I wrote about this over at Gadling this morning as well, but definitely worth repeating here too. The crazy adventure-minded folks who organize and run the Tour d’Afrique every year have come up with a new concept in adventure travel that is amazingly cool. The new venture is dubbed DreamTours and it’s designed to take whatever epic bike adventure you can come up with, and make it a reality.
In a nutshell, the DreamTours team challenges you to come up with an idea for a great expedition that you want to do on a bike. It could be anything, like cycling across Costa Rica or riding from Paris to Beijing. The point is to dream big and come up with something that is very cool.
From there, you’ll logon to the DreamTours website and post your idea. Other cycling and mountain biking enthusiasts can then evaluate your idea, weighing in with thoughts on how feasible it is, sharing their own experiences, and rating your tour. The site, in a sense, becomes cycling community, for everyone to discuss bike adventures for anywhere on the planet.
Now, here’s the really cool part. If you get enough people interested in your adventure, and they commit to joining you, the DramTours team will take over and handle all the logistics of making that adventure a reality. They’ll organize the ride, and do all the planning, so all you, and those who have signed up to join you, have to is travel to the starting point, and hop on the bike. Best of all, if the trip fills up, you get to go for free! And if you happen to be feeling magnanimous, you can choose to pay for your trip, but spread the discount across everyone on the tour.
Sounds like a pretty cool concept to me, and I hope it catches on. It’s a model that can easily be applied to other types of adventure travel as well. So the question is, what should the first ever Adventure Blog bike adventure be?
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Great picture. ''Snow biking is getting popular in WA, especially in Mt Rainier area.Sucks you can't bike Wonderland trail ( will have to hike the whole 93 miles ).
My Dream Bike Tour would be Seattle to Moscow (since I can't afford the airfare ).
I agree Paul, amazing photo, and really sets the tone for "adventure cycling". I'm still considering my dream bike trip. Tour d'Afrique is right up there, and that already exists, I just need to ride it. 🙂
Hi Kraig!
Hope you're doing well?
Thought I'd drop you a line to let you know that we're gearing up for our 4th transcontinental bicycle tour across South America – Vuelta Sudamericana.
I'm going to be away until 19th June… so I hope you don't mind that I cut and past the press release below just in case you can use the info.
RIDERS GEAR UP FOR THE WORLD’S LONGEST BICYCLE RACE & EXPEDITION
(Toronto) Tour d’Afrique Ltd, pioneers and organizers of world-renowned transcontinental bicycle tours across Africa, Europe and Asia are gearing up once again to make bicycle history – this time in South America with Vuelta Sudamericana.
Starting in Rio de Janeiro on 26th July 2009, 23 riders from 8 countries will participate in the inaugural 12 000 km tour. They will travel through Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador and finish four months later, on December 6th, in Quito.
Henry Gold, Company Founder and Environmental Activist, who over the past 7 years has led hundreds of riders across Africa, Europe and Asia on similar trans-continental tours, explained that the goal of his latest tour is not to travel the most efficient line between opposite ends of a continent, but to explore and experience the diversity of South America. “By meandering across the landscape and linking a variety of cultural and wilderness destinations, Vuelta has been designed to follow the most favorable patterns of wind, heat, precipitation and daylight.” said Gold.
Vuelta will include a complete range of cycling conditions:- extreme temperatures, mountain passes over 4200 m, open desert crossings, dense jungles and every conceivable road surface. En route, riders will visit Iguazu Falls, Mount Aconcagua, the Atacama Desert, Lake Titicaca and Machu Picchu. They will cycle along the coasts of both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans and will face the Andes in between.
“The sheer magnitude of our events provides a unique experience for both amateur racers and expedition cyclists and continues to push the perceived limits of long distance, organized adventure cycling.” said Gold. “Traveling by bike enables you to smell strange and wonderful new foods cooking as you roll through a village, interact with the locals, feel the temperature drop as you relentlessly climb to the top of a mountain pass and observe the changes in culture and vegetation as you cycle across the landscape.”
Vuelta Sudamericana features approximately 110 cycling days, averaging 110 km each day, as well as 24 rest days. It is divided into 9 sections thus accommodating cyclists who are unable to do the entire expedition in one go. Support trucks transport the gear and equipment and an experienced crew sets up camp each night and prepares the daily meals.
Follow the expedition at http://www.tourdafrique.com/vueltasudamericana
Thanks Kraig.. if you need any info while I'm away, my colleague in Toronto is shanny@tourdafrique.com.
All best wishes
Theresa
Hi Theresa,
Thanks for the press release! I'll definitely make a post on this as well. Wish I could join you! 🙂
If you ever want to send me anything directly my e-mail address is: kungfujedi@gmal.com
Have fun!
Kraig