Bike trails on Nantucket branch off in every direction, like the spokes on a wheel. My favorite ride, especially in the spring, is the 6-mile jaunt from town to Madaket Beach. Head out on Cliff Road. You’ll quickly meet up with the Cliff Trail as you pass the rolling meadows and red-winged blackbirds at Tupancy Links conservation land. Merge with the Madaket Trail and you might be greeted by flittering goldfinches and osprey peering out from their oversized nests. When the trail becomes sandy and you can hear the pounding surf, you know you’re getting close. On the westernmost part of the island, the beach slopes down to the crashing waves. All around you is water, as if you’re stepping off land into the great abyss. If you don’t have the energy to do the return trip, the Wave bus runs until 11:20 pm and has a front rack for two bikes.
Spend the night at the Century House on Cliff Road and general manager, Otilia Herput Saunders, will have a bike from Nantucket Bike Shop waiting for you. An avid biker, Otilia will also direct you on other routes to Brant Point and Sankaty Head lighthouses. Rooms, including full breakfast, start at $175.
Steve Jermanok As a columnist for National Geographic Adventure, adventure travel expert at Budget Travel, and regular contributor on outdoor recreation for Outside, Men’s Journal, Health, and Sierra, Steve Jermanok has written more than 1,000 articles on the outdoors.He’s also authored or co-authored 11 books, including Outside Magazine’s Adventure Guide to New England and Men’s Journal’s The Great Life. His latest book is Go Now! Put Your Life on Pause and See the World. He’s currently an adventure travel expert at Away.com and blogs daily at Active Travels.
Boston takes its biking very seriously. When I lived in Cambridge, there were four bike shops within a three-block radius of my apartment. Just on Mass Avenue, I saw bikers with suits going to work, bikers with backpacks heading to school, and crazed riders who just seemed to enjoy weaving in and out of the car traffic. Needless to say, road biking is more than just a sport in this town, it’s a mode of travel. The 17.1-mile Charles River Bike Path runs from the Museum of Science along the Boston side of the Charles through the Esplanade to Watertown Square. The trail then crosses the river to the Cambridge side on its way back to the Museum of Science. Be on the lookout for Harvard, MIT, and BU crew teams that make their way up and down the Charles. Yet, it’s that iconic image of a single sculler slicing through the water, backed by the red-brick bridges and white steeples rising from the Harvard campus that locals and out-of-towners alike find so alluring. It’s like a waterbug skimming the placid surface of a pond, a tranquil setting in the midst of the urban buzz.
Steve Jermanok As a columnist for National Geographic Adventure, adventure travel expert at Budget Travel, and regular contributor on outdoor recreation for Outside, Men’s Journal, Health, andSierra, Steve Jermanok has written more than 1,000 articles on the outdoors.He’s also authored or co-authored 11 books, including Outside Magazine’s Adventure Guide to New England and Men’s Journal’s The Great Life. His latest book is Go Now! Put Your Life on Pause and See the World. He’s currently an adventure travel expert at Away.com and blogs daily at Active Travels.
Known for their weekend and weeklong bike trips throughout Maine, Summer Feet Cycling is now offering a half-day bike tour that will visit five lighthouses in the Portland region. Running daily from Memorial Day to October 31st, the 5-hour jaunt will start on a bike path alongside Willard Beach to Bug Light, which marks the entrance to the Portland Breakwater. From here, you’ll cycle on to Spring Point Lighthouse, the Portland Harbor Museum, and Fort Preble, a 19th century stone fort, before ending at the iconic Portland Head Light. Built in 1791 and sitting on a bluff perched out to sea, this exquisite white edifice has been painted by the likes of Edward Hopper. You’ll dine on lobster rolls, peering at the large oil tankers that make their way in and out of Portland Harbor. Lobster, salty air, biking. Sounds like a winner.
Steve Jermanok As a columnist for National Geographic Adventure, adventure travel expert at Budget Travel, and regular contributor on outdoor recreation for Outside, Men’s Journal, Health, and Sierra, Steve Jermanok has written more than 1,000 articles on the outdoors.He’s also authored or co-authored 11 books, including Outside Magazine’s Adventure Guide to New England and Men’s Journal’s The Great Life. His latest book is Go Now! Put Your Life on Pause and See the World. He’s currently an adventure travel expert at Away.com and blogs daily at Active Travels.
