Kristen Gentilucci

Kristen’s was born in Los Angeles, escaped to Boston, Nebraska, and then Santa Cruz searching for a home with trees and good people.  She eventually  found it in Oakland, CA, the perfect mix of art, redwoods, real people with disparities, and thus potential.

She studied graphic design and art history at UC Santa Cruz. She likes… no no, she LOVES her bike. She found this love for a bicycle a few years ago and it has taken her around the world on two wheels. Kristen wants to be a traveler that meets people from all walks of life and shares in their excitements and also their tales of sadness and hardship.

This summer, Kristen will be leading a bike trip of 27 young adults ages 18 to 25, across the USA (from Maine to Santa Barbara) for Bike and Build. The goal is to raise awareness for affordable housing. While biking across the country diagonally they will meet with members of the communities they cycle through and tell them about their trip and the affordable housing issues, and help them become involved in efforts to alleviate the problem.

There will also be several days where the group will trade bikes for hammers, and help construct affordable homes with local affordable housing organizations like Rebuilding Together and Habitat for Humanity. In order to participate in Bike & Build, each cyclist must raise $4,500, including the leaders. The proceeds from the trip will be used to fund young-adult driven affordable housing projects.

We wish Kristen all the best on this adventure and certainly look forward to having her back in the Fall for more cycling tours around our bountiful fields of the harvest season.

To learn more about Bike and Build or to support Kristen’s efforts please visit: http://bikeandbuild.org/rider/5558 .

Cheers from California!

Laura

Jenn’s & Andrew’s Self-Guided California bike tour started in the Napa Valley at Calistoga.  From there, they headed into Sonoma County via the Alexander Valley.  Sonoma has some great bike riding in Dry Creek Valley and the Russian River.  Their trip ended with a ride down the Pacific Coast to Bodega Bay.

Thanks for sharing these great photos!

There comes a juncture in the late fall in Oregon when you resist riding a bike. It’s rainy, it’s cold, and you just aren’t ready to face the music of winter. So my best small French friend, Nathalie, and I decided to book a weekend away at one of Oregon’s best resorts in the Columbia River Gorge – Skamania Lodge and Spa – sans bikes! We were sad not to bring our bicycles but vowed that our next trip to Stevenson would include bikes.

We each packed up a tiny bag with some toiletries and a change of clothes (I planned to stay in my robe most of the weekend) and hopped into her new cherry red Volkswagon Jetta TDI to begin our adventure on Friday afternoon. We giddily breathed in the new car smell, turned up the seat-warmers until our butts were blazing, and fumbled around the center console trying to figure out how to work the defrost before we were completely fogged in for the 45 minute ride to Stevenson, WA.

We arrived around 5pm and walked from the rain into the large, warm lobby with floor to 100ft ceiling windows and a big, welcoming fireplace. After checking into our spacious Double Queen room we decided that we were hungry and it was time for chow. I had been craving a cheeseburger for two weeks so we wandered down to the River Rock Lounge and with great anticipation I found my cheeseburger on the menu immediately. Nathalie ended up ordering the Gorge flatbread, which came out as a gorgeous piece of art – an artisan flatbread piled high with carmelized onions, wild mushrooms, asparagus, pear, oregon blue, and white truffle oil. We couldn’t help ordering a Hood River cherry cobbler complete with a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream. Wow, wow, and more wow. These were fresh cherries grown in Hood River, fat, juicy, and not too sweet. I sure wish that had ridden my bicycle so that I had a reason to eat all of that!

In the morning we had a leisurely breakfast and tossed around our options for the day. We consulted with the Forest Service Center that is housed in the hotel lobby and the ranger offered us some nearby hiking ideas. We ended up at Horsetail Falls about 15 minutes away from the resort for a 5 mile hike. Though we had a car, the resort offers a shuttle to some hiking areas, which is great for our guests on bicycles!

Stacey on the way to Horsetail Falls

The next day, just before check out, we decided to try the four miles of hiking trails that Skamania Lodge has onsite. There are spectacular views of the Columbia River Gorge and Cascade Mountains. What a great way to finish up our weekend retreat. After the hike, Nathalie decided to indulge one more time in the pool and sauna while I reveled for the last hour in the cozy bed with my book. We reluctantly packed up our tiny bags, glancing longingly behind as we walked to the car for the ride back. We’ll be back, Skamania Lodge, and next time we’ll bring BIKES to tour the Columbia River Gorge!!!

Here are a few photos from this season:

Adnan climbs at Cross Crusade Race 4

AK at Barton Park

The number of Brazilian guests is growing several times faster than from any other country.  As the US and European economies stutter maybe we should tune up our GoogleAds in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) economies.  Time to get the marketing department fired up.  Stay tuned for Borscht Biking, Tandoori Tours and Szechuan Cycling.

Lunch anyone?

Read this fun travelogue here: California Bike Tour – Travelogue

Thanks for sharing!

Saturday saw nearly 1500 participants ride a range of routes through the Willamette Valley, in the heart of where we run so many of our Oregon bike tours.   The weather started moody and overcast, but before long the sun came out and warmed the autumn air.

We loved being a part of the Harvest Century and we’ve already made plans to return next year.  Here are some photos from the day:

Tony mans the tent

Van standing by ready to help!

This corporate cycling event was held at the Silverado Resort just outside Napa. There were two rides – a leisurely 25 miles in the flat valley and a challenging 45-mile ride with 1700 feet of climbing. All riders enjoyed a rest stop, tasting and tour at Pine Ridge Winery.

The California weather behaved impeccably with the early mist burning off to reveal a picture-perfect, sunny day and warm evening. The day was rounded off with dinner on the Fairway Terrace overlooking the golf course.

Hawaii was already on our radar and we have made good progress with trip preparations for the Big Island. It’s a tough job but, as the snow is falling across the rest of the country this winter, we’ll be heading out to this tropical paradise to put the final touches to trips that we’ll be launching in the fall of 2012.

Maine was more of a surprise. Though, with low-traffic roads, an intricate coastline, and historic towns, it looks like a real winner. We are at an earlier stage in planning for Maine. Maine is also a long way from the west coast so we are looking for locals to work with to get things started. If you know cyclists or local businesses that are familiar with the state and who might be interested in helping us get started there, please put us in touch. We’d be interested in anything from route design to guiding.

We very much appreciate your input. Being a small company we don’t have millions to spend on market research. Besides, we like being advised by our friends! We’re very excited to be launching these new areas and we will let you know as soon as the new trips are available to be booked.