Wanna Ride in the Tour de France?

by Josh Lew on

Unless you are willing to dedicate your life to either training or discovering undetectable performance-enhancing drugs, chances are you won’t be competing for that yellow jersey. Maybe you could get a job as one of those guys who rides on the back of a motorcycle with a camera. Or you could just travel to France during the race and take in the proceedings through a haze of wine and cheese.

But there is another option. A tour operator called Ciclismo Classico will run an 8-day bicycle tour that follows the exact route of a portion of the Le Tour ’09. Before you go searching the internet for any chemicals that can help you on the trip, you should know that the 8-days are designed for casual enthusiasts; the kind of people who are comfortable in the saddle of a bike, but who lack the huge legs and emaciated upper bodies of top cyclists. The average day will mean a 50-mile pedal, roughly half of what the pro riders complete. In addition to that, those on the trip will get to watch some of the actual race.

via Wandalust

Unicycle Tour of Vietnam

by Jamie Rhein on

When I was a kid, I thought it would be swell to learn to ride a unicycle. There’s something magical about a unicycle –something circus-like. Here’s a tour of Vietnam that might give the people who live there the impression that the circus has come to town, and it’s a happening you can join.

If you do know how to ride a unicycle, or think you maybe could master it before March of 2008, you can hook up with Grasshopper Adventures’ unicycle tour of Vietnam. Starting in Hanoi, a group of 24 unicyclists will travel through Hue, Hoi An (my absolutely most favorite town), Quy Nhong, Nha Trang and end up in Ho Chi Minh City. So far, 20 unicyclists from various parts of the world have signed up. As of August 27, there were four slots left. If you want to see who you will travel with, check out the riders page. The youngest person is 18, and the oldest is 51.

Since the tour is mostly along the coast, this will make for a gorgeous ride. I’ve been to Vietnam 5 times and have traveled on the same road in a car. That was an adventure of another kind. Not once did I see a unicycle.