List of Women's Only Rides

If you missed the women's only Cinderella Classic bike ride in California last week, then consider joining one of these upcoming women's only cycling events. We're going to try to attend as many as possible.

Girls with Gears in Limerick, PA on 4/18/10
Goldilocks Women Only in Herriman, UT on 5/8/10
Velo de Femme in Paso Robles, CA on 5/29/10
Little Red Riding Hood in Logan, UT on 6/5/10
Annual Women's Ride in Freeport, ME on  6/13/10
Venus de Miles in Longmont, CO on 8/29/10
Hope on Wheels in Leiper's Fork, TN on  9/11/10
Cycle the Wave in Issaquah, WA on 9/19/10
Princess Promenade in Sacramento, CA on 10/3/10
La Tour de Femme in  Cary, NC on 10/9/10
Wild Goose Chase in Cambridge, MD on 10/17/10
Cinderella Classic in Pleasanton, CA on 4/2/11

Bicycling the Cinderella Classic

I joined 2499 other women in bicycling the Cinderella Classic on Saturday. It's an extremely well-organized, women-only, metric century coordinated by the Valley Spokemen Bicycle Touring Club in California every year.

After the ride, we sponsored a drawing at our booth for a free WomanTours trip. Of the 244 women who entered, Nancy Levin of San Francisco was the lucky winner. Many thanks to Roxanne and Meri for staffing the booth and for Kathy for pushing me so hard on the ride.

Get on the mailing list now and plan to join us next year. The ride sells out every year!

Our Tour Schedule by Guide

While we think all WomanTours guides are excellent, I know that some of you have your favorites. So here's a listing of our 2010 tours by guide. It might help you decide where to bicycle this year - good luck!

Carol Wilder
Vermont Champlain Valley
Downeast Maine and Acadia National Park
Cape Cod & Martha's Vineyard

Denise Purdue
Northern Tier Cross-Country #1
New Mexico Land of Enchantment

Jennifer Thompson
Finger Lakes Wine Country

Kimberly Masters
Shenandoah National Park
Tour de Tetons
Downeast Maine and Acadia National Park

Laurie Collins
Maryland Eastern Shore
Washington DC Bikeways - May & September
Shenandoah National Park
Cape Cod & Martha's Vineyard - June
Tour de Tetons
Teton Valley
Glacier National Park
Pennsylvania Dutch Country
Outer Banks of North Carolina
Arizona in Autumn
Death Valley National Park

Linda Baldwin
Northern Tier Cross-Country #2
Arizona in Autumn
Death Valley National Park

Linda Gryczan
Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks
Teton Valley
Glacier National Park
Santa Barbara & Santa Ynez Valley - October

Lynne Brach
Santa Barbara & Santa Ynez Valley - May
Cape Cod & Martha's Vineyard - June & September
Michigan Grand Traverse
Washington DC Bikeways - September
Pennsylvania Dutch Country

Michelle Slusher
Northern Tier Cross-Country #2
Santa Barbara & Santa Ynez Valley - May & October
Northern Tier Cross-Country #2
Sun Valley
Idaho Greenways
Grand Canyon, Bryce and Capitol Reef National Parks
Moab: Arches and Canyonlands National Parks

Patty Jackson
Maryland Eastern Shore
Washington DC Bikeways - May
Northern Tier Cross-Country #1
Sun Valley
Idaho Greenways
New Mexico Land of Enchantment
Grand Canyon, Bryce and Capitol Reef National Parks
Moab: Arches and Canyonlands National Parks
Outer Banks of North Carolina

Sid Moffat
Alaska: The Inside Passage
Michigan Grand Traverse
Vermont Champlain Valley


and me...
Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks
Finger Lakes Wine Country
Amalfi Coast of Italy #1
Adirondack State Park

Go to a National Park for free!

In celebration of National Parks Week, entrance fees to all 392 National Parks are being waived during the 9 days of April 17-25, 2010. So grab your bike or your hiking shoes, but leave your cash at home, because admission is free! Read more about National Park Week here.

If you can't make it your favorite park this month, then consider one of the many tours that we do that includes a visit to a national park. We always include admission to the park for free!

Use Google Maps for Bicycling Routes

I use Google Maps for everything -- not just to get me where I'm going, but to help me design and update routes on our bike tours. I also use it to help me plan our tour schedule by telling me how long it takes to get our vehicles from place to place.    

Now, it can also help me to commute by bike. The next time you're looking up driving directions, click on the "By Car" option and change it to "Bicycling". Then click "Get Directions." Google displays a bike-friendly route.

Google's not always correct. Sometimes it misses a bike path that I know about, or puts me on a high-traffic road, but it's also helped me find new routes that I had never tried before. 

Use it whether you're looking to commute by bike or not. The more that Google sees that there's a need for it, the more they'll invest in making it accurate. It can only get better with time and use.