An Office with a View

By Dave Kraus

“Wow, you’re gonna be livin’ the dream!” said my friends when they learned I would be working as a cycling tour guide this past summer for Ciclismo Classico (ciclismoclassico.com), an international company based in Arlington, Mass. Go to exotic scenic locations! Stay in luxurious hotels! Eat in fine restaurants! Hang out with great people (who tip well)!... Get paid to ride my bike!

Well... not quite. When the owner offered me this chance, I heard the little voice in the back of my bike helmet whispering, “There’s no quicker way to ruin your hobby then to make it your business, too!”

But I decided to give it a try, and it’s a bit different than I expected, but still a rewarding way to work, meet wonderful people, and stay fit. I ended up guiding tours in the Adirondacks, Finger Lakes, central Vermont, western Massachusetts and coastal Maine. I also worked in 2021 at events for Bike Adirondacks (bikeadirondacks.com), based in Saranac Lake, and Farm to Fork Fitness Adventures (farmtoforkfitness.com), based in Essex Junction, Vt. It was a busy summer, but I learned a lot about the business, the lifestyle – and about myself.

Does it involve getting paid to ride my bike? Well, yes. But while I’m riding, I’m keeping track of where the guests are, where the next turn and rest stop are, where the other guide in the van is, whether we will arrive at our lunch stop restaurant by the time my take-out order for 15 people is ready because I can’t call to tell them we will be late because there’s no cell reception, and is it gonna rain on us, and did the luggage get to the next hotel, and... You get the idea. But we’re there to make sure our guests don’t have to worry about any of these things. They’re paying to just ride and have fun.

Actually, my work as a guide usually begins before the tour. I sit in on calls with prospective guests or answer their email questions. I also help review and fine-tune the routes, then go out to actually drive, and/or ride them before the tour so our guests can have confidence in me leading them. Their safety and enjoyment are ultimately my responsibility, and I don’t want to let them down.

Normally we have two guides for each tour of six to 12 guests and we alternate riding and driving the large van. Inside is (hopefully) everything we will need while we’re out on the road. That includes everything from the guest’s walking shoes for the stop at the state park to whole spare bikes. On these domestic tours, the guests usually bring their own bikes, but we can rent them a regular or ebike if they need it.

Driving the van is a whole different set of tasks and thoughts. I must go ahead of the cyclists to mark turns and set up rest stops where guests will get a complete table full of energy bars, fruit and cold drinks, all presented with a nice tablecloth and even flowers in a vase. Plus, I’m shooting snapshots to make available to the guests and marketing photos to use on our company website.

Do we have enough Gatorade? Do we have enough gluten-free energy bars for the special diet guest? Have I driven far enough ahead to have time to set up the table and pick some flowers before the first riders get here? Meanwhile, this spot looks like it would make a great picture. Do I have enough time to get a shot of riders coming toward me and still get ahead to set up the rest stop? Like riding, it’s a multitasking challenge that forces you to think ahead to make it all come together for a good time for your guests.

That’s just on the rides. For guides our day starts at 6am when we wake up, make a quick trip to the nearest grocery store, and hurry back to make sure we and the guests get our breakfasts, check the weather, then meet the guests at 8:30 to do the daily ride talk – the “route wrap” – and head out by 9:00.

Once the day’s ride is done, the guests relax while we clean up the van (and everyone’s bike if it rained), confirm the dinner reservations, and make sure tomorrow’s arrangements are made for lunch, cultural attraction stops, etc. Then it’s usually dinner with the guests and help them have a good time, often until 8:30pm or later.

There’s a lot to keep track of and to remember. But after you’ve done it a few times everything comes together into a seamless, smooth day for you and your guests, and it’s beautiful. There’s so much satisfaction in watching them have an honestly good time on their special vacation with their partner or family in someplace they’ve never been to, and know we made it possible for them. On one tour a guest brought his wife and rented an ebike for her. She had been in a serious bicycle crash some years before and not ridden at all since then, plus she was sure she would hold him back on rides. He was not sure she would even complete the first day’s ride. But by the end of the tour, she was passing everyone and ready to get her own ebike. It was a special reward for me.

Sometimes even the unexpected disasters turn into victories. Driving the van near Seneca Falls in the Finger Lakes, I rolled up on our guest Anthony standing forlornly beside his bike, the derailleur hanging down almost to the ground. I took him to the nearest bike store where the owner gave us the bad news: the hanger had snapped, causing the derailleur to whip around, and break the carbon seat stay, ruining the Bianchi frame he had ten years of memories with. Anthony had tears in his eyes as we left the store.

We set out to find him another bike for the three remaining days of the trip. Steve, my fellow guide, made some phone calls and found a friend in Ithaca who had a bike, so we spent the evening making the 80-mile roundtrip to fetch it to save Anthony’s vacation – and we succeeded!

Guiding is work like any other job, but it’s always interesting and often fun. It also lets me do what I love – go ride my bike, find cool places, then bring back my friends to watch them enjoy the experience, too.

Dave Kraus (dave@ciclismoclassico.com) is a longtime area cyclist, photographer, and writer who is currently looking for guides to work with on tours in 2022. Visit his website at KrausGrafik.com.