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Bike the Big Island with Backroads

Home to two of the most active volcanoes in the world, one would expect Hawaii’s southernmost island to be an angry land of deadened rock and rivers of red. But this ever-expanding island has a myriad of moods—the gentle rolling hills of Waimea; the inviting sand of the Kohala Coast; the almost impenetrable jungle-like interior of the Hamakua Coast; the enormity of two mountains that are nearly 14,000 feet; even a rain forest on the backside of a volcano. Indeed, Hawaii is more like a miniature continent than an island in the Pacific.
 
Cars whisk around the island, not experiencing that shift of terrain until they’re smack dab in the middle of it. Bikers have the privilege of slowing down to watch the sea wash against a narrow fringe of palms or to stop and smell the pink-and-purple bougainvillea (sorry, no roses here). After a week of circumnavigating this 225-mile island on two wheels like I was fortunate to do one November week, biking over squished guavas and mangoes and through fields of macadamia nuts, you not only feel incredible about your accomplishment, but you bring home a firmer body and a sense that the island has seeped into every sweaty pore.
 
Backroads features an inn-to-inn bicycling tour of the Big Island that costs $2898 and includes all meals and lodging. You average some 50 miles a day, overcoming such obstacles as sweltering heat, long up-and-down climbs, strong headwinds, congestion on the main road, even biking in rainfall, so best be in good shape. For something less strenuous, consider the outfitter’s six-day family multisport trip around the island. Along with easy walks in Volcano National Park and kayaking in secluded coves, the biking is downhill only. Cost of that trip is $2998 for adults, 10% less for kids ages 11-17. 
 

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Lake George Week, Adventures on the Water

"Towards you, towards you, pull it towards you," my father yells to my mom, referring to the tiller that sits on her lap. We’re aboard my dad’s 22-foot Catalina, sailing at a good 10-knot clip across the cobalt waters of Lake George on our way back to his dock. Mom’s steering, dad’s barking orders, and I’m on the bow of the boat, ready to jump onto terra firma, but first I have to listen to my parent’s banter, a routine I’ve witnessed far too many times.

“What the hell are you doing? Aim for the house,” my dad bellows, pointing to a small white house that stands on the hillside above our dock. My father’s voice always seems to rise a notch or two in volume every time he steps foot into his sailboat. That’s usually what happens to former Lieutenants in the Navy. They resign their commission in the military, buy a small boat of their own, and quickly ascend to the rank of Admiral.  Nevertheless, my mom always remains as cool as the water in this lake, easily gliding the boat into the dock without a scratch. Once the lines are tied, she stands up, and ends with the tag line, “not bad for a Bronx girl.” “Yeah, not bad,” my father mutters back, forgetting that Mom also taught him how to drive.

Those two paragraphs are the first words I ever wrote on Lake George, for a magazine called Endless Vacation back in 1996. Both my parents are gone, but I have incredible memories of our family sailing, paddling, and boating this 32-mile gem in the Adirondacks. And I continue to create new memories. This week, I’m traveling with my brother Jim as we kayak around the Sagamore, boat with Ron Miller aboard his 1971 Lyman, and take a paddlewheeler cruise aboard The Mohican. 

I’ve been sailing the waters of Lake George before I learned to walk, or so I’m told.  Growing up in these sylvan surroundings, I took its beauty for granted; the verdant mountainside that slopes to the lake’s edge on either side, the pine-studded islands that provide perfect anchorages for boaters, the narrow width that’s easily mistaken for a long rambling river. Working as a travel writer, I’ve had the good fortune to visit many of the world’s most famous lakes—Tahoe, Como in Italy, Taupo in New Zealand, Lucerne in Switzerland, but given the choice, I’ll take Lake George on a weekday (on summer weekends, the influx of motorboats and jet skies makes the lake seem a lot smaller). It’s the reason why “Sailing Lake George” topped my list of “5 Family Adventures Not Soon Forgotten,” my most recent article on the lake in a March issue of The Boston Globe. 

