My husband and I have just rediscovered biking. We are presently living in the DC area and have biked on all the area trails. We are interested in biking trips. We have rack and would like to stay at B&B's. I only wish to bike on very lightly travelled roads or bike trails - I hate riding in traffic! Can anyone share some great biking trips or suggest some biking vacations or resources for that? Please note, that we are "mature" people! Thanks.

Dawn, Can I assume you have biked the C&O Canal?
I gone from Harper's Ferry to DC twice and Mrs Kal did it once last year over the 4th of July weekend.

She's thinking about doing it all the way from Cumberland MD to DC (180 miles)for her "39-eleventh" b'day in '04.

I recall seeing a posting here about how nice a tour Vermont Bicycle Tour puts on and they are international.

I have a friend who does mtn bike tours in the Sierra Nevada, Moab and Molokai but that may be too lightly traveled?
Happy Trails,
Kal

Contact the League of American Bicyclists for the name cycle clubs near you

I second Steve's suggestion.

Some local organization near you are the Washington Area Bicyclists Association (www.waba.org) and Potomac Pedalers Touring Club (www.bikepptc.org).

Contact the League as well about information about classes on becoming a better bicycle driver, dealing with traffic, etc. It used to be called "Effective Cycling" - I forget the title of the renamed courses.

Many bicycle clubs host group rides much superior yet less expensive than the commercial ones - they're not trying to make money, just provide a service to members. There are all sorts of clubs, from the racing to loose knit groups who take time to "smell the flowers" while enjoying a day's ride. Some clubs have more "mature" members than not!
(there is no X in my REAL eddress)

There are some beautiful places you can bike in northern New England. There are tours for Vermont(Bike Vermont?), probably New Hampshire and Maine as well. Some routes are quite challenging, others are not too bad. Needless to say, trips by the seacoast will be flatter. You may want to pick up a copy of '30 Bike Trips in Vermont', or the equivilent for the other states. There are hundreds of b&b's throughout the 3 states. Do some reasearch and you can plan a wonderful trip!

If you log onto gotoday.com there are some wonderful biking intineraries traveling through Europe. They are also divided up into heaving or light biking. I think there is one on a barge or canal if you get tired you can either bike or walk. It may be somewhat different then here in the U.S. I think it would be a great experience myself.

Look into the San Juan islands in WA State. You can ferry your bicycles to a number of islands, each with B&B's, beautiful views, and comfortable (nothing too difficult) riding.

Sanibel Island, Florida. Wonderful, beautiful scenery, 25 miles of paved bike paths all over the island, flat and wonderful to ride to shops, restaurants, along the beach! One of our very favorite places. There are many places to stay on the island, and I'm sure you can find a quaint B&B or there are many smaller B&B type hotels or cottages.

I went on a tour years ago in Manchester, Vt with New York bike tours but I don't think they are in business anymore. I was a lovely area, though, with lots of great B&B's.
Cape Cod has a lot of paved trails.

The C&O from Harper's Ferry is good. Just don't stay at the Hilltop Hotel. Nasty place.

Also, you "currently" live in the DC area. Presently means in the near future.

Thanks to all of you that posted info. about biking. I will save your replies and plan some great trips.

May I suggest checking out the bike trails in Wisconsin? They are truly outstanding. And since you live in the DC area you might like to try a different part of the country.

I'm guessing you are about 5 hours drive from Asheville NC. Pisgah Nat'l forest is bike heaven. I am assuming you have either mountain bikes or hybrids. Pisgah is considered by many to be the best mtn biking on the east coast. While there are some extremely technical backcountry trails, there are also some very nice, easy trails. I recommend getting a guide book written by Jim Parham. Bent Creek experimental forest (near the NC arboretum - a nice side trip) has trails and gravel roads of all levels. You can get a beautiful view of the Biltmore House from some of the high points.

Pisgah surrounds Asheville which is loaded with B&B's. Personnally, I think it's more fun and less stressful to ride your bike in a loop from a parking lot, then drive to a nice place to spend the night, repeat the next am. (rather than bike with your stuff on a rack from point to point)

Also, 1 hour west of Asheville is a recreation area called Tsali which has very nice, groomed trails without much elevation gain.

My group of mountain bike friends has an age range from 20 to 62 - what a great sport!

The Sparta Wisconsin bike trail is fantastic.If anybody's interested,you can order a biking guide of Wisc. bike trails from www.travelwisconsin.com . Many of the trails are converted train rail lines.