Holiday Gift Guide – Bicycle Tours!

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If you are looking for a holiday gift for a friend or family member who likes to ride bicycles, check out our gift ideas!

Day tours.  Treat your gift recipient to a wonderful day out on a bike, where everything is taken care of, and they can just enjoy the ride. To do this, book any date on the calendar for your recipient (and include any extras you think they may want, such as a rental bike, lunch, GPS, etc.).  Then email Lukas (the owner) at lukas@gothambiketours.com with “GIFT” in the subject line and let him know which date you booked, and who it is for.  Lukas will then prepare a personalized gift certificate for your recipient and email it back to you.

When your recipient is ready to redeem the bike tour, they can either go on the date you selected, or they can contact Lukas and change the date to another.  These day tours are small groups (always less than 10 people) so it’s not difficult for us to change the dates for holiday gift recipients.

Gift cards. If you are not sure what tour is right for your recipient, you can also purchase a gift card worth a certain cash value.  Typically a gift card of $150 will pay for a Day Tour.  Or they could also apply the value of a gift card to a self-guided tour package or our October Vacation Tour.

Give a Gift Card

Trip plans and self-guided tours.  Give your cyclist a customized multi-day bike tour experience where all of the details are worked out. Contact Lukas directly if you are interested in this: 917-748-1119 or lukas@gothambiketours.com

A new bike path on the Tappan Zee Bridge

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The Tappan Zee Bridge never made a lot of sense. Why does it cross the Hudson River at its widest point? And why was a bridge like this ever built without a sidewalk or bike path? For over 50 years this bridge has existed to only serve motor vehicles. But the new bridge that has just replaced it will fix that. Yes, the new Tappan Zee Bridge (now called the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge) will finally have a lane just for bicycles and pedestrians!

Finally, communities in both Westchester and Rockland Counties will have a way to bike from one side of the river to the other.  This is hugely important for increasing non-motorized mobility. What’s more, it also increases the potential for bicycle tourism. And Gotham Bicycle Tours will be offering a new tour in 2019 that goes over the new bridge. As always, it will be transit accessible from NYC…and a beautiful ride.

In the meantime check out the new animation which was recently released by state government that shows what the new bike path will look like.  There will even be scenic overlooks built into the pathway, with catchy names like “Fish and Ships”.

National Bike Tour Weekend 2016!

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travel weekendNational Bike Travel Weekend is June 3-5.  It’s a wonderful initiative being undertaken by our friends at the Adventure Cycling Association to get as many cyclists as possible out for a bike tour during the first weekend in June! And we want you to be a part of it!  That’s why we are proud to be offering our Beaches to Farms: A Winery Experience Bike Tour for National Bike Travel Weekend.  It’s a fabulous ride that’s not too far away….and you get a bottle of wine with your name on it at the end. This ride was actually featured on Adventure Cycling’s “Bike Overnights” website, which is a great resource to use for anyone looking for inspiration to plan their own overnight trip. Check out all the details about the tour here.

Frequently asked questions about this tour:

How long is this ride, and is it hilly?  This ride isn’t particularly hilly, since a lot of it is on rail-trails or canal paths. Each day you can choose the mileage you want to ride, ranging between 25 and 58 miles.

What happens if it 19074635318_ec73336f68_krains? We run the trip rain or shine. So we’ll be riding in the rain along side you!  But, you can always back out of the ride if the weather forecast looks bad. You only need to make a $100 non-refundable deposit to hold your spot, and then you can pay the balance as late as Wednesday, June 1. So if you don’t like the weather forecast, you can bail out and you don’t have to pay the balance.

Are there showers and flush toilets where we camp?  For this particular tour, we camp out in the vineyard behind the winery tasting room. So we have access to the tasting room bathrooms throughout our stay. For the shower, we rig up an outdoor shower using a forklift and a water tank where the water is heated.

I don’t want to camp. Are there other options?  Yes. We can shuttle you to a nearby hotel for the night if you do not want to camp. It’s only 10 minutes away in the support van. Then just start your ride from there the next morning.

Will I be able to charge my IPhone?  Yes, yes…you will totally be able to do this. You’ll need to keep your smartphone charged anyhow to take advantage of our GPS navigation for this ride!

Who comes on these rides?  All kinds of people take our rides. We generally get a wide variety of ages and abilities, and we make everyone feel comfortable. Most tours are limited to 9 riders for a small group feel.

AAA Bicycle Service!

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Outdoorfest 2016

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We are glad to be back for the second year of OutdoorFest! OutdoorFest is a 10-day outdoor adventure festival that aims to connect New Yorkers to live healthier and more adventurous lives. Look for us at the Outdoor Adventure Expo on Sunday June 19th from 12-5pm or ride with us the week before on Sunday, June 12th!