Category: Bike Touring

Cross-country bicyclist's son remembered in “Faces of Distracted Driving” video

Last week I wrote a post about Robert Okerblom's current cross-country bicycle tour to draw attention to the hazards of texting and driving.

His grief spurred him to action after his son was killed while riding a bicycle by a texting driver in California in 2009.

The tragedy is getting a lot of attention. Today I learned that the story of 19-year-old Eric Okerblom has been posted on “Faces of Distracted Driving,” a US Department of Transportation website designed to show the cost in human lives and suffering. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/03/28/cross-country-bicyclists-son-remembered-in-faces-of-distracted-driving-video/

3 riding bikes length of Japan for tsunami relief

Three cyclists plan to turn their cycling holiday in Japan into a bicycle tour to raise money to help the victims of the earthquake and tsunami.

Bicycles already have played a part in helping people escape the tsunami (here and here) and get to and from work in a country reeling from the effects of a 9.0 earthquake on March 10.

Soon, these three will use their bicycles to raise money for a couple of charities offering help to that country.

The three cyclists, Andrew Marsten, Scott Keenan (in video), Dylan Gunning originally wanted to bicycle in Japan to help quench their thirst for adventure ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/03/27/3-riding-bikes-length-of-japan-for-tsunami-relief/

Trucker trades big rig steering wheel for bicycle handlebars

A long-haul truck driver is seeing the road from a different perspective this spring as part of a two-man cross-country bicycle ride to raise funds for an Indiana-based land trust.

Calling their ride “Pedaling for Preserves,” the pair are heading into eastern Texas now on their 3,100-mile bike tour from San Diego to St. Augustine. At left they're taking a shady break in arid west Texas.

Trucker Kevin Gray and ACRES Land Trust director Jason Kissell are following the Southern Tier Bicycle Route, published by Adventure Cycling Association. That's the route taken by at least two other tours I've written about this spring, a group of seniors riding for childhood cancer and a father riding to honor his son killed by a texting motorist …..

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/03/24/trucker-trades-big-rig-steering-wheel-for-bicycle-handlebars/

STP is sold out; some spots may reopen in June

If you haven't signed up yet for the Seattle to Portland (STP) Bicycle Classic, it's too late.

The Cascade Bicycle Club reported that the ride sold out as of Monday morning. That's the earliest that the 10,000 spots have sold out.

If you're still hankering to go, check the Cascade Event and Ride page in the future to see how they're re-distributing registrations for people who are seeking refunds. There's usually some kind of late registration within 29 days of the event….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/03/22/stp-is-sold-out-some-spots-may-reopen-in-june/

Family on bikes completes record-setting Pan-American adventure

“USHUAIA!!!! THE END OF THE WORLD!!! WE”RE HERE!!!! WE DID IT!!! WE REALLY DID IT!!!”

With that, Nancy Sathre-Vogel announced at her Twitter site on Monday that her “family on bikes” had successfully completed a self-supported bicycle tour the entire length of North and South America — a distance of some 17,290 miles.

For parents John and Nancy Vogel of Boise, Idaho, it's the dream of a lifetime. For 13-year-old twins Davy and Daryl, it means they'll be recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest to ride their bicycles the entire length of the two continents.

It also means that for the past 2-1/2 years, instead of attending school or watching TV, the boys were road-schooled by their parents and by the cultures and histories of the landscapes that they pedaled through ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/03/22/family-on-bikes-completes-record-setting-pan-american-adventure/

Father rides bike across country to honor son killed by texting motorist

A 19-year-old California cyclist who was killed by a motorist texting on her cell phone is being honored this spring by his father.

Dr. Robert Okerblom set off from San Diego on a solo cross-country bicycle tour on Feb. 27 to remember his son and bring attention to the big problem of cell phones distracting motorists.

Already he has raised awareness about the issue through newspaper interviews, classroom presentations, press conferences and one-on-one conversations with folks who just happen along and ask what he's up to with that bicycle.

Okerblom said he hadn't done much bicycling until after his son, Eric, was killed in July 2009 ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/03/21/father-rides-bike-across-country-to-honor-son-killed-by-texting-motorist/

Progress continues on the U.S. Bicycle Route System

The drive to create a 50,000-mile U.S. Bicycle Route System is taking hold in a majority of states.

A state-by-state progress chart created by Adventure Cycling Association shows that 30 states are working to implement routes and another 11 have expressed an interest in becoming part of the network of bicycle routes.

Only 8 states — Alabama, Hawaii, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and South Carolina — say they aren't interested in participating at this time.

While the number of non-participating states is few, their location is critical …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/03/09/progress-continues-on-the-u-s-bicycle-route-system/

Four senior cyclists hit the road for childhood cancer

A quartet of seniors — their average age is 68 — took off on their bicycles from Arizona this week on a cross-country trek to raise awareness about pediatric cancer.

The effort, called SammyRides, was triggered by the death of cyclist Michael Libenson's granddaughter, Samantha Rotman, at age 9 after a two-year battle with pediatric cancer.

Libenson, 73, Mike Brown, 62, Adolf Lex, 71, and John Baer, 64, left from Sun City, Arizona, on Wednesday and are headed 2,400 miles to their homes at Sun City, Florida. They were joined by well-wishers and fellow cyclists, above, for the first leg of their journey toward Phoenix. ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/03/04/four-senior-cyclists-hit-the-road-for-childhood-cancer/

Author tracks down Annie Londonderry's bike ride

[Note: Busy with some family issues through the weekend, so I'm pulling up some stories from previous years. Here's one about Peter Zheutlin's great-grandaunt, who became the first woman to ride a bicycle around the world.]

 Imagine that you're a writer with a growing appetite for riding your bicycle.

Then consider that a researcher who had contacted your mother years earlier about your great-grandfather's sister — no one in the immediate family had ever heard of her  — gets back in touch and asks if you had learned anything more about her.

Oh, and by way, that great-grandaunt had bicycled around the world more than 100 years ago.

There you have the circumstances that launched Peter Zheutlin on his quest to research and write a book about Annie Kopchovsky (aka Annie Londonderry): “Around the World on Two Wheels, Annie Londonderry's Extraordinary Ride” …..

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/02/24/author-tracks-down-annie-londonderrys-bike-ride/

How to prepare for 10 bad things on good bike tours

[Editor's note: Family obligations today and throughout the week. Here's a blast from the past that you might find helpful for an upcoming mass-participation bike tour. Good comments too.]

You have to take the bad with the good, and that certainly goes for large group, week-long, cross-state bicycle tours.

Whether there are 200 or 2,000 cyclists on these organized bicycling events, don't be surprised if a few things don't go to your liking. It takes years for the organizers to work out the kinks, and even then things crop up that nobody could expect. Plus, there are plenty of annoyances over which they have no control.

I'm warning you so you can prepare yourself. Don't let these adversities ruin your idyllic bike ride; remember, this is an adventure. Roll with it ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/02/21/how-to-prepare-for-10-bad-things-on-good-bike-tours/