What’s the Deal: BikeHike Adventures is a Vancouver based global adventure travel company that offers guided tours to 30 destinations worldwide. Their new self-guided vacations program features five self-guided cycling tours throughout France and Switzerland. Self-guided travel remains to be among the fastest growing sectors of the active travel market. The trips also feature a lower price-point than the average guided tour, offering an affordable alternative to cost-oriented travellers looking for their first taste of adventure travel.
Details: The five self-guided itineraries vary in difficulty greatly, from easy-going journeys through the RhoneValley to strenuous rides featured in the Tour de France.
When I hear the words “bike tour,’ I usually think of a week of cycling in Provence, Vermont or Napa Valley. I picture relatively easy riding, incredible scenery and great food and wine, neatly packaged into a six-night trip by an adventure travel company.
What the words “bike tour” don’t conjure in my imagination is a four month trek from Cairo to Capetown or a 2,700 mile ride from Paris to Istanbul. These are rides where your mind and body are tested and where strenuous riding is often the rule, as are deep cultural encounters you’re unlikely to have on a six-day pedal.
The company that offers such extraordinary adventure experiences is Tour d’Afrique and I learned about them from a guy named Shanny Hill, whom I met at the Adventure Travel World Summit in Lucerne, Switzerland last October.
Shanny is the Project manager for the Toronto-based company and we recently had a chance to speak about the groundbreaking trips that his company offers.
Shanny Hill of Tour d’Afrique in Ethiopia
EP: How did Tour d’Afrique Ltd begin?
SH: Tour d’Afrique Ltd was conceived in the late 1980’s when Henry Gold, the company’s Founder and Director, was managing an international NGO that delivered humanitarian assistance to disadvantaged communities in Ethiopia and other African countries. His original concept was to produce inexpensive, rugged mountain bikes in Africa, for Africans, as a low cost solution to local transportation needs, and to market this new bicycle by organizing a cycling race across the continent – the Tour d’Afrique.
While the mountain bike project did not take off, the pioneering vision of the Tour d’Afrique proved irresistible. In early 2002 Henry and Michael de Jong began the preparations in earnest, undaunted by enormous skepticism and the mountain of logistical challenges to be overcome, and, on January 15, 2003, thirty-three cyclists saddled up at the Pyramids at Giza and started pedaling south. Four months later, with Table Mountain and Cape Town in sight, they celebrated the realization of their dream and the establishment of the Guinness World Record for the fastest human powered crossing of Africa.
Since then our unique little company has grown, in leaps and bounds, through many trials and tribulations. The Tour d’Afrique has been recognized as the world’s longest and most challenging stage race. Following in its spirit, several more continental and sub-continental cycling expeditions have been undertaken,
All told more than 800 intrepid souls have now completed one of our epic trans-continental rides. Through our Foundation, and the donations of many of our clients, more than 2000 bicycles have been distributed to health care and community development workers in Africa and India.
The Orient Express Cycling Expedition, from Paris to istanbul, with Tour D’Afrique
EP: Give us an example of some of your trips and their length.
SH: Here are three of our upcoming trips. The North America Epic is just as it sounds – an epic cycling ride across all of our great continent from Anchorage to Mexico City. The intrepid cyclists from all across the globe will cycle 7,000 miles through Canada and the USA, and then along stunning Baja Peninsula before returning to mainland Mexico to cycle the final leg into Mexico City. This epic journey under human power takes 4 months and gets underway in Anchorage on Independence Day.
The Orient Express Cycling Expedition follows in the spirit of the luxury train line that once crossed Europe from Paris to Istanbul. But this is no luxury tour of Europe. We will be pedaling our way through each day and each town – covering 60 miles each day and staying in campsites and 2 and 3 star hotels to rest our heads in some of Europe’s hotspots – like Ulm, Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest. This 2,700 miles journey takes 6 weeks during July and August. We arrive in Istanbul on August 25 after a ferry ride down the Bosphorus Strait. We take advantage of Europe’s rich history, wonderful cycling routes, explore its great cities, and its fabulous countryside scenery, at a pace much slower than the Orient Express trains of the past.
