Here’s a riddle: three people go out on a bike ride. One of them is me, a lifelong runner and fairly avid cyclist. The other two are my daughter Avery and her boyfriend Matt, both casual bike-riders. Avery and I ride side-by-side, chatting for most of the climb, while Matt zips ahead. Somehow we’re all able to have a great ride despite our different backgrounds in biking, and no one thinks the ride is too challenging or too easy. How is this possible?

As you travel through Ireland, one given is that even the tiniest of towns will boast at least one Irish pub—and more likely, they’ll each have a few. A pub in Ireland is many things, but first of all it’s a meeting place.

In the 1920s Coco Chanel ushered in the era of the deep dark tan. With her blessing, the tan became a symbol of languorous luxury, rather than a sign of peasant toil under the Tuscan sun. Isolated and rocky beaches along the French and Italian coasts became magnets for the sun-seeking glitterati and their requisite yachts and cocktails. While the farmers whose ancestors hailed back to the Saracens and Romans worked the hillsides with their primitive hoes, the modern Riviera was born.

Backroads was honored to have Rue Mapp, founder of Outdoor Afro, join us last fall on a multi-adventure tour through South Carolina & Georgia.

Check out our video to get reacquainted with a tried-and-true classic, the Backroads titanium Touring Bike.

When I first decided more than 40 years ago that I was going to start an active travel company leading bike tours around the country, a lot of people thought I was crazy. But I knew that something special happens when you combine physical activity with exploring new and inspiring places.

Ready for another Bite-Sized Backroads Trip? Our series of virtual adventures continues as we head west to the sunshine, vineyards, wineries and back roads of California's Wine Country!

It's time for another virtual Bite-Sized Backroads Trip! This time we asked former Trip Leader (and now Assistant Director of Trip Development) Riley Pearce to take us on a virtual trip to the far-off land of the Galapagos Islands.

Our next Bite-Sized Backroads Trip is here! We're definitely feeling the urge to get out in some wide open spaces right about now, and Utah is one of our favorite escapes!