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Experience Plus! offers online cycling training coursesExperience Plus! Bicycle Tours is offering an online training course for bicyclists who may want to travel with the company. “Some 80 percent of our travelers are Baby Boomers and beyond, between the ages of 50 and 75,” said Maria Elena Price, co-owner of ExperiencePlus. “Some years ago we found that preparing people for bicycle-only travel was important. We worked with a renowned cycling coach, Joe Friel, author of, among other training books, Cycling Past 50, who designed training programs for our tours.” The company is offering the training programs and training calendars online free. There are programs designed for over and under 50 and varying levels of fitness. The trainings are customized for tour ratings based on miles per day and terrain difficulty and include bike handling skill tips. Pre-trip training programs offer a 12-week step-by-step process to get in perfect shape for an upcoming cycle tour. Find out more at Experience Plus! 
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Active4Adventures joins with GarminGarmin and Active4Adventures (formerly known as Discover France) have joined forces to create an epic crossing of the Pyrenees, one of cycling’s most legendary mountain ranges. On their Cross the Pyrenees Coast to Coast tour, you’ll cycle from the Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean by climbing up the many passes of the Pyrenees and in particular the Col du Tourmalet. The Tourmalet was made famous by the Tour de France, during which this pass has been climbed more than 75 times and several times during the Vuelta a Espana. The tour covers more than 700 km from Biarritz to Collioure in nine days. You’ll be accompanied by the famous Garmin GPS, which will be yours to keep at the end of the trip. Starting on the Atlantic Coast in the glitzy casino town of Biarritz, you’ll quickly leave the glitz behind and dive into the back country of the Pyrenees. Small villages, small and quiet roads, traditional craftspeople and an older way of life dominate the landscape here. As they say in French; “La France Profonde” – the true Back Country of France! Riding along at a speed that allows you to absorb the majesty of this region will take you mind off the climbing you need to do almost every day before reach the Mediterranean coast at Collioure. After 8 days of riding, you can dip your toes in the Med on the other side of the mountains and relish no small victory of one of nature’s most imposing mountain barriers in one of Europe’s most undeveloped regions. You can get all the details at http://www.active4adventures.com/en/
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iRide Africa = You Ride Cape TownCape Town is home to a legendary road ride (the Cape Argus) and a legendary mountain bike ride (the Cape Epic). It’s also home to dozens of great road and mountain bike tours. We’ve just added several from iRide Africa, who know the territory well. They have 5-day and 10-day MTB tours, and a 9-day road tour. iRide Africa‘s MTB tours take in Welvenpas, Jonkershoek (currently considered the best singletrack in Cape Town), Tokai and Table Mountain. Their road biking tour visits Cape Point, Chapmans Peak, the Swartland, and the famous Winelands, including beautiful Stellenbosch. Whether you prefer the road or the rocks, we recommend considering Cape Town for your bike-it list. For lots more information, visit www.iRideAfrica.com.
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Celebrate Tour de France Number 100In the midst of Lance Armstrong‘s long fall from grace, the route for the 100th edition of the Tour de France was announced today. The route, which stays entirely in France, spends less time in the Pyrenees than in recent years, and has fewer time trials. There’s an unprecedented double ascent of Alpe d’Huez, and three back-to-back summit finishes before a night stage in Paris. In another first for the race, which has only stopped for the two world wars since the first Tour in 1903, riders will begin the final stage on July 21 inside the grounds of the Versailles Palace. ASO-licensed VIP Official Operators for the Tour include Thomson Bike Tours, Discover France, Sports Tours International, SportsPulsions and Custom Getaways. They’ll be the companies offering the best finish-line seats and the closest proximity to the riders. But there are also dozens of tour companies offering tours in and around Le Tour. This centennial year might just be the perfect opportunity to get up close to one of cycling’s greatest events. To check out the route, go to www.letour.fr/le-tour/2013/us/overall-route.html
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Sacred Rides challenges you to choose your own adventure
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Increasing interest in PinterestExperiencePlus! is one of the first cycling tour companies to show a keen interest in Pinterest. Pinterest, in case you don’t know, is a virtual pinboard that’s displayed and shared with other online users. Companies and brands are demonstrating the visual side of what they do with an incredible array of images. ExperiencePlus currently has three pinboards: Favourite Rides, Places I Lean My Bike and Views From The Saddle. Our favourite is Places I Lean My Bike, a beautiful collection of bikes at rest outside churches, pubs, beaches and signposts. We’re sure to see more cycling tour companies embracing Pinterest in the coming months. In the meantime, to check out ExperiencePlus’ pinboards, go to http://pinterest.com/experienceplus.
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Sacred Rides launches ‘Best Status Update Ever’ contest
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Around a Great Lake – for a great causeOur friend Gord Townley at People On Bikes has a new tour on the roster – 7 Days in May, Riding to Cure Pancreatic Cancer. But it’s not just any charity cycling tour – it was created after Gord lost his mother to pancreatic cancer last year. Canadian tour operator People on Bikes have teamed 7 Days in May with their regular tour, Ride Around Lake Ontario. This will be our first of what they hope will be many rides in support of pancreatic cancer. People on Bikes’ founding partner, Pancreatic Cancer Canada, will help ensure that all funds donated will be assigned to research for this deadliest of cancers. There are several choices available. You can participate in the May 5th One Day Event in either the 50 or 100km local rides, or the epic 170 km ride. You can join on May 11th and journey from Niagara Falls, Ontario to Mississauga. You can join for the whole weekend, or ride all 7 days and become a ‘Lake Rider’. Just click on the link for lots more information about the ride: http://peopleonbikes.com/?page_id=87
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Britain’s Smallest Town……is in the heart of Wales and home to some of the best-kept mountain biking trails in the country. Llanwrtyd Wells in mid Wales is where you can enter such wacky events like the Real Ale Wobble, the Man Vs Horse Marathon and Bog Snorkelling – or you can just take it easy in the Cwm Rhaeadr Trails, Wolfs Leap Gorge or the Crychan Forest Trails. A new tour company to us Green Dragon Activities offer a myriad options for a fun day out in the mid-lands of Wales with all its castles, rolling green hills and rugged countryside. They offer 1-day tours packed full of lung-busting cross-country mountain trails, traditional coracles, scenic horse riding treks and the unique bathtubbing. So if you’re looking for some unique hilarity to go along with your next mountain biking adventure consider Green Dragon Activities and the wacky Welsh mid-lands.
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Ride Madrid to Lisbon, bridging two capitalsPortugal Nature Trails have recently launched a cycling tour that aims to connect the capital city of Spain to the capital of Portugal via mountain bike, through a spectacular route on the Central Iberian Mountain Range all the way to the Roca Cape, the western point of Europe. The 1200-kilometer traverse has about 28,000 meters of accumulated height over 15 days. The route goes through the Guadarrama, Zapatero, Gredos, Las Hurdes, Gata, Malcata, Estrela, Açor, Lousã, Aires, Candeeiros, Montejunto and Sintra Mountains – whew! The off-road route cuts across forest tracks, gravel roads and steep singletrack over the highest slopes across the Iberian Peninsula until reaching the seaside, with beautiful cliffs over the Atlantic Ocean. If you’re up for a challenge, it looks like a great route through some beautiful towns and landscapes. Check out all details for this brand new cycling tour at: www.portugalnaturetrails.com/#/madrid-lisbon-mtb/4557794910 or the MTB Madrid-Lisbon site, www.bikemadridlisbon.com.
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