Our inaugural Bamboo Road Cycling Expedition will become the mother tour of South East Asia. This truly trans-continental trip will take participants from the metropolis of Shanghai, thru southern China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and then ending in the city-state of Singapore. For several years now, SE Asia has been a popular destination for cycling tourists, and we want to offer a grand tour that can encompass a great deal of the region in one tour.
EP: Who’s going on these trips, how many riders, what are their ages, and how experienced are they as riders?
SH: The people who are participating in our tours are from all walks of life it seems. From nuclear physicists, to truck drivers, and teachers, they have many varied professions. Though we typically have 60 to 70 % males on our tours, we are increasingly seeing more and more women participating and more and more nationals from all over the world, including Australia, New Zealand, UK, Canada, and the USA. We have also had Brazilians, Egyptians, South Africans, Taiwanese, and many other nationals from emerging markets.
The skill level and experience of our participants is also quite varied. We have serious racers, and fit seniors, to first time cycle tourists who come on our tour and treat it as their own weigh loss program. Participants are as young as 18 and have been as old as 71. We do our best to accommodate all that wish to participate with staffing, cooks, and support vehicles working to create a framework built to give them the best chance at completing each day’s ride.
Chow times on the North American Epic, Tour d’Afrique
EP: How about accommodations and meals?
SH: Most of our tours are a mixture of camping and simple hotels. Our new tour of South East Asia, along with a few others, are all hotel or indoor accommodation. We choose simple and practical hotels when staying indoors. While camping in some of our more remote locations in Africa and Asia, we do some rough camping where our support trucks, and the water and supplies they carry are all that we have to sustain us for the night.
We do not compromise on is food. We have used trained chefs on many of our tours, because we know the importance of a tasty and nutritious meals at the end of a long day of cycling. You don’t ever want to have a hungry cyclists on a tour.
EP: Are there guides along for the entire ride or do I need to be proficient in map reading and another language or two?
SH: We have tour support staff that help create a framework of support. The style of our tours means that we also expect the participants to be involved in the process and involved in making the tour a success. This can mean that the participants will be using maps at times to double check the directions given by the tour leader, helping the chef chop vegetables to prepare for dinner, or helping others in the group with their bags perhaps. The idea is that on an expedition of this nature, its necessary that staff and clients work together as a team.
With that said, we do provide a great deal of staff support – with most of our longer expeditions having a full time medic, chef, bike mechanic, drivers, and tour leader.
EP: What sort of training regimen is required for these rides?
SH: We send out training tips to our registered riders. The most common thing that interrupts riding on tour is soreness. Sore knees, sore backs, sore butts…. The best way to combat this is to ride regularly in the run up to the tour. At a minimum we suggest you start some dedicated training 3 months before the tour starts.
Riding at least three times a week for a minimum of two hours each time. This could be in the form of cross training or bike rides at a steady pace. This will get you to the tour start with a base of fitness and well adjusted to your bike.
EP: You’ve got five levels of difficulty –easy, moderate, average, challenging and hard. How hard is “hard?”
SH: Good question. Hard can be very hard.
If I think back to my toughest days on one of our tours, it would be in Northern Kenya – part of the ‘Meltdown Madness‘ section that is rated as hard. Picture yourself riding in the rocky desolate landscape of the Dida Galgalu desert for 60 to 70 miles in 100 degree heat with no shade over a terribly rutted road. Now picture doing that for 5 days straight.
The truth is that this section described here has actually recently been paved and we may soon drop the rating down a notch to ‘difficult’
There are other examples I could come up with, but the truth about these ‘hard’ sections is they are often the most memorable, and people who at the start of a tour were struggling through the easiest of stages, find themselves stronger and more determined and ready to face these hard stages halfway through the journey.
We also have many sections with much lower difficulty rating, and so the ratings scale is definitely worth checking out.
North American Epic, Tour d’Afrique
EP: Tell me more about the North American Epic.
