Category: Bike Touring

Heavy rains and flooding in Wisconsin have prompted organizers of the Great Annual Bicycle Adventure Along the Wisconsin River (GRABAAWR) to move this year's staging area to another location in Prairie du Chien.

Road closures by the Wisconsin DOT, especially in hard-hit south central portions of the state, may require other changes during the bike tour (June 21-28) that will be announced at nightly rider meetings.

Participants who are taking motor coaches from the finish in Prairie du Chien to this year's start in Eagle Lake will be affected by the changes announced Thursday. The staging area has been moved from the Jaycees Shelter on St. Feriole Island near Villa Louis to higher ground at Bluff View Middle School, 1901 E. Wells St., Prairie du Chien. …

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You better not dawdle on the Bicycle Ride Across Nebraska this week, or else you might get “the clapper.”

That's the wake-up call from Kelly Smith, a volunteer who rides in a SAG wagon. The clapper is a plastic noise-maker that Smith shakes to encourage cyclists who look tired or are getting beaten down by headwinds on this week's BRAN that's covering 454 miles.

Smith, you'll know him by his coonskin cap, is just one of the volunteers helping the 600-some cyclists in this year's ride that runs through Saturday.

Meanwhile, some 425 cyclists are plowing across eastern South Dakota in the 4th annual Argus Leader Tour de Kota. About 300 more are riding shorter versions of the week-long bike tour…

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Seventy-six college students are spending their summer vacations in the bike saddle as they're rolling out of Seattle and San Francisco in the next couple of weeks for three cross-country charity bicycle tours.

All members of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, the cyclists (and 20 college crewmembers) are riding the Journey of Hope bicycle tours in support of children and adults with disabilities.

Bike tours are always educational. You can't help but learn about different people and places while you slowly pedal down the road. But this one is more so, as these college students are scheduled to meet with and learn about children and adults with physical and mental disabilities, as well as perform service projects along the way. …

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My son has been riding multi-day group bicycle rides with me since he was 11, but here he is a junior in high school and we've never been on an independent overnight bike tour together.

We decided to fix that cycling resume omission over the Memorial Day weekend with an overnighter to a state park located about 40 miles east of Seattle at the base of the Cascades.

It was a great trip. We had a chance to talk without the distractions at home. My son stoked my ego by blurting out on a hill, “Wow dad, you're calves are cut!” When he rocketed past me seconds later, I returned the compliment.

Although there was an element of last-minute preparations involved, it wasn't one of those spur-of-the-moment S24O's (sub-24-hour overnighter) described last year in Adventure Cyclist magazine by Rivendell founder Grant Petersen …

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An overnight snowfall in the mountains around Durango left 2,500 bicyclists all dressed up with no place to go on Saturday morning for the 37th annual Iron Horse Bicycle Classic.

The Colorado State Patrol cancelled the popular bicycle road race and bike tour from Durango to Silverton after a foot of snow was measured at the finish line in Silverton and daytime temperatures were only expected to reach the high 30s.

Said race director Gaige Sippy: “We can not have 2,500 cyclists and their friends in Silverton with those weather conditions. Hypothermia in these conditions is a high risk.”

There is a no refund policy in effect and the rides cannot be rescheduled. Other weekend events were not affected as of Saturday morning …

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A cyclist in Ohio's Tour of the Scioto River Valley bike tour was killed Sunday when he was struck from behind by a motorist while returning to Columbus. Identified as William Crowley, 57, of Northfield, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, he is the first traffic-related fatality in the history of the tour.

The TOSRV is one of the oldest bike tours in the US, celebrating its 47th anniversary this year. Started as a father-son bike ride in 1962, the classic bike tour draws some 2,800 bicyclists for the 105-mile bike ride to Portsmouth on Saturday, followed by the return to Columbus on the Sunday.

The Ohio State Patrol reported that Crowley was hit by the car while riding north in the right lane of US 23 near Piketon at about 7:50 a.m., about 18 miles north of Portsmouth…

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North Cascade Highway

Rumors about the excellent bicycle touring opportunities in my big back yard, the Pacific Northwest, will be confirmed by the latest set of maps published by the Adventure Cycling Association.

The Washington Parks bicycle route is an 870-mile double loop within easy access from Seattle. One loop takes in the Olympic Peninsula in the west. The other climbs over and around the soaring Cascades in the east.

The routes take in three national parks — Olympic, Mt. Rainier, and North Cascade — along with wild ocean views, tranquil islands, steep mountain passes, and orchards and vineyards. …

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Gillian Hoggard

Read Gillian's personal message in comments below…

Touring bicyclists who benefitted from Gillian Hoggard's hospitality on the hot, dry plains of eastern Colorado in recent years are paying her back.

After a wildfire swept across her home and property last month and destroyed everything in its path, a “reforestation fund” has been set up and at least one work party is heading to her land near Ordway.

It's heartening to see touring cyclists come together to lend a hand to someone whose efforts on their behalf earned her the “Trail Angel” award from Adventure Cycling Association…

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One of the most compelling on-the-road bike journals has rolled to a halt as Nevada photographer Rick Gunn completed his around the world bicycle trek this past weekend.

The Tahoe Daily Tribune has set some of his many photos to a slideshow, left, and music that it published online today.

The 44-year-old photographer started his journey at the Golden Gate Bridge in July 2005, returning 34 months later. Along the way he covered 25,811 miles on his 90-pound loaded bicycle, visited 33 countries, and camped out more than 800 times …

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