As summer approaches and many of us are finalizing plans I thought it would be cool to find out where everyone is going.

My major Tour this year will be the 1000 islands of New York. I will begin in Syracuse NY at the train station and ride north/ northeast through the 1000 islands region to Massena NY then east along the NY/Canadian border to Vermont then south through Burlington VT. From Burlington I will ride south through Vergennes VT. From Vergennes I will follow VT route 30 to Poultney VT and then southwest through eastern NY back to my home near Albany NY. ~550miles

The Thousand Islands are very beautiful and my ex girlfriend and I kayaked this region from Kingston to Brockville. This year I plan on cycling the Canadian side but no dates set as I will catch a ride to the area with a friend and ride over a weekend period. As side from that trip I will ride Isle of Quinte, Rideau Canal and eastern Ontario and parts of Quebec. Oh and I plan on canoeing from belleiville to Kingston this spring.

The Pyrénées, southern France, September. Starting and ending in Bordeaux. Exact route TBD as we go.

Mike, Juneau Alaska

I've got Randonneuring events and mini-tours on just about every weekend from here to October, but specifically on the touring side of things ...

1) Golden Triangle - an organized tour in the Canadian Rockies on the May long weekend. I've never done an organized tour before but have had my eye on this one for a number of years so I decided to try it out this year. There should be over 300 riders and SAG support.

2) Icefield Parkway - another organized tour in the Canadian Rockies, possibly on the July long weekend. The local cycle touring club is just alluding to this event on their website so far, so I'll have to wait and see if they post more details.

3) In late July, I'll be doing the Gold Rush Randonnee (a 1200K Randonneuring event) in California. I'm planning to fly down there, ride this event, and then do some touring in the area for the next week or so. I'm not sure where I'll go yet but I've got a number of possibilities and ideas.

4) In late August/early Sept, there might be an opportunity for me to do a bit more touring here in Canada, and then possibly also into the US midwest. The details of those plans haven't been firmed up yet.

You're ride sounds great, but be prepared. The Thousand Islands region is beautiful as is the Vermont border. However, St. Lawrence county is the poorest in the state. I went to University there and can say that the area is a little drab, boring, and flat. I am sure the other areas of your trip will be great but be prepared for some flat swamp land between the Islands and Massena. Massena has the locks that might be an interesting stop. Good luck!

Homebrew

Your tour sounds wonderful. I'm off to Italy for a brief tour in a few weeks. Can't wait.

I'll be moving to Northern California in June; until then, I'll try to have a few last May flings with western NY and Ontario, but the move itself is occupying most of my time in that month.

Once in NorCal, I plan on riding all over the place with my new bike: Tahoe, the Sierra Nevadas/Yosemite, Big Sur, the Redwoods, the coast/Bay area, etcetera...we will see where my wheels take me, but I plan on having a blast.

Leving for Spain in May 4-6 weeks, Madrid, Barcelona, look for an apt to rent there, then to Gib and Tarifa, Tangiers,white hill towns, back to madrid

Alekhine..where in NorCal u planning to relocate? Want to get away from SoFla been thinking of there or Oregon

I'm doing a 10 day tour in Eastern Washington at the end of May. I've got the basics laid out in a Crazy Guy journal here. Not much here yet, I mainly want a repository for info and that countdown to the start to keep me focused

This uses up the rest of my vacation time for the year, but it resest in July and my current project ends mid August so I'll also have some comp time. Thus I'm planning to do a fall tour in September whose nature will depend on how much time I can wrangle. I want to do Seattle to San Francisco, but I'm figuring I'll just do as much as time allows. I want to be able to linger in Oregon and not feel pressed for a destination, but I also want to do all of the Oregon coast when I do it. So we shall have to see.

Hey...I considered OR too. I may eventually move there anyway if the Cali rent ends up being even more obscene than I bargained for, but at the moment I think I can hack it.

I'm scouting apartments in the general Sacramento area. I may end up in a little town near Tahoe called Grass Valley. I have a big thread on it, where several excellent fellow tourers recommended places for me. It's an interesting look at the area by people who are much more familiar than I am:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ght=sacramento

Not sure yet. I may not do a tour this year. Or at least nothing official. But I'll be back to it next year for sure.

Koffee

New Zealand, South Island, sometime around November. I'll be looking for around five weeks.