 
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Top 5 Wine Regions for Bicyclists, Bordeaux, France

Other biking outfitters can try to emulate Butterfield & Robinson, but none can approach George Butterfield’s innate sense of style. Trips can cost upwards of $1,000 a day but are worth every penny when you consider some of the amenities—nights at 14th century estates, seven-course feasts at private French vineyards, a van always by your side when you tire of biking. He’ll customize any Bordeaux trip you want or simply sign up for his 6-day jaunt from Bordeaux to Dordogne that runs from mid-May through early October. You’ll bike on relatively flat terrain through these two famous wine regions, but it won’t be easy when your lunch consists of a private wine tasting at such famous vineyards as Mouton-Rothschild. At night, you’ll be staying at a former 16th century monastery, now a Relais and Chateaux property, and a 17th century chartreuse perched atop a hill surrounded by vineyards, orchards, streams, and ponds. Dinner is a gluttonous feast, accompanied by, what else, more excellent wine.  

 
I’m headed to Dallas, Maine, and New Orleans over the next two weeks. I’ll be back with stories about my travels on March 31st. In the meantime, stay active! 
 
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Swiss Bliss

Grindelwald is one of those fairy-tale Swiss mountain villages that serve as a gateway to the heart of the Alps. Wander from your hotel to the gondola, ride it to the last stop, and soon you’ll be staring at a crown of majestic 13,000-foot peaks. While it’s the Jungfrau region’s largest ski resort, in summer Grindelwald offers scenic walks, bike rides, and hikes past lakes and waterfalls and through flower-bedecked alpine meadows.
 
A fresh dusting of snow atop the jagged ridges this July morning only adds to the luster as my family and I set out on a six-mile hike along the Bachalpsee route to a remote lake deep in an emerald valley. To make our descent back to town, we hop aboard scooter-bicycle hybrids called Trottibikes. I point mine downhill on a paved path and pray. Directly across from me lies the mighty Eiger peak, its massive girth only adding to my anxiety. I decide to step off to gather my nerves and pretend to take photos.
 
That’s when my daughter, Melanie, whizzes by me at breakneck speed and screams, "Yeah, Trottibikes!" (Translation: You’re getting old, Dad).
 
To read more about my travels with the family to Switzerland last summer, please check out my latest story for Virtuoso Traveler. 
 
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Take the White Glove Tour at the Alexander Graham Bell Museum

It’s a good omen when you spot a bald eagle and a fox within 10 minutes of leaving your hotel after breakfast. An hour later we were paddling the placid waters of St. Ann’s Bay on a guided half-day tour with North River Kayak. We would spot more bald eagles, one distinctive white head peering out from her massive bowl-shaped nest high up the hillside. We stopped for banana bread and chocolate chai, so delicious that owner Angelo Spinazola now sells it as a parting gift. Then we walked to a small waterfall before making the paddle back. 
 
That afternoon, I returned to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum in the lakeside resort town of Baddeck. Graham Bell and his wife Mabel, a former student of his at Boston School for the Deaf, first built their summer home in Baddeck in 1886, a decade after he stated those first fateful words on the telephone to his assistant, “Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.” In 1955, Graham Bell’s two daughters donated thousands of original artifacts to the museum, including all of the models that consumed him during his lifetime. There’s a bicycle that he hoped one could pedal on water, his invention of the gramophone, and a hydrofoil he helped build later in life, called HD-4, which reached a speed of 70 miles per hour on water, a record that wouldn’t be broken for another decade. The museum is now offering a “White Glove” tour where you put on gloves and enter a backroom. A guide lets you see and touch his walking cane (rather long since he stood 6 ‘4”), suit jackets, and notebooks where he would scribble any thoughts during the day. He was a meticulous note taker and you’ll find stacks of books lined up detailing all of his studies. I also enjoyed the early photo of his brothers, making silly faces. Unfortunately they both died of TB at an early age. It’s the reason Bell’s family left Scotland to move to Canada. Bell’s 37-room estate across the lake is still used by his descendants. 
 
