Is Biking the New Golf?

Biking just might be a better way to network than playing golf. (Photo: iStock)

“Biking is the new golf,” Jack Ezon, President of Ovation Vacations in New York, declared on a panel during Virtuoso Week.

So is it?

On any given day in Central Park, I see bikers whizzing by in tight shorts and helmets, circling the park’s loop. There’s even an acronym for the men: MAMILS, or middle-aged men in Lycra.

But the popularity of biking isn’t limited to a certain age group or gender. Bike tours all over the world are growing exponentially in popularity, and many more hotels are providing free bikes for their guests to use during their stay. Even river cruise lines like AmaWaterways are getting in on the biking mania.

It’s no secret that bikers often have a much more intimate, immersive experience. One of my best travel experiences was biking from Stratford-upon-Avon to London with the UK’s Carter Company. “A bike is a very flexible mode of transport. We call it the ‘art of slow travel,’ and we specialize in gentle cycling and laid-back itineraries,” says Iona Carter. “In the UK, biking is especially good because of the density of things to see. You don’t have to travel massive distances to see things.”

The market for golf trips isn’t disappearing, but biking might be taking a bigger piece of it. Here’s why.