Category: Bike Touring

Another server meltdown for bike ride registration;
this time it's Leipheimer's GranFondo

Bicycling enthusiasts trying to register on Monday for a spot in Levi Leipheimer's King Ridge GranFondo in Santa Rosa found themselves shut out of the online registration process for hours.

It was the second time recently that the sheer volume of traffic for online registration for a bike ride overwhelmed the computer servers, grinding the process to a virtual halt.

Last Monday, persons trying to register for the Seattle-based Cascade Bicycle Club's slate of 2011 bike rides were continually kicked off the website. Some valiantly tried to get in for up to four hours, only to find out that the most sought-after ride — Ride from Seattle to Vancouver and Party — had already sold out …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/01/18/another-server-meltdown-for-bike-ride-registration-this-time-its-leipheimers-granfondo/

Proposed bill would restrict bicycle bans in Colorado cities

The fight to reopen the streets of Black Hawk, Colorado, to bicycles is going to make it to the State House this year.

A state legislator told the Bicycle Colorado advocacy group that he will introduce a bill entitled the “Open Roads Act” when the General Assembly opens for business next week.

The bill would allow local authorities to prohibit bicycling on some streets only in limited cases and only if a nearby alternative route is designated …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/01/12/proposed-bill-would-restrict-bicycle-bans-in-colorado-cities/

Adventure Cycling opposes oil-gas megaloads on scenic bicycle routes

The prospect of huge truckloads of oil industry equipment using rural roads frequented by traveling bicyclists in Idaho and Montana has drawn the opposition of the Adventure Cycling Association.

Beginning this year, what has been termed megaloads of oil exploration and refining equipment may begin rolling out from Lewiston, Idaho, on Highway 12 in Idaho and Montana, and Highway 200 in Montana.

How big are these megaloads? They are at least 3 stories high, at least 200 feet long and more than 24 feet wide — that's wider than the roads they'll use. They'll be rolling down parts of three scenic and popular bicycle routes — the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail, Lewis & Clark Bicycle Trail, and the Great Parks North Bicycle Route …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2011/01/05/adventure-cycling-opposes-oil-gas-megaloads-on-scenic-bicycle-routes/

Plenty of variety in bicycling around King County in 2010

If you asked me a year ago if it were possible to ride your bicycle 3,450 miles and only leave your home county four times, I'd say no. The boredom of riding the same roads would make you looney.

But that's what I did in 2010, and I can't say I was ever bored.

It's probably because King County, Washington, covers more than 2,300 square miles. That's twice the size of Rhode Island and slightly less than Delaware. That's a lot of room to roam on the roads out here.

The county stretches from the Puget Sound to the crest of the Cascade Range. I can ride my bike up to overlooks within 10 miles of my home ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/12/29/plenty-of-variety-in-bicycling-around-king-county-in-2010/

Bicycle tour remembers the Trail of Tears

The Trail of Tears becomes a road to discovery every year for a group of Cherokee Nation bicyclists who follow the path of their ancestors.

Called Remember the Removal, the annual bicycle tour meanders along 1,000 miles of road from North Georgia to Oklahoma.

It repeats one of the many dark chapters of U.S. history as the federal and state governments continued to push Native Americans off their land and out of existence or onto reservations.

In this case, the US government evicted the Cherokee ..

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/12/26/bicycle-tour-remembers-the-trail-of-tears/

Global Bicycle Race could be next extreme challenge for cyclists

An English cyclist who achieved the fastest around-the-world bike tour this past summer is organizing a new event — the Global Bicycle Race.

Vin Cox finished his solo 18,227-mile bike tour in 163 days back in August 2010. He says a race that seeks to break his Guinness World Record would create an atmosphere that draws a lot of press attention and gives cyclists a chance to feed their craving for adventure.

Cox submitted an application for recognition of the bike race to the Guinness World Records this week.

He's suggesting that the race start at Greenwich Park in London on February 18, 2012. That means the next record-setting cyclist would return to the finish just as the 2012 Summer Olympics in London is getting underway …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/12/08/global-bicycle-race-could-be-next-extreme-challenge-for-cyclists/

World bicycle traveler named “Top Scot”

Bike traveler Mark Beaumont, who at one time held the Guinness World Record for circumnavigating the globe by bicycle in the shortest time, has been honored as the country's Top Scot.

After that record-breaking self-supported bike tour in 2008, the 27-year-old become widely known throughout the British Isles this year on BBC for the “Cycling the Americas” website and documentary that chronicled his bike trip from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego.

The public voted on the “Top Scot” through The Scotsman newspaper; Glenfiddich Single Malt Whiskey sponsored the competition.

The contest honors the Scot who has had the greatest impact in furthering Scotland's reputation ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/12/06/world-bicycle-traveler-named-top-scot/

Update: Watch “Man Zou: Beijing to Shanghai” bicycle-tour film for free

Update: Dec. 3, 2010 — The documentary about four Americans and a Chinese guide who take a 1,000-mile bike tour across China is available for free online viewing through Jan. 2.

The 1-1/2-hour film, “Man Zou: Beijing to Shanghai,” made its television premier Thursday night on Seattle's local PBS outlet, KCTS (Channel 9).

Watching the broadcast, I was reminded time and again how bicycle travel is the best way to learn about an area and its people.

The four Americans saw first-hand the contrasts of big-city wealth and rural poverty in the country. They also experienced the side effects of a growing economy …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/12/03/update-watch-man-zou-beijing-to-shanghai-bicycle-tour-film-for-free/

Green energy advocate traveling by trike to Washington DC

When renewable energy advocate Tom Weis decided to start a national dialogue about US energy policies, he set out on a 2,500-mile journey to Washington DC by hybrid electric trike.

Along the way, the Boulder, Colorado, resident has been talking to people he meets along the road and to children at school assemblies. (Check out the Q&A with students at Mason Intermediate School in Ohio.)

Like many others, Weis has found that pedaling along in an essentially human-powered vehicle is a great conversation starter.

That's especially the case when the vehicle is a rocket-like trike with a canary-yellow carbon fiber shell. It sports a small electric motor to help him get the loaded 150-pound rig over the mountains ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/12/01/green-energy-advocate-traveling-by-trike-to-washington-dc/

New website and videos from bike traveler Heinz Stucke

If there's a living legend of bicycle touring, it's Heinz Stucke, the world's ultimate bike traveler.

Born in 1940, the cyclist has been pedaling down the road for 48 years after leaving his hometown of Hovelhoff, Germany, on a 3-speed bicycle.

Nearly 370,000 miles later, Stucke has visited more than 200 nations and territories and he's still going strong. Most recently, he completed a 6,000-mile tour Brazil and Alaska on his Brompton folding bike.

Now, in conjuncton with Bike-Tech, which sells Brompton folding bicycles, Stucke has launched a new website and a series of videos ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/11/29/new-website-and-videos-from-bike-traveler-heinz-stucke/