Washington DC Bikeways tour in video

Washington, D.C. Bikeways from WomanTours on Vimeo.

Annette has done it again. She's produced a wonderful video about our Washington DC Bikeways tour. It shows you what it's like to be on one of our tours. Watch our video here and be sure to let us know what you think. And then tell all your friends - thanks!

Name our cover girls for free cycling socks

Our 2011 tour catalog is out! If you can name our cover girls, we'll send you a free pair of cycling socks.

Hint: one of them is a guide and the other has been on 14 tours with us.

You can guess as often as you like until November 15, 2010, but you can only win 1 pair of socks per person. Surely, someone out there was on their Moab tour last year where this photo was taken.

Click here to get your own copy of our tour catalog.

Adirondacks in Autumn multi-sport tour

“Ode to the Adirondacks”
by Lisa Szymanski, September 2010

Day 1

We all got on the van in Albany,

Excited for the adventure that was about to be.

Sid and Jackie dropped us off at the side of the road,

Saying, “So long, ladies! The van will carry your load!”

The first long hill nearly did us all in;

“What?” we call cried, “we have to climb more again?”

We finally rolled in to The Hedges before dark,

A charming little camp in Adirondack Park.

We stuffed ourselves at dinner and we talked biking lingo,

Then WomanTours kicked butt during Sunday night bingo!

Day 2

The rain started falling but it didn’t get us down;

Ann showed us how to kayak (and hopefully not drown).

Our destination: a picnic spot “just beyond that next pine;”

“Are we there yet?”, “My arms hurt!” We were not doing fine!

A little lunch, a warm fire, and we were back on our way,

But the wind had picked up – felt like the Chesapeake Bay!

Hours later, paddling as hard as we could,

We finally docked – land never looked so good!

Day 3

Next came “The Hike” – straight up a rock!

We followed Sid and Jackie, the unsuspecting flock.

We slipped and we tripped, we grabbed roots and huffed and puffed;

“How much farther?”, “My legs hurt!”, “I think I’ve had enough!”

But oh, the peak! The vista! The view!

We wolfed down our lunch and hit the “green room!”

Day 4

On to more cycling; by now we all knew the drill:

Get into your lowest gear if you wanna make it up that hill!

Barely crawling up them at 3 miles per hour,

“Damn! I’m out of lower gears and my legs are out of power!”

But oh, those downhills – I tell ya, it was scary!

(Kind of like the feeling when we almost lost Mary!)

Day 5

Our first day in Keene Valley and it’s rained and rained some more;

Some of us went hiking – we are so hard core!

We scampered over puddles while others relaxed back at “home,”

But we had our own treats – “Would anyone like a scone?”

Now it’s Thursday and we’re toasty, fed, and (mostly) dry;

“Only 2 days left?!” in disbelief we all cry.

One more day to cycle and one more day to hike,

To lace up our boots and to hop on the bike.

Each day we started low and we climbed together high,

Even with the raindrops falling from the sky.

Sid and Jackie kept us well-fed and watered every day,

Encouraged us and cheered us every step of the way,

Believed we could do it, no matter what our skills –

I think we’ll miss them dearly, but not these frikkin’ hills!

Day 6

The weather looked iffy, so we split up the group;

A few drove to Lake Placid while others cycled the loop.

The drizzle splattered our glasses ‘til we couldn’t see nothin’

Yet we had to work off those banana nut muffins!

The mountains were hidden in cold clouds of mist;

The road was slick with wet pine needles – well, you get the gist.

We thought about sagging at the 11.2 turn

But Jackie missed the stop – yeah, we got burned.

Made us climb up the grade – thank god for that granny!

(My toes were going numb, not to mention my fanny!)

Oh the joys of cycling – the fresh air, give me a dose!

And what better way to see road kill up close?

We finally re-grouped in the Olympic Village;

Twelve women with credit cards, the stores we did pillage!

Day 7

Now the last day is dawning – it is cold, crisp, but clear;

One last walk in the woods as the end draws near.

An easy trek over bridges through sun-dappled trees;

We’re all feeling good – no achy knees!

One last picnic together, some last M&Ms;

A lot of us planning to do this again.

So goodbye to our saddles and paddles and wool socks;

I think we all agree:  WomanTours rocks!

