Remember that old Saturday Night Live joke?
“I'm from New Jersey.” “Oh yeah? What exit?”
That retort could be rewritten to “What bicycle route?” as the New Jersey Department of Transportation has published three more bicycle route guides to make an even dozen that are available online for cyclists.
The three are Burlington County Bikeways, Cape May Shoreline Ride and Cumberland Salem Revolution bicycling guides. Combined, they offer 168 miles of bicycling through New Jersey ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/09/17/new-jerseys-12-in-depth-bicycle-tour-guides-posted-online/
Bicyclists from Georgia and Alabama will ride to a shrimp boil get-together in a farmer's field at the state line in a couple of weeks to celebrate the completion of the longest paved bike path in the US.
With the paving of the last gap of Georgia's Silver Comet bike path last month, the 61.5-mile rail-to-trail combines with the Chief Ladiga bike path to become the longest paved bicycle path in the US at a distance of 95 miles.
Bicycle enthusiasts will leave from trailheads in Georgia and Alabama that morning and arrive at the state line for festivities, food and entertainment at 2 p.m. Sept. 27.
The PATH Foundation flyer (.pdf) explains all the details of the Silver Comet celebration …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/09/11/bike-ride-marks-silver-comet-and-chief-ladiga-trails-as-longest-in-us/
A budget shortfall in Illinois means fewer off-road routes for bicyclists to enjoy beginning this fall.
The biggest hit to cyclists is closure of the Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park, left, a linear park in northwest Illinois that boasts more than 90 miles of towpath — 30 miles of it paved — as it crosses six Illinois counties.
The towpath is a popular route for bicyclists. A portion was used during the 2008 Grand Illinois Trail and Parks bike ride (GITAP) this summer.
Statewide, the Department of Natural Resources is padlocking 11 state parks to save $14 million. The parks will be closed to everyone as of Nov. 1 …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/09/05/no-trespassing-signs-going-up-on-90-mile-bike-trail-in-illinois/
The Burke-Gilman bike trail's 1 1/2-mile missing link in Ballard could open in two years.
Funding for the trail project is included in the proposed 2009-2010 budget for the city of Seattle.
If you're wondering why it has taken so long to complete this section from 11th Avenue Northwest to the Ballard locks, consider the $14.1 million overall pricetag. The city is including $8.6 million in its upcoming budget for the work, and the remainder is to come from King County. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/09/04/building-the-burke-gilman-bike-trail-missing-link-in-seattle/
The blog is looking a little gray, so I thought I'd pull out this photo from this summer's bicycle ride on the John Wayne Pioneer Trail east of Seattle.
Looking at the shadows, I must have crossed the Hull Creek trestle late in the afternoon. The rail-to-trail runs from North Bend to the Columbia …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/08/29/trestle-in-iron-horse-state-park/
All good bike trails must end, but some end before they ever get a good start.
Exporing some of the many bicycle trails in the Puget Sound area the past couple of summers, I've found that some bike trails begin and end in well-equipped trailheads with restrooms, drinking fountains and parking lots.
Others simply come to an abrupt end in a road culvert, padlocked gate, or a muddy trail that disappears into an overgrown right of way.
Many of these are rails-to-trails that are built on abandoned railroad beds. Rail-to-Trails Conservancy reports 1,534 completed trails covered 15,346 miles in the US ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/08/25/many-unexpected-ends-to-bicycle-trails/
Do you like irony? Then here's one for you:
An 18.8-mile bike path that's proposed to run alongside a toll road in the Washington DC suburbs is in danger of being blocked because it could damage environmentally sensitive parkland.
Never mind that the $2.4 billion, six-lane toll road follows the same route. In fact, the bike trail was originally proposed as an ecological offset for environmental damage caused by the new road between Gaithersburg and Laurel …
Eric Gilliland, executive director of the Washington Area Bicycle Association, told the Washington Post:
“We really don't understand the rationale behind dropping a bike trail for environmental issues when they're already running a big highway through there.” ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/08/21/environmental-issues-might-block-bike-path-while-toll-road-okd/
Whenever I head north along the Sammamish River Trail, a gravel trail that breaks off to the east about 6 miles from Redmond frequently catches my eye.
Leaving my road bike at home, I recently paid a visit to the Tolt Pipeline Trail, left, on the used Rockhopper mountain bike that I bought to explore the many dirt and gravel trails in my big back yard.
This trail is the right-of-way for a water pipeline the serves the City of Seattle. The total distance of the trail, not counting the interruptions, is about 12 miles. I bicycled the 7-mile central section from Sammamish River Trail to just above West Snoqualmie Valley Road.
Steep grades
Those of us who are used to the oh-so-gentle climbs on rail-to-trail right-of-ways will certainly find these steep grades challenging. The pipeline simply goes from Point A to Point B and the trail follows, with no grading to get in the way …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/08/17/bicycling-the-tolt-pipeline-trail/
The Great Allegheny Passage has turned into a gold mine for communities who are watching money roll into their western Maryland and Pennsylvania towns two wheels at a time.
Time and time again it has been shown that rail-to-trail projects are a big draw for bicyclists, and longer networks like this one draw bike tours with people who need food and lodging.
The 150-mile GAP bike trail hooked up with the 186-mile C&O Canal towpath in late 2006, creating an off-road bike tour route all the way from Washington DC to McKeesport (and into Pittsburgh later this year) …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/07/28/gap-bike-trail-stimulates-local-economies/
I had heard about bicycling the John Wayne Pioneer Trail and the Snoqualmie Tunnel ever since moving here in 2000, but I didn't have the right bike until this spring.
With a day to myself, I threw the knobbies on my Rockhopper mountain bike and drove up to the Cedar Falls (exit 32 on I-90) trailhead to find out about it for myself.
Briefly, it was a great bike ride, and I can't wait to return with my camping gear. I rode the first leg of about 22 miles to the next trailhead at Hyak on the other side of the 2.3-mile long Snoqualmie Tunnel, looked around, and returned. I was shooting photos with my Canon Elph, and made a spur-of-the-moment decision to try a video. It appears at left.
The John Wayne Pioneer Trail is the old Chicago-Milwaukee-St. Paul-Pacific Railroad — aka The Milwaukee Road — that rolls two-thirds of the way across Washington state. About 100 miles of it is a packed gravel rail-to-trail maintained as part of the Iron Horse State Park from Cedar Falls west of the Cascades to the Columbia River to the east …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/07/21/iron-horse-state-parks-john-wayne-pioneer-trail-in-washington/
Adventure Cycling Association Trail biking Rails to Trails Conservancy League of American Bicyclists
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