WHAT IS COOPERATIVE TOURING? While others pitch their tents, the designated cook crew for the day kicks into gear at an overnight near Twin Lakes on the Three Parks Tour. Simply put, a cooperative tour is one in which all the participants share in the chores and responsibilities of making the tour work. They are usually organized–often very informally–by a group of friends or by a cycling club or outdoor adventure club. Typically, all the duties and expenses are shared equally by all the participants, with all the luggage hauled by support vehicles, leaving the cyclists free to ride unencumbered. Our Adventure Velo tours were originally laid out for exactly this sort of cooperative undertaking. They are designed for groups of four to four dozen riders, accompanied by one to three vehicles for hauling gear, sagging, and running errands. Theoretically, because these ventures are only intended to break even, and because paid support staff is nonexistent or minimal, expenses can be kept substantially lower than on catered tours. In most cases, to keep costs low, campgrounds are the overnight of choice, wherever possible. It’s possible to stage a very comfortable tour of this sort on a budget of as little as $200 per person, per week, and that usually includes almost all meals, all overnight accommodations, and in some cases, transportation to and from your home town. What’s more, smaller groups can actually do the tours as cheaply as larger groups! For many cyclists, this represents an ideal touring compromise between the independent-but-overburdened (fully-loaded) approach and the carefree-but-costly (fully-catered) approach. You ride free-and-easy all day, and after the ride, you’re part of a team. (Depending on the size of your group and how you decide to handle the chores, there may be only one day on the entire tour where you have to do anything other than ride and relax.) It’s the purest embodiment of the old adage, “many hands make light work.” It’s also a great way to cut costs and to promote esprit de corps within the group. We have been staging cooperative tours for years in our local bike club, and those who participate in them become immediate converts, coming back year after year for more of the same. We have prepared a comprehensive and detailed “how-to” guide for anyone interested in the idea of planning and staging a cooperative tour: “Planning a Cooperative Cycle-tour.” It contains a wealth of information on everything from sag support and transportation to menu planning to budgets. This nuts-and-bolts manual is available for a modest fee when you purchase your tours. If you intend to plan a tour of your own and have never done so before, this step-by-step manual is essential. Even if you’ve toured on your own before, you might still pick up a few pointers that will make your next tour run more smoothly. Adventure Velo 7315 Fircrest Avenue Sebastopol, CA 95472 707-823-9807 backroad@sonic.net