and will be able to clip into the peddles so that you can move as one with the bike.

There are a few other types of apparel to look out for. The ideal set of clothes matches your own style of exercise. For more information on our upcoming events , be sure to contact Bike Tour Vacations here .

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Bike vacation: Dream vacation for couples

Fri, 24 Mar 2017 20:50:00 GMT

As time goes by, it can be hard to find time for your and your significant other. Vacations have always been a good idea, but what kind of getaway should you choose? A cruise? A trip to Paris? How about a biking tour? Think about it, there are plenty of opportunities for you and your wife or husband to enjoy each other’s company. Don’t believe us? Take a look here to see how a bike vacation can give you and your spouse a trip you’ll never forget. We offer both weekend and week-long vacation options.

Explore Together

Predictability is never that fun. There are comforting locations, like favorite restaurants or coffee shops. But really, you want to go and discover new areas if you want to keep your romance flourishing. Be spontaneous. Find new places that you two had never seen before. What if you discover a spot while biking that can bring you closer together? You can find a new picnic spot that you two will only have to yourselves.

Maybe you can go with some family members to help get more comfortable with everyone. There are plenty of opportunities to discover new relational benefits along the road. Keep in mind, we are not biking 24/7. You will have the chance to relax on your bike tour vacation. The balance between fast adventure and slow comfort will bring you two closer together like never before. Try it out for yourself!

Challenge each other

Aside from the scenery, there is also the relational benefit of doing an activity together. You and your significant other can take a break from the bustle of family and work life. You two can leave all worries behind and find new things to enjoy together. As you go on the bike vacation, you will be exercising together. Think about that. Exercise can be slow and boring when doing it alone. But if you do it together, you will discover a better way.

It all of a sudden becomes fun! Going on a bike tour vacation will provide you and your spouse the chance to challenge each other and see how fast you two can go It can become a game. You will feel like you two are 20-years old again with this new sense of adventure. If you don’t believe us, try it out for yourself! It can be done in couples or with family and friends. But we have a feeling that you will find a renewed sense of pleasure and fun with each other.

A relationship is always about the other person. It is about communication and the desire to go somewhere with the other person. And that is exactly what you get when you go on a bike tour vacation. For more information on our bike vacation options, please be sure to contact us here .

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The reward of traveling on biking tours

Fri, 10 Mar 2017 21:21:00 GMT

There are many ways to properly stay fit over 50. There are gym groups and at-home training programs. But bike tours offer a different kind of reward that goes beyond general exercise. There are many ways in which a biking tour can actually provide a brand new kind of enjoyment to your exercise routine. This is more than just getting exercise. This is a rejuvenating adventure!

Reward of the outdoors

One reason that exercise is often considered boring is because there is little pleasure in the process. Sure, there is the pleasure of feeling and looking healthy, but that is all in the end game. What is going to get us through the mornings when we do not want to work out? What is our motivation? Well, what if we got some kind of reward as we were working out? That would be different.

That is exactly what you get when going on a biking tour. You get to breathe in the fresh air. You get to see the trees and water. There is the reward of going outside and discovering new places. It may not seem as appealing at first, but the enjoyment absolutely sneaks up on you. You are no longer just working out. You are an adventurer in the open world.

Unpredictability

Another benefit of going on bike tours is being able to find new routes and speeds. Working out starts to get boring when it becomes repetitive. Who wants to be doing the same pushups and pull-ups every day? Well, your body certainly doesn’t. That’s right, your body needs change. The muscles require exercise routines to be shaken up. Whenever your muscles master a certain challenge, they need something new.

When going on various bike tours, you will be rewarded with new areas to explore. Different routes give you different terrain to ride on. And over time, your body will be able to challenge itself. You will be able to go faster speeds than before.

Note: Any uncertainty in how fast your should travel is entirely dependent on your doctor’s orders.

Riding with friends

Overall, you certainly want your biking tour to be enjoyable. And enjoying it requires more than the outdoor pleasures. That is all fine and dandy, but it would be nice to have someone to enjoy it with. That is why our weekend and weeklong bike tours offer you the ability to ride in groups of like-minded people. These people could be friends that sign up for the ride or new friends that you make along the way.

Whatever reward you find the most enjoyable, we can guarantee that going on new bike tours will be quite the rewarding experience. For any more information regarding our bike tour options, be sure to contact us here .

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5 unique bicycle add-ons

Fri, 24 Feb 2017 21:07:00 GMT

If you are looking to go cycling in style this season, then there are plenty of add-ons to look out for. Aside from the colors of your bike and helmet, there are actually more practical adjustments that can enhance your biking tour experience. Take a look here to see which of these ideas will be most appealing to you for your bike tours. Whether or not you are looking for a weekend or a week-long bike tour, you will certainly want to ride under the best possible conditions.