SH: The North American Epic was redesigned for 2013 to become a truly unique and truly trans-continental tour. In 2011 it was an west to east tour – from San Francisco to St. John’s, Newfoundland. This was a good route, but not quite exotic enough for our taste, and not truly a crossing of all of the North American continent.
Now with the new route from Anchorage to Mexico City, participants can see a line on a map stretching all the way across our continent. With many other tours being offered across the US or Canada from West to East, this tour give people a chance to cover the continent North to South.
Interestingly, those that have already signed up to participate are not North Americans, but people from all across the globe that want to come here and experience these places from the seat of their bicycle. They are from Norway, Britain, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa to name a few.
EP: Can you do parts of the North American Epic, if you do don’t have time for the entire journey?
SH: Of course. All our expeditions are split into 2 and 3 week segments to allow people to be part of the experience while not committing to the long time require to complete the whole expeditions. The North American Epic is split into 8 tantalizing sections. With names like ‘Land of the Midnight Sun‘ and ‘Alaska Highway’ and ‘Canyonlands‘ interested cyclists are sure to find a section that suits their interests and timeframe.
We have had some people do a section at a time and eventually completing one of our trans-continental tours over the course of several years.
Tour d’Afrique riders in India
EP: Any new trips planned for Tour d’Afrique?
SH: Yes, we always have new projects in the works. The Bamboo Road Cycling Tour described earlier is one, and in 2014 we will start where that tour left off and launch the Trans-Oceania from Singapore to Sydney, Australia – crossing the outback and cycling through Adelaide, Melbourne on our way to the big finish at the Opera house in Sydney.
And, with the completion of this tour, we will have completed all the tours we needed to be able to offer the 7 Epics Challenge – a global cycling challenge for the truly crazy cyclists. A series of 7 supported cycling epics that touch every corner of the globe.
Most European bicycling trips range from sag-wagon easy to blisteringly hard, but a single ItaliaOutdoors Food and Wine trip often features both extremes, and the same goes for the company’s hiking and skiing vacations. Wondering how they manage that, we sat down (on proper chairs, not bicycle seats) for a chat with co-owner Kathy Bechtel.
Kathy Bechtel of ItaliaOutdoors Food and Wine
EW: What’s your elevator speech about what makes Italia Outdoors Food and Wine unique?
KB: We talk with each guest, learn what their hopes are, and we work to make it all happen. We accommodate different fitness levels and interests, and my business partner, Vernon McClure, and I personally lead the trips. For every custom trip we create a unique itinerary. I’m working on one now that includes experts who want to ride 60-90 miles a day, and mellow riders who may be done at 30 miles.
EW: How can you manage a trip whose participants have such a wide range of skills?
KB: We don’t ride as a group, unless that is what the group wants. We supply maps, GPS units, and everything you need to ride at your own pace. Those who wish to race along, can. Those who wish to stop, visit a church, take a picture, enjoy a snack, can do that. If you wish to ride more, we map out another loop.
We do have a vehicle for support, but it doesn’t follow the participants. If someone on a bicycling trip needs to call a sag wagon, than the operator did not design a good route for that individual. Of course, if you have mechanical problems or are exhausted, give us a call and we’ll find you.
Chefs on Bikes Tour from ItaliaOutdoors Food and Wine
EW:You emphasize cuisine. Doesn’t every bike tour operator do that?
KB: Yes, but when companies run groups of 20 or more, the dining options are limited. Our tours include eight participants, maximum, so we’re more flexible. We can even make changes at the last minute if, say, everyone is dying for a good pizza (which seems to happen every trip). Many tours control costs by offering a fixed menu and not including wine. Our guests choose from the menu, and I order local wines so we can taste and learn while we eat. Also, I’m a chef and cooking instructor, so we have real discussions about food. On our culinary bike tours, such as “Chefs on Bikes,” participants actually get to cook.
Vernon McClure of ItaliaOutdoors Food and Wine
EW: Is Vernon also a chef?
