Category: Bike Touring

Cyclist killed on cross-country charity ride for oil spill victims

Cross-country cyclist Roger Grooters will be honored by a silent memorial bicycle ride in Pensacola Beach, Florida, on Sunday.

The 66-year-old cyclist was struck and killed last week near Panama City, about 300 miles from finishing a bike tour across the southern tier to raise money for victims of the BP oil spill.

He set off by bicycle from Oceanside, California, on Sept 10, followed by his wife, Vicki, in a car. She was behind him on Oct. 6 along Florida State Road 20, west of State Road 77 near Crystal Lake, when a motorist in a pickup truck struck him.

According to reports, the pickup drove onto the shoulder ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/10/14/cyclist-killed-on-cross-country-charity-ride-for-oil-spill-victims/

Bicycle tour to major league ballparks makes for 10,000-mile season

Thousands of baseball fans filed out of their home ballparks on Oct. 3 as the regular major league season drew to a close. They had memories of double plays, home runs, exciting victories and discouraging defeats for their teams over the past 6 months.

One of them, Romano Scaturro, remembered something more.

As he left Seattle's Safeco Field for the last game of the year, he could recall the 10,000 miles of road he traveled by bicycle to visit every major league ballpark in the US for a home game this season.

The 47-year-old restaurateur (shown above with his son from an earlier bike tour) from Cornville, Arizona, made the self-contained bike tour to raise money for future college tuitions for two orphans.

He formed the non-profit charity — Family Ride Across America to Nurture Kids (FRAANK) — with the goal of raising $1 for every mile …..

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/10/13/bicycle-tour-to-major-league-ballparks-makes-for-10000-mile-season/

Fall bike ride on the John Wayne Pioneer Trail

It's in the fall when the weeds dry up and leaves fall from the trees that the true nature of the John Wayne Pioneer Trail in western Washington reveals itself as an old railroad route.

The trail runs some 100 miles from near North Bend to the Columbia River. It slices through the deep evergreen woods of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, but grasses, weeds, shrubs and deciduous trees grow along the abandoned right-of-way.

When those leaves fall and the weeds die off, remnants of the old railroad days are easier to see ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/10/08/fall-bike-ride-on-the-john-wayne-pioneer-trail/

Bicycle travel photo contest at Adventure Cycling

Do you have a favorite photo or two from a bicycle tour that you'd like to share with the world?

Then you might be interested to learn that Adventure Cycling Association is hosting its 2nd annual Bicycle Travel Photo Contest for images that capture the essence of bicycle touring.

Entries are being accepted at Adventure Cycling's contest group on Flickr.com through the end of the year. Each photographer is limited to five photos from past or present experiences.

The winning photo will be published in the March 2011 edition ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/10/06/bicycle-travel-photo-contest-at-adventure-cycling/

More than 80 choices for fall foliage bike tours

Updated Oct. 8, 2010 with recommendations from Adventure Cycling Association and Bicycling magazine


Some uncharacteristically sunny weather on my bicycle rides in Western Washington has revealed splashes of fall color along the road.

It reminds me that the fall foliage season is underway across the US. I'm convinced that the best way to enjoy that is from a bicycle saddle.

Here are some places to check the progress of fall foliage in your area and resources for more than 60 locations touted for their colorful autumn leaves ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/10/05/more-than-80-choices-for-fall-foliage-bike-tours/

Avenue Verte – a traffic-free London to Paris bicycle ride

Imagine a bicycle route that primarily uses rails-to-trails pathways through the historic countryside between two major European capital cities.

That's the Avenue Verte between London and Paris.

Right now, it is little more than a dream, according to a BBC reporter who rode his bicycle along the 250- to 290-mile route through southern England and northern France. Originally proposed for a big launch for the 2012 Olympics in London, the route suffers — at least in the UK — from funding cuts that make that an unlikely deadline.

Reporter Stephen Mulvey wrote at “The London-Paris cycle route that keeps getting you lost” ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/10/04/avenue-verte-a-traffic-free-london-to-paris-bicycle-ride/

Dutch cyclist is last to finish Bikecentennial bicycle tour

The Dutch cyclist Frank van Dijk has finally completed his TransAmerica bicycle tour, 34 years after he set off from Oregon with a group of countrymen in 1976.

Here's how Frank described those last few miles to Eureka, Kansas:

“With each car that you hear, you're especially careful. Eureka approaching! It is a short drive about 50km. Yet another 5 … 10 …. 3 …. more. I see the board Eureka City Limits.

No fanfare, no music …….. but a good feeling! I am here!! The champagne is chilled.”

Frank is celebrating after wrapping up some unfinished business …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/10/02/dutch-cyclist-is-last-to-finish-bikecentennial-bicycle-tour/

Lessons learned on bike travels passed along to students

Four Californians are teaching sustainability by example as they travel by bicycle around the US and make presentations at schools along the way.

The four cyclists — Aaron Viducich, Sara Dykman, Tommy Viducich and Matt Schiff — have logged some 5,500 miles on their estimated 15,000-mile journey around the lower 48 states and Alaska.

More importantly, they've spoken with about 1,500 students in more than 30 presentations over the past four months. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/09/29/lessons-learned-on-bike-travels-passed-along-to-students/

Never too old to ride a bicycle; extreme example is 96-year-old

Think you're too old to take a bicycle tour or long-distance bike ride? You're not.

The Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) recently published its online survey of 5,900 cyclists from the summer of 2010.

The average age was 44.6 years old; 7% of the RAGBRAI cyclists were 65 or older, left.

When I left on my coast-to-coast bicycle travels many years ago, I feared I might be too old. I was 34. It seems laughable now, but bicycling seemed like such a youthful pursuit …..

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/09/27/never-too-old-to-ride-a-bicycle-extreme-example-is-96-year-old/

Across North America by pedal and paddle

A Connecticut man has completed his 4,300-mile journey from near Portland, Oregon, to Portland, Maine, by canoe and bicycle.

Alexander Martin paddled ashore from the Presumpscot River on Friday, marking the end of a self-propelled adventure that started in April 2009 and continued over three 2-month-long segments.

He accomplished most of the trip in his canoe, paddling some 3,500 miles. Martin added the bicycle to his gear after encountering repeated obstacles in his attempted voyage up the Snake River through Hell's Canyon along the Idaho-Oregon border.

He used that bike, “Taj”, or its replacement, “Taj II”, on portages between waterways as he made his way across the US ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/09/26/across-north-america-by-pedal-and-paddle/