Miles for Mariann is top Bike MS Fund Raising Team

Michelle (front, left); Cele (back, 3rd from left) Carolyn (back, 4th from left)

One of the great things about our bike tours is the friendships we make while on them. Michelle, from our office, met Carolyn on our Pennsylvania Dutch Country tour last year. This year, she joined Carolyn and another WomanTours fan, Cele, on their Bike MS team MS Miles for Mariann. Together they were the top find raising team for the Finger Lakes Challenge. They raised $20,848.13 for the National MS Society - Congratulations!

Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Bike Guides

If you're lucky enough to travel with Michelle as your guide, then you've probably heard her pick her guitar and sing a song or two. But if you dream about becoming a bike tour guide yourself, you may want to think again. Michelle graciously shared these lyrics wish us from one of her latest songs.

If you want to see and hear Michelle sing another one of her songs, watch our Moab bike tour video here.


Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be bike guides
Don't let em pick guitars and drive them old trucks
Their bikes are worth more than their retirement funds.
Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be bike guides
Cause they'll never stay home and they're always alone
Doing the work that they love.

Bike guides ain't easy to find, they don't answer their phones
Facebook's the only way you know where they're at on the globe
The college degrees we've all gotten have just turned to dust
Cause the thought of the blue cube and living inside
Just turns our minds to mush.

Beat up sunglasses and old Pearl Izumi
Cut off t-shirts and tanned feet
They drink too much coffee and beer
Cause they never sleep.
Them that don't know em think their life's like a rock star's
Working is really all play
But they get up at dawn and they're always on
Until the last light of day.

Bike guides get the smoky motel rooms and roll away beds
They have to be cook, mechanic, counselor and friend
Backing the trailer's a skill that they do to no end
And they can dance on the roof in high winds with a bike in each hand.

Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be bike guides
Don't let em pick guitars and drive them old trucks
Their bikes are worth more than their retirement funds.
Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be bike guides
Cause they'll never stay home and they're always alone
Doing the work that they love.

Barbara Minnick

It’s taken me a long time to be able to write about this. We lost a WomanTours bicyclist last month. Barbara Minnick was hit from behind while she was biking on our Northern Tier Western Segment Tour near Minot, North Dakota.

The driver was a 48-year-old man in a pick-up truck. He was on the way to his son’s wedding. It was a 4-lane divided road, straight, with little traffic. It was a warm sunny afternoon with a nice tailwind, and you could see for miles, but he didn't see her until it was too late. She flew off her bike and landed in soft, tall grass.

That's the part I’d like to remember. It was a beautiful resting place, with farmland all around. I want to believe she died instantly and painlessly.

The Meandering Mississippi was Barbara's first tour with us in 2007. She did a tour every year after that, and I saw her on each of them.

I’ll never forget the first time I met her. She told me that we needed to proof our printed material better. It was as if she’d stabbed me, but she was right. I’ve tried to do better ever since, but I always knew I could count on her to point out our itinerary inaccuracies. Every year, she’d go over them at home before the tour and email me so I could fix our mistakes.

I was cycling with her once when her bike got caught on a lip in the pavement and she fell over. She hurt an arm that had been healing from a previous injury.  After a little first aid, she got up and back on her bike. She may have been 70, but she was tough. And she loved that bike and bicycling.

I could also tell that she loved WomanTours as a community more with each year.  We all watched her blossom into the confident, kind, funny, caring and loving person she was on this year’s tour.  My heart goes out to the women who have biked with her and known her through the years with WomanTours. And my heart goes out to her friends and family at home.

She died doing what she loved, so I try to remember that to make the loss easier.

I received an email yesterday from Marissa who is about to do her first tour with us. She’s new to biking and is madly training to get in shape for the tour. I emailed her, “Isn’t the biking fun?” And she replied, “Its more than fun, it's a whole new sense of freedom!”

Sometimes that freedom can be all too fleeting. Be careful out there. Wear bright colors, bike defensively and cherish every moment. I am honored to have known Barbara and to have biked with her. I will miss her.

Just back from our Finger Lakes bike tour

We're in the midst of a heat wave here in the northeast, but that didn't deter any of the women on our Finger Lakes Wine Country tour from bicycling. Once again though, the beautiful scenery took a back seat to the amazing women themselves.

There was Sandy, whose daughter Ellen talked her into doing the trip with her. Having recently undergone knee replacement surgery, Sandy experienced a personal best every day. She'd never bicycled as many miles in her life!

And there was Julie, who was recovering from a broken foot and discovering that she really could bike hills again.

And Alison and Juli, who may well become the next Food Network star - watch for her!

And Meri and Kathy, who I met 6 years ago in Sicily, and who continue to remind me what best friends are - thank you.