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At the edge of the White Mountain National Forest, the gateway to the Presidential Range, three of New England's finest Inns have started New Hampshire's first and only cycling Inn-to-Inn package plan. You can Bike the Whites here in the heart of the 780,000 acres of the White Mountain National Forest. The breathtaking beauty of the White Mountain area would be reason enough to vacation at these charming New England Inns but, of course, there's more. During the day, you work up a sweat while pumping those leg muscles over hill and dale. In the evening, you step back in time to the calming atmosphere of each Inn and enjoy a truly fine meal. Each is an echo of a time period when things were not so hectic and pampering and fine dining provided by your hosts is waiting for you there.

The adventure begins at the Forest Inn in Intervale, just a stone's throw from North Conway. The Forest Inn is situated on a quiet, wooded street, but close enough to North Conway for almost any kind of shopping and theater. Lisa and Bill Guppy will help you feel at home in their 1890's Victorian Bed and Breakfast. The Inn has eleven rooms, some with fireplaces, a romantic stone cottage with fireplace, a cottage with Jacuzzi, an outdoor swimming pool and a calming veranda with rocking chairs for a relaxing evening in the fresh mountain air. After a hearty breakfast, the fun begins.

The soft adventure biking routes are individually planned with abilities of the individual in mind and then inked in on a personal map of the area. Bill will help you find the right bike for your tour while adjusting seat height, checking brakes, tires and gears for a safe and worry-free ride. Water bottles that fit neatly in the bike are provided by the Guppys. The Inns are about 21 miles apart, so one may choose the easier direct route, the slightly longer distance of 32 miles or a more challenging route of 40 miles. Circled on the map are sights along the way and scenic rest areas to be enjoyed by children as well as adults. In fact, it is a great way for the whole family to be outdoors together exercising where the air is clean and the scenery beautiful.

You will need to know that bicycle rules for the road are the same as rules for driving an automobile. When in doubt, get off your bike and walk. The route on the personal map provided by the tour has also taken into account the roads that are heavily traveled and condition of the pavement. It is a good idea to wear bright colored non earth-toned t-shirts and jerseys, cycle gloves, sunglasses or goggles, black cycle pants that wick away water and moisture from the skin and, always, a helmet. It is also a good idea to carry an identification card and some change in case you have to make a telephone call. Oh, yes, bring a camera for some great shots.  The cycling is not a group endeavour unless you plan it that way. Everyone is free to leave when he desires, to take as much or little time as he desires, and to stop and smell the roses along the way.

En route are discoveries to be made. Lucy's Pastry and Ice Cream Shop has a selection of pastries baked by Martha Lucy that are better than mother used to make, several flavors of ice cream, and fresh out of the New Hampshire maple trees are bottles of sweet maple syrup bottled up by Daniel Lucy. Farther along is Diana's Baths. Park the bike and take the 20- minute walk through a shady wood. Cold water from Lucy Brook cascades down and over a hillside of rocks smoothing them and forming pools on several levels for splashing, sunning or just taking in the scenery.

It might be a good idea to pack a swimsuit in the bike bag for a swim in Echo Lake. This is a state park with a view to die for. Surrounded by evergreens, the beaches look up onto the dramatic granite rock ledges of White Horseshoe Ledge and Cathedral Ledge. You may see rock climbers scaling up and down the granite rock face and marvel at rare Peregrine falcons soaring in the sky. If you are a little eleven o'clockish before you arrive at the Chinook Café in Conway for sandwiches and salads, there is a strawberry field where you may pick your own berries and picnic by the side of the road. No New England journey would be complete without seeing picturesque covered bridges and there are three along the way.

The first day's journey ends High above Crystal Lake in Snowville at the Snowvillage Inn where Kevin Flynn and family greet you in their gracious turn-of-the-century Inn perched high atop Mount Foss. The main house was built in 1912 as a summer home for a writer who found the views of Mount Washington spectacular and the utter quiet conducive to getting the creative juices going. Snowvillage is romance personified with its flower gardens to stroll and its truly excellent four-course dinner served by candlelight. There are fireplaces in the main house and in individual rooms to take the chill off some evenings in the cool mountain air or just to provide a cozy New England atmosphere.

Traveling along the National Geographic Scenic Highway past lakes and wildlife sanctuaries, your second day's journey will end in the picturesque village of Tamworth, established in1833, and the Tamworth Inn. It is a town seemingly forgotten by the 21st century. Grover Cleeveland and his family summered here, and his son Francis probably swam in the clear running Swift River in back of the Tamworth Inn. When Francis grew up, he founded the "Barnstormers," a top-notch summer theater, now just a two-minute walk from the Inn. Your hosts Virginia and Bob Shrader will see you to one of their individually decorated guest rooms or suites. You may want a dip in the swimming pool, a bracing drink in the pub (all sodas and soft drinks are gratis), swing in the hammock at the edge of the sweeping lawn or relax while you wait for an imaginative gourmet dinner in the restaurant overlooking the garden.

All Bike the Whites Inn-to-Inn tours begin on Sunday at the Forest Inn. No need to worry about luggage or gear because while you are cycling and enjoying the beauty of the White Mountain National Forest, they will be transported for you to the next scheduled Inn. All your hosts for this rewarding and adventurous holiday say, "Leave the cooking and the hospitality to us."

The cost of the Biking the Whites package is surprisingly modest. The four-day/three-night tour package is $249 in May and $310 from June to September. The price quoted is per person, double occupancy and includes taxes, three night's lodging, thee breakfasts, three gourmet dinners, luggage transfer, route planning, and road service, if required. Bike the Whites closes down for the month of April, but it's a three-season winner, and the inns are open individually during ski season.

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