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Top 5 Travel Days of 2015, On Safari at Singita Grumeti

With trips to Tanzania, Turkey, Nova Scotia, the Colorado Rockies, Acadia National Park, and much more, 2015 was another banner year for travel. It’s hard to distill it all down to five days, but these are the memories I cherish most. In March, I traveled all around northern Tanzania with Rob Barbour, director of African travel at Epic Private Journeys. We would make stops in Arusha National Park, the southern Amboseli plains, Mwiba Wildlife Reserve, Ngorongoro Crater, Kusini Camp in the southern Serengeti, the Grumeti Wildlife Reserve, and the Lamai section of the northern Serengeti, where the legendary wildebeest migration takes place across the Mara River. Watching 50 elephants coming to a watering hole outside my room at Mwiba was an experience I’ll never forget. But my favorite part of the trip was the two nights we spent at Singita in the 140,000 hectare Grumeti Game Reserves. The place feels exactly like the Serengeti with its swaying grasses and low-lying ridges, but without the traffic. We passed, on average, 2 other land rovers on each 3-hour game drive. It felt incredibly exclusive. The wildlife was phenomenal, even in March before the big rains, watching lions on a wildebeest kill or giraffes nibbling on the acacias at sunset. 

 
We spent one night in the very contemporary rooms of Singita Faru Faru, perfect for families because of its two pools to unwind after lunch. The spacious rooms overlook a watering hole with good wildlife viewing from the outdoor shower (opt for Room 2 or 3). The next night we moved to Singita Explore, 6 mobile tents that move around the property, depending on the season. This was glamping at its best, with sundowners around the campfire and S. African braai for dinner. You could easily spend 3 nights at Explore and 3 nights at Faru Faru or Singita’s private 4-bedroom house, the Serengeti House, and be extremely happy. 
 

Top Travel Days of 2023, Biking Alentejo

Every day on DuVine’s 6-day biking trip into the heart of Portugal’s Alentejo region this past September was a daily dose of much-needed serenity. Biking with our good friends, Debbie and Michael, we zipped up and down the rolling hills past olives groves, vineyards, cattle, sheep, and forests of thick, gnarly looking cork trees. The days would become a blessed blur as we slowed down on the cobblestones to shout “Bon Dia” to the many women sweeping their front terraces and the men sipping espressos at the cafes. We would stop to let a shepherd and his flock stroll by, peer at the large slabs of marble being excavated in the small mines, watch a large wood stork fly from his oversized nest, and visit a cork factory to view the layers of bark being harvested. All the while, we’d be smelling the sweet eucalyptus, sour fermentation of grapes, and the pungent smell of manure.

Led by our wonderful leader, Joao, who had the good fortune to grow up and still live in Alentejo, and his sidekick, the gregarious Brazilian, Michele, we were treated to local treats like fresh figs straight from the tree or a creamy sublime local cheese that you needed a spoon to scoop out. Washed down, of course, with award-winning wines that never find their way to America due to their small number of bottles produced. After biking some 30 to 40 miles a day on the undulating roads, sometimes into a strong headwind, we were rewarded with gluttonous meals.

People ask how DuVine differs from other biking outfitters, and I usually note the smaller group size. Yet, where they really shine is at private meals of locals that I won’t soon forget. My favorite day on the trip ended with dinner at Dona Maria Vineyards, where we first stomped on grapes during the height of the harvest and then had a fantastic dinner in a home built in the mid-18th century by the King of Portugal for his mistress at the time, the namesake Dona Maria. We dined with the current owner, Isabel, and her two Jack Russell Terriers, Bowie and Ziggy, and drank copious amounts of her exceptional Grand Reserve. It was like walking into Cinderella’s ballroom before the clocks strikes twelve.

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