Give the Gift of a Tour!

Although the holidays are quickly approaching, it?s not too late to purchase a gift certificate for a 2012 Adventure Cycling guided tour. Gift certificates are available year-round and can be purchased in any increment, for as little or as much as you?d like to give.

Please give the tours office a call at 1-800-755-2453 ext. 3 and we?ll help you with your gift certificate purchase today. For those needing one right away, we can send it to you by email. Please note that the purchase of a gift certificate does not guarantee a space on a tour, as your recipient will need to sign up for the tour of his or her choosing based on availability.

See a full listing of our 2012 tour offerings and send a loved one on an Adventure Cycling tour today!

Photo by Adventure Cycling leader, Nicole Blouin. The fall 2011 Southern Tier van-supported tour group celebrates a two-month journey at their finish on the Atlantic Ocean.

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ON THE ROAD is written by the tours team -- Mo, Paul, Madeline, and Arlen -- tours specialists and intrepid bicyclists, covering all things related to Adventure Cycling's Tours Department. We've announced our 2012 Tours!

Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2011/12/give-gift-of-tour.html

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Summer In My Mind

No, that's not a typo in the title. I really am in summer in my mind. I just can't quite give it up. Maybe it's because I love summer so much that I just can't quite let it go. Or maybe it's because our summer seemed unusually short here in Montana this year. Whatever the reason, I'm okay with it. I'm just going to stay in the summer mindset. I've accepted it. It's good.

I'm not crazy. I like winter, too, and am dressing warm, riding my winter commuter bike, adjusting to winter boots instead of sandals -- I am even ready to enjoy my favorite winter activity, cross-country skiing.

But for some reason, my brain isn't registering winter. I haven't decorated the house for the holidays (and I may not), I haven't relished in the first snowfall, I haven't agonized over the roads (yeah! being car-free has its advantages), I haven't thought about the season. At all.

Instead, when I walk or ride my bike to work in the mornings, I think about summer. I look at the mountains and the trees and the snow-covered ground and I see the beautiful colors of summer.

I really don't know why I'm stuck. It could be that I am surrounded by fabulous summer images all the time via bicycle travel blogs, videos, magazine articles (PDF), and photographs. It could be that I had such a great time riding my bike this summer and hiking the Montana mountains that it's just stuck in there.

But I like it, so I'm going to go with it. And when the icy chill in the air threatens to make icicles of my fingers as they grip the handlebars on my commute home, I will imagine that the cold is only a temporary inconvenience to a pending summer day.

Photos by Ginny Sullivan

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CONNECTIONS is posted by Ginny Sullivan, Adventure Cycling's special projects director and features the cultural, historical, geographical, and human connections created through bike travel. Find out about our award-winning Underground Railroad Bicycle Route.

Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2011/12/summer-in-my-mind.html

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Amgen Tour, Levi Just Misses TT, Horner Keeps Lead

The winner of the last 3 Tours of California, Team RadioShack?s Levi Leipheimer, who is also the winner of its last 3 time trials in the city of Solvang, just missed his fourth victory in this year?s TT to Garmin-Cervélo?s David Zabriskie by 13 seconds. Levi looked very strong on the first parts of [...]

Source: http://www.teamradioshack.us/amgen-tour-levi-just-misses-tt-horner-keeps-lead/

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We Build What You Want

Why put up with off the shelf when you can have custom built? We recently got asked by a client if we could build a fast, light, single speed road bike. Why not? The result… Planet X SL Pro Carbon Single Speed Custom – “Black Beauty” Planet X Model B Wheels Easton Bars Shimano 105 brakes and chainset Conti GP4 Seasons [...]

Source: http://blog.bike-science.com/2011/10/12/we-build-what-you-want

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Team Boardman Cycling Plus ? Sean Lacey

Team Boardman Cycling Plus  will be updating you each week with the highs and lows of their training as part of the team. This week Sean takes things to pieces? Sean Lacey Lives: Shropshire Age: 40 Height: 1.88m Weight: 93kg Reasons to ride: mid-life fitness crisis and to make my 71-year-old roadie grandfather proud! Weaknesses: [...]

Source: http://magazine.bikeradar.com/2011/11/16/team-boardman-cycling-plus-sean-lacey-11/

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TdF Stage 13 ? The Mighty Col d?Aubisque

Today?s 13th stage, a short mountain course starting in Pau, climbing over the mighty 1,709 meter Col d?Aubisque and finishing in Lourdes, France, saw many of the general classification contenders taking a bit of a break over the 152.5-kilometer, or 95 mile trek. After such a grueling first 2 weeks it was well deserved, [...]

Source: http://www.teamradioshack.us/tdf-stage-13-the-mighty-col-d%e2%80%99aubisque/

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Hortobagyi Husos Palacsinta (meaty Hungarian pancakes)

Hungarians are a proud people and nothing seems to excite their dignity more than food. Meeting peter, a Hungarian restaurateur at his part time home The White Swan in Golders Green, I began to understand why. For Hungarians food is...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/thehungrycyclist/~3/GKMtyIcjw4U/hortobagyi-husos-palacsinta-meaty-hungarian-pancakes.html

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Thanksgiving Roll Call: Day 3 ?Equipment?

In my summary of things I am thankful for, I was contemplating what the theme of my next post would be.  I thought about everything I love.  Food.  Coffee.  Kittens.  Post-It Notes.  The list goes on and on.  Then it hit me.  I get to ride an amazing bicycle for a living. I will never [...]

Source: http://alisonstarnes.com/2011/11/21/thanksgiving-roll-call-day-3-equipment/

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