As we enter the new year and contemplate the cold weeks to come, don't we just LONG for the time when our favorite trails come alive again, filling in the landscape with the colors and sounds of spring?

Well, we have a rail-trail ride for you. It can be as short as 22 miles per day, or it can offer a greater challenge, too. Consider yourself cordially invited to join us for the second annual Birds & Bees Bike Ride!

May 19 to 23, 2022

$225 rider entry fee

Register Right Here!

5/19, Check-in, 10-mile Nebraska option,

and 20-mile Taco Ride

5/20, 22 miles to Malvern

5/21, 22 miles to Shenandoah

5/22, 22 miles to Malvern, plus 44-mile Missouri option

5/23, 22 miles back to Council Bluffs

Birds & Bees

to Ride Birds & Bees

Sometimes, we need a gentle start to our cycling season, and these are gentle miles, 22 each day. The trail used to be a crooked little railroad, so the inclines are gradual and the declines are wonderful.

The entry fee for this fully supported 5-day ride is only $225.

Ride, Eat, Relax.

Repeat.

You'll pass through Mineola (pop. 166), Silver City (pop. 245), Malvern (pop. 1143), Imogene (pop. 72), and Shenandoah (pop. 4728).

For these four days, life gets

pretty small.

By the way, we met this week with our friends in Malvern. They are going above and beyond yet again for our Birds & Bees riders!

Last year, the highlight of our Birds & Bees ride was our Sunday night farewell concert from the incredible Billy McGuigan. Well, this time we're planning two distinctly different performances from the incredible Billy and his band, on Saturday afternoon and our farewell on Sunday evening!

Burned to a crisp or golden all over? At Boehner Pond in Malvern on Friday and Sunday nights, you're welcome to try both methods.

Lance will light the fires, and we've got the marshmallows.

The Wabash has been listed among the top rail-trails in the country: "This jewel of southwest Iowa provides an idyllic route from Council Bluffs through a chain of small towns down to the Missouri border. Scenery along the northern part of the trail includes the windswept Loess Hills."

You'll see how true it is.

Every Thursday in the summer, a lot of people saddle up and ride 10 miles down the Wabash and back. Destination: Tobey Jack's in the center of Mineola.

This weekly event is called The Taco Ride, and it's the first leg of Birds & Bees on Thursday, the 19th.

Are you up for 10 extra miles? On Thursday, we'll give you a lift across the Missouri River. You can ride back across the curvy 3000-foot Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge to Council Bluffs.

Birds & Bees carries you south from Council Bluffs.

Are you up for another 44 extra miles? On Sunday morning, you can ride south from Shenandoah to the Iowa/Missouri State Line, and then north again to Malvern.

And that makes you a Tri-State Rider! We'll have a special prize for you!

When you use our rental tent, our crew handles your set-up, take-down, and moving your bags throughout the tour. We're happy to place friends next to each other. Just be sure you have a common group name on your Birds & Bees applications.

Rental tents are just $165 for this tour. Two people can share and split that cost.

You only unpack once when you choose our PHAT Rooms for your accommodation on Birds & Bees.

Rooms feature knotty pine interiors and laminate flooring. We provide mattresses, linens, and blankets. Charge your devices on outlets next to your bed. There are switched lights at the head of each bed, along with fans to circulate the air and provide white noise.

Rooms are air-conditioned: you can control the temperature in your room.

PHAT Rooms are just a fraction of their price on RAGBRAI or other tours. On Birds & Bees: Only $595 per room. Rooms can be shared by up to 5 sleepers.

Bring it. Remember, we don't have hook-ups in camp on the 19th in Council Bluffs or the 21st in Shenandoah. But we got 'em in Malvern on the 20th and 22nd.

On New Year's Day, we sent our invitation to join us for our South Dakota trail ride with afternoon excursions by train and by coach into the hills, to Custer State Park, to Mt. Rushmore, and to Crazy Horse. The Mickelson Trail is among the most scenic in the country. We still have room for you.

Please check out the Black Hills Hundred, June 26-30, below...

Write to us for your invitation to join us for Big Muddy on the Katy Trail, May 13-18. The Katy Trail follows the Missouri River most of the way across the state--and "Big Muddy" is the nickname of this great American river!

AND you can ride Big Muddy on the Katy Trail first, and follow it immediately with Birds & Bees on the Wabash Trace. The Katy plus the Wabash is what we call "the KaBash"! Jump into your 2022 cycling season with ten days of cycling on two beautiful trails! Here is your Big Muddy Invitation Letter...

Happy New Year, Friends! The winter months will fly by, and, come May, we hope to celebrate the spring with you on the beautiful Wabash Trace.

To virtually experience rolling on the Wabash Trace, ride along with Pat for a bit. Just click on the image below!