Bike Southern New Hampshire with Ciclismo Classico

Bike New HampshireIt’s not too late to plan a long weekend getaway to Southern New Hampshire with biking outfitter, Ciclismo Classico. Hop on your car on a Thursday morning and in a few hours you’ll arrive in Keene. Their team has taken many precautions to keep you safe while on tour, and carefully planned many iconic and beautiful cycling loops from Keene that include historic architecture, art galleries, covered bridges, abundant lakes, cool forests, zigzagging rivers, farmland and fall foliage galore and daily views of the region’s crowned granite jewel, Mt Monadnock, the second most climbed mountain in the world. Read all about the top cycling loops on their blog, “The Best Bike Rides in Southern New Hampshire.” Tour Dates are October 1-5 and October 8-12 (Women’s Only). If you can’t make those dates, private tours are available through November.

Ciclismo Classico is also still offering their one-day private Story Rides across Massachusetts, with your choice of a guided ride in Boston, Newburyport, or Lexington. Please let ActiveTravels know your date and number of people and we’ll help arrange.

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Next week I’ll be back with my 5 Favorite Fall Adventures in North America. Have a great weekend and keep active! 
 
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Top 5 Adventures in Florida, Biking the St. Johns River-to-Sea Loop

Co-founders of the non-profit Bike Florida, Linda Crider and Herb Hiller have spent the past 30 years leading the Florida biking movement. This past October, they launched their first long-distance bike tour, a 260-mile weeklong jaunt that starts and ends in Palatka on the St. John’s River. You’ll cruise on backroads to America’s oldest city, Saint Augustine, the Merritt Island and Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuges, state parks, and along the Atlantic Ocean, with numerous beaches to stop and rest. All tours are fully supported with luggage-carrying vehicles, on-road guides, maps, overnights in B&Bs, breakfasts, dinners, and naturalist-led programs. Hiller is a longtime travel writer who specializes in Florida, so few no this state better than him. Cost is $1250 per person and the tours are available fall, winter, and spring.
 

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Biking the Cape of Good Hope

When Brit Mark Lawson followed his South African-born wife, Gaynor, to Cape Town, the avid cyclist was surprised that there was no reputable bike outfitter in the region. In 2009, he opened Cycle the Cape, offering day and multi-day jaunts to the Cape of Good Hope, the Garden Route, the Wine Country and Namibia. We booked a 2-day ride on the Cape Peninsula, a stunning mountainous sliver of land, surrounded on one side by the Atlantic Ocean and the other side, the Indian Ocean. On the first day, we were supposed to bike through Hout Bay and over Chapman’s Peak, but it was rainy and cold, so we chose to visit the penguins at Boulders Beach and had dinner on the beach at Fish Hoek, within easy walking distance to the flat we rented above Mark and Gaynor’s house. It was the first time on the trip that I felt like a local, not a tourist. 
 
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Bike and Barge on the Moselle River with Discovery Bicycle Tours

Two people riding bicyclesLisa and I spent time at the Boston Travel Show talking to Scott and Thistle Cone, owners of Discovery Bicycle Tours. My brother, Jim, and I biked with them in central Vermont when the outfitter was known as Bike Vermont. Still based in Woodstock, Vermont, but under new ownership, the company has expanded to Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia at a price point less than Backroads, more comparable with VBT. Groups are small, on average between 8 to 15 guests. We like their 8-day bike and barge tour on the Moselle River in July, where you bike 16 to 35 miles a day on relatively easy terrain, then return to your river cruise to relax and dine. Best part is that you don’t have to pack and unpack every day. Cost is $3695 per person, all-inclusive.

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Self-Guided Bike Trips Gaining in Popularity

As outfitters are looking to cut costs, self-guided bike trips are becoming the norm. Last week, I received a press release from uber-sybaritic bike touring company, Butterfield & Robinson, stating that they are now offering self-guided bike trips. Yes, the company that built its reputation on biking to 14th-century chateaus in Loire Valley and then dining on a gluttonous five course meal with their small groups is now offering self-guided bike trips. Though it seems foolish to pay B&R prices for a trip where they don’t cater to your every whim. A better option is the more affordable Bike Tours Direct, which offers ten self-guided trips to Europe this summer, including jaunts into France’s Loire Valley and along the Danube River in Austria.

 

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