Tour Belgium breweries by bike

by Kraig Becker on

Cycling tours continue to grow in popularity as active travelers discover the joys of exploring a destination in a slower, yet very immersive fashion. Riders have the opportunity to take in more scenery, commune with nature, and interact more directly with locals, as they pedal their way through a variety of countries all over the world. But a company called ExperiencePlus! is putting their own spin on the cycling tour, offering travelers a chance to visit the best breweries in Belgium by bike.

Beginning and ending in Brussels, the 8-day tour will feature daily rides of 30 to 45 miles. The route will take the riders into the Flanders region in the first few days, before winding through the French-speaking Wallonia area near the end. Along the way, they’ll sample a number of popular beers in Bruges and visit historic breweries run by Trappist monks in the idyllic countryside. The tour will also pass through historic World War II battlefields as well, giving visitors a chance to experience history of a completely different kind.

Joining the riders will be Jeff Lebesch, founder and former owner of New Belgium Brewing, makers of the popular Fat Tire beers. Lebesch is himself a master beer brewer, and he’ll help introduce the riders to the wide variety of beers they’ll be sampling on the tour.

ExperiencePlus! says that this tour doesn’t require any special cycling skills nor do riders need to be in great shape. The terrain is described as “gentle,” which opens this particular tour up to just about anyone who would like to experience Belgium, and its beer, in a unique way.

I think this sounds like an incredibly fun tour and it sounds like it will appeal to a wide variety of travelers. After all, who doesn’t like bikes and beer? Lets just hope that they give you plenty of time to enjoy the latter before climbing back aboard the former. Make sure you have your travel insurance paid up before setting off on this one folks!

For more on this bikes and beers tour, click here.

[Photo credit: Brosen via WikiMedia Commons]

Are you ready for a once in a lifetime cycling holiday?

by Kraig Becker on

Pedalers Pub and Grille may sound like a place where you’d stop for some grub after a long day riding your bike, but in actually, its an adventure travel company that specializes in cycling holidays to some of the best destinations on the planet. To celebrate their 25th anniversary, the company has just announced a new tour that will take riders on an eight month, six continent odyssey that will truly be a once in a lifetime experience.

The trip will begin with a “get acquainted” ride through Vermont, which will give everyone who signs up for the tour a chance to get to know one another before the real excitement begins. That shakedown cruise will also give travelers an opportunity to work out the bugs of the trip, such as learning what to carry with them on their daily rides, how to pack and unpack the bikes, and how to endure the rigors of the open road.

From there, the route will take cyclists across Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, South America, and Central America, before eventually returning to the United States. In all, they will ride will through nearly 30 countries, including Ireland, France, Italy, Egypt, Kenya, India, Nepal, New Zealand, Peru, Costa Rica, and more. They’ll average anywhere form 45-60 miles (80-100km) per day on mostly paved roads with the occasional dirt track as well.

The Once In A Lifetime Tour won’t get underway until June of 2012, which gives you plenty of time to save your pennies. With a price tag of $95,000 the trip doesn’t come cheap, but that price does include all accommodations, most meals, all transportation costs, guides, tours, and even a custom built bike.

If you happen to have $100k and 8 months of free time coming your way, you may want to consider joining this trip. If nothing else, it sure seems like it’ll live up to its name and truly be a once in a lifetime experience.

[Photo credit: Pedalers Pub and Grille]

Biking is easier in the Big Easy

by Gadling Staff on

New Orleans is a magnificent city by bicycle. It’s flat, temperate for much of the year, has lots of streets with slow or no traffic, and, as reported in the Times-Picayune, a growing number of bike lanes (about 30 miles and counting). To tap into the local biking scene, start with the Metro Bicycle Coalition. From there you might check out the monthly New Orleans Critical Mass ride, and the racing group New Orleans Bicycle Club.Rent some wheels from any of several services throughout the city. I got a comfy coaster bike from Joy Ride Bike Rentals (504-982-1617). $30 gets you a bike, helmet, and lock-all delivered to and picked up from your hotel or other location anywhere in the city. That was the cheapest and most convenient of the services I looked into, but others include Mike the Bike Guy in the Touro district (4411 Magazine St., 504-899-1344); or in the Faubourg Marigny district, there’s Bicycle Michael’s (622 Frenchman St., 504-945-9505).

Now, what to do once you’re on your bike? There’s ample information online about the city’s famous French Quarter, Garden District, and other areas. For information on these and other districts, visit NOLA.com, or check the comprehensive listings offered by the alternative weekly Gambit New Orleans. That said, let me highlight a couple less well-trafficked neighborhoods, both of which happen to be just north of more famous and touristy areas.

