Biking Bis - Bicycle Touring

More Bike Touring at TransAmerica Bike Tour 1984 ...

Gene Bisbee — Thu, 11 May 2006 11:12:52 -0700

You can read the journals my friend and I wrote on our 1984 cross-country bicycle tour. See the index at TransAmerican Bicycle Tour.

10 multi-day bicycle tours worth considering

Gene Bisbee — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:49:22 -0800

Must admit that I'm burned out on Bicycling magazine's monthly barrage of top 10 product lists or 10 ways to get faster, fitter, finer in 30 days.

But here's one that caught my attention: 10 of Bicycling magazine's favorite multi-day tours.

You could make the argument that any such bike tour you're fortunate enough to take would be a favorite. Here's their lineup:

(Shameless self-promotion alert: By the way, all of these, and many, many more, are listed at my state by state list of Across-State and Multi-Day Bicycle Tours.)

1. Bike Florida Forgotten Coast Tour ....

How bicyclist reached 10,000-mile goal while working, relocating

Gene Bisbee — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:58:02 -0800

My annual goal is to ride my bicycle 4,000 miles. Last year I made it, partly because a bicycling buddy inspired me with this quest for 10,000 miles.

Russell Rogers had a full-time job, fixed up his house in Sequim for resale, and relocated to Pennsylvania last year. In spite of that, he still put 10,000 miles on his bikes in 2011.

How did he do it? He shared some tips in his blog, The Flying Abalone Bicycle Club, and in conversations with me.

"I think I can summarize it like this, physically speaking it isn't that hard. ....

2012 Ride the Rockies bike tour route -- Gunnison to Fort Collins

Gene Bisbee — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:23:02 -0800

Bicycling enthusiasts on the 27th annual Ride the Rockies bicycle tour will cross five mountain passes on their way from Gunnison to Fort Collins in 2012.

The organizers of the popular event presented by the Denver Post announced this weekend the 442-mile route and seven host cities for the event that draws 2,000 riders in a lottery that leaves others waiting in the wings.

Registration for this year's June 9-15 bicycle tour runs today (Sunday) through Feb. 24. Two thousand bicyclists will be chosen at random in the lottery ...

California teen wants to be youngest solo global bike traveler

Gene Bisbee — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:18:07 -0800

While others her age are just getting used to life after high school, Erin Nelson is taking on the world on her bicycle.

At 18, she left her home in Turlock, California, in November 2010 and pedaled across the US, Europe and Asia on an around-the-world bicycle trip that now finds her in China. [See her video below.]

Why an around-the-world bike tour? She wrote an early blog about some many people living lives of contentment:

"I don't want to be happy being content. I want to be happy because I'm making the most out of my short life so when I die I don't have regrets ....

Park closures in California could hinder bicycle travel

Gene Bisbee — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:11:04 -0800

When I reached the West Coast after bicycling across country in the 1980s, one of the coolest things I discovered was the fact that many parks had hike or bike camping.

The state parks where I stopped on the Pacific Coast Bicycle Trail, for instance, all had a reduced-rate area set aside for travelers on foot or bike.

As I rode up the coast, I remember several nights sitting around the fire ring sharing route news and swapping lies with fellow cyclists.

Now these parks are seriously threatened. In an attempt to balance its budget, California has plans to close 70 parks in the state; X's mark the parks on the above map ...

RAGBRAI and BAK announce 2012 bicycle tour routes

Gene Bisbee — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 01:22:28 -0800

If you're curious about the 2012 routes for RAGBRAI XL (Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) or BAK (Biking Across Kansas), then you've been waiting for this weekend.

Organizers of both popular across-state bicycle tours announced their routes, a combined 946 miles of bicycling for anyone lucky enough to do both.

Between the two, they have 77 years of experience ushering bicyclists across their states in hot summer sun, thunder showers, and occasional windstorms -- all the while ensuring the cyclists can consume copious quantities of pie.

This is the 40th anniversary of RAGBRAI (July 22-28), a mass bicycle tour of 10,000 people. Perhaps to celebrate the occasion, the ride will be among the least challenging...

Pedal the Plains: an unlikely flat bicycle tour in Colorado

Gene Bisbee — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:04:11 -0800

You can probably guess from the photo at left that the hundreds of miles of flatness across Kansas and eastern Colorado were taking a toll on my sanity on a cross-country bicycle tour some 20 years ago.

Those are the Rockies in the background, however, and this bike tour was about to take on a whole new, vertical complexion.

While many cyclists flock to the Rockies for several multi-day bike tours every year, cyclists who prefer flat terrain may feel left out.

No longer. The Denver Post, host of the Ride the Rockies, announced its new Colorado ride this week called "Pedal the Plains."

Although there aren't a lot of details available ...

First bicycle expedition to the South Pole

Gene Bisbee — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:00:00 -0800

The last place you'd probably consider for taking a bicycle ride has been conquered.

The hostess of a children's TV show in England is being touted as the first person to use a bicycle as part of an expedition to the South Pole.

The adventurer, Helen Skelton, 28, also traveled 329 miles by kite ski and 68 miles by cross-country ski to complete the 500-mile journey across Antarctica in 18 days.

The bicycle she pedaled for 103 miles across the frozen continent was a US-built Fortune Hanebrink all-terrain bicycle ...

Road rage attack against bike traveler shouldn't give Kiwis a black eye

Gene Bisbee — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:19:11 -0800

One never knows when a complete jack ass will step forward with designs on screwing up an otherwise ideal bicycle ride.

That's what happened on Tuesday to Russ Roca and Laura Crawford, the American couple whose bicycle-touring exploits are well known and documented at their Path Less Pedaled website.

They've been praising the virtues of summer cycling in New Zealand for the past few weeks until this short message on Tuesday at their Facebook page:

"Had a road rage incident....Russ got tackled off the bike and punched in the face...eventful day."

Although they didn't go into great detail, there's more information ...