If you are looking for a different sort of organized supported bike tour take a look at www.democracybike.com. I spent a week riding through the Willamette Valley (Oregon) with them. They are based in Oregon and have been running tours there but will be offering tours in California and Hawaii as well in the future.
The tours are called “Sustainable Energy in Motion†and are designed to highlight sustainability in various ways. The support van (for our gear and food) runs on biodeisel. Meals are vegan and are cooked collectively at each campsite. We visited/camped at a sustainable-agriculture cherry farm an organic farm a “green†housing development and a yoga center that featured a straw-bale meeting house and composting toilets; to thank our hosts we performed service projects for a few hours at each place we camped (e.g. picking garlic pulling weeds). In Eugene we visited the Bike Friday factory and the Center for Appropriate Transport with the opportunity to try some great bikes at each location including a zippy recumbent tricycle that was so much fun it should be illegal (see photo). People who spoke with us at the stops were inspiring and wonderful. Even a visit to the food co-op in Eugene was a lift.
Our fellow riders were a great and varied bunch ranging from some over-65 guys down to a 12-year-old girl (on the back of her father’s tandem). Of course they had to be interesting folks – who else would sign up for a tour such as this rather than a typical fun-ride tour? With only about 200 miles of riding per week this company isn’t seeking endurance cyclists; rather these are fairly relaxed rides focused on the people and places visited as much as on cycling.
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