Jun 04 2015

London Bike Trails

Bike Trails in Hyde Park, Green Park & St. James Park

Well-marked paths

Well-marked paths

For those of you who think the only good bike trails are in the mountains, it’s time for you to meet some beautiful urban bike trails in the heart of Westminster and London, England. London (technically Westminster) is the home of three absolutely gorgeous urban parks:

  • Hyde Park
  • Green Park
  • St. James Park

These three parks are criss-crossed with an incredible network of trails for bicyclists, walkers and equestrians. So even if you’re not a fan of city biking or road biking, you’ll find a scenic and peaceful network of trails whether you are a resident of London or a visitor. The trails are well marked (see photo above) to let guest know where it is and isn’t alright to ride bikes. It’s not unusual, however, to see walkers, bicyclists and equestrians peacefully coexisting in the same park areas.

What’s So Great About Bike Riding in London Parks?

bike lanes in hyde park london

Park Trails Clearly Marked

London Parks are a peaceful oasis in the midst of the urban bustle. This especially true early in the morning and on most weekdays. For a major city, the London & Westminster Park trails are relatively tranquil. Plus, the parks department takes great pride in their landscaping. Guests will find gorgeous flower gardens, vast expanses of green lawn and even some preserved areas that provide a glimpse of what the area may have offered for hunting regency and nobility hundreds of years ago.

London Cycle Hire System

But what if you didn’t pack your bicycle in your carry-on luggage? No worry. London has a fantastic cycle hire system. It has many advantages and many names. It goes by all of the following names:

Hyde Park flower gardens

Flower Gardens in Park

  • Cycle Hire
  • Boris Bikes
  • Santander Cycles
  • Barclay Bikes

No matter what name you call it, the London Cycle Hire system works well and is worth considering for the following reasons:

  • It is quite inexpensive. I was able to rent a cycle for 24 hours for only £2.
  • It is convenient; you can find Cycle Hire bikes all over London. Find a Santander Cycles Docking Station by visiting this web page.
  • There are many places to ride your bike while in London. One of the best bike riding areas is in Hyde Park.
  • The Boris Bikes provide you with exercise while in London.
    flowers bloom in Hyde Park

    Fauna & Flora in Hyde Park

  • The Cycle Hire bicycles are great for both recreation and transportation.

Best Times and Places to Ride Bikes in London

  • As mentioned above, Hyde Park is a great place for riding bikes in Westminster & London. The best time to ride bikes in Hyde Park is weekdays since it is less crowded than on weekends.
  • If you’d like to ride your bikes on the streets of London, be very cautious. Keep in mind that:
    • folks in the UK drive on the left-hand side of the road.
    • there are many tourists milling about.
      flowers grow in Hyde Park near trail

      Secret Garden in Hyde Park

    • you will find numerous one-way roads, so always look both ways when crossing the street.
    • It’s a major city, therefore it’s incredibly busy. People are quite tolerant, but not alway vigilant.
    • pedestrians rule the roost, so be very careful of them and yield to pedestrians. In many pedestrian-only zones, such as Leicester Square, you should dismount you bicycle and walk it.
  • The best time to roam the streets on a bicycle is early mornings on weekends or very early mornings on weekdays.  The traffic is much less hectic at those times, but you still need to ride with caution.

 

 

 

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2015/06/04/london-bike-trails/

May 29 2015

Trailsnet Accepts Donations

Help Trailsnet Build a Network of Trails

Beginning on May 14, 2015, Trailsnet.com began accepting donations to help build a network of trails on the internet. Check out the awesome “Donate” button at the top of the right-hand column on this (and other) Trailsnet page(s). Running a not-for-profit website takes a lot of time and resources. Running a professional-looking trail website takes even more resources. Up until now, all of the expenses associated with Trailsnet have come out of the pockets (bank accounts, credit cards) of Trailsnet’s founder. Believe me, that is a very limited pool of resources and funding. (-:

Where Do Your Trailsnet Donations Go?

Here is a list of just some of the areas where Trailsnet will be able to utilize your generous contributions:

  • Website development – Let’s make this page look professional and function smoothly.
  • Video tutorials – Trailsnet could sure use some professional-looking video tutorials to help people learn how to add trails and find new trails.
  • New logo – I know. We all love the current Trailsnet logo. But, unfortunately, it is a little dated and not very inclusive. It’s great if you’re a trail biker, but we have to remember our hiking, inline skating, trail-running and equestrian buddies, not to mention all the other PTVs Trailsnet has vowed to include.
  • Crowd-funding campaign – When it’s time to make the big leap and totally redesign the website, we’ll need a campaign to raise funds and to increase our visibility. Once again, a professional-looking video overview would be nice but a bit costly.
  • Trail conventions – So far, Trailsnet has had very little visibility among trail professionals. So, in essence, Trailsnet is invisible to those who need to see it the most. It’s time for a Trailsnet presence at trail symposiums, conventions and other gatherings of trail movers and shakers, both domestically and internationally.

Please Be Among the First to Donate to Trailsnet.com

Trailsnet could use your help. Trailsnet accepts donations of any size are greatly appreciated. The process is simple. The Trailsnet Donate Campaign uses Paypal, so your donation transactions are safe and secure. You can use either your Paypal account or any of the major credit cards to make your donation. Please help Trailsnet to build the world’s first, best and only comprehensive network of trails on the internet. Because trails are good for health, fitness, recreation, transportation, the environment and the economy. And Trailsnet.com is good for trails, because what good are trails if we can’t find them? Trailsnet is designed to help people find trails. So Please donate today and add your favorite trails on Trailsnet.com every day.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2015/05/29/trailsnet-accepts-donations/

May 29 2015

Bicycle Paths in Iceland

Reykjavik Bike Paths

lighted bike path in Iceland

bike path near Blue Lagoon

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Iceland has an extensive network of bike paths in and around Reykjavik. This includes the area around the