Suspension

With our bike tours come various locations. Often times these locations can be met with rough terrain and not-so-smooth pavement. That is why it is recommended to have suspension benefits for the bicycle. This is such a great way to make sure that your bike tours are as healthy and as smooth as possible.

Big Tires

Fatter tires have been known to create much better traction for your cycling experience. They also add to your suspension and comfort. The fat tires already feature suspension capabilities, and the comfort comes from its shock-absorbing features.

Lights/reflectors

Depending on if we come across dark lighting or gray skies, it would always be wise to have reflectors on the front and back of the bike. It would also be wise to have a light at the front. There are lights that have different settings as well. Some blink in various patterns, which can help alert other bikers to your presence in the dark.

Smartphone mount

This one is just downright practical. If you are following GPS directions, you do not want to be pulling out your phone while riding. You should always ride safely with two hands on the bars. We also encourage all cyclers to use audio directions, that way they don’t have to constantly look down at their phones. We can only condone safe cycling. These phone mounts exist to be used safely.

Disc brakes

Although they do add a little weight to the bike, disk brakes do a fantastic job at stopping the bike. Whether you are going fast or casual speeds, disk brakes can be an awesome addition to your biking tour arsenal.

There are many more trends and add-ons available to amp-up your biking experience. Once you get to know fellow cyclers on your biking tour, you will be able to share ideas with each other. You will see how supped-up their bikes are. Maybe they prefer to go without some of the bigger biking trends. Finding the right type of add-ons for your bike is all about your personal satisfaction. And with new technology showing up all the time, you are bound to find new add-ons that help build your best riding experience. For more information on the bike tours and what to expect, please feel free to contact Bike Tour Vacations today.

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5 heart rate misconceptions when biking

Fri, 24 Feb 2017 17:48:00 GMT

Whether you are 15 or 50, biking can be an extremely satisfying and rejuvenating experience. However, as we age we are unsure about how our heart rate can match our exercise regimen. When it comes to casual biking or going on bike tours (for the week or weekend ), there are a few misconceptions about your heart rate that need to be addressed. Hopefully, with these myths out of the way, you can go on these bike tours with more confidence. Here are the top 5 maximum heart rate misconceptions.

Your heart explodes when you reach your maximum heart rate

This is a horrifying concept, but rest assured that it is not true. If you reach your maximum heart rate on your biking tour, you will either vomit or get dropped (which is not that bad). Either way, when your heart cannot pump blood at that fast of a rate, then it will respond on its own.
Disclaimer: If you are concerned about any of this, be sure to speak to your doctor to confirm your maximum heart rate. Be sure to also see if your body is healthy enough to go on a biking tour.

I need to reach my Maximum Heart rate in order to work hard enough

When it comes to maximum heart rate workouts, they should be done casually, rather than consistently. They are more like occasional boosts rather than the standard for a good workout. Anyone, no matter how old or young they are, will be overly exhausted and fatigued if they consistently perform maximum rate workouts. It can even lead to injuries.

Your age determines your maximum heart rate

Your maximum heart rate is far too complex to be determined by age. Although age does carry a factor, genetics also determines your maximum heart rate. Everyone’s Max HR drops the older they get. However, two 55-year old cyclers can have a different max heart rate. As mentioned earlier, it is best to determine your max heart rate with your doctor before going on a biking tour.

Higher heart rates burn more fat

Burning fat generally happens within a steady pace of your workout. You cannot have the consistent pace be at your maximum heart rate. The important part to remember is that you don’t even have to be at your maximum heart rate to burn fat.

A low heart rate equals a weaker heart

As mentioned earlier, your maximum heart rate drops as you age. One could say that this is because the heart is getting weaker. However, the stronger athletes get, the lower their heart rate is when they rest. This is due to the fact that their heart is strong enough to not have to work as hard to send blood through the body. A low heart rate does not mean that you are a lesser athlete.

There are many more myths and truths to be understood about your heart rate. But before going on your bike tours, please know that just because you are not at the front of the line, doesn’t mean that you are not achieving a valuable workout.

For more information on our biking tour options, please be sure to contact us here today.

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There are many more myths and truths to be understood about your heart rate. But before going on your bike tours, please know that just because you are not at the front of the line, doesn’t mean that you are not achieving a valuable workout.

For more information on our biking tour options, please be sure to contact us here today.

The post 5 heart rate misconceptions when biking appeared first on Bike Tour Vacations .

