Why I bike tour

For the friends we make. For the villages we discover. For that time we cycled through the vineyards and medieval towns of Provence. For the little dog that followed us for miles.

There are many reasons why we choose to see the world by bicycle. And it seems like once we’ve done it once, we do it again and again.

Here’s a selection of stories from our #WhyIBikeTour campaign. We hope you smile, laugh, and yearn to discover these places for yourself.

Read all of our inspiring #WhyIBikeTour stories on our blog.

Share yours

Tag us at #WhyIBikeTour and @biketoursdotcom on Instagram or Facebook. Or e-mail your stories, photos, and videos to us.

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Favorite memory?
“Biking into Vienna, Austria on my son’s sixth birthday. We were on the Danube Bike Path tour (self-guided) and had the most amazing day of picking up a picnic lunch in a small village and eating it on the side of the bike path next to a small grove of trees. Then biking into Vienna at the end of the day was energizing and with a celebration that night for our son’s birthday, it was an experience he’ll never forget. He still talks about that day and it was almost three years ago.”
– Kathryn Brookshire Brown, 46, USA

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Favorite memory?
“In three words: O’Lecce, the Dog. We met the small dog we called O’Lecce on the last leg of the Apulia tour. We were walking around Otranto (the “O” in O’Lecce’s name) after dinner when Art stumbled over a small dog.

Neither Art nor the dog was hurt, and we forgot about the incident while enjoying an espresso and a gelato. The next morning, as we biked out of Otranto, the same dog began to follow us. Despite our attempts to shoo him away, he continued to follow, either running ahead of us in the middle of the road or a little behind, depending on our speed.

Every so often he would flop down in a puddle of water to cool off and would eventually rush to catch up to us. As the puddles of water dried up along the way, we let him drink from our water bottles. At one point he became a hero when he fought off a larger dog that began to chase us.

About 10 miles into the ride, figuring that he was hungry, we bought a can of dog food at a grocery for him; he ate half of it and lay down to rest. We pedaled on, up a hill, and saw him on the beach below.

Although he was frolicking with another family, he was loyal to the “hand that fed him” and he soon reunited with us. At mile 20, he seemed relieved when we stopped for a picnic in an olive grove, a chance to rest in the shade. Our destination was the town of Lecce (the “Lecce” in O’Lecce’s name), and 31 miles after he began his journey with us, he disappeared down a side street in the town.

We never saw O’Lecce again, but we think of the happy and intrepid small dog to this day.”

— Art and Julane Anderson, 71 and 67, Frederick, Maryland

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Favorite memory?
“Our favorite memories are about the friendly people we have met — whether we could speak the same language or not, there have been so many nice people that have helped us, asked about our trip, told us of more things to see and given us more background about what we are looking at.”

— Fred and Ann Abeles, 80 and 73, Maryland, USA

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avorite memory?
“I think it’s all the great little villages we went to, that we wouldn’t have seen otherwise. They’re the most important thing. Like in Piedmont, we were in Alba and Alessandria and Asti — they were all great little villages.”
— Bob and Elizabeth Jones, 72 & 73, New Zealand

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Share yours

Want to share an account of a bike tour you’ve done? Weave the tale of one great travel memory? Publish a photo album or video?

Tag us at #WhyIBikeTour and @biketoursdotcom on Instagram or Facebook. Or e-mail your stories, photos, and videos to us.