rb, thanks for all the great biking info you provided. My husband is thinking of doing RAGBRAI, the ride across Iowa. Do you know anything about that one? Thanks.

I have friends who do RAGBRAI every year. I know that it is fairly hard core and very, very hot. Lance Armstrong did it this year. My friends have a great time each year they do it but it is not a leisurely trip.

Have fun
Taitai

From what I've heard of RAGBRAI, you go miles past fields of corn, pigs, corn, corn, pigs, and corn. Did I mention lots of cornfields? But in between there's a lot of friendly towns and townspeople who put out (some free, some sold) good & beverages and it becomes like a long cycling party.

The rides I did, called "Pedal for Power Across America" was 47 days long with 5 days off at Flaggstaff, Santa Fe, Topeka, Champaign IL, and Erie PA. Average distance was 83 mi per day, with as much as 116 and as little as 44. How did I feel? Well, I still get goosebumps when I'm asked about it! Oh there were some days when I was DAMN glad to get to a hot shower, but not once did I regret signing up for the rides. I think the toughest day was in MO from Chillicothe to Kirksville ... we went thru an area called something like "Thousand Hills State Park" and I swear we did all 1000 hills on sub-par road surface. The day we did 116 (the 45h day) I did an extra 9 miles to earn a "Double Kilometer Century (200 km) and I wasn't as tired. (The truth be told, I had decided NOT to do the extra 9 miles, but my odometer was broken and I rode 5 mi past the hotel). My only 2 other days exceeding that was around 140 mi on a ride called "Boston to Provincetown in a Day" sponsored by Charles River Wheelmen, then 203 miles in a "Fall Century Weekend" sponsorded by an Albany NY bicycling club.

I'd give the same advice to prepare as I was given: spend a lot of time in the saddle. Don't worry about distance, just get <i>real intimate</i> with your saddle.

Go for it! You'll have a great time.

I topped this thread for you, travelgirl2:

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34425856

Thanks for that information. So, what's your next big ride going to be, rb?

rb - I didn't know you were such a great biker. You'll have to come to Williamsburg for &quot;Bike the Parkway&quot;. Not a great distance but lots of fun. Its usually the first weekend in May.

Birdie - I'm NOT such a great biker. Even the longest trip starts with one push of the pedal! Then another ....

I'm still sheepish about cycling in VA. It was in Riverside/WalterReed Memorial that I spend 2 months in traction after being &quot;hit &amp; runned&quot; in Middlesex County back 05/14/1985. Sometimes lightning DOES strike twice!

I hear &quot;Bike the Parkway&quot; a nice event and to be honest with you, while I was staying often at Governor Spottswood Motel, I thought of asking if I could keep a bicycle there for my frequent trips to the Burg. Since I &quot;hung my shingle&quot; (custom software) a few years ago my visits are less frequent. Now I have a couple dozen bosses instead of just one!

RB - I hate to argue. But, anyone who can go 100+ miles is a great biker, in my book! Thanks for all the great information.

I am going to round up DH and the kids and we are going to take our first training (ha ha) ride this afternoon!

This past weekend we went with Bike Virginia on a camping and cycling weekend in the Northern Neck. We had a blast. We went 31.4 miles, which was pretty much our outer limit, without training at all.

We are already looking for our next cycling trip. Thanks again for the information and inspiration to get biking!

Way to Go! Congradulations.

Now that you've made that many revolutions, you've only got a few more before you cross the state ... then??

Keep it up!

Thanks RB! I love the encouragement I get from Fodor's members. You guys really understand the restless spirit that drives me to get out there and see and do more and more.

http://www.oregonbicycleride.org/about.html
http://www.bicycleadventures.com/whe...gon/crater.php

Thanks for the ideas, bbqboy. Riding around Crater Lake looks awesome. This particular tour, at $300+ per person per day, would be too much for us, costing $1200+ per day for the family. The itineraries look great though. I'd love to re-create one of them someday.

if you bring your own bikes and plan on your own which trails you'll do each day you will probably save lots of money.. there is a site that isn't at all complete (or user friendly) but some of their areas (they divided the states into regions??!) have guides that have a whole section about biking, so you can get some ideas for trails
www.tripcart.com

I just ran across this old thread of mine and thought I'd bring it up-to-date. In August 2007, our family did a 10 day bicycle trip along the Danube River, beginning in Passau and ending in Vienna.

We rode an average of 25 miles a day. We stayed in simple hotels. Each morning, we dropped our luggage in the lobby, ate breakfast and started riding. Along the way, we'd stop for lunch or a snack. When we arrived at that night's destination, our luggage was waiting for us in the lobby. We usually arrived between 3-6 pm, totally exhausted (well, I was totally exhausted, hubby and kids were just very tired).

Here is the web site we used to book: http://www.eurobike.at/en/eb/suche/suche.asp

The price for a 10 day trip is currently 535 euros per person, plus 55 euros for bike rental and 50 euros for a high-season surcharge.

The way this trip worked was perfect for us. They made the hotel reservations and gave us maps and transported the luggage each day. Other than that, we were completely self-guided. I absolutely loved it and would love to do it again or try another similar ride.

One advantage of this ride was that it's on a paved bike path which is almost completely flat. Also, you can add days where you like and they will work with you to tailor the trip a bit for you, although we just took their 10 day trip which included riding 200 miles in 8 days.

One thing we really liked was that everything along the trail was geared towards biking. Farmers set up huts along the trail where they served alcoholic cider and snacks. One afternoon we were getting pretty tired when we happened upon a huge ice cream parlor on the bank of the river.

Also, even though we were not part of a group, we saw some of the same people over and over and compared notes on riding. We hooked up with 2 ladies from Spain and rode with them for 2 days. That was lots of fun. We were all disappointed when our hotels were different on the second evening.

Along with the Spanish ladies, we spent a rainy afternoon riding a ferry downriver instead of cycling, and spent a few hours eating lunch and talking with a man from Barcelona (who wasn't riding because, &quot;I have a problem with my ass&quot;) and a father and teenage daughter from Germany. That was a great afternoon!

Thanks for the update, travelgirl2! Looking forward to hearing more about it.