How Cycling over 50 can benefit your lifestyle

Fri, 10 Feb 2017 18:54:00 GMT

Once you learn to ride a bike, you never forget. But although your body might remember, you might not be as strong as you once were in your youth. But that doesn’t mean that you have to give up on a healthy and active lifestyle. By picking up a bicycle, you can still go adventuring while refraining from any strains on your body. To help encourage all current and future biking tour enthusiasts, here are some of the great health benefits that come with cycling over the age of 50.

Disclaimer: Before you begin cycling or any extensive biking tour, it is best to check with your doctor to make sure that you are healthy enough to start cycling.

New Perspective on Life

People over 50 might be starting to get the impression that their time for living a full life is winding down. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth. A full life starts with your perspective on what you have in front of you. And if you are interested in fun and productive activities, then a good bike vacation or casual cycling tour can reawaken that perspective. Once you see that you are capable of riding into the sunset, you will see that your life isn’t winding down; it is only just beginning.

Relieves pressure on knee joints

As time goes by, our bodies’ ability to function may weaken. One example is the cartilage tissue in our knees. As our knees weaken, walking along hard surfaces can become more and more uncomfortable. But when bicycling, there is far less pressure on your knee joints, therefore giving you the needed exercise while resting your knee joints. This certainly helps relieve any pain of cartilage degradation or osteoarthritis.

Helps fight sickness

Cycling can do more than fight against cartilage degradation. It can also better enhance your overall wellness. It can help you lose weight as well as help prevent heart disease. Overall it helps increase your ability to function and promotes a healthy lifestyle. If you act healthy, you will feel healthy.

Increases your potential

You don’t have to be a supreme athlete to start cycling or even go on a bike vacation. But that doesn’t mean that it is impossible to become that athlete. There are many men and women over 50 who are in the best shape of their life and ride every chance they get. The reason we point these people out is to show that your health goals might be more real than you realize. Why not go for an evening adventure in the park during the sunset? After you warm up to it, you might find loads of potential for your exercise habits.

If you would like to see about going on a bike vacation in the future, be sure to check out our weekend and week-long bike tours pages. For further information on biking tour options, be sure to contact Bike Tour Vacations today.

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The Gopher Mississippi River Tour

Wed, 13 Jan 2016 22:20:00 GMT

Start Date: Aug 7, 2016
Duration: 6 Days
Pricing: $1495.00 Per person, double occupancy, or $1,895.00 for solo travelers
Sign up Deadline: Jun 1, 2016
The University of Minnesota is pleased to partner with Bike Tour Vacations to offer our alumni and friends a scenic biking tour along the banks of the Mississippi River. Alumni and friends will have the opportunity to return to campus AND enjoy a great bike tour along the banks of the Mississippi River. Your tour begins August 7 with arrival at a hotel adjacent to campus. We’ll have a special reception for our guests on Sunday night, plus a tour of sights around campus.

Monday you’ll enjoy a short shuttle ride to Wabasha, and an afternoon ride on the great bike trails and quiet country roads in the area. Lodging this day is at the historic Anderson House Hotel.

Tuesday we head north along the river with scheduled stops in Lake City and in Frontenac, both towns rich in history. Birders may even take time in Frontenac State Park, known across the region as The Place to see birds. After lunch we head to Red Wing for two nights at the St. James Hotel.This charming river town is our host for a night out, and on Wednesday there is a special trip up to Cannon Falls and back.

Thursday we continue cross country to Hastings, for our last night along the river. Friday our tour ends with return back to the campus.

Bike Tour Vacations will provide lodging for you Sunday through Thursday nights, plus breakfast each morning and dinner on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. We support you along the trail with maps and with our sag wagon, complete with water, fruit and snacks, minor repairs, and first aid. You are responsible for lunch each day, and we’ve designed our routes to pass several inns and coffee shops daily so you have a good choice of lunch options.

Pricing for this tour is only $1,495.00 per person, double occupancy; solo travelers can have a private room for only $1,895.00. Please use the PayPal link below to make your deposit, and we’ll invoice you for half the balance due on March 31, and the remainder on June 30.

Call Tour Chief Jim at 248-345-6929 for registration details today!

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The Ann Arbor Bicycle Touring Society 2021 Offer!

Tue, 05 Jan 2016 15:01:00 GMT

Start Date: June 6, 2021-July 30, 2021
Duration: 6 Days or 7 days
Pricing: $varies by tour length
Sign up Deadline: April 15, 2021

Detailed Information
Your membership in the Ann Arbor Bicycle Touring Society has some real benefits for you. New for 2021, you can get a big discount on four of our best tours! These prices are for AABTS members only.

Choose among our 2021 tour offerings including our 6-day/5-night tours for only $999.00 per person, double occupancy; add $300 for a solo guest in a private room ($1,299.00 total). Tour choices include our Minnesota North Shore Tour on June 13-18, or the Ride to Pictured Rocks on either July 11-16 or July 25-30. These tours each have 5 nights of lodging included, plus 5 breakfasts and 3 dinners. Sag support, maps, and on-the-ground tour staff help make this a great week for you.

