New Louisiana Bike Tour Video

If you've always wondered what it would be like to try a tour with WomanTours, then here's a chance to see for yourself. Annette Lein has produced an amazing short film for us, but, of course, she had some amazing talent to work with. View our first video and let me know what you think!

Biking the Bayou with WomanTours on Vimeo.

Invitation to Bike Ride for Ovarian Cancer in Washington, DC

Laurey Masterton finished our 3000-mile cross-country Southern Tier tour earlier this year and raised a lot of money in the process for the fight against ovarian cancer. She's been invited to deliver the closing speech at the 12th annual Ovarian Cancer National Alliance’s annual conference in Washington next month.

In conjunction with the conference, Laurey is planning a short bike ride. Everyone is invited to join her for a fun, moderate bicycle ride on July 5th at 10:00am. Meet at Temple Ohr Kodesh at 8300 Meadowbrook Lane in Chevy Chase, MD. It is one block from the intersection of East-West highway and Rock Creek Park.

Bike about 30 miles from Chevy Chase to Lake Needwood and back along the Rock Creek Trail. There won't be SAG support, but the group plans to stay together and help one another if anyone needs assistance. Bring a spare tube, water and snacks.

At the end of the ride, there will be a light lunch and time to hear about Laurey's recent ride across the country. If you’d like to join her, contact her through her blog so she knows she'll have enough food at the end. She'd love the company.

This is primarily a fun ride, but if you are so moved, feel free to make a donation to the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance. Make checks out to Jubilee with a note in the memo line "Laurey Bikes." Have a great ride!

Bicycle Gear Auction

A good friend of mine is looking to help the children of Nepal. She's organized an on-line auction and all the winning bids go straight to the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation.

There are lots of bicycling related items. Bid on a bike tour to Vietnam, a bicycle travel case, or registration for the Heart of Virginia Century Ride. Or go for the round-trip air fare on Southwest Airlines or the Marriott in Chicago or the one-week oceanside villa in Nicaragua.

She's done a lot of work getting all these donations and organizing this auction. She's also an amazing bike rider. I've never been able to keep up with her. Now I know why - she has a ton of energy.

So bid on a couple of her items and have some fun. You'll get a bargain and help some children who really need it. Thank you.

National Trails Day is Saturday, June 6

Go celebrate National Trails Day this coming Saturday, June 6. Even though the day is coordinated by the American Hiking Society, trails are used by a lot of us bikers as well.

Take your bike on a rail trail and show the country that if they build them, we will come. And consider joining a group in your area to help support our trails. Pick up litter, build a trail, or attend the ribbon cutting ceremony for a new trail opening.

If you like to both bike and hike, consider signing up for our multi-sport Adirondack tour this fall. (Sorry - couldn't resist!)

New Texas Hill Country bike tour

We finally developed the bike tour our cross-country cyclists have been asking for. Our new Texas Hill Country bicycle tour should show everyone the best territory the Lone Star State has to offer. It's always been the area our Southern Tier tour cyclists tell us they wish could return to. And who better to design it than Michelle Slusher who has led our women across the country on their bicycles half a dozen times. We'll hope to hit it at the peak of wildflower season next April 3-9, 2010.

Second California Bike Tour Added to Fall Schedule

Our October Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez Valley tour filled so quickly that we've added a second tour to our fall schedule. It will be October 26-31, 2009. You can still be added to the waiting list for the first tour if someone cancels. But we have plenty of space on the second tour.

The Santa Ynez Valley is where the movie Sideways took place. I'm not a big fan of the film, but I do love the area's quiet vineyard roads for biking and the fantastic restaurants for dining. It offers all that Napa Valley does, but without the traffic and high expense. And then there's Santa Barbara, the Silver Bicycle Community Award winner, for all of its bike paths and lanes and bike friendly accommodations. Our tour is a good combination of the two regions.

Because of this addition, we've taken our Arizona in Autumn tour off of the schedule. We've been running it the same way for years now and it's time for a face lift. There are so many wonderful places to ride in and around Tucson. We're exploring some new routes and lodgings and will be changing our tour itinerary for the February tour. Stay tuned.

Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez Valley bike tour

It's funny that I would write about biking in the rain and then a week later, be in sunny Southern California. Boy, it's beautiful here. We had to switch the days of our Santa Barbara tour itinerary because of the Jesusita Fire last week, but in the end, it all went off splendidly.

We biked all the routes as planned, just on different days. The weather was perfect, the food excellent, and as always, the women have been a blast. For me, it was wonderful working with Michelle who was able to step in at the last minute. She filled in for Patty who had a family emergency. I'm jealous of the two of them who get to do this tour together this fall. They won't have the scent of ripening strawberries in the air. Instead, they'll get to watch the grape harvest.

WomanTours founder Gloria said that this tour beat our old Napa Valley tour hands down. "The roads are so much quieter!" she said. And we still got to do our share of wine tasting!