Beat the Bike Blues
with Cross Country Ski Tour
by Frank Mungeam, Tour Guide
The love affair is over. A month ago, I couldn’t wait to see her. Now, my bike pines away in my garage, neglected. She’s doomed to lie dormant until spring because I am, by my own admission, a fair-weather rider. The wind and rain and darkness and cold and snow sap my enthusiasm for cycling. It takes a lot of commitment – and gear – to ride outdoors in winter.
So how do you stay active and fit in winter without suffering through gym-induced boredom? Besides our tours to summery locales like Hawaii and New Zealand, Bicycle Adventures provides another off-season option.
The alternatives aren’t appealing, either. How many times can you endure an indoor spinning class, with its boot camp instructors, blaring music and claustrophobic sweat-fest? It’s nothing like the soothing experience of bike touring in peaceful, picturesque settings with like-minded travelers.
So how do you stay active and fit in winter without suffering through gym-induced boredom? Besides our tours to summery locales like Hawaii and New Zealand, Bicycle Adventures provides another off-season option.
Each winter, we offer four guided cross country ski tours of Washington’s pristine Methow Valley. The six-day trip delivers stunning snowscapes, decadent dining and lodging, and the same camaraderie guests enjoy on our bike tours.
Best of all, cross country skiing is ideal winter cross-training for cycling. Cross country skiing provides invigorating aerobic exercise, tones the muscles in the arms as well as the legs, and burns even more calories than biking.
I know what you’re thinking: “Cross country skiing is hard work.” Maybe you’ve never even tried the sport. That’s where our guides come in. All our Methow Valley guides are ski instructors. We have a passion for the sport and can’t wait to introduce others to the joys of kicking and gliding through this winter wonderland. Fully half of all our ski tour guests are beginners. Some have never skied before. By week’s end, everyone is cruising along the valley’s immaculately groomed trails.
With 120 miles of trails to choose from, there are routes for every ability level from first-timer to advanced skiers. On our trips, we guide both a beginner and an advanced ski tour each day so you are always with others of the same ability level.
We also offer a midweek “skate ski” clinic for those interested in trying out this increasingly popular freestyle version of cross country skiing. We even set aside a day to go snowshoeing, making our own tracks in the woods. (Of course, if you’d rather keep skiing, you can.)
Instead of dreading another long and dreary winter, celebrate the snow with a cross country ski getaway -- and get a head start on your spring cycling season.
Frank Mungeam has been guiding tours for Bicycle Adventures for three years. He is a certified Nordic instructor and member of the Professional Ski Instructors of America, an avid snowshoer and a top-20 finisher at the 2005 US Snowshoe Championships.