Cruise around Central City (just north of the Garden District) and look for signs for the “I-Witness” project. Dial the main number on the sign (504-265-1116), punch in the code for that spot, and you’ll hear a story from a local about what the neighborhood used to be like, or maybe a jazz funeral that took place there. Stumble upon stories at random, or check the website for a map. (I must reverse myself to say just one thing about the Garden District. A lazy trip on the St. Charles Avenue streetcar line, which runs through the district, is one of the most sublimely pleasant experiences I’ve enjoyed in the city. You might consider taking the streetcar-or your bicycle-all the way out St. Charles Avenue to Audubon Park, which is also home to the city’s zoo.)

Just north of the French Quarter, it’s fun to cycle around the Trem (“Tre-MAY”) district, which is the setting for the HBO series of the same name. I’m a fan of the Backstreet Cultural Museum (1116 St. Claude Ave., 504-522-4806), a house museum about the Mardi Gras Indians and other black New Orleans traditions. Just a few blocks away is the New Orleans African American Museum, with small but strong art and history exhibits (1418 Governor Nicholls St., 504-566-1136). A short ride north of that is a veritable gallery of murals (commissioned by the African American Museum) painted on the pillars supporting the I-10 overpass, on North Claiborne Ave. between Orleans and St. Bernard Avenues. After your exertions riding around, go have a po’ boy sandwich or the all-you-can-eat lunch buffet at Li’l Dizzy’s Café (1500 Esplanade Ave., 504-569-8997).

A ride to the gorgeous City Park is well worth the effort (northwest on Esplanade Ave. from the Tremé, or zigzag on smaller streets). Take a relaxing ride or stroll among the oak trees that populate the park, or take a boat ride (weather permitting), or visit the New Orleans Museum of Art. For cheap eats, visit the Parkview Café. If you’re in the mood for something more upscale, try Ralph’s on the Park (900 City Park Ave. 504-488-1000), a pleasant spot for drinks (I had their tasty lychee margarita) or a meal.

New Orleans, of course, has ample festivals for bicyclists to ride to. Check complete listings here. The Mardi Gras season kicked off on Twelfth Night, January 6, and continues through Fat Tuesday, which falls on March 8 this year. Throughout the season, there are parades and parties for nearly every taste (not just those drawn to the famously raucous French Quarter). For complete Mardi Gras coverage, go here.

Eager to get deeper into the city’s culture? For a street-level look at New Orleans (and some inspiration about places to ride your bike), be sure to pick up one or more of the excellent books published by the Neighborhood Story Project, available online or at many bookstores and other shops throughout the city.

For the soundtrack to your trip, tune in to New Orleans’ “Jazz and Heritage” station, WWOZ, 90.7 FM. For safety’s sake, don’t listen on headphones while biking. Instead, check the website for listings of live music, and don your safety gear for a ride to clubs where some of the city’s superlative musicians will transport you beyond where your bike can go.

Photo of the Day – Tour d’Afrique

by Stephen Greenwood on

The 2011 Tour d’Afrique is officially underway! Just three days ago, more than 120 cyclists set off from Cairo, Egypt on a four month, 7,375 mile race across the world’s most exotic and alluring continent. The competitors will pedal through Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, and Namibia before aiming to arrive in Cape Town, South Africa on May 14th.

If you have the urge to drop everything and join them, you can sign up to complete one of the eight partial sections ranging in distance between 1000km and 2000km.

Today’s Photo of the Day from localsurfer isn’t of the Tour d’Afrique, but I think it’s a great illustration of how important bicycles are as a mode of transporation and heavy lifting throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. So much in fact, that a series of social enterprises are now popping up to help local African entreprenuers by building and loaning inexpensive but durable bikes.

If you have a snapshot of some heavy lifting or local ingenuity, we want to see it! Submit it to our Gadling Flickr group and it could be our next Photo of the Day!

Photo of the day (10.7.10)

by Meg Nesterov on

I’m one of those weird adults who doesn’t know how to ride a bike. No great excuse, just never bothered to learn as a kid, preferring indoor pursuits and walking on nice solid ground, and it’s become harder to learn as an adult. My husband has attempted several times over the years and now I’m sort of like Toonces the driving cat – I can ride, just not very well. Maybe this fellow in Tokyo is also a non-bike rider and thus looks a bit shamed by the row of bicycles. No matter the reason for his sour face, this photo by Flickr user jrodmanjr is a nice composition in black and white of a city that takes its eco-friendly commuting seriously.

Have a great travel photo you’d like featured here? Add it to our Gadling group on Flickr and we might choose one as our Photo of the Day.