Independent Bicycle Trips: A Blog Gives the "How To's"

Look for info on bike trips, and you'll likely stumble upon glossy catalogues featuring pictures of pricey inns, vineyards, 5-star restaurants and large groups of people biking together. It seems like the activity has been overtaken both by luxury travelers; and folks who feel more comfortable in the setting of a guided tour. Helpful information on independent biking vacations is quite, quite difficult to find.

Which is why I was so pleased to stumble upon the writing of Nancy Sathre-Vogel. For the last year and a half, she, her husband and two young sons, have been biking the Americas from Alaska to Argentina. Their experience is set down in her blog Family on Bikes, and while the adventures they've had make for pleasant reading, its the nitty gritty advice, much of which done in articles for the Chicago Examiner (and linked to from the site), that give the blog its power and utility.

How many miles should one bike in a day? Which paniers (basically saddle bags for bikes) are best? Which types of bikes to use for weeklong, or longer, jaunts? What are the pros and cons of bike shorts? These questions, and many more, are answered in a frank, detailed and ultimately comforting fashion. Even novice cyclists, after perusing the blog, should feel like they have the tools to plan their own biking vacation and to plan a successful one at that.

Take a look at the blog. It really does contain some gems.

(Photo by Richard Masoner)