North Carolina: Asheville’s Land of the Sky Bike Tour
6-Day Hub & Spoke Bike Tour
Tour Information
Nestled in the French Broad River valley and surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains, Asheville is a mecca of arts and culture, Appalachian tradition, historic architecture and natural splendor, with lots of locally produced beer, food and music to make it even more enticing.
This is a hub-and-spoke tour, where you’ll stay at the same hotel all week, giving you a taste of Asheville’s unique neighborhoods and rolling farmlands just outside the city limits. See for yourself why our guide Kimberly refers to her hometown as the “Paris of the South.”
5% Discount
The first 6 women to sign up receive 5% discounts.
Moderate
Advanced
Hilly terrain with some longer climbs on paved roads. Perfect for all cycling levels, especially with the option of using an e-bike or shuttle support to make the ride more enjoyable and accessible.
5 nights lodging, 5 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 4 dinners, snacks, guided walking tour, van support, digital cue sheets, maps & GPS files, and trained guides.
$195 for Cannondale Quick 3 hybrid, or Cannondale Topstone 2 adventure road bike. $350 for Gazelle T10 Ultimate low-step e-bike or Specialized Vado step-thru e-bike.
Ouick
Topstone
Gazelle
Vado
We stay at one hotel for the entire tour:
Fly into and out of the Asheville Regional Airport (AVL). Then take a 20-minute taxi or Uber/Lyft ride to our hotel. At the end of the tour, we'll provide a complimentary shuttle to the airport arriving by 1:00pm. Or drive and park your car at the hotel.
Kimberly Masters
Tour Leader
What about electric-assist bikes (e-bikes)?
Electric-assist bikes - or e-bikes - have quiet, battery-powered motors that add power to your pedalng. They increase your speed and assist you in cycling up hills. Most e-bikes have a range of assistance, so you can choose how much of a boost you'd like. E-bikes make it easier to do all the miles in all types of terrain. We allow electric-assist bicycles on our tours if you'd like to bring your own. We also have e-bikes available for rent on most of our trips -- look for the e-bike symbol. We do not make e-bike recommendations if you're considering purchasing your own. We suggest you rent one on a tour first so you can try it!
I am coming alone on this tour. Will I be the only one traveling alone?
Absolutely not. Many of our participants come by themselves. That is part of the reason for the existence of WomanTours--to provide women with riding partners as well as scenic vistas and interesting tours.
What if I have to cancel a tour within the USA?
We understand that personal circumstances sometimes force women to cancel their travel plans. Therefore, we have tried to be as generous as possible with the following domestic tour cancellation policy for our regular tours:
- 75+ days before tour departure: forfeit $150 of your deposit.
- 50 - 74 days before tour departure: forfeit 25% of the complete tour price.
- 30 - 49 days before tour departure: forfeit 65% of the complete tour price
- 15 - 29 days before tour departure: forfeit 85% of the complete tour price.
- 0 - 14 days before tour departure: forfeit 100% of the complete tour price.
- No refunds are possible after the tour begins.
In addition, you may transfer $350 to another trip up to 75 days before departure. On domestic US trips (excluding Alaska,) you may also transfer 50% of the trip price, less $50 up to 30 days before departure. WomanTours will hold any “transfer funds” on account through December 31 of the following year. Any money left on account beyond this deadline will be forfeited.
Please note that our cross-country and epic tours have their own cancellation policies, depending on the tour's payment schedule. The $300 registration fee for these tours is nonrefundable and nontransferable.
Asheville Bike Tour Itinerary *Tentative Itinerary*
DAY 1: We meet at our downtown Asheville hotel in in the afternoon for a bike fitting and orientation and our first dinner together. If you arrive a day or two early, there is plenty to explore. Visit the historic Biltmore Estate for both architectural and natural splendor. Or tap into the beer scene—Asheville boasts the highest number of breweries per capita in the country. 0 miles.
DAY 2: After breakfast we will hop on our bikes and take a quick jaunt through West Asheville. Before you know it, we’ll be in quiet countryside, savoring farms, hills and that famous “land of the sky.” Near the end of our ride we will enjoy a lunch in Asheville’s thriving River Arts District, an area where painters, sculptors and artists of other media have transformed warehouses and factories into a mecca of creativity. Before dinner, we will take a guided walking tour of downtown Asheville with one of the city’s best tour guides. 37 miles, +2703’/-2695’.
DAY 3: Starting from our hotel, we point our bikes north and pedal through the beautiful rolling hills of Leicester along the Little Ivy River. Lunch is on your own, but you’ll have plenty of charming café options in Marshall, a quaint town that also serves as the county seat. Then we will follow the French Broad River back to town. 51 miles, +3252’/-3251’.
DAY 4: We leave the bikes behind today, pack a lunch and lace up our hiking shoes as we venture into the Dupont State Recreational Forest, a 10,473-acre paradise for hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders. It’s also where The Hunger Games (2012) and The Last of the Mohicans (1992) were filmed. Our hike will take us past three stunning waterfalls.
If you’re not interested in hiking, you can take a hop-on hop-off trolley tour to Biltmore Village and the River Arts District, or stroll the shops along Historic Grove Arcade. Dinner is on your own, though it is tough to make a bad choice in a city that the locals have nicknamed “Foodtopia.” 0 miles.
DAY 5: For some cyclists, the 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway is their Appalachian Trail: a life-altering experience that builds character and cements memories. We take on a short and sweet portion of the BRP, starting at Craggy Gardens, a rocky or “craggy” forest where rhododendrons and other flowers flourish and the views are spectacular. You can choose to climb the 14 miles (and 1895’ elevation) to the dramatic summit of Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. We’ll celebrate this high point with a picnic lunch, before heading (mostly) downhill back to Asheville. 14, 35 or 49 miles, +4233’/-7510’ for 49-mile ride.
DAY 6: This final bike ride is all Asheville, taking us to the Montford district where we’ll be treated to some fine Arts & Crafts architecture built in the early 20th century. We’ll take a photogenic time-out to savor the Asheville skyline and share a farewell picnic lunch at our guide Kimberly’s home before shuttling to the airport arriving by 1:00pm. Hope to see you back again soon! 9 miles, +1050’/-1052’.