Category: Bike Touring
“Always use discretion and common sense. Be sure to have a sound and reliable machine…. It makes all the difference between pleasure and anxiety.”
So wrote F. Freeman of London in 1883 in his essay “Hints on Bicycle Touring” in “The Cyclist and Wheel World Annual.”
I wonder if Thomas Stevens, left, had read the “hints” before setting off from San Francisco in 1884 to become the first person to ride a bicycle around the world — on a penny-farthing at that.
Many of the recommendations in Freeman's article hold true today; the best peace of mind comes from using a reliable bicycle on a tour. Some of the other suggestions, however, are wildly off base …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/12/11/hints-on-bicycle-touring-circa-1883-most-hold-true-today/
Update: Dec. 10, 2011 — Taura and Christiana arrange with UPS to ship the tandem to Argentina; they plan to leave Phoenix on Saturday.
Looking for inspiration for this weekend's bike ride? You need go no further than looking in on a legally blind couple who are setting out on a Pan-American tandem bicycle tour.
The Arizona couple, Taura Chaw and Christiana Bruchok, plan to leave on their adventure from Usuaia, Argentina, in just a few days on their ride they're calling 2Blind2Ride.
Unfortunately, the trip has been delayed by problems shipping their tandem on an AeroMexico flight. In spite of being assured on two previous occasions that they could check the tandem as luggage (with an extra fee), the airline turned them away at the ticket counter earlier this week …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/12/09/blind-couples-inspiring-bicycle-ride-delayed-by-airline/
The National Park Service wants to manage the Blue Ridge Parkway “as a traditional, self-contained, scenic recreational driving experience.”
That might be fine for some, but unfortunately it doesn't consider the growing number of bicyclists who ride parts if not all of the 469-mile road along the crest of the eastern mountain chain in Virginia and North Carolina.
Under a new draft management plan proposed by the National Park Service, the managers wouldn't have to accommodate these human-powered users of the parkway …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/12/08/bicyclists-wont-take-backseat-on-blue-ridge-parkway-proposal/
A German bicycle traveler is returning home from the US soon, in spite of his comatose condition.
Michael Sprick has been hospitalized in Roanoke on life support ever since he was struck by a delivery truck on a Virginia highway on Oct. 8. The driver was fined $500 on Tuesday.
In spite of being thousands of miles from home, friends he had made during his travels in the US have gathered around to lend support. That support hasn't slackened as the days turned into weeks turned into months.
If not for the tragic results of the crash, this would be a feel-good story about the bicycle community pulling together …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/12/07/german-bicycle-tourist-still-in-coma-going-home/
When the Adventure Cycling Association convened its local members in Seattle last year, at left, I had no idea we were part of the largest bicycling organization in the US.
But the nonprofit created to chart a cross-country bicycle route to celebrate the nation's bicentennial in 1976 has grown to 44,000 individual members who benefit from its mapping, tour hosting and bicycle transportation advocacy roles.
The Missoula, Montana-based nonprofit announced its results for the past year and past decade on Tuesday. During the past 10 years, membership has grown 19%, map sales are up 48% and its annual budget has soared to $4.1 million, a 65% increase from the beginning of the decade.
To me, these are all hopeful indicators …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/12/07/adventure-cycling-trends-show-growing-interest-in-bicycle-touring/
The survivor of a life-threatening bicycle crash during a century bike ride in Oregon last summer wants to find and thank the bicyclists and passersby who saved his life.
Jim Phillips, 68, says he's alive today because of the cyclists who stopped on a screaming downhill descent during the Pioneer Century in Clakamas County on June 4 to give him aid.
“… it turns out I was bleeding profusely internally. Had I laid there, I don't know how long, I would have suffocated had I not gotten out of there,” …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/12/06/bicyclist-wants-to-thank-fellow-riders-who-saved-his-life/
The Livestrong army next year will return to the same three cities it occupied in 2011 for its charity bike rides to raise money to fight cancer.
The Lance Armstrong Foundation is presenting the Team Livestrong Challenge series in Davis, California, in June and in Philadelphia in August.
The series wraps up in the foundation's hometown of Austin for the 15th annual Ride for the Roses weekend.
Supporters also will be able to raise money for Livestrong at the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic in May and …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/12/02/livestrong-host-cities-announced-for-2012/
An old episode of The Andy Griffith Show unearthed on YouTube (see inside) shows us how bicycle touring hasn't changed that much over the years.
We still use essentially the same gear and learn about different cultures through our travels.
The proper English bicycle tourist of 1963, as portrayed by Hollywood, traveled with much the same gear as you'd find on a touring bike today — bike fenders, bike racks, a luggage system, head gear and cycling clothes.
In this case, however, the front rack supports a wire basket, the rear rack a small suitcase and a pannier that looks like a canvas briefcase. The head gear is a flat cap …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/12/01/english-bicycle-touring-circa-1963-in-mayberry/
Roadside rumble strips might be helpful to vehicle traffic on the open road, but they can be annoying and dangerous to people riding bicycles.
That's why three bicycling advocacy groups are publicly thanking the Federal Highway Administration for issuing guidelines this month to advise crews to consider bicyclists when installing the strips.
The statement was issued by Adventure Cycling Association, Alliance for Biking and Walking and the League of American Bicyclists.
The three had been seeking changes to road design rules that resulted in rumble strips that had created hazardous conditions for cyclists.
The photo above shows a length of Biking Across Kansas this year where bicyclists …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/11/29/accommodate-bicyclists-when-installing-rumble-strips-say-feds/
Where do we get the inspiration for a long-distance bicycle tour?
Englishman Anthony Watson didn't go any further than his morning cup of coffee.
Watson brewed his love of the bean into a full-blown bicycle expedition from England, through southern Europe and Turkey to the birthplace of the coffee plant, Ethiopia. He's sharing his adventures and discoveries for the past 7 1/2 months at his blog, Bean on a Bike.
While many touring bicyclists …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/11/29/the-ultimate-blend-of-bicycle-travel-and-coffee-love/
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