Who needs the French countryside and the Tour de France when you can bike in Pennsylvania?

Cycling in Pennsylvania, where the varied terrain, extensive trail systems and scenic beauty, make for some of the best biking anywhere.

Novice and professional bikers alike can discover dozens of bike trails in this region along with hundreds more across the state by logging onto www.visitPA.com to search for biking trails across the Commonwealth.

Pennsylvania offers a wide variety of bicycle adventures. Rocky trails and steep ascents will delight experienced bikers while gentler trails welcome novice riders. The state's Rails-to-Trails program has converted more than 800 miles of former railroad beds into trails for biking pleasure. Don't have a bike? Outfitters located throughout the state can supply rental bikes and equipment.

Biking roadtrips featured on www.visitPA.com include Rugged Roadways, Southern Biking Trek, Bike Southwestern PA, Mountain Roadways, Pennsylvania Wilds and Route 6. The Southern Biking Trek takes cyclists through a region rich in cycling history, the Alleghenies and her Valleys region, named one of the "five top bicycle areas in the country" by Bicycling Magazine.

How seriously does Pennsylvania take biking? Follow along online again this year as the www.visitPA.com 's mountain bike racing team competes throughout the season. Read the latest updates, team blogs and rider race reports, and see the detailed race schedule.

And who can forget the primer biking event in Pennsylvania— the International Tour De Toona.

For more information, visit the biking webpage on www.visitpa.com , or call 800-VISIT PA.

7/28/2006