If you're a veteran and see this guy towing a bike trailer filled with his stuff across the southern US, you might want to stop and say hi.
He's Jerry Nelson, 56, a veteran of 15 years in the Navy and a Vietnam vet. He's pedaling cross-country to find some peace of mind.
After hiking last year from New Mexico to Washington DC, where he camped in front of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, he's now pedaling his Trek 850 hardtail and pulling a Burley trailer to Oregon. Along the way he's spending nights at American Legion posts and speaking to veterans groups.... more»
Four-legged bane of Trans-American bicycle tourers? Dogs. Four-legged bane of Iditarod snow-bikers? Moose.
The Human-powered Iditarod got underway in 10-degree temperatures on Sunday, and racers snow-biking the route have reported problems with moose along the trail, especially one particularly aggressive female moose.
Meanwhile, Jill Homer, whose Up in Alaska blog is one of the most popular bicycling blogs on the Internet, is posting good enough times to be on pace for a record-setting 350-mile ride into McGrath.... more»
They're going to have to rename this event if there are many more days like Sunday in the future for the Chilly Hilly bike rides.
Check out these cyclists basking in the sun as they ride along Rockaway Beach Road on Bainbridge Island Sunday afternoon. That's downtown Seattle, with the famous Space Needle on the left, across Puget Sound with the snow-capped Cascades in the background. In many previous years, much of these scene would be hidden behind a cloud bank.
The Chilly Hilly bike ride is a 33-mile loop around Bainbridge Island. It has been sponsored for 35 years by the Cascade Bicycle Club, which named it for the usual cold, wet, and windy weather that greets cyclists coming out of their winter hibernation ... more»
You snow-cycling enthusiasts probably already know about this, but the Iditarod Trail Invitational starts this Sunday.
Billed as the world's longest human-powered race, the event starts in Anchorage and follows the famous Iditarod sled dog race course across a frozen landscape to either McGrath -- 350 miles, or Nome -- 1,110 miles.
Of the 46 entrants, 12 are going by bicycle to McGrath and 10 are riding their bikes to Nome. The rest are hiking or skiing ... more»
You've seen out-of-shape bicyclists get off their bikes and walk up steep hills on weekend bike tour events. But have you ever seen riders dismount because of a headwind?
Bike riders on the Jalapeno 100 through the Rio Grande Valley around Harlingen, Texas, were doing just that Saturday as wind gusts of 52 mph swept across the route.
Tailwinds above 40 mph are a good thing; but headwind or sidewinds are not. Sag wagons filled up during the day. The blogger at Texbiker.net gives this vivid account, which reads at times like it's a dispatch from the Dust Bowl era more»
While we've been on the subject of globe-girdling bicycling with Annie Londonderry, 25-year-old Mark Beaumont completed his journey earlier today when he crossed under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
Beaumont's amazing feat? He shaved 81 days off the previous around-the-world solo bike tour record of 276 days.
No sag wagon accompanied him or carried his stuff. Beaumont toted his own 66 pounds of gear over the entire 18,000-mile journey for 195 days. Now he's looking to get some sleep... more»
Imagine that you're a writer with a growing appetite for riding your bicycle.
Then consider that a researcher who had contacted your mother years earlier about your great-grandfather's sister -- no one in the immediate family had ever heard of her -- gets back in touch and asks if you had learned anything more about her.
Oh, and by way, that great-grandaunt had bicycled around the world more than 100 years ago.
There you have the circumstances that launched Peter Zheutlin on his quest to research and write a book about Annie Kopchovsky (aka Annie Londonderry): "Around the World on Two Wheels, Annie Londonderry's Extraordinary Ride."
His pursuit of Annie Londonderry's story across time is full of as many twists and turns as Annie's solo bike ride in 1894 and 1895. And just as Annie started her journey with big dreams but little knowledge of bicycling, Zheutlin started with a virtually blank slate about his once famous relative. ... more»
If you're familiar with the world of bicycle touring, you probably already know that the first cyclist to pedal around the world was Tom Stevens, who left San Francisco on a penny farthing in 1884.
But who was the first woman to accomplish the feat?
Let me introduce you to Annie Londonderry, a Bostonian in her early 20s who undertook the journey 10 years later in 1894. Credited with accomplishing the bicycle journey by Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and countless other newspapers at the time, her story is one of high adventure and extreme risk for a woman travelling alone in the late 19th century.
