Bicycle Touring: Sensual Immersion

    Unimpeded by windows or excess noise, the bicycling tourist is totally immersed in the surroundings -- feasting on sights, sounds and smells -- literally stopping to smell the roses.

    The unintrusive whir of bicycle wheels allows one to hear birds call and leaves crunch. Aromas of wild grapes and piney fir resin invigorate. Squirrels, chipmunks and more elusive animals carry on observed but undisturbed. When you pass a local, you can wave or easily stop to chat.

    There is a group of historians who say you must physically experience a place to understand its history; that you can't appreciate the causes of the French Revolution, for example, without holding a handful of drought-stricken soil from a farm near Paris. A bicycle tour let's you get that close to a place.

    Bicycle touring companies are sprouting all over due to people's desire to experience these things. They want to combine vacation and exercise; to enjoy the outdoors, but not adversely impact nature.

    Bike tours come in essentially two flavors -- homemade or packaged. The homespun variety begins with a good map in hand and ends wherever imagination, luck and planning take you.

    Packaged tours, on the other hand, offer the great advantage of an itinerary mapped out by locals with the inside scoop. Their sources know the most scenic routes and the best courses for bikes. This doesn't mean you can't still explore on your own; it simply ensures you don't travel in loops or wind up at dead ends.

    Perhaps the greatest advantage in a packaged cycling tour is having an itinerary mapped out by locals who know which are the most scenic routes, and the best for bicycles.

    Local knowledge also reveals secrets, like a restaurant that is either too small to advertise or else unable to accommodate large groups; the best place to buy picnic fixings to eat in a nearby meadow; or visiting hours at the historical museum.

    On international trips, guides are usually fluent native speakers who know local history and culture and take great pride in showing you around. Bicycling tours have several advantages over motorized travel: A bicycle can stop on a dime for a breathtaking view or a stunning patch of wild flowers; and parking is never an issue. A bike’s speed is a help, not a hindrance, to sightseeing. And ETA for bikers is understood to be flexible, even when you're on your way to a specific rendezvous point; weather can interrupt, or a particularly delightful diversion could detain you. Your schedule is totally up to you.

    Undeniably, bicycling is great exercise. Considering vacationers are famous for seeking out special meals and tastings, this built-in, low-impact aerobic workout is reassuring. So sample the local vintages, lap up an ice cream on that inviting porch, indulge in the fruit cobbler your innkeeper is famous for. Tomorrow, they will be fuel for another 20 miles of beautiful scenery.

    Not everyone is in great shape or used to riding long distances on a bicycle, but don’t let this dissuade you from trying a bicycling vacation. Most companies clearly rate the demands of their tours. They will tell you how many miles you will ride each day and how much elevation change, if any, you will experience. Most will also rate the tour overall (easy, medium, difficult) so that you can pick the one that suits you best. A "set your own pace" philosophy will allow you to do just fine.

    The best tour companies cover all the details -- accommodations at inns, hotels and resorts that are destinations in themselves; in-depth knowledge of the country and its culture; admission to museums and historic sites; fabulous meals; a fully-equipped support vehicle that transports your gear from place to place; and even your bicycle and helmet.

    From foliage tours of New England, to a wine-tasting tour of Northern California, to a sunset over Province ­ even an eclectic Wisconsin excursion ­ bicycle tours are worth checking out for your next trip.

    Dave Paul is an avid cycling enthusiast and managing director of VBT Bicycling Vacations a 27-year-old bicycle touring company. VBT offers tours in Europe, North America, and Australia and New Zealand.