Changing Gear Documentary

Last year, Lisa Burd came on our cross country Southern Tier tour to make her first feature length documentary about women bicycling across the USA.

Lisa was inspired to attend film school when she first rode across the country with WomanTours in 1999. She was so touched by the other women's stories that she swore she'd come back.

And what a film she has made. It is a touching, thought provoking, and fascinating story of the women and their determination. For a quick promo of the film, go to its website ChangingGearFilm. Once on the site, click on Promotional Trailer.

Now that it's been shown to the women who appear in the documentary, we're hoping to get it included in film festivals, picked up by a distributor, and ultimately, televised on public television. It has already been chosen as 1 of 4 finalists for the award for best feature-length documentary in New Zealand.

If you or anyone you know can help, please post a comment. It's a great movie!

Finger Lakes Tour

I probably shouldn't display this photo. I'm afraid I'll scare everyone off from what I think is one of the best tours we offer. But perhaps I'm biased as the Finger Lakes are my backyard. Nice quiet roads, green vineyards and beautiful blue lakes. And at the top of every hill is a gorgeous view. But, of course, you have to get to the top. As Virginia, Gaia and Claudia are doing so well here.


It was a great tour and a great group of women. But they'll never let me live down the time I told them the hill was short. But really it was short -- compared to what they had coming up....

But now I know I'm scaring you off. The Finger Lakes aren't all hilly. We found plenty of flat roads to bike along beside the lakes. And on the last day, they were blessed with a wonderful tailwind. Now they're all talking about their next tour. I can't wait either.

Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard Tour Slide Show

For a beautiful slide show of our wonderful Cape Cod tour, click on the slide below.

Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard Tour

We awoke in Martha's Vineyard to the ominous sound of rain yesterday. After breakfast, we had a 3 mile bike ride to the ferry which would take us off the island and back to the Cape. There was no complaining as they donned their rain jackets and rode off. It was my day to drive the van. The rain followed us across the channel, but when we waited for the crew to unload our bikes, we realized the rain had stopped. A few miles later and we were all riding on the Cape Cod Rail Trail in pure sunshine. Sometimes it's as if someone is watching over us on our tours.


This was Karen's (left) first tour with us. She came with her sister, Elaine, and she's all ready to come back this fall on our New Mexico tour. Laurie (right) will be guiding that one as well. We all wish we were related to Karen, as she works at Nike and her family gets a discount at the company store in Portland.

Today there is more cycling on the Cape Cod Rail Trail into Provincetown. And then it may just be warm enough to stop by the beach.

Meandering Mississippi Tour and New Orleans

I had the opportunity to visit New Orleans last month. Our Meandering Mississippi Tour starts here next May, so I longed to see how the city was doing. I stayed at one of the best hotels in town and it was cheap – and empty.

If you're looking for a place to visit, there's no town that needs your tourist dollars more right now than New Orleans. The French Quarter is as charming as ever, but there is evidence everywhere that it is struggling to become what it used to be. Famous restaurants like Brennan's are closed for renovations. There are help wanted signs in every storefront.


East of the city is where you see the devastation. Huge parking lots of cars covered in dried muck, left unclaimed since the hurricane. Miles upon miles of empty houses, deserted malls, former neighborhoods where the only people we saw were clean-up workers wearing breathing masks.

But in the French Quarter, from our hotel room on the 26th floor, we watched the huge ocean-going ships as they floated down the Mississippi River. We walked along Bourbon Street and listened to the Zydeco music dance through the open bar doors. We stood in line for 30 minutes to eat the best shrimp Po’Boy sandwiches in town. These are signs of the old New Orleans, signs of renewal, signs that this city will come back.

So come join us on our Meandering Mississippi tour next May. And help revitalize a city that needs our support.

Office Dog

For all you dog lovers out there - meet Jack! Jennifer added a new member to her family recently, and he comes to work, just as she does. And the best part for me is he goes home every night. He keeps us busy--finding him toys to keep him busy. Today's specialty was a nearly empty peanut butter jar - kept him occupied for hours so we could get some work done.

Eastern Shore of Maryland Tour

Harriet Tubman would be proud. She'd be proud to know that her birthplace is commemorated today with a plaque. That her former home is the destination of a ride on our Maryland tour. And that we were all honored to be in her midst.

We say we have extraordinary tours for extraordinary women. No one is more extraordinary than she.

The Maryland Tour of Blackwater kicked off our season of shorter tours this spring. And it couldn't have been nicer. Stunning weather (once the thunderstorm on the first evening passed over,) some beautifully flat roads to bicycle, and a great bunch of women.

You'd never know that most of them called themselves beginners. Tracy (second from right,) who had just lost 50 pounds from cycling, was always out front. Claudia (far right,) who called herself only a hiker, was always with her. I could barely keep up with them. We had lots of personal bests on this tour. Who knew they'd all go home admitting they easily biked 20 miles before lunch on the last day.

And then there's Debby (far left,) who doesn't even own a bike. She just registered for our 2007 Cross Country Tour. "I'm hooked!" she said. Now she's bike-shopping.

Yes, it was a wonderful tour. I'm only sorry it ended.