BRISTOL — When John Freidin founded Vermont Bicycle Tours in the early 1970s he never imagined that 40 years later the company would grow to annually serve 5,000 travelers in 26 countries. He didn’t know of any businesses at the time that were based on bicycle touring.
A young Middlebury College professor of history, Freidin recently recalled that he was trying to escape the world of academia. On the suggestion of a colleague, he and a fellow professor took an overnight bike trip through Vermont.