Need a longer tour? Select either of our 7-day/6-night tours for just $1,199.00 per person, double occupancy; or add $350 for a solo guest in a private room ($1,549.00).

Full tour descriptions can be seen on the Week-Long Tour tab at the top of this page. In order to offer tours at these low prices, we are accepting registration via check or Zelle Quick Pay only. $500 deposit is due with your registration, with the balance by May 31. Questions? Call Tour Chief Jim at 248-345-6929 or send him an email to jim@biketourvacations.com. Thanks!

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The North Shore Tour (K)

Mon, 04 Jan 2016 17:36:00 GMT

Start Date: Jul 25, 2020
Duration: 6 Days
Total Miles: 160
Pricing: $1349.00 pp, double occupancy
Sign up Deadline: July 1, 2020

Come ride the North Shore of Lake Superior

You’ll love riding along the shore of Lake Superior. You’ll see freighters on Lake Superior, famous cliffs and lighthouses, and about a thousand rivers. Off-bike sights include Gooseberry Falls and Split Rock Lighthouse. We even have a canoe trip scheduled at Lutsen River.

The Dining

The Lodging

The Unexpected

Live Large

Register Today!

Your tour ticket includes 5 nights of lodging, breakfast Monday-Friday, and group dinners on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Our sag wagons are stocked with water, ice, fruit, some crunchy things, and PB&J. You’re welcome to enjoy these items any time you see a sag wagon. Lunch is available from local cafes and shops. Alcoholic beverages are not included. Great bicycle rental is available in Duluth, including a limited selection of E-bikes. Contact us for details.

It’s easy to sign up!

Save your space and get preseason pricing of $1,349.00 per person, double occupancy or $1,699.00 for solo guests in a private room (Price will go up $100/pp after January 1)). Use the PayPal button below to make your $100 deposit. No risk, no penalty cancellation through January 31, 2020, and no other payments until next year!

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River Towns on the Mississippi (K)

Mon, 04 Jan 2016 17:25:00 GMT

Start Date: July 12, 2020
Duration: 6 Days
Total Miles: 200
Pricing: $1199.00 pp, double occupancy
Sign up Deadline: June 1, 2020

The River Towns On The Mississippi Tour, new for 2020!

The Mississippi River keeps Wisconsin from spilling over into Minnesota, and vice-versa. Each side of the river offers something to cyclists, so come along and see what makes it fun as we bicycle along the Mississippi River. We’ll explore this border on both sides of the river, with most of our riding in Wisconsin, and most of the lodging in Minnesota. From Hastings to Red Wing, along Lake Pepin, through Wabasha and Winona and Lacrosse, you’ll enjoy the sights.

Our Route

One surprise for Thursday as we cross back into Wisconsin: Most of our riding today is along the Great River State Park Trail, to change things up from Highway 35. Lacrosse is a great town for our last night out, with a special tour dinner planned. Friday, cross back into Minnesota and head south. Have you been to Iowa? Here’s your opportunity to cross the border into New Albin, Iowa. Our motor coach will pick you up at noon at the High Chapparal Restaurant for the return trip to Hastings. Over-achievers might even get a 50-mile day by adding a 20-mile loop to Lansing and back. To help keep you on track we we have a daily itinerary. You’ll have daily printed maps & cue sheets, plus electronic maps from Ride with GPS, to run on your smart phone or bike computer.

The Dining

What’s Special

There are a few stand-out features on this tour: Convenient starting point just minutes from Minneapolis; Wonderful cycling in rural Wisconsin and Minnesota along the Mississippi River; Return motor coach trip from New Albin to Hastings included! Tour pricing includes lodging Sunday-Thursday. Bike Rental: We’ve found some great e-bike rentals for you, available at Pedego Twin Cities. Their rental fleet incorporates bikes that have throttle in addition to pedal assist and will travel at speeds up to 20 MPH. Please check out the Pedego bike designated for this event at this link. Rental fee for the tour is $400. Bikes can be reserved by calling Pedego Twin Cities at (612) 827-5000. Reserved bikes will be delivered to Hastings on Sunday and picked up at the end of the ride by Pedego Twin Cities.

Easy No-Risk Registration

Reserve your space today, and cancel with full refund any time up to January 31, 2020. This is a new tour for 2020, so our pricing is hot! Just $1,199 per person, double occupancy, or solo guests in a private room for only $1,475 (prices go up $100 per person after January 1). Follow the PayPal link to make your deposit. We’ll save your space, and you’ll have a $500 payment due in January, and the balance in May.

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