Category: Bike Touring

Cyclists who really want to test their abilities against the pros can tackle the L'Etape du Tour, which will route them over 4 climbs on their way to a finish atop Mount Ventoux.

L'Etape du Tour, celebrating its 17th year, is a “recreational” bicycle ride that usually follows the most difficult stage of that year's Tour de France.

In 2009 that's the stage that ends on Mount Ventoux. The L'Etape cyclists will make the 107-mile bike ride on July 20, about five days before it becomes the penultimate stage of the Tour de France …

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Nearly 200 years ago, many towns began springing up along the Mississippi River shoreline to play host to the flatboats and steamboats that brought commerce up and down the great waterway.

Today, Bob Robinson says those towns can cater to touring bicyclists who pass through on the backroads and bicycle paths that make up the 3,000-mile Mississippi River Trail.

Robinson is a bicyclist from Fort Smith, Arkansas, who has just written and published the definitive guidebook — Bicycling Guide to the Mississippi River Trail — for bike travelers wanting to explore this historic route.

Chosen as one of the 16 National Millennium Trails in 2000 for reflecting a defining aspect of America's culture, the Mississippi River Trail (MRT) is in the same league with the Underground Railroad Trail, the Appalachian Trail, and the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail …

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Twenty-three bicyclists whose lives have been touched by cancer will set off from Greenville, South Carolina, on Sunday to ride the 1,500 miles to Austin by Thursday.

The cyclists are on five teams that will ride relay-style with the help of 16 support personnel. Together they've raised $160,000 for cancer research.

Once they get to Austin, they'll register for the Ride for the Roses LiveStrong Challenge on Oct. 24-25.

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A grassroots effort is underway to organize a mass cross-country bicycle tour next summer to promote a clean energy economy for the United States.

The bike tours — collectively dubbed The Trek to Re-Energize America — will leave from different points around the US and converge on Washington DC in late July or early August.

The cyclists will promote their cause as they head down the road. Once they reach the Capitol, they'll contact their congressmen and lobby for action on legislation that fights climate change. According to the website:

“A massive number of organized passionate people who have biked across the United States for something they believe strongly in will make for a statement that politicians and media will be unable to ignore.” …

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A judge sentenced a Colorado boy to two years — the maximum under juvenile law — at a Colorado juvenile prison in the hit-and-run death of a touring bicyclist last summer.

Illinois bicyclist Dave Tomlinson was taking part in a group bicycle ride through Colorado last July when he was struck from behind by an SUV on Route 550 near Colona, between Montrose and Ouray. He was thrown more than 100 feet by the impact.

None of the other members of the 20-member chartered bike tour saw the collision, but witnesses immediately reported the crash. The 14-year-old youth was apprehended at a Montrose parking lot …

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Hey, Senators McCain and Obama! If you want to learn the mood of the electorate as we roll toward the presidential election, you should check out Tim Foley's blog, ElectionCyclist.com.

Tim is definitely the hardest working political journalist out there doing “mood-of-the-country” coverage. He conducts and posts daily voter interviews for his blog, then climbs on his bike and rides 50 to 100 miles to his next interview.

The master's candidate at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism is on a 50-day bike tour from New York City to New Orleans. He departed on Sept. 14 and plans to roll into the Big Easy shortly before the election ….

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Is a 3,000-mile cross-country bicycle tour a good way to start a marriage?

You can follow Joel and Michelle's blogs to find out.

The two make their home in Kansas City, where, among other things, they both race mountain bikes. They got hitched in September and headed out to Santa Cruz, California, to start their adventure about a week ago.

Early reports from the West to East bicycle travelers is that “self-supported touring is HARD work.” First they suffered through the heat of the San Joaquin Valley, then suffered the climb up and over the Sierra Nevada. They enjoyed their time in Yosemite Valley, however …

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A couple of months ago I was lucky enough to receive two books to review from bicycle travelers Tim and Cindie Travis (at left in Guatemala).

After reading the first one, “The Road That Has No End,” I'm relieved to report that, indeed, their bicycling travels may never end. That's good, because their first travelogue is a great read and I'm looking forward to more.

Tim and Cindie embarked on their around-the-world bicycle travels from Arizona in 2002. Essentially, Tim got Cindie interested in bicycle touring, they lived frugally and saved up their money for five years, quit their jobs and headed out to tour by bicycle for seven years.

If you check out their website, Down the Road, you'll see that the seven-year plan has been scrapped and they're on the road for the long term. ….

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Is there someone you met on a bicycle tour this year who you think deserves recognition for the help they offer bicyclists?

Then you need to drop everything and fill out the Bicycle Travel Awards nominations at Adventure Cycling. The deadline is Sept. 30.

At left is my picture of June Curry taken 24 years ago. She's the famous “Cookie Lady” of Afton, Virginia, and was certainly deserving of having the Trail Angel award named for her in 2003.

Since then, the Adventure Cycling organization has added three other awards. Here's a list of all the Bicycle Travel Awards. You can make nominations for any except the “volunteer award:” ….

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