This photo I shot on the Foothills Trail in Pierce County, Washington, makes me feel warm all over.
It's a hot June day and that's the volcano Mount Rainier soaring in the background.
I just posted this rail-to-trail photo, and a couple of others, to the Rail-to-Trails Conservancy group on flickr.com
There already are more than 300 photos in the group of people riding their bicycles on rail-trails all across the US…
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/01/09/rails-to-trails-conservancy-photo-group-on-flickr/
There's a trail plan underway that would enable bicyclists to visit dozens of Colonial and Civil War-era historic sites from a single off-road trail.
Bicycling advocates and history buffs are working to link 11 bicycle trails in the mid-Atlantic states to create a 185-mile circular historical bike route.
Called the Grand History Trail, the project would fill in the gaps between trails in Maryland, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia.
Along the way, it would connect the historic cities of Annapolis, Baltimore, Frederick, Gettysburg, Washington and York and points in between, such as Colonial-era settlements and Civil War battlefields …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/01/08/grand-history-trail-for-bicycling-landmarks-in-mid-atlantic-states/
The East Coast Greenway is a 3,000-mile bicycle-pedestrian route from Calais, Maine, to Key West, Florida.
The route is proposed as an off-road path that links cities along the eastern seaboard. Currently, about one-fifth of the route is on traffic-free paths with more on the way.
But before things get too far along, however, the Greenway wants to establish a set of uniform signs that can be used along its length.
To get some public feedback, the Greenway folks are distributing an online Bicycle Signage Survey that takes 12 minutes to complete (your time may vary) …..
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/12/30/take-the-sign-survey-for-east-coast-greenway/
King County (WA) is getting closer to filling some missing links in its countywide bicycle route network.
The latest proposal is a 17-mile trail that links four other bike paths as it rolls between the Puget Sound and Lake Washington south of Seattle.
Dubbed the Lake-to-Sound Trail, the bike path is designed to intersect the Cedar River Trail, the Green River Trail, the Westside Trail and the Des Moines Creek Trail. It will pass through Renton, Tukwila, Burien, SeaTac, Normandy Park and Des Moines. The trail also visits the Tukwila light-rail station …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/12/22/plans-for-lake-to-sound-bicycle-trail-in-south-king-county/
The Raccoon River Valley Trail in west central Iowa has been dealt a setback in its bid to becoming the nation's longest looping trail.
Already 56 miles long, another 33 miles of trail-building was in line for a state grant until it was diverted to help pay for disaster relief from Iowa flooding earlier this year.
The trail partly uses the old “Milwaukee Road” railroad right-of-way (same at the John Wayne Pioneer bicycle trail in Washington state). When complete, it will be 89 miles long, including the 72-mile loop.
Iowans are very familiar with the famous line from the movie “Field of Dreams”: “Build it and they will come.” Local bicycling advocates say the new trail will be a boon to bicycle tourism in the region …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/12/10/disaster-relief-in-iowa-delays-trail-completion/
A nonprofit that works on behalf of all trails — including those for bicyclists– recognized the Underground Railroad Bicycle Route at its annual meeting that ended Monday in Little Rock.
American Trails issued its 2008 Partnership Award to Adventure Cycling Association and the University of Pittsburgh and the Center for Minority Health, who worked together on the project.
The bicycle route takes cyclists along the path to freedom used by many slaves before the Civil War. It stretches 2,100 miles from Mobile, Alabama, to Owen Sound, Ontario.
“Since the route's official establishment in 2007, Adventure Cycling's Underground Railroad Route map sales have been exceptional, with 4,150 maps sold to date …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/11/19/american-trails-awards-underground-railroad-bike-route-among-others/
Some of you might remember my encounter with “long rider” Mark Ryan last month as I was bicycling along the John Wayne Pioneer Trail in the Cascades.
The Associated Press tracked him down and now his story is spreading across the country. The article says that he reached his destination but is stuck in Wyoming after a truck he bought to get home broke down.
When I ran into Mark in early October, he was nearing the end of his 2,000-mile ride from Kingfisher, Oklahoma, to Ferndale, Washington, to visit a friend. He had set out on June 2, and he had ridden Mister Doodles the entire way. His mule, Festus, carried the supplies. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/11/17/update-on-mark-festus-and-mister-doodles/
There are hectic days when the weather is nice, but I just can't get out for a long bike ride. That's when I jump on my mountain bike to ride some trails and finish up with a stop at a local grocery to pick up something for dinner — all in under an hour.
Part of the bicycle route is on an unassuming dirt path that veers into a second-growth forest behind some homes in neighboring Newcastle.
I never thought much about this dirt trail that dead-ends at a stairway high above May Creek until recently. That's when I found out that this is no ordinary dirt trail.
Merely 1.7 miles long, the May Creek Trail is the abandoned route of a narrow-gauge railroad of the 1800s that connected the lucrative old coalfields of old Newcastle to docks in Seattle. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/11/04/peeling-back-the-history-of-my-sub-hour-mountain-bike-route-october-ride-stats/
Whenever I'm out bicycle riding, I always keep an eye open for passing bicycle travelers who might need some directions or some company. It's how I return the favor to the countless people who have helped me over the years.
I met up with Mark on Friday as I was enjoying an early fall bike ride on the John Wayne Pioneer Trail in the Cascades. Although he wasn't on a bike, I knew he had an interesting story to tell.
Mark and his two companions, Festus, the mule, and Mister Doodles, the horse, had been on the road since June 2 when they left Kingfisher, Oklahoma. He was traveling to see an old friend in Ferndale, so he was nearing the end of his journey. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/10/11/riding-along-with-mark-festus-and-mister-doodles-through-the-cascades/
There's a suburban legend out there that rail-to-trail conversions drive down property values.
Propose a trail on an abandoned railway and you'll hear fear and loathing from neighbors about loss of privacy, increased crime, traffic and noise, all which will affect property values.
A University of Cincinnati master's degree candidate in urban planning decided put those fears to the test by checking data from a populated section of the Little Miami Scenic Trail in southeast Ohio. Her research concluded that the opposite is true.
Duygu Karadeniz discovered that single family home sale prices increase by $7.05 for every foot closer a property is located to the trail. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/10/02/study-finds-that-ohio-bike-trail-boosts-property-values/
Adventure Cycling Association Trail biking Rails to Trails Conservancy League of American Bicyclists
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