Biking Bis - Bicycle Touring and More

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.

Charity cross-country bike ride - Free Bike - delayed in Portland

Gene Bisbee — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 05:00:00 -0700

A cross-country bicycle tour by two friends to raise enough money to buy 1,000 bikes for the children of military families has been side-lined in Portland for a few extra days.

You guessed it. Someone stole one of their bicycles.

Paul Lebelle and Adam Burkowske pedaled themselves and their gear 3,500 miles across the U.S. from their homes in Baltimore on the trek they dubbed BikeFree. Along the way they spoke to organizations and raised funds to buy bicycles for the children of military families. Their destination is San Diego.

The two arrived in Portland over Labor Day weekend, and Monday afternoon Lebelle's green Cannondale T2 bicycle - nicknamed Buttercup (above) - was stolen from the front porch of a house where they were staying in north Portland. ....

Bike recovered: Life imitates art for bike theft victim in Mark Twain's hometown

Gene Bisbee — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 09:59:28 -0700

When Ty Robinson paused in Hannibal, MO, to visit the hometown of Mark Twain on his cross-country bicycle tour, little did he realize how closely his visit would resemble an episode in "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer."

While Robinson, a 29-year-old resident of North Bend, WA, took a nap in a Hannibal park last Tuesday morning, someone stole his Fuji touring bicycle and all his gear. A newspaper article on Thursday drew attention to his plight and the community came to his support.

Now Robinson has been reunited with his treasured bicycle. Local resident Billy Kemph found the bicycle stowed away in the caves just outside of town.

It's eerily similar to the closing chapters ...

Ghost bike dedicated to bicyclist on cross-country charity ride

Gene Bisbee — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 06:00:00 -0700

There's a white ghost bike decorated with flowers alongside a highway that passes through the Laguna Pueblo Reservation in New Mexico.

It marks the location where 19-year-old John Anczarski, right, was struck and killed by a motorist in mid-June. The Ringgold, PA, resident and student at University of Colorado was riding cross-country with three friends to raise funds for breast cancer research when the tragedy happened.

This Labor Day weekend, a small group of friends, family, and a local bicycling group gathered to honor the man and dedicate the site. Jennifer Buntz, president of the Duke City Wheelmen Foundation ...

Things improving for bicycle traveler marooned in Missouri by bike theft

Gene Bisbee — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 12:19:20 -0700

The past 24 hours have brought about an outpouring of assistance for Ty Robinson of North Bend, WA.

The cross-country bicyclist awoke from a nap in a Hannibal, MO, park earlier this week to discover his Fuji touring bike and all his gear had been stolen.

After a local newspaper wrote about his plight, help is on the way. A group of Hannibal cyclists announced a fund-raising ride, MoBikeFed is taking donations, a reward has been offered for the bicycle's return, and local businesses have offered better lodging and dining ....

Bike traveler from Washington state loses bicycle, gear on cross-country trek

Gene Bisbee — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:04:03 -0700

A cross-country bike traveler from North Bend, Washington, is stuck in Missouri after his bicycle and gear was stolen earlier this week.

Ty Robinson, 29, arrived in Hannibal on Monday and stopped to look around because he had always enjoyed the writings of Mark Twain, who grew up there.

Twain famously wrote: "Get a bicycle. You will not regret it. If you live." That's true for Robinson as well, except the punchline should be: "If you can hang onto it."

Robinson and two friends started their journey from North Bend back in July. They were headed to Virginia Beach by bicycle ...

Cyclist, 70, keeps the centuries rolling north of the border

Gene Bisbee — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 05:00:00 -0700

Imagine that you're 70 years old and you have completed an organized bicycle century ride in all 50 states between 2002 and 2009. What's next?

If you're Al Emma of Exton, Pennsylvania, you keep rolling down the road on your bicycle.

Just about the time he was wrapping up his 50 100-milers in July 2009, Emma had started on his next endeavor -- riding a 100-mile century in each of the 10 Canadian provinces.

He started with the Southern Ontario Century Ride in Alliston on May 23, 2009 and completed the cycle with The Fredericton Freewheelers Century Ride in New Brunswick just a couple of weeks ago on Aug. 22 ...

Dutch cyclist returns to US to finish 1976 TransAmerica bike tour

Gene Bisbee — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 08:54:04 -0700

If you're bicycling anywhere on the eastern half of the TransAmerica Bicycle Route over the next six weeks, keep an eye open for a cyclist wearing a yellow T-shirt that says "Tour de Frank: 1976 - 2010."

Wave, give him a thumbs up, or even stop for a chat. That's Frank van Dijk, a fragment of bicycle touring history.

The 58-year-old Dutchman is finishing his Bikecentennial tour that he started 34 years ago.

Frank was one of thousands who took to the road in 1976 to cross the United States by bicycle to celebrate the nation's 200th anniversary. Frank set out with a group of 179 cyclists called "The Dutch Apples" who left the Pacific Coast to ride east to Yorktown, Virginia.

Unfortunately for Frank, an elderly motorist ran into him with her Buick ....

Cyclist killed on Pelotonia cancer ride; donations made in her memory

Gene Bisbee — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 04:00:00 -0700

Update: Aug. 29, 2010 -- "Hundreds bike to honor Ohio woman...", Dayton Daily News. More than 300 cyclists pedaled to Michelle Kazlausky's funeral on Saturday.

Aug. 25, 2010 -- "Prosecutor reviewing death of Pelotonia rider," Columbus Dispatch. Coroner labels death a "homicide," but explains he doesn't have arrest powers and his ruling isn't a legal action.

Donations in memory of Michelle Kazlausky are pouring in to the Pelotonia fund-raising website after the woman was killed while participating in the Ohio-based charity bike ride on Saturday.

She was just one of some 4,200 cyclists who participated this past weekend in the Pelotonia, a two-day bike ride between Columbus and Athens that raises funds for cancer research.

Donors had pledged $7,500 in her memory as of 5:30 a.m. Monday. That amount had more than doubled to $16,500 by late Monday night. Many of the donations of $10 or $25 were given by fellow riders.

The public outpouring prompted her son, Jeff McMahon, to pledge to ride in the 2011 Pelotonia .....

Precious - the bicycle that posts Tweets as it travels cross-country

Gene Bisbee — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 05:00:00 -0700

I can ride my bike with no handlebars, but I can't write and send a Twitter message while I pedal along.

But Janeen McCrae can.

That's because McCrae rides Precious, a bicycle that's been outfitted with sensors and electronics that enable it to send out Tweets with the push of a button. Actually, McCrae and Precious collaborate on the Twitter messages.

McCrae is riding Precious from coast-to-coast on Adventure Cycling's TransAmerica Bicycle Route to raise money for the Livestrong Foundation ....