Touring - the great bargain supported tour rides list

i think this should be a sticky here

since I'm making the first post i get to set the criteria:
1. camping
2. organized by local club/community
3. scenic. should have mountains (or at least many hills) and/or coast.
4. minimum 4 days
5. maximum $100/day including luggage transport, overnight accommodations, breakfast, lunch, dinner




tour de wyoming
http://www.cyclewyoming.org/tour.htm
~$300 including all meals for 6 days

HI-USA Christmas Trip (http://www.sandiegohostels.org/xmas_index.shtml) - 6 days between Christmas and New Years, 60-100 miles/day.

1) camping - yup, indoor or outdoor camping, same price
2) Organized by the San Diego Youth Hostel
3) Mountains and coasts and deserts and the Salton Sea
4) 6 days
5) $350 for lodging, breakfast & dinner, bag transport. Lunch is on your own.

Each participant has to do two work shifts on the trip - cooking or cleaning - but it's really fun, you get to know people better. Usually 80-120 people do the trip, many of them do it many times.

I've done it 3 times. If anyone decides to do it based on this post, would you please contact me, because you get a discount for referring new people to the trip.

Our local club in in Western Oregon does an annual weeklong loop tour with sag support and camping that more than meets all the criteria and is a great bargain to boot. Last year it was a 300-mile loop in NW Oregon (plenty of mountains, coast etc.) for around $100 per person total, including campsites and all breakfasts and group campfire dinners. Only additional expenses were some lunches, snacks and alcoholic beverages. It is usually limited to less than 20 riders and you have to be a club member, but the annual fee is only $15!

Our local club in in Western Oregon does an annual weeklong loop tour with sag support and camping that more than meets all the criteria and is a great bargain to boot. Last year it was a 300-mile loop in NW Oregon (plenty of mountains, coast etc.) for around $100 per person total, including campsites and all breakfasts and group campfire dinners. Only additional expenses were some lunches, snacks and alcoholic beverages. It is usually limited to less than 20 riders and you have to be a club member, but the annual fee is only $15!

haven't been able to find this one. can you provide more info (web site would be best). thanks.

HI-USA Christmas Trip (http://www.sandiegohostels.org/xmas_index.shtml) - 6 days between Christmas and New Years, 60-100 miles/day.

Wow, that looks like a bargain. But indoor camping?

Wow, that looks like a bargain. But indoor camping?

Indoor camping = throw pad & bag down on the floor in the school/church/rec center that hosts the event.

HI-USA Christmas Trip (http://www.sandiegohostels.org/xmas_index.shtml) - 6 days between Christmas and New Years, 60-100 miles/day.


+1

Let valygrl get the referral, but I've done it three times and it is a great trip!
Here is my 2003 trip report: http://www.mvermeulen.com/sandiego2003/

Here are some supported tours that I have participated in that meet your criteria:

Cycle North Carolina - Does a weeklong tour across the state in late September-early October every year. Starts in the mountains and ends at the coast, but the actual route varies from year to year. CNC also does a 3-day weekend tour at the coast every spring, with loop rides each day from a central location. All of the tours are supported, with camping indoor and out, at reasonable prices.
http://www.ncsports.org/nccyclemain.php

POWWOW Tours offers several tours around Wisconsin during the summer months. I have done the Fox Valley Tour in June several times as well as the Coulee Region Tour in August. The Fox tour is a week long loop in eastern Wisconsin, staying overnight in college dorms with food included. The Coulee tour is based out of Sparta in SW Wisc, with loop rides every day ranging from 40-100 miles. The also offer a Kettle Moraine Tour in September.
http://www.wisconsinbicycletours.com/

GOBA is a weeklong loop tour in Ohio every summer. Well organized and inexpensive, but lots of riders (over 3,000 when I went). You would be surprised how nice rural Ohio is.
http://www.goba.com/

haven't been able to find this one. can you provide more info (web site would be best). thanks.

http://santiamspokes.org/tours.html

This year we are doing a loop tour around Crater Lake in mid-August.

Erie Canal Tour: 8 days from Buffalo, NY to Albany, NY

Cost: $525

Includes: 8 breakfasts, 6 dinners, camping, luggage transport, t-shirt, water bottle, plus some guided visits to local attractions.

http://www.ptny.org/canaltour/

+1

Let valygrl get the referral, but I've done it three times and it is a great trip!
Here is my 2003 trip report: http://www.mvermeulen.com/sandiego2003/

Tee-hee, I'm in your trip pictures!

therealsybarite, thank's for starting this thread, good idea!

I just found out about this one earlier in the week, but other than being fully loaded, it meets all the other criteria set by therealsybarite. You don't even have to belong to the club. I was thinking of doing it this year, but may save my legs for Ride the Rockies which I am signed up for a couple of weeks later.

http://www.pwtc.com/index.php/schedule/more/back_again_columbia_gorge_explorer_09/

The FANY (500 miles Across New York) Ride in New York State. Full support, optional transport before or after the ride to the start or finish. Dinner meals are purchasable before the ride. Breakfast and lunch you buy along the route. Terrain varies from Lake Ontario shore line, through wine country in the finerlakes, to the Adirondak Mountains. Camping with luggage transport. Very inexpensive. Small group <200.
The donate a portion of the signup fee to the Double H ranch.
I have done this ride 5 times.