grabaawr

[cyclist]

Just want to voice an opinion on grabaawr. Not the best tour in the country. Pit fall, To much hustle and bustle. As i have learned from experience, and others tell me when i entered bike touring. Enjoy the ride, get out of the saddle, set no time limits, and stop to smell the roses, and great the people. If your in it to just pack on miles, one can do that by car. So the pitfall to grabaawr, is the hustle and bustle. I put on 500 miles in sevendays, and had very little fun. Since i rode on my own time table, which does not exist, i have had more enjoyment. Anyone else feel the same.  

[smcbikefun]

I rode this ride a few years ago with my family.  It was a lot of miles, but we were prepared and had time to stop and smell the roses.  We rode during a heat wave and so some days it was cooler to keep riding than to stop and get off the bike.  Not my favorite ride, but I did enjoy it.

[driftlessregion]

You're right that it is a lot of miles, something that many tours lack today.  Beautiful country to ride through though. Come on back to Wisconsin and ride the Northwoods tour (http://www.bikenorthwoods.com/). Great folks running the show, smaller capacity than GRABAAWR (300 v. 1300) making it easier to get to know the other cyclists, shorter and still great country to ride through.

[TheDaltonBoys]

....and you might wish to consider the annual KATY Trail Ride, limited to 300 people, sagged and supported, and on the longest rail/trail in the cou8ntry (225 miles).  enjoy the voyage.....Mark of the Dalton Boys

[urbancoyote]

While I can appreciate the idea behind shorter milages, let me make
the case for longer milages.

When I go out on a tour, it's usually an escape from work, from home,
from my normal life. And when I do that it's easy and soothing to put
in some nice long days on the bike.

When my life is simpler and I'm able to go out whenever I want, I hope
to stop at every vista point, smell every rose and chat up every local.

uc

[DaveB]

I guess you have to decide why you signed up for a bike tour.  Do you want to primarily ride your bike and be able to socialize or do you want to primarily socialize and, incidentally, ride a bike.

I've ridden GOBA, an annual 3000 rider week long tour in Ohio for 15 years.  I've watched it gradually change from a real bike tour (we rode every day, the Century was just an optional loop added to the regular scheduled ride) to a camping trip with some incidental bike riding (two optional days where no riding was required if you choose not to).  

The sponsoring organization has learned that a lot of people want to say they were on a bike ride while not having to ride that much so they have dumbed it down a lot to keep the sign-up rolls full.