BICYCLE TOURS & MOUNTAIN BIKING

Undiscovered Country Tours — Road Bike Vacations in California

Our Philosophy
At Undiscovered Country Tours, we love bicycling in California and enjoy sharing it with our welcome guests. We've spent a lifetime bicycling the state, so we know California cycle touring as well as anyone can. We feel strongly that traveling through a region by bicycle is a life enhancing experience. It gives you a chance to savor the essence of a region, something that can't be experienced behind a windshield. An Undiscovered Country trip is a departure from the ordinary — invigorating the body, recharging the mind, and renewing the spirit.

The Undiscovered Country Difference

Great Cycling is Our First Priority
Some commercial tours are long on cultural activities and short on cycling. Here at Undiscovered Country, just the opposite is true. Our tour planning starts and ends with the bicycling. Of course, we like to dine well, stay in nice accommodations, and experience the local flavor. But our first prioroty is to create the best cycling experience we can.

The Road Less Traveled
Many bike touring companies seem content to follow the well worn path. But that’s not our style. We prefer the backroads to the main highway, the quaint village to the crowded tourist town, the small historic inn to the internationally known resort. We’ll probably skip the sites described in the guide book; we seek out unique spots that are, well, undiscovered.

No Crowds
On some organized tours, it can feel like you’re lost in a crowd. We don’t like crowds, so we keep our group sizes small — never more than 12 people. This lets us fit comfortabley in the smaller inns, lodges, wineries, and restaurants that are off the beaten path. Plus, a smaller group makes it easier to get to know our fellow travelers.

Flexible Activity Options
We know that everyone has different expectations and levels of fitness. That's why we provide plenty of activity options. Want more of a physical challenge? We offer long route options on most days. Want to take a leisurely day and take time to enjoy the sights? Relax on a shorter or less hilly route. Or maybe you’ve had enough riding for one day. We’re happy to pick you and your bike up in the support vehicle. It's all up to you.

Weekend Getaways
Many of our guests take week-long bike tours, once or even twice a year. But what about the weeks or months in between these extended vacations? Wouldn’t it be nice to get away on a short trip and recharge the batteries? That’s where our weekend getaways come in. They’re a great way for busy people to enjoy a weekend away from home without all the planning and guesswork. We've done all the research and handled all the details. Our guests just show up and enjoy. You won’t find another bike tour company with as many weekend offerings.

What's Included with Every Tour

Meals
All breakfasts are included. These are either continental style, or sit-down order-off-the menu full breakfasts. We sometimes supplement continental breakfasts with fresh makings of our own.

Rather than providing lunch at a designated place and time, we encourage riders to stop at recommended spots along the daily route. This allows all guests to travel at their own pace, stopping whenever they wish. If there are no good options to buy lunch on a route, we will pre-order food and carry it in the van.

Dinners on most nights are included. We prefer restaurants with healthy meal options, a light and fresh style of dining that's often called "California cuisine". All dinners are a la carte — no limited menus.

Bicycles
Most of our guests are active cyclists who have a special connection to their bicycles. Because of this, we encourage everyone to bring his own bicycle. But if you prefer to leave your bike at home, we will provide a bike for you at no additonal cost. Our road bikes are high-quality Felt F75 models. If you prefer a hybrid style, we also have Marin hybrid bikes, but these are not the typically slow and heavy models provided by most touring companies. Ours are basically lightweight road bikes with straight handlebars. Each bike comes equipped with a trip computer, saddle bag with spare tube, tire levers, and CO2 tire inflator. We will fit your bike with the pedal style of your choice.

Social Hour
When the daily schedule allows it, we host a post-ride "social hour", with recovery drinks and snacks. This is an opportunity to gather, replenish our carbohydrates, sample some of the locally prepared food and drink, and chat about the day with other riders.

Ride Support
We provide daily route sheets and maps, with options for shorter or longer distances marked. There is van support on each day. The van carries water, snacks, and spare bike parts. If you and your bike want a lift, the host in the van will happily pick up you and your bike. There is at least one host on a bicycle, riding the same route. The host on bicycle is in radio and cell phone contact with the support van, and can call for van support.

Luggage Transfer
On days where we change nightly accommodations, we shuttle all luggage to the next inn.

Transportation
We provide all ground transportation during the trip. This includes traveling in our company’s van, in charter shuttles, and ferries, if any. For trips that start and end at different locations, we provide ground transportation for you, your bike and luggage, back to the starting point.

Being Green

Energy Use
Our electrical energy in the office is supplied by Palo Alto Green, a certified 100% renewable energy program. All of the power in Palo Alto Green is supplied by wind and solar energy. Our office uses Energy Star equipment to reduce electric consumption and uses compact fluorescent lighting.

Carbon Offsets
Our vehicles use gasoline and emit carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global climate change. In order to offset these emissions, we purchase carbon offsets from TerraPass, which uses the money to fund renewable energy projects such as wind farms. These projects result in verified reductions in greenhouse gas pollution to offset the carbon emmited by our vehicles and make our vehicle use “carbon neutral”.

Waste Reduction
We recycle all the paper and plastic products we use in the office, as well as during our tours. All of our old office equipment, computer CDs and printer cartridges are recycled with the company Green Citizen, which ensures that all materials are recycled in a responsible manner.

Waste Elimination
We have elimiated the use of disposables products from our company. Our guests will notice that there are no paper plates or napkins, throw-away utensils, paper or plastic cups on any of our tours. We use only reusable plates and cups, cloth napkins, and stainless steel utensils.

Local Community Support
As part of maintaining sustainable travel, we support the communities where we operate our tours. We purchase goods from local farmers and merchants whenever possible, and we actively support local community programs. We host our Kiss of Death High Sierra Challenge in Alpine County, where we are members of the Alpine County Chamber of Commerce. We sponsor the county’s annual fund raiser, the Tour of the California Alps — Death Ride. We are members of the Ebbetts Pass Scenic Byway Association to preserve, enhance and promote the unique resources of the Ebbetts Pass National Scenic Byway.

What Our Guests Say

Ricki and Doug McGlashan
Sonoma Wine Country and Coast Tour 2006
We really enjoyed ourselves--THANKS! ... We are home safe and sound and very happy about our whole weekend. Thanks for making it just right.

Ginny Knight
Sonoma Wine Country and Coast Tour 2006
My concept of a great bike trip is one with great service. Imagine my delight to discover that Terry and Mary offered service that equaled that of Backroads Bicycle Tours but at a much more reasonable cost. For example, both Mary and Terry waited at tricky corners or intersections to make sure all the riders made the correct turn. I loved that!!! A difficult hill coming up? No problem...there was Mary with the van for a quick ride to the top. I can't wait to ride with them again.

Terrie Fontes
Sonoma Wine Country and Coast Tour 2006
I just wanted to take a moment to thank you and Mary for an amazing weekend. Everything was perfect and the hospitality that you and Mary display is great! I didn't expect it to be so wonderful and organized! From the minute we all met at breakfast, (on the first morning) to the Sag wagon water and nourishment, (on the last day) it was so great. It was really great, and worth every penny.

Nina Yeats
Kiss of Death 2006, Sonoma Wine Country and Coast Tour 2006
Thank you so much for the pictures! They are a wonderful reminder of a great trip -- good company, good cheer, challenging riding, great support, delicious food, incredible views, snow and blue skies. I had a thoroughly enjoyable time!