No, Vernon is a former Airborne Army Ranger and Head of Recreation Programming for U.S. service personnel in Italy. He lives in Italy now and is a certified mountain guide as well as a skiing, snowboarding, scuba-diving, and sailing instructor. He’s an expert in program design and risk management, has designed bicycle tour itineraries, and has a BA in history and Italian studies, and an MA in European literature. He’s also a master at maintaining bicycle equipment.
EW: That’s all?
KB: [Smile] That’s all.
On the slopes in Italy with ItaliaOutdoors Food and Wine
EW: ItaliaOutdoors Food and Wine also offers ski trips. Why might someone book an organized ski trip instead of just traveling alone or with friends or a spouse?
KB: Exploring a new ski area, especially in Europe, can be intimidating for people unfamiliar with the area. A good tour operator will choose the best ski area for the trip – and for each day – based upon snowfall, weather conditions, and crowds. Participants also get the benefit of local guides.
Singles enjoy group trips because they can find other skiers with similar abilities. Couples with differing levels of expertise like groups, too, because they can split up, with each skiing at their preferred pace. And from a safety perspective, I always recommend skiing with a partner, especially when you’re unfamiliar with the area.
EW: Kathy, if you wanted to wow me with your own cooking, what would be on the menu?
KB: The dishes most people love are the simplest. My favorites? Risotto – a straightforward technique, with the right rice, and you can make it so many ways; seafood, mushroom, peas, sausage, radicchio. Also, I like to braise pork in milk. Two inexpensive ingredients, a bit of time, and it’s fantastic. The sauce gets all brown and chunky and delicious, and it doesn’t look at all like milk.
Ed Wetschler, Associate Editor of Everett Potter’s Travel Report, also serves as Caribbean Editor of Recommend magazine and Executive Editor of Tripatini. He has written for The New York Times, Delta Sky, Frommers, Gadling, bank magazines, and other print and new media. He is a past chair of the Northeast Chapter of SATW and former editor-in-chief of Diversion magazine who can navigate Greenwich Village without a GPS. In a previous life he played backup piano for Jay and the Americans as well as The Toys, whom he considers the consummate interpreters of Mozart.
The Bay of Fundy and Fundy National Park might be the better known of the two national parks in New Brunswick, but Kouchibouguac (pronounced Koo-she-boo-gwac) is just as loved in the province. Only an hour north of Moncton, it’s a must-stop on the Acadian Route, especially for bikers and beach lovers. The national park has 60 km of hard-packed gravel trails, not unlike the carriage path trails in Maine’s Acadia National Park. This includes a sweet 6 km singletrack mountain biking route along Major Kollock Creek.
I rented a bike at Ryans near spacious campsites nestled into the Acadian forest. There are no speeds on the bike because there are very few hills to endure. I cruised along the Kouchibouguac River smelling the sweet pines and spruce. The river is popular with paddlers in summer, coming to see the otters and osprey diving for fish. Also in the park, it’s not unusual to run into black bear, moose, and beavers. At La Source, site of a former well for villagers that used to live in the area, I returned past Ryans to the highlight of the park, Kellys Beach. Arguably, the most exquisite beach in the entire province, Kellys is a six-kilometer stretch of white sand that dips down into the surprisingly warm waters. To reach the coveted coastline, you walk on a long boardwalk over a lagoon, marsh, and dunes. After you’ve had your fill of sun and sea, return to Ryans to drop off the bike and grab a beer at the outdoor patio of Ryan’s Landing. The perfect ending to a perfect day.
Steve Jermanok As a columnist for National Geographic Adventure, adventure travel expert at Budget Travel, and regular contributor on outdoor recreation for Outside, Men’s Journal, Health, and Sierra, Steve Jermanok has written more than 1,000 articles on the outdoors.He’s also authored or co-authored 11 books, including Outside Magazine’s Adventure Guide to New England and Men’s Journal’s The Great Life. His latest book is Go Now! Put Your Life on Pause and See the World. He’s currently an adventure travel expert at Away.com and blogs daily at Active Travels.