Her stories involve run-ins with bandits, nights spent sleeping in barns or open fields, visiting the front of the China-Japan war where she was wounded and taken prisoner, accidents out on the road, and tiger hunts in the jungle from atop an elephant. She did it all to win a bet that a woman could bicycle around the world. ... more»
Pedalers on the three Colorado week-long bicycle tours this summer will be treated to views like the one I shot while bicycling down Route 550 between Montrose and Ouray.
In fact, two of the bike tours start in Durango a week apart and tackle the San Juans Mountains (shown here) on the first or second day.
This is the second year that Colorado mountain pass-climbing enthusiasts have a choice of three bike tours - the Denver Post's Ride the Rockies June 15-21; Bicycle Tour of Colorado June 22-28; and Colorado Rocky Mountain Bike Tour Aug. 3-9.
This is a photo of my son and other bicyclists on the Ride Around Washington a few years ago heading up to Washington Pass on Highway 20.
Believe me, to discover the North Cascades for the first time on a bicycle is a never-to-be-forgotten experience. I'd say it's one of the best rides around.
The editors of Adventure Cyclist magazine, the official publication of the Adventure Cycling Association, think so too. They chose the North Cascades and Okanogan region of northcentral Washington as one of the top 10 cyclotouring destinations in North America.
Deputy editor Aaron Teasdale explains that with interest in bicycle touring at an all time high, "We wanted to spotlight the best places for people to head out for a week and ride." ... more»
Two bicycle safety instructors from Portland are touring the Andes by bicycle after deciding it was pointless to put off the trip any longer.
Andy McKerrow and Elicia Cardenas had individually wondered for years when they would be ready to bike tour in South America until they recognized they each had the same idea and there was nothing stopping them doing it.
When I rode my bicycle out in the Central Valley of California, I always had to keep my eyes open for ground squirrels.
Those big, fat suckers would hang out in the shade of a haystack at a roadside dairyfarm, then kick up a small cloud of dust as they scampered across the road. It was always the squirrel's agility, not my bike handling skills, that averted disaster.
A 61-year-old wasn't so lucky. In spite of four transAmerica bike trips, Anthony Ricupero lost his first squirrel vs. bike tangle last weekend on a club ride near Greenwich, Conn... more»
An outdoor trade organization named the Adventure Cycling Association among its finalists for the 2008 Outdoor Industry Ambassador Award.
Although the award ultimately went to Mountain Gear for training more than 1,000 climbers a year, the bicycle touring group said it was proud to included among the finalists and honored to be the only cycling group cited.
Adventure Cycling was chosen for its Underground Railroad Bicycle Route, which has drawn new audiences, including African-Americans, to recreational bicycle touring... more»
The Chico Velo bicycle club is launching a very worthwhile fund-raiser bike ride later this month to support local bicyclists who have suffered injuries while bicycling.
The first beneficiary is Ed McLaughlin, a longtime bicycle advocate and cycling coordinator for the Northern California club. He did a header over his handlebars when he hit a bike-path pole on a group ride in December and damaged his spinal cord. He's only regained the use of an arm.
The bike ride features two options of six and 20 miles, either through Bidwell Park or among the blossoming almond orchards on rural roads ... more»
If you're a veteran and see this guy towing a bike trailer filled with his stuff across the southern US, you might want to stop and say hi.
You've seen out-of-shape bicyclists get off their bikes and walk up steep hills on weekend bike tour events. But have you ever seen riders dismount because of a headwind?
While we've been on the subject of globe-girdling bicycling with Annie Londonderry, 25-year-old Mark Beaumont completed his journey earlier today when he crossed under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
If you're familiar with the world of bicycle touring, you probably already know that the first cyclist to pedal around the world was Tom Stevens, who left San Francisco on a penny farthing in 1884.
Pedalers on the three Colorado week-long bicycle tours this summer will be treated to views like the one I shot while bicycling down Route 550 between Montrose and Ouray.
This is a photo of my son and other bicyclists on the Ride Around Washington a few years ago heading up to Washington Pass on Highway 20.
Two bicycle safety instructors from Portland are touring the Andes by bicycle after deciding it was pointless to put off the trip any longer.
An outdoor trade organization named the Adventure Cycling Association among its finalists for the 2008 Outdoor Industry Ambassador Award.
