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About Us

Bike the South tours are primarily for leisure cyclists who appreciate the joys and discoveries that slow travel offers.

Who We Are

Chattanooga-based Bike the South will offer some of the best and most scenic cycling in the Southeast, and our pilot season features some of our favorite routes in and near our home base in Tennessee and nearby Georgia. We will also offer partner tours from some of the leading bike tour companies in the Southeast.

Bike the South is the sister company of BikeTours.com, which has helped more than 30,000 travelers enjoy their dream tours in Europe.

Our Kind of Riding

We feel that bicycle touring should be for people of all shapes, sizes, ages, and ability levels. As one of our dear friends says, “Slow is beautiful.” And that’s why our tours are designed for the slow traveler who wants to savor the treasures the South has to offer, not just speed through them.

We design our tours to expose cyclists to a region’s best scenery as well as to cultural and historical highlights. They’re also designed primarily for novice and leisure cyclists--and for more experienced riders who are intent on slowing down and smelling the magnolia trees.

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Three Levels of Support

We take care of the “what ifs” by offering three primary tour types:

• Guided tours, where you’ll ride with a ride-along guide and accompanying support vehicle
• Supported tours, where you ride on your own but have a ride-along escort and/or have an accompanying or on-call support vehicle
• Self-guided tours, where you ride on your own

All tours include planned routes and downloadable maps and route information. All overnight tours include luggage transfers and overnight lodging.

More about tour types

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Our Origins

Bike the South founder Jim Johnson has sent more than 30,000 American clients on European bicycle tours through our sister company, BikeTours.com, which he started in 2003. He's also been one of the area’s staunchest advocates of regional bicycle tourism.

When the pandemic struck, shutting down Europe to American travelers, Jim decided to combine his passion for cycle touring and his love for the South to create Bike the South. The company, while new, benefits from best practices Jim has learned from working with nearly 100 European bike tour companies for nearly 20 years.

Jim has also worked as a volunteer with USAID helping Eastern European countries develop bicycle tourism as a means of strengthening local economies, which he hopes Bike the South will also do in the Southeast, especially in rural areas.

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Questions? Drop us a line.

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