Maria Elena Price of ExperiencePlus! is one of those rare people who actually grew up in the world of adventure travel. As a five year old, she helped translate ice cream flavors on the first Venice to Pisa tours of Experience Plus!, the company her parents founded in 1972. She’s led tours in more than 10 countries, specializing in Spain, where she lived for more than a year. In 2011 she and her sister Monica were named as two of the Top 10 Guides in the World by National Geographic Traveler. With a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and International Affairs and an MBA from the Leeds School of Business at University of Colorado, Boulder she manages the business and its development from the Fort Collins office in Colorado. I run into Maria Elena every year at the tribal gathering known as the Adventure Travel World Summit and managed to get a few words from her after the last summit in Chiapas, Mexico.
Everett Potter: Maria Elena, you’re the second generation of a family business. How did ExperiencePlus! Bicycle Tours start?
Maria Elena Price: Our parents founded ExperiencePlus! in 1972 as a way to get back to Italy so they could visit my mother’s family. They moved to the U.S. after getting married in 1969 and knew that trips to Italy would be few and far between if they couldn’t find a reason (and financing!) to help the travel back to Italy. They had cycled on their own in 1971 between Pisa and Forli (my mother’s home town) after my mother graduated from the University of Pisa –– and my father, ever the entrepreneur, wondered if they could find a few willing adventurers to join them on the same bike ride and in turn have their flights back to Italy paid for. They sold 12 people on that first 10 day camping and cycling tour! The cost was $245, per person, after all, you could get a full 3 course meal (with wine) in Italy for $1.50 back then…After that my parents operated a few more tours before they decided to finish their college degrees, travel on their own, and start a family. In 1985 they decided it was time to resurrect the Bike Across Italy tour – and we have been operating every year since. My sister, Monica, and I have been guiding tours since we were 14 and 15 and finally took over as directors in 2008!. Today ExperiencePlus! offers cycling tours in more than 10 countries
Biking the coast of Corsica with ExperiencePlus!
EP: How did you become an adventurous traveler?
MEP: As a kid, I’m guessing? I don’t think I knew I was an adventurous traveler at the time – but we certainly started traveling and cycling early! My sister and I were heading out on tour when we were 4 and 5 years old… We would join our parents for a few days at a time and help with very important things like translating ice cream flavors. As we grew older we started to join them for longer periods of time, and many of our family vacations became an opportunity to bicycle and scout new itineraries in Italy, France, Norway, Greece, and Costa Rica. The full realization that adventure travel, or active travel as we call it, was so important to me was when I was studying in Spain in college. I had already been in Spain for over 2 months and I remember distinctly feeling like I still didn’t know much about this large complex country – in fact I felt like I knew almost nothing. I had seen the main “tourist sites” on our group excursions but I didn’t feel like I had actually experienced or knew how people lived. I realized it was because I hadn’t seen the ‘everyday’ pieces of Spanish life I was so used to seeing when I traveled by bike. Fortunately after that I spent many summers guiding our bicycle tours in Spain so I was able to connect with locals and see all the places in between the typical tourist sites. In fact, I now consider Spain a third home (after Italy and Colorado!)
Biking in Italy with ExperiencePlus!
EP: How would you define the essence of an ExperiencePlus! Bicycle Tours trip — how does it differ from what your competitors offer?
MEP: The essence of our tours is best described as one of “guided independence”. We’ve found that most people interested in adventure travel and cycling trips don’t necessarily want to feel like they are on a “guided tour.” Most cyclists like the sense of moving at their own pace and not being tied to a group schedule. People choose to go on tours like ours because they want the expertise and local knowledge that is important to creating engaging itineraries, they care about quality equipment, group camaraderie, knowledgeable tour leaders – but there is also an important element of freedom in the way one travels – the ability to make the day their own experience. Our Tour Leaders are also on the road offering van support and cycling but we do our best to stay away from group shuttles because they eliminate flexibility and that way our riders can decide for themselves if they’d like to ride their bike or in the van. We also have a unique navigation system, literally putting chalk dust arrows on the pavement to show riders the way. This means that our routes can be very complex and truly off the beaten path, and cyclists spend their time enjoying scenery not trying to decipher complicated instructions or maps. Each day the arrows lead you to the best places for a snack, point out a particularly lovely view, encourage you up the hills – it makes you feel like the tour leaders are with you every single pedal stroke. In the afternoon the arrows will lead you a very comfortable hotel, often located in the center of town, so you can explore a before a fabulous dinner together.
