THE ART OF PRODUCTIVE INSOMNIATom Hale and the story behind BackroadsAt 2 a.m., the world is quiet: children sleep peacefully, traffic lights change for empty intersections, the moon shines benevolently�and the mind of Tom Hale buzzes with enterprising activity. It is at two in the morning that Hale, the Founder and President of Backroads, has had some of his greatest ideas�including the virtually unheard-of-in-its-day notion of taking people on bicycle tours. �My friends and family thought I was crazy,� admits Hale. �I was establishing a respectable career as an environmental planner in Las Vegas and I threw it all away to ride my bike for a living,� he laughs.
The Berkeley, California-based company that grew out of those eight pages has been featured on the Inc. �500 List� as one of the fastest-growing privately owned companies in America and was voted #6 among the world�s best tour operators by Travel & Leisure readers in 1999. As the world�s #1 active travel company, Backroads offers the most destinations, itineraries and annual departures in the business�142 different bicycling, walking and hiking, and multisport vacations, with over 1,000 departures scheduled annually to over 100 destinations worldwide. After developing his business plan, Hale spent the summer of 1979 on a 5,000-mile bike ride through the West to plan Backroads� first trips. In March of 1980, Hale�s brainstorm came to fruition with Backroads� very first vacation, a bicycling and camping trip in Death Valley, that is still a popular offering. In that first year, Hale also developed and led trips in Bryce and Zion national parks, the Colorado Rockies, Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, the Canadian Rockies, the San Juan Islands and California�s wine country. In 21 years, Backroads has grown from a three-person operation with Hale leading all trips, driving vans, racking bikes, cooking camp food and taking sales calls, to a team of 210 trip leaders and 95 office staff members. Hale stays personally involved in the development of all Backroads trips, from selection of the destinations to sampling routes, hotels and restaurants. He ensures Backroads exceptional quality by regularly joining trips and assisting in the selection and training of new staff. Hale�s vision and keen instincts have kept Backroads in a steady growth mode for each of its 20 years, but he sees growth primarily as a tool for improvement. �We only get bigger if we get better as well,� he says, citing Backroads successful geographic expansion (into the Northeastern U.S. and Canada, Europe, Asia, Central and South America, and Africa) and breadth of activities (the addition of walking, hiking and multisport vacations) as examples. Says Hale, �I have always known that I need to be passionate about something in order to do it well, whether it�s running a trail or running a business.� In every trip Backroads offers�Hale�s passion is evident. Backroads Edited by Kerry Cohen -Updated 9-21-00- |
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It was at 2 a.m. on a night in 1979 that Hale awoke, thunderstruck, with the idea for Backroads, a company that would offer stimulating outdoor vacations. Hale saw biking as an optimal way to explore the countryside. �It is an incredibly rewarding way to travel. Besides offering a sense of accomplishment and well being, active travel immerses one in the wonders of a destination by removing barriers and creating an intimacy with the surroundings. The pace allows time to interact with locals, appreciate wildlife and natural wonders and absorb history and culture� he says. Over the course of that night, Hale wrote an eight-page business plan. Though now a little time worn and smudged, Hale still has that original plan and its ideals continue to guide Backroads.