Category: Bike Touring
Some bicyclists will do anything to avoid a climb. They route their rides through the flat lands and never taste the challenge of vertical exertion.
At the other extreme is Dennis Wegewijs, a Dutch bicycling enthusiast who searches out the most difficult climbs — namely Alpine passes — to summit on his bicycle with his friends.
Dennis said that at some point, they decided to ride their bicycles over all the passes of the Alps. Why?
“To stay fit, to reach something in life …”
That enthusiasm for Alpine cycling prompted Dennis to launch an amazing website named CyclingtheAlps.com….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/05/08/bicycling-and-coding-for-the-love-of-alpine-mountains/
One of a series of bicycle rides held across the country to support the Wounded Warriors Project rolled out from the South Lawn of the White House on Wednesday.
President Obama honored participants in the Soldier's Ride in his remarks, thanking them for their service to the United States.
Thirteen such awareness and fund-raising bicycle rides are scheduled this year. (See schedule below.) The bicycle rides are open to everyone, allowing the public the opportunity to ride alongside men and women who have been wounded in service to our country.
The Soldier's Ride was started in 2004 by Long Island bartender Chris Carney, who had never served in the military …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/05/05/wounded-warrior-bike-ride-gets-white-house-send-off/
You'll probably be hearing a lot about the U.S. Bicycle Route System during May, National Bike Month.
The Adventure Cycling Association is launching a grassroots effort to raise $30,000 this month toward funding the 50,000-mile bicycle network to link cities, suburbs, parks and other destinations that traveling cyclists might want to visit.
The bicycle route system project has been gaining momentum since 2008 when AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) approved the grid of bicycle route corridors and the concept of continuity of bicycle routes across state lines.
Thirty states are currently at various stages in working to create bicycle routes through their states ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/05/02/grassroots-campaign-for-us-bicycle-route-system/
Every so often, the National Geographic Traveler magazine looks at thousands of guided tours offered around the world and comes up with the 50 best.
They've done it again in the May/June 2011 issue. Among the guided tours by foot, cruise ship, raft, sailboat, jeep, horseback, motorcycle and motor coach are five tours that use bicycles for exploration.
I was kind of slack-jawed dumbfounded that there weren't more, and that no guided bicycle tours got the nod in North America, not even among the two dozen supported bike tours …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/04/30/5-bicycle-tours-among-50-tours-of-a-lifetime/
My son and I are heading to the midwest for Biking Across Kansas in June, so I thought it would be a good idea to review some precautions to keep in mind while bicycling through Tornado Alley.
This has been a bad month for tornadoes, even before the deadly swarm that passed through Alabama this week.
More than 700 twisters have been reported this April — nearly three times the previous highest number for the month. Experts at the Storm Prediction Center attribute the increase and their severity to the collision of warmer than normal moist air in the Gulf of Mexico and a colder than normal jet stream that has swept further south.
Obviously, the likelihood that any single location will be hit is remote. Still I'd like to know how to be safe if one of those funnel clouds is bearing down …..
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/04/29/bicycle-traveling-in-tornado-country/
Some bicycle travelers set off on an around the world bicycle tour in pursuit of a record, such as the UK's Vin Cox and his Guinness World Record achievement of 163 days, 6 hours and 58 minutes.
Then there's Heinz Stucke, the German who quit his job as a tool-and-die-maker in 1962 and left on a never-ending around the world bicycle journey that continues today.
In between those extremes is Volodia Sorokin of Bulgaria, left. The 58-year-old has been taking an on-and-off bicycle journey around the world for the past 16 years.
Presently, Sorokin is finishing his 4,600-mile cross-country bicycle travels in the U.S. He started in Washington DC in October and rode his bicycle across the southern tier and up the Pacific Coast from southern California to Alaska……
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/04/25/from-bulgaria-with-bicycle/
With the sunny weather and temperatures in the 60s, Saturday had to be one of the best days for a bicycle ride in western Washington this year.
These guys in red team kit would have to agree. This had to be one of the few times this year they could train on dry pavement and not have to rinse the wet, sticky road grit off their bikes once they returned home.
I shot this from an overpass along the Cedar River Trail between Maple Valley and Renton on Saturday. The river is running high, flowering trees are blossoming and the first leaves are just starting to sprout …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/04/24/near-perfect-spring-cycling-in-western-washington/
Riding my Rockhopper out some rural roads recently, I spotted one of those blue King County Natural Area signs out of the corner of my eye and decided to have a stop.
I used to blow past these. Now, if I'm just doodling along on my bicycle, I've found them to be friendly places to get off the road and explore or to go find a rock, sit and have a snack.
This one is located on Cedar Ridge Road near the intersection of Issaquah-Hobart Road. There is no identification sign at the entrance, just a space for a couple of cars and a locked gate. The blue sign lists the rules. There's no mention of bicycles, so I scooted around the gate and pedaled down the welcome double-track ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/04/22/bicycle-ride-to-a-natural-area-makes-any-day-an-earth-day/
Some days in the life of a Siberian cyclist… a dazzling rush through some random encounters from Rob Lilwall on Vimeo.
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“Who begins a bicycle tour in Siberia?”
That was my first question when I cracked open the “Cycling Home from Siberia,” the latest bicycle travel book sent me by a publicist. After reading the first few pages of Rob Lilwall's travelogue, that first query was quickly expanded to:
“What inexperienced cyclist begins a bicycle tour of more than 3,000 miles across Siberia in September on a frozen highway known locally as 'The Road of Bones.'”
Although I knew Lilwall survived the ordeal (how could he have written the both otherwise), I was relieved to learn that the bicycle touring companion he was waiting for in Magadan was Alastair Humphreys. Today he's a well-known English bicycle adventurer and motivational speaker ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/04/21/cycling-home-from-siberia-on-frozen-roads-and-jungle-paths/
“Get on your bike and you can steer
Along the path of Paul Revere…”
Checking on something else this morning, I stumbled across the fact that today (April 19) is the 236th anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord and “the shot heard 'round the world.”
You might remember that Paul Revere famously rode a horse throughout the Massachusetts countryside to warn that British troops were on the way.
If you're a history buff, or just like new places to ride, I found some links that bicyclists can use for maps and bike tours that follow his route of 1775.
I also learned he didn't shout “The British are coming!” ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/04/19/one-if-by-land-and-two-if-by-bicycle/
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