Let’s face it, we would all love to hop on a bicycle and peddle off across the country. The prospect of ultimate freedom, nothing but you and the open road, the air in your lungs and the wind at your back. However for most of us, taking off for 43 days (the estimated length of time it takes to ride cross-country) is simply not feasible (at least any time in the near future).

So what do we do in the meantime? Or instead because, yes, I realize that the idea of being in the saddle for 100 miles/day isn’t exactly enthralling for everyone. Regardless if this idea is making you crave adventure or just cringe, there are alternatives.

Urban AdvenTours for example, what a brilliant little business venture. They offer cycling tours of downtown Boston seven days a week (in the warmer months anyway). You can see everything from the Charles to the North End, Back Bay to Fenway Park. Maybe you have lived in the bay area your whole life, or maybe you just moved here. Either way, seeing a city via bicycle seat is not an experience to be overlooked.

Most cities have some sort of cycling culture (bred from sport meets demand). Unless you live under a rock (and these pre-nuclear war days who could honestly find fault with that), you have most likely heard of New York City’s 5-boro tour. Another fantastic way to see the city, 40 miles of fresh (in the loosest sense of the word, it is New York after all) air, seeing parts of New York that you may never have known existed!

You see, things look better from a bicycle seat. It’s a known fact. So why not take a mini bicycle tour in your own backyard.