Category: Bike Touring

Although I don't keep to a tightly regimented training schedule for bicycling, I usually know my route when I roll down the driveway and I'll stick to it.

Occasionally, though, I just take my bike and head out with no destination in mind. I'm just going out exploring on my bike, or noodling around. Although it doesn't account for many miles in the saddle, it always results in some interesting finds.

On Sunday, for example, I headed down the pipeline right-of-way on my Rockhopper and followed it to the dead-end above May Creek. That's where I veered into the woods on a light trail. Not far along, I came upon this vintage US Mail truck rusting back into its elements in the woods …

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Those of you who read Adventure Cyclist magazine are probably familiar with the writings of columnist Willie Weir.

Although he calls Seattle his home, Weir spends much of his time traveling the world by bicycle. As he tells it:

“I'm not an avid bicyclist, but a traveler who discovered the bicycle.”

Weir has compiled his best Adventure Cyclist writings into a book, “Travels with Willie,” that's available in paperback for $15 at the Willie Weir website, or as a download for a donation.

The former actor explains that the digital download book is offered in the spirit of live theater that often has a “pay what you can” performance.

“If it inspires you or someone you know to get on their bicycle and explore the world, then it has served its intended purpose.” …

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The Mad as Hell Bike Ride Across the US was an aptly named endeavor.

Jim Gafney was a 65-year-old computer engineer from Chula Vista, California, who took off on a cross-country bike ride in April to collect signatures on a petition to protest the bailouts and encourage the President and Congress to act more responsibly in these tough economic times.

Family and friends say he was upset about the government's actions during the recession and was going to deliver the petition to lawmakers in Washington DC. He hoped to have 1,000 protesting cyclists accompany him into the nation's capital.

Gafney wasn't allowed to finish his bike ride, however. …

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As one string of endurance bicyclists heads east across the United States on skinny tire bicycles, another group is heading south along the Great Divide on fat tire bikes.

The first group are cyclists competing in the Race Across America (RAAM) that I wrote about Wednesday. They're racing 3,100 miles cross-country and will begin arriving in Annapolis late next week after 8 to 10 days in the saddle.

The mountain bicyclists on Tour Divide are going almost as far — 2,700 miles from Banff, Alberta, to Antelope Wells, New Mexico. They're traveling without support crews on mostly dirt roads, however, and must carry their own shelter, water and food.

Last year's Tour Divide winner, Matthew Lee, finished the route in an amazing 19 days and 12 hours …

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The Scottish bicycle traveller who holds the world record for fastest circumnavigation of the Earth is taking his BBC audience on a bicycle tour of the Americas.

As I write this, Mark Beaumont is returning from his ascent of Mount McKinley (Denali) in Alaska by foot.

Over the next seven or eight months, the 26-year-old bicycle adventurer will pedal the coastal mountain ranges all the way to Argentina where he'll summit Aconcagua in the Andes.

Global cyclist

In February last year, Beaumont finished an 18,000-mile solo bicycle tour that circumnavigated the globe. His 195-day trip shattered the previous record of 276 days …

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There's a new bicycling film — “The Long Bike Back” — that tells the story of two brothers who fulfill a life-long dream to ride their bicycles cross-country after one survives a near-fatal hit and run crash.

As you can see from the trailer, at left, Pearson and Peter Constantino launched plans for their bicycle travels after Pearson was left for dead at the side of the road by a SUV driver in June 2006.

A little more than two years later, Pearson and Peter take off from Newport, Oregon, with a small film and support crew trailing in a van to record their experiences along US Route 20 to Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Pearson's wife, filmmaker Julia Wrona, directed the film that tells about the brothers' adventures and Pearson's battle back from life-threatening injuries …

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A 47-year-old home builder who took a couple of years off to bicycle around the world is looking ahead to his final 3,500-4,000 miles in a trans-America tour.

Steve Dale of Yorkshire, England, is presently in Australia and set to fly to New Zealand where he'll bicycle before heading to the United States. He's already traveled across Europe and Asia by bicycle.

In preparation for his bike tour across the US, Steve contacted me at the BikingBis blog. He wants to know about “the best practical, but most direct bicycle route across America.”

He wants to start in San Francisco and finish up in New York. Anyone out there with ideas about the best route? …

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