November 2, 2025
Topics:
- Registration lottery
- Small tour dates and descriptions
- Small tour pricing
2026 Small Tours – Details, Pricing, Interest Lists
We’ve got everything mapped out for our 2026 small-group tours in Santa Barbara, Southern Utah and… Sicily! See descriptions, details and pricing below.
First, the most important thing: All these rides filled up last year, most of them very quickly. We want to give everyone the same chance to get a spot, so we’re going to do what we did last year: entry lotteries. Here’s how it will work.
Start by looking at the event dates/descriptions, and then your calendar, to see if you want to try to join one or more tours. Then use the links below to get your name on the Interest List, whether it’s for one or multiple tours. Getting on the Interest List should mean you’re serious about doing that tour; it’s not a commitment, but if your name comes up in the lottery Dec. 1 you’ll have to decide/commit quickly.
Rules (read carefully):
- You can enter your name for more than tours, and more than one set of dates for the same tour – Weeks 1 and 3 of Santa Barbara, for example, or both weeks of Sicily. You’ll have the same odds of getting a spot for each event you enter for.
- If you’re part of a couple or a group of friends, you’ll need to enter as one entity – meaning only one person in the couple or group puts their name on the list. Then if your entry comes up in the lottery, everyone in your group will get in (as long as we have that many spots left when your entry comes up). If you enter as individuals, there’s no guarantee you’ll both/all get in as singles.
- In your Interest List email entry, please list your full name and how many people are part of the entry. There’s a maximum of four people per group.
- On December 1, we’ll conduct a lottery for the available spots on all the tours. We’ll draw numbers for the entire interest list of each event, until everyone who entered has a “rank.” (This will create a waitlist, too.)
- We’ll notify the winners for each event, and give them a week to put down a $500 deposit (per person) that will secure their spot(s).
- If winners don’t take an offered spot, we’ll go down the interest-list rankings and offer it to the next people. Same thing for cancellations – we’ll go to the rankings/waitlist and offer the open spot to the top person on the list.
Tours and Pricing
(See the Small Tours page on the BRNW website for more details on the individual tours.)
Santa Barbara (10 riders max per week)
Week 1: April 5-11 (Mellow Group)
Week 2: April 12-18 (Faster Group)
Week 3: April 19-25 (Mellow Group)
This tour features five days of spring riding in the sunshine of Santa Barbara. Oh, and classy beachfront lodging, great meals, and the usual amazing BRNW snacks and bevs, plus full guide/van support on the route. It’s a relaxed vibe in a gorgeous place.
Note: Please only sign up for the appropriate group/week. You don’t have to be a racer to sign up for Week 2, but this group is not for casual riders. Week 2 is more of a true spring camp, where we’ll challenge the group as much as they want to be challenged. Similarly, Weeks 1 and 3 are not for competitive personalities; it’s moderate distances and climbing, at a medium pace, with options for a bit more if you want. These tours don’t work when you mix groups; trust our experience on this.
Price: Same pricing as 2025! The price is all-inclusive, including five nights of lodging, five days of all your meals and snacks, airport transport, guide support and even tips for the hotel staff. You can add a sixth night of hotel and meals if you like, for an additional amount.
Double Occupancy: $2,500
Single Occupancy: $3,000
Get on the Interest List for Week 1, April 5-11 (Mellow)
Get on the Interest List for Week 2, April 12-18 (Faster)
Get on the Interest List for Week 3, April 19-25 (Mellow)
Southern Utah (10 riders max)
October 3-14
Based on our experience with this truly epic route, we’ve added a couple off-the-bike days, to hike in Arches and Bryce Canyon (or just chill) – so this tour is now 11 days, with 9 days of riding. (If you really want to ride all 11, we can work it out.) The Big Five national parks, plus four or more national monuments. And the mind-blower: We think the best riding days are not in the parks (not that the parks aren’t amazing). You need to see this to understand.
An important point: The overall route starts at 4,000 feet and at times goes above 9,000 feet. The mileage is not at all punishing (less than 60 miles every day, sometimes much less), but you need to be ready for it. The combo of climbing and altitude is not to be messed with. Pace can vary, although if you’re extremely fast or extremely slow you might have to adjust to the group.
We stay in a combination of fun/funky motels (individual rooms) and multiple huge Airbnb rental homes (group living), and we eat like royalty – including two of the best restaurants in the Southwest you’ve never been to.
Price: We’ve managed to add a day to the itinerary and still keep our prices the same as 2025. The price includes all lodging, all meals, snacks and beverages, airport transport, baggage service and full route support.
Double Occupancy: $3,995
Single Occupancy: $4,995
Get on the Interest List for Utah, Oct. 3-14
Sicily (16 riders minimum, 20 maximum per tour)
Tour 1: Oct. 3-17 (Leaders: Chuck and Sanna Phinney)
Tour 2: Oct. 22-Nov. 5 (Leaders: Maura Schwartz and Stan Nowakowski)
Year One of BRNW tours in Europe turned out pretty great, so we’re moving forward in style, with a stunning tour route in Sicily. Many riders will tell you that this is the best riding in Italy, bar none. (And that’s not even factoring in the food!) It’s 15 days total, with 8 mandatory cycling days, 3 optional riding days and 2 guided hiking days. It’s 516 miles of riding, with 46,000 feet of climbing.
These tours will again be guided by our partner Ibero Cycle, who organized our 2025 tours of the Pyrenees and Catalonia/Costa Brava. We’ve slimmed down the group size to 20 max, for a more intimate atmosphere. And former BRNW Executive Director Sanna Phinney and her husband Chuck will lead the first tour, while former BRNW Director of Fun Maura Schwartz and her husband, former BRNW Route Director Stan Nowakowski, will lead the second. It’ll have a distinct BRNW flavor.
Price: This is a completely new tour route, so there’s nothing to compare to (except maybe some of the big tour companies’ prices…) The price includes lodging each night, breakfast and Happy Hour every day, a selection of restaurant dinners, baggage service and guide tips.
Double Occupancy: $5,000
Single Occupancy (limited): $5,900
A quick note: We got burned by the exchange rate on our 2025 Europe tours; the dollar was worth a whole lot less when we had to pay the bills than it was when we set the prices. So going forward, the ride price is based on the current exchange rate. If the exchange rate later makes the dollar worth less, we’ll have to add an equivalent fee to offset the loss. But if the dollar gets stronger, we’ll refund you the difference.
Get on the Interest List for Italy Tour #1, Oct. 3-17
Get on the Interest List for Italy Tour #2, Oct. 22-Nov. 5
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That’s it for now! We hope you’re able to join us on these small tours in 2026; it’s a very different experience than our big tours, but it still has that BRNW vibe, and the level of planning and support you expect from us.
As always, we’re churning away on planning all our tours at this time of year. We’ll send an email with pricing and more info on our two regular summer tours, plus the Walla Walla tour, this month. And we’ll unveil a refresh of our website as well.
Cheers,
Jim