Time Traveler: World Riders

Here is a tale of two cyclists. One is me, on Day 2 of a bicycle tour of Nova Scotia's south coast last August. My group was riding from our waterside inn at Hubbards Bay to Lunenburg, an 18th century seafaring town. The first day had seemed easy to this Manhattan bicycle commuter, so I elected the extra-mileage option. As the other members, most of them boomers like me, climbed into the support van provided by Freewheeling Adventures Tours, I set off on my Trek hybrid. Five miles later I spotted a monster hill looming ahead. Behind it was another, and then another. As I panted upward, suddenly the van whirred into sight. Did I want a lift after all? Please! That night, after some exhilarating seaside riding, I dined on fresh scallops at a trendy Lunenburg restaurant and slept tucked into an antique four-poster in a Victorian inn.

The other cyclist is my friend Christian Ward, 55, a New York City writer. This brave--and economical--lone traveler took his bike, loaded with 60 lbs. of camping gear, by train to Rutland, Vt. Studying his map, he calculated that he could ride the 45 miles to his destination that night. But his map did not show a little local landmark known as Sherburne Pass. After a few miles of steady climbing, he rested and asked a trucker where it leveled off. The answer: After 12 more miles. Ward considered turning back--often. But he pressed on, pushing the bike uphill the last three miles. At the top he felt exhausted--and immensely satisfied. He downed two hearty bowls of clam chowder at the mountaintop Inn at Long Trail, then snuggled into his sleeping bag.

Our contrasting experiences illustrate the extremes of vacations on two wheels. Mine was fully catered. Freewheeling Adventures provided (and adjusted) the bicycles, reserved the quaint inns (and one luxury spa) and booked most of the restaurants. It had scouted the routes ahead for scenery and difficulty. And the two guides kept a constant vigil to make sure all our needs were met. Of course, it charged for this, although not as much as some tour companies. Ward used only his own bicycle and maps, ate at diners and restaurants and camped at state parks. He saw spectacular scenery along the way. If he had a flat or met a mountain he didn't like, he was on his own. But his vacation cost him less than he would have spent at home in New York in a week. The important thing is that each of us had a fabulous time.

We're among the hordes of travelers, most of us 40 and older, who elect to vacation in the saddle, at costs that range from $250 all the way up to $5,000 a week. "The average age on organized tours is going up," says Rick Lovett, author of The Essential Touring Cyclist. "There's an explosion of bicycle tours in every conceivable niche all over the country and the world." Tim Kneeland, whose company, Tim Kneeland & Associates, has produced more than 75 large tours for nearly 17,000 participants, estimates there are from 600 to 700 commercial touring companies worldwide and thousands of nonprofit tours.