Truth to tell, Pedal and Sea Adventures is a small— but mighty!— company run by one of Nova Scotia's most experienced adventurers. Dana Gallant has been organizing bike tours in Atlantic Canada for 15 years. He started with Freewheeling Adventures in early 1990s before establishing Pedal and SeaAdventures in 1999. Dana wanted to share one of the world's best places with travelers in need of a little R&R.... Riding and relaxation, that is.
It began with Nova Scotia, the Canadian province where Dana has decided to hang his cycling helmet, even though he could run his bike tours from any number of exotic locales. But Dana likes living here. And when he established Pedal and Sea Adventures, this is the place he first wanted to show people.
And that's because Nova Scotia rewards people who learn about a place by staying active. By walking, biking, exploring, kayaking. At Pedal and Sea, every member of our staff believes that touring this province on a bike is simply one of the best things you can do.
Pedal and Sea Adventures has grown from humble beginnings to become an international concern. In fact, the company continues to double in size every couple of years, with PSA boasting almost an 80 per cent retention rate, as compared to an industry standard of less than 30 per cent. In other words, if you book with Pedal and Sea for one tour, you're more than likely to travel with them again down the road. Clients quickly become friends whenever we share the adventures of the road.
It's the personal touch. Dana and his staff are bright, personable guides who treat people as they would like to be treated. We look for people who are overflowing with courtesy, respect, friendliness, and an unquenchable a joie de vivre! You're on vacation, after all. We promise that you will make rich memories when you book with us — enough to last a lifetime!
From that very first season, offering just two Nova Scotia tours, Pedal and Sea has grown dramatically every year since — by taking very good care of their customers.
The company now offers five fantastic tours in Nova Scotia, including a popular Cape Breton tour that traverses the Cabot Trail, and other tours that run along the Lighthouse Route, the Evangeline Trail, and the coastal towns of Lunenburg. The Best of Both Coasts tour, first offered in 2006, runs along the Atlantic and the Bay of Fundy, and the spaces fill up quickly.
Nova Scotia is old by North American standards, so "Bluenosers" have a keen sense of culture and tradition. It's also rugged and unspoiled. The province boasts more than 5,000 miles of undulating coastline, and every dip and rise will delight your senses. Along many of our roads, osprey might outnumber automobiles. Folks are friendly, life is unhurried. Charming country inns await, and the food is amazingly good.
PSA also tours two other Canadian provinces; namely Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland's Viking Trail, two remarkably beautiful areas. But they are so different, it's hard to believe they're both Atlantic Provinces.
In Europe, Pedal and Sea Adventures runs dozens of tours every year in Ireland, Croatia and, in 2008, Norway. (Dana visited Norway in April to plan this tour, and thinks that his customers will be blown away by the country's beauty, and Norwegians legendary hospitality) .
Italy needs a paragraph all to itself. Pedal and Sea started offering Italian tours during its second season, and we now run tours in Tuscany, Umbria, Sicily and, most recently,Puglia (said to be the next big thing in international travel). We've also expanded our repetoire to include a hiking and cooking tour of Tuscany and Umbria. What can we say? We love Italy! And we're sure to add another tour or two before the decade ends.
Our roster ends — for now — with a Costa Rica adventure tour, a perfect respite for a long winter. It's so beautiful and lush, with colors so vivid that out adhectives feel pale and weak. And the wildlife. Amazing.
And that's why we want you to come play with us! We guarantee that you'll be glad that you did.
