Category: Bike Touring

If you're fortunate enough to visit the Yosemite National Park in California, don't forget your bicycle the next time you go.

At first it's a scary thought. Some of the roads in the Yosemite Valley are as congested in the peak summer tourist season as anything in a big city.

But that traffic dwindles down between Labor Day and Memorial Day. And you probably won't be on the road anyway. There is a network of 12 miles of bicycle trails around the valley (see green line on map) that connect many of the attractions and carry you far from the hustle and bustle …

Continue reading

If you want children to learn about healthy habits, who better to pass along the information than a bicycle traveler carrying 70 pounds of equipment some 60 miles a day from coast-to-coast.

That bicyclist is 27-year-old Chris Figureida. He's making his second cross-country bike trip — Cycle for Heart — to educate school children about the importance of proper nutrition and leading an active lifestyle in order to prevent obesity.

He left from Neah Bay on Washington state's Olympic Peninsula on Sept. 7, and he's already spoken to students in Seattle and Olympia. His itinerary calls for him to continue riding southeasterly until he reaches Key West ….

Continue reading

Ad: “Beach bike your way through Emerald Isle, complimentary of Emerald Isle Realty. New weekly reservations arriving during September and October will receive 2 complimentary deluxe beach bicycles.”

I don't know if this is a new idea, but it's certainly a timely one considering the impact of higher gasoline prices on traveling.

When a regular reader sent me the advertisement, he said it might show a new trend of vacation entrepreneurs using bicycles to lure visitors to their  resorts. It might even prove that people in the tourism industry are discovering the bicycle is a useful tool for the traveling public.

It reminded me of the real estate agents in Portland and Boulder I wrote about recently who show houses to prospective buyers by bicycle …

Continue reading

With much of the Texas and Louisiana coasts still reeling from the devastation left behind by Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike, it's a good time to call attention to next month's Tour du Rougebicycle ride.

The inaugural six-day bike tour from Houston to New Orleans is a fund-raiser for American Red Cross chapters in the region that provide relief to people displaced by natural disasters.

If you need to know why people combine recreational bicycle riding with fund-raising, check out the current issue of Adventure Cyclist magazine which dedicated its current issue to charity bicycle rides. The Adventure Cycling Association's publication tells stories about people who make the rides and lists 8 fund-raising bike rides, which I've added to Charity Bike Rides calendar …

Continue reading

There's no chance that three Lutheran pastors will become separated on their 13,000-mile bike tour around the US next year. They'll all be on the same bike — a bamboo triplet built by Calfee Designs.

The Tour de Revs is embarking May 13, 2009, to raise awareness and funds to support hunger and wellness programs. The three West Virginia pastors expect the ride will take 100 days.

Pastors Fred Soltow of Shepherdstown, Ron Schlak of Charleston and David Twedt of Wardensville will be making the trip next year to all of the church's synods in the US …

Continue reading

The world of bicycling's living legends became a little smaller earlier this month when Britain's Ian Hibell was killed by a hit-and-run motorist while he was bike touring in Greece.

Nic and Andy tell about their friend's death at their UK-based Bike Brothers website. 

Reportedly a motorist hit 74-year-old Hibell on the Athens-Solonika highway while racing another vehicle. Neither one stopped, but witnesses got the license plate numbers and police later arrested them.

How did Hibell gain worldwide attention and acclaim from cyclo-touring? Basically he took his bicycle where no one had before, then he wrote about it …

Continue reading

What's touted as the biggest-ever cross-country bicycle tour is currently making its way across the US.

The 2008 Sea to Sea, Ending the Cycle of Poverty bike tour boasts 127 cyclists who are making the entire 3,881-mile trek from Seattle to Jersey City, New Jersey. They're joined along the way by 91 other bicyclists who are riding different segments.

All cross-country rides have to start with a rear-wheel dip in the ocean. This is what it looked like, above, when the Sea to Sea bike carried out this tradition in Seattle. There's no ocean here, but getting wet in the Puget Sound at Golden Gardens Park is close enough …

Continue reading