Sounds like a great trip. Hope the weather is good. When coming up from Syracuse to Oswego, I'd recommend either Rt. 48 or 57. Rt. 48 is on the west side of the Oswego River via Baldwinsville, and Rt 57 is on the east side of the River. You can take Rt 57 to Fulton, then I'd recommend getting on Rt. 48 if you are not there already. Don't forget to stop at the Off-Bridge Street Bagelry in Oswego on W. 1st street. Excellent bagels and coffee.
Both Henderson Harbor and Sackets Harbor are worth a stop. Sackets Harbor has some neat shops and restaurants. The International Hostel at the Lighthouse in Cape Vincent is a great place to spend a night. Looks like you might be planning to stay there. I live in Sterling, N.Y. near Fair Haven. Let me know if you are going to be over that way. I plan on doing the Maine Coastal Tour, Ride Virginia, and possibly a solo trip to Virginia. My only other major excursion was around Lake Ontario, so I'm still learning the ropes.

Three weeks from Montreal to Montreal via Quebec City, Charlevoix, Lac St-Jean then south by train, back on bike across La Mauricie park and Lanaudière région, and perhaps Mont Tremblant (if time allow). Will do some hiking too, maybe some canoe. End of september/early october, trying to catch the fall colors.

My spring shakedown tour will be around 200 km from Toronto to Hamilton, Brantford, Paris, Forks of Credit and back home. It will take around 3 days.

The real tour will take place in October. I'll head to Cardiff, Wales and bike to Gatwick, England.

Namibia and Angola, either from June for 3 months or from October for 4 or 5 months.

Hi,
a couple suggestions. Middlebury makes a nice place to stay on a cycling trip. It's a little town, but manages to have 2 bike shops.
SO you can find parts if you need them. It's pretty, has really good restaurants, a movie theater, and it's not too far from your route. We ate a place with a name something like The River Bank. Ask when you get there for the place that has the great big windows that overlook the river. After a massive lunch we caught a movie. I hope to work it into another cycling trip one day.

Down near the bottom of the lake is Fort Ticonderoga. I was tired, and almost didn't go. I did, and I am very glad I did, it's excellent. The town that has it has a couple nice family style restaurants. We really liked The Biscquit, and stayed at the motel across the street (forget the name).

Hope you have a great time.

[COLOR=Blue]
florence,italy 4/28 to whenever I'm done
tough legs, patience, nomadic wanderlust, 2 years' saved coins, warm beds in london and prague to keep the trip unraveling at the steady pace of fear not.

Leave 22nd this Month. Two months in Aussie. South & West. No plans. We will be taking transport to get from Adalaide to Perth. Can't wait. Gear is laid out on the spare room floor. Bits get added and subtracted daily.
Cheers Brian & Sue

Sounds great, and I wish you the best of luck in your tour!

As for me, I'm throwing all caution to the wind, and will begin the TransAmerica (4300 miles) in mid May. It will be self-contained. I will be quitting my job, putting everything in storage, and taking a major risk that I will find a new job when I return home. Wish me luck.

Will I make it? Don't know for sure, but my heart is in it all the way, and I will give it my best shot possible. If anyone else will be doing the TransAm, or part of it during spring/summer, please let me know. Maybe we can meet for a few pints.

David in PA

We were on a New Zealand South Isle tour (not exclusively cycling) last summer and from the window of our van we were glad not to be cycling on many stretches. They have a limited number of roads and often there is no alternative to the main highway -esp. on the west coast there are long stretches where I wouldn't be happy riding I would really read up about the different routes and be prepared to skip a few of the more remote west coast stretches. Otherwise it is a great place to visit, watch for orcs at night!

Good on you. Thats is one huge comitment. Good luck and enjoy
Cheers Brian & Sue

I agree with you. There are places I wouldn't ride either. Our local main road, I only ride under protest. Yet I see tourists on it every day, which is crazy as there is alternatives for all but 25 of the 90 km. We have stoped and talked to some of them. But they either don't have maps at all or have ones with a huge scale, that don't show the small roads.
I'me in the process of writing up the alternative route to go a a friends touring web site. Hoping the message will get out there.
Cheers Brian

From northern Massachusetts up along the Maine coastline. Certainly as far as Mt. Desert Island, but my friend and I are hoping to hit New Brunswick at least, and hopefully Novia Scotia. We think that a month, basically June, ought to be enough. Is it? I guess we'll see. Should be great fun.

Three times in my life I quit my job, sold my stuff and went touring ( 2 by bike 1 by old Volvo) I had the same reservations and worries that you do (scared as hell) and each time I had a wonderful experince and I found a job when I got back home.

Bon Voyage!