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Why Should I Bicycle With Noo Funteers Adventure Vacation Tours?
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Noo Funteers is owned and operated by vacation cyclists. Our vacations are adventure vacations. We have many years' experience in adventure travel. For years, we have traveled with various outfitters throughout the Western United States, Canada, and Alaska. Frequent comments by other customers, along with our own desires, prompted us to begin a different kind of adventure touring company. Noo Funteers endeavors to provide the most scenic and spectacular routes, coupled with the finest available meals and accommodations, while providing more challenging routes than other outfitters offer. On all of our trips we stay in lodges, motels and inns, as opposed to camping. The following 11 points illustrate why you should choose Noo Funteers for your next active vacation tour.
1. GREAT SCENERY
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Foremost in our trip route selection is the magnificent scenery. Your scenery possibilities range from towering snow capped peaks to eerie desert rock formations. In addition, our remote routes offer the opportunity to see a wide variety of abundant wildlife on each trip.
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2. MORE CHALLENGING TRIP ROUTES
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In addition to beginner trips, we also have several trips that will challenge even the most experienced cyclist. The longest trip in terms of daily and overall mileage is the Grand Junction trip that averages 77 miles a day for a grand trip total of 844 miles. Elevation climbs per day range as high as 8,947 feet on our most difficult trip.
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3. LOWER TRAFFIC VOLUME
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Most of the western roads on which we bike have much lower traffic volumes than the roads in the eastern half of the United States. Most of our trips are scheduled before or after peak tourist season. Those scheduled during tourist season are on roads that are not as heavily traveled by tourists as the other roads in the vicinity.
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4. WIDE SHOULDERS
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Most of the selected roads in our routes have fairly clean, two to eight foot wide shoulders on which to bike.
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5. LONGER GRADES
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On the more difficult trips for advanced cyclists, some days have long, more gradual grades, as opposed to the short steeper grades found in the East. This means some of our downhills may be 15 to 30 miles long. Some days may be fairly flat, however if there is a climb it is usually not as steep as the grades in the East.
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6. BICYCLING AT YOUR OWN PACE
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None of our trips are races to see who finishes first. Our detailed, easily understood descriptions and directions will allow an individual to pedal at his own pace without the help of a guide. Indeed, if you ride too fast you may miss seeing some wildlife or scenery that others behind you are enjoying. If you so desire, you may take all day to complete each leg of your trip, stopping as often as you feel necessary to take pictures, watch wildlife, or to absorb the beauty of the moment. If you do not want to pedal the whole day, then just flag down the van and hitch a shuttle ride at any point.
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7. EXCITING OPTIONS ON DAYS OFF
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Although the costs of optional activities are not included in the cost of the trip, some options are available at a group rate. Most of our option days allow for a wide variety of fun and exciting (or just restful) activity selections. Some of the many options from which you may choose on different trips range from hiking, mountain biking, shopping for trip momentos, horseback riding, boating or white water rafting. Hot mineral spas, train rides, balloon riding, and sightseeing at National Parks are available on certain trips. On many of our trips, we have off days scheduled in areas considered by many outdoor magazine polls as some of the best areas in which to hike in the Western Hemisphere. For the hiking enthusiast, we recommend the Bryce-Zion, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, or Big Bend trips.
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8. BEST FOOD AND INNS AVAILABLE
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We utilize the best restaurants and inns available. Our evening meals are not pre-selected. You may order any appetizer, salad, entre, and dessert offered on the menu. Alcoholic beverages are not included in the cost of the trip. We try to make our overnight accommodations the finest in the area. If there is a famous landmark inn or hotel in the area, we try to patronize that location.
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9. SMALL GROUP SIZE
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We insist on maintaining small groups for our trips. Our maximum amount of participation is 31 guests plus two to four guides. Our normal group size is 15 to 22 people plus guides. The small size of our groups makes for much safer, less crowded road conditions. This also allows our guides to devote more time to each of our guests specific requests.
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10. WELL SPACED REST STOPS FOR FOOD AND WATER
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We have roadside rest stops at which we provide snacks and drinks, usually every 10 to 15 miles. Lunches are specially prepared and served at a scenic roadside stop, which is usually three to four hours into the ride each day.
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11. PHYSICALLY ACTIVE VACATIONS
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We offer some of the most active and unusual vacations to be found anywhere in America. You may select from trips ranging in duration from four to 14 days. The mileage ranges from the highest of 844 total miles (77 miles a day average) to a low of 76 total miles (25 miles a day average). Elevation average climb is a high of 6,481 feet per day to a relatively flat 1,455 feet per day.
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Noofunteers was founded by husband and wife team, Larry and Karen, an action sports couple who decided that after fifteen years of canoeing and kayaking to look for something a little milder and safer to do after Karen had an accident. After some investigating of bike reviews and talking to regular cycling holiday makers, they decided that this would probably be just right for them. Over several years, the intrepid pair went on cycling holidays with different outfits and reserved their own judgment while listening and paying attention to the suggestions and complaints of other bikers. The main complaint was that at the end of a day's cycling they all had to help set up camp and participate in group preparations of the evening and morning meals, which were of the take it or leave it variety. Larry and Karen concluded that the answer to all this accumulated knowledge was to start up their own outfit and they put great thought and planning in how to do it better. The solutions were reasonably simple. An experienced or a beginner on a cycling holiday would really appreciate a hot shower or bath at the end of the day's riding. A good night's sleep in a comfortable bed and the provision of meals that could be chosen to suit individual tastes, allergies, or diets were high on the list to make the whole idea of cycling holidays better. Noofunteers was established and bikers who take the cycling holidays with the outfit always stay overnight at the best resorts available in the areas being travelled. Most of the overnight stops are spent in lodges, bed and breakfasts, hot spring resorts, inns, and hotels that feature in the national historical register. Noofunteers has found that the western states provide the safest and more scenic cycling holidays. The traffic is much lighter and vehicle drivers appear to have an awareness of the needs of cyclists. The cycling holidays are not organized tours, but are vacation trips, which can accommodate groups of about twenty riders and allow for the experience of the participants. Beginners will ride for between two to three hours and cover anything from five to thirty miles daily. The More experienced cyclists group will travel a challenging five to eight hours and accomplish a mileage of between sixty to eighty miles a day. A support van is always available to transport the cyclist's luggage, cycle spares, and kits, and to pick up any cyclist who is feeling the strain. Cycling holidays with Noofunteers can offer the wonders of beautiful scenery in the states of Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Montana, and Arkansas. Noofunteers cycling holidays allows riders to breath in the fresh air while riding, stop at any time they wish to take a snack and water break, and photographs can be captured for the holiday albums. There are always two guides per trip who will point out the stops that can be taken to participate in other activities available on that specific route. They could ride a hot-air balloon, ride horses, swim, hike for a while, or even try their hand at kayaking. Noofunteers cycling holidays are filled with adventure and action and amazing scenery.
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