EP: Why should someone choose an ExperiencePlus! Bicycle Tours trip over that of another operator?
MEP: We were the first US based company to offer cycling tours in Italy and are still one of the few operators out there who specializes in bicycle tours and bicycle travel exclusively. This means we are able to focus all of our energy and resources to cycling… cycling routes, cycling equipment, cycling friendly itineraries… All of our employees ride and are passionate about cycling and traveling by bicycle. We’ve spent years perfecting our systems to offer the finest cycling itineraries and have invested in some of the best touring bicycles and equipment out there. We have always worked with local tour leaders and they are a very important part of our staff – many companies are just now starting to add the “local” element. Our chalk dust arrow navigation system, and centrally located three and four star hotels round out all the elements you need for a perfect cycling trip. Oh and including wine with dinner doesn’t hurt either!
EP: Do you attract recreational riders, hard core riders, or those who seek cultural immersion? Or all of the above?
MEP: We have tours that cater to all of the above. One tremendous advantage of traveling by bicycle is that you are a part of the landscape, riding along roads and paths with locals, stopping in small towns. There are no barriers (car, bus, train) between you and a conversation with a local. Also, because our tour leaders are typically from the area they provide an enormous amount of historical and cultural information. Each itinerary includes a number of special visits –it may be to a 14th century fort in Croatia, a wine cellar in France, or a cheese maker in Italy it isn’t something a traveler could have organized on their own. As far as the type of rides, we offer 5 levels from 101 to 501 so have something for everyone no matter their experience or interest. A 101 tour is perfect for people who prefer gentle terrain or those who are just starting their cycling career or active traveling experiences. At the other end of the spectrum is our 501 rated ExpeditionPlus! tours which have you riding across continents! Overall though I’d say our clientele are recreational cyclists who are there to get some exercise, meet some fun companions, learn about an area, eat some fabulous food without feeling too guilty. The nice thing about our trips is that no matter what you prefer…ride hard and get to the next destination in record speed, or take a 100 pictures along the way, it’s possible.
ExperiencePlus! in Lake District of Patagonia
EP: Tell me about three places you go as a company, places where you’d gladly drop everything and go this afternoon for an extended stay?
MEP: Emilia Romagna, Italy – where our headquarters is, will forever be my second home and I would drop everything and go there this afternoon – now that I spend more time in the office I don’t spend as much time there as I used to. My sister lives there and now I have a new niece there so it’s even harder to be far from them. I don’t know what it is about Italy that is captivating, but the food, people, history makes it special. I would do the same for Southern Spain. After having lived there for a year it is my second home away from home, I wouldn’t go there in July or August – but any other time of year it is special! Finally I would say the Lakes District in Patagonia, it’s just a stunningly beautiful place (the Chilean or Argentine side – we happen to have a trip that rides from one to the other!)
EP: What destinations are new for ExperiencePlus! Bicycle Tours this year?
MEP: This year we’ve added new destinations within countries we already know well. We’ve added a trip in the Languedoc in France (a region just West of Provence, known for its wine – surprise – and beautiful medieval towns). We’ve also added two trips in Italy in the Lakes District region, it’s a stunning region with some great bike routes and very unique “off the beaten path” cities, and a new Culinary Delights tour that is based very near our headquarters in Emilia Romagna which includes some gentle rides, and very special visits with our favorite Parmesan cheese and Balsamic vinegar makers.
Cyclists and a field of sunflowers in Italy.
EP: Where are you scouting for future trips?
MEP: In 2013 we’ll be adding a new tour Catalonia Spain – our 11 day tour will take advantage of a great bike path that will allow us to pedal straight into Barcelona on the last day of cycling! And we’ve had numerous requests to resurrect our trip to Ireland which we retired several years ago. We’re also beginning to scout a tour around the Italian/Slovenian border region.
EP: Do you think adventure travel is becoming less adventurous and more focused on creature comforts?
MEP: I think the brand “Adventure Travel” is becoming an ever increasing broad label. To a certain extent, if a traveler feels like what they are doing is adventurous then who is to say it shouldn’t be considered adventure travel? We generally think of ourselves as more of an active travel company – some might not consider it adventurous unless we were bicycling through lion infested forests – but bicycling 30 – 50 miles a day is very active! I think that travelers just need to make sure they know there are different styles of travel that fall under the broader title adventure travel. Some might like the luxury eco-lodges and high-end safari camps while others may prefer a backpacking trip in Peru – and hopefully others like a trip by bicycle across Spain or Scotland!
EP: With all of your travels, where do you find your center of gravity?
MEP: In Fort Collins, a little town in Colorado at the foot of the Rockies. I’m getting married in August to the most wonderful person possible who helps keep me grounded. He has taught me that there are plenty of adventures just here in our backyard – between the hiking, skiing and mountain biking we are never bored. We have a house and dog – all three are hard to leave when I travel, but it makes coming home that much sweeter!
The small strip of pavement forms a straight line into the horizon like an express route to freedom. Astride my bike, I zip over bridges and through tunnels, past large ponds, salt marshes and cranberry bogs, all while breathing in the sweet smell of spring wildflowers and the far more potent brine of the sea. The hum of traffic is gone, replaced by the call of the red-winged blackbird and the yellow warbler. The only obstacles before me are runners, clumsy rollerbladers and other leisurely bikers. In the Cape Cod town of Orleans, I hop off my bike for a few minutes and take that quintessential New England snapshot of fishing boats bobbing in the harbor. Soon after, I’m in the shade of Nickerson State Park, pedaling straight through Brewster to a series of swimming holes that reward bikers with a refreshing dip.
Such is a ride on the 25-mile long Cape Cod Rail Trail on a corridor that, until 1937, was used to ship cranberries the Cape to Boston aboard the Old Colony Railroad. Today, the relatively level rail trail is a placid retreat that has quickly become one of the most popular destinations in the Northeast for biking, hiking, strolling, jogging and in-line skating.
Like so many of these paths proliferating across the US—from the 225-mile Katy Trail that stretches across most of Missouri to the 61-mile Illinois Prairie Path that snakes through the heart of Chicago’s suburbs—the Cape Cod Rail Trail was for many decades an abandoned railroad line. Far away from maddening congestion on city streets and the noise of rural highways, rail trails are beloved by outdoor enthusiasts and a focal point of renewal across the country. From 1965 to 1985, only 1,000 miles of trail were opened. Today, there are currently more than 15,000 miles of rail trails open across the country.
The Cape Cod Rail Trail takes you through the interior of the Cape from South Dennis to Wellfleet, or vice-versa. The salty air is a pleasant reminder that the Cape Cod National Seashore and its 40-mile stretch of pounding Atlantic surf is never far away. At the visitors’ center in Eastham, you can veer off the CCRT for two miles on a separate trail to lounge on the dunes of Coast Guard Beach. Continue on to Brewster to cool off in a series of kettle ponds (swimming holes). Nearby, a favorite picnic spot, the Pleasant Lake General Store in Harwich, was once a popular stop on the Old Colony Railroad Line.
Steve Jermanok As a columnist for National Geographic Adventure, adventure travel expert at Budget Travel, and regular contributor on outdoor recreation for Outside, Men’s Journal, Health, and Sierra, Steve Jermanok has written more than 1,000 articles on the outdoors. He’s also authored or co-authored 11 books, including Outside Magazine’s Adventure Guide to New England and Men’s Journal’s The Great Life. His latest book is Go Now! Put Your Life on Pause and See the World, due out late 2010. He’s currently an adventure travel expert at Away.com and blogs daily at Active Travels.
Steve Jermanok As a columnist for National Geographic Adventure, adventure travel expert at Budget Travel, and regular contributor on outdoor recreation for Outside, Men’s Journal, Health, and Sierra, Steve Jermanok has written more than 1,000 articles on the outdoors.He’s also authored or co-authored 11 books, including Outside Magazine’s Adventure Guide to New England and Men’s Journal’s The Great Life. His latest book is Go Now! Put Your Life on Pause and See the World. He’s currently an adventure travel expert at Away.com and blogs daily at Active Travels.
