Category: Biking

Loire Valley France Bike Trip

I was in France in June to do a bike tour of the Loire Valley. Due to Covid, this trip was rescheduled from 2020. We spent a few days in Paris, then took a train to Orleans on a Wednesday, spent the night in Orleans and started biking on Thursday. We spent each night in a different town along the way. Towns we stayed in include Beaugency, Blois, Amboise, Tours, Azay-le-Rideau, Chinon and Saumur. Our last night was in Angers and I took a high speed train from Angers the following morning direct to Charles de Gaulle airport outside of Paris. We passed through and stopped in a bunch of other towns along the way, visited castles and gardens, ate lots of pastry and drank lots of wine. Coteaux du Layon is a dessert wine that the Loire Valley region is known for and I had some after dinner every chance I got. We also passed through Vouvray, known for wines of the same name, and we stopped off at a cave for some wine tasting and a tour of the cave (nice and cool on a hot summer day!). We used CycleTours, a Dutch company, to book the trip. They took care of the hotels, bike rental and baggage transport and I highly recommend them.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/2/embed?mid=1UCJt4BsvrpV-WPL3gQ4PlBVmJkU&ehbc=2E312F
The Loire River

Quebec Bike Tour — Region around Quebec City

I was recently in Quebec for a bike tour of the region surrounding Quebec City. We drove up to Lévis, a town directly across the St Lawrence River from Quebec City, took a ferry over to Quebec City the next day and then on to Ile d’Orléans, where we spent one night. Later in the week we came back to Quebec City, spent two nights there and then explored the countryside west of the city. We crossed the Pont du Québec, bike around more countryside and then circled back to Lévis.

 

A beautiful sunset on Ile d’Orléans

Some Biking Routes north of Charlotte, NC

A few years ago I was biking in North Carolina, around the area north of Charlotte, on a pretty regular basis. Here are a few of my favorite bike routes in that area. Of them all, the area surrounding Lake Norman State Park is really beautiful. You can park in the park, bike around the area, bike up to the town of Statesville for lunch and then bike back to the park. For a really full day, there’s boat rental at the park too.

Davidson is also a really cute town. Home to Davidson College, it has lots of restaurants, cafes and ice cream shops, as well as a bike shop if you need one.

 

 

 

 

North Carolina State Parks

Greenways in Charlotte-Mecklenburg County

 

 

Hiking, Biking, Kayaking in the Poconos — weekend trip from Philadelphia or New York

The Poconos is a good place to go for outdoor activities not too far from Philadelphia or New York. I’ve been meaning to hike the Pinchot trail. There’s a few different loops you can do there. I’ve marked the trailhead parking lot and you can go from there.

To make it a full weekend, why not do one day of hiking and a second day of biking or kayaking? There’s plenty of places to rent bikes and boats in the area. Have fun!

 

Pocono Mountains Tourist Information

Information on the Pinchot Trail

Information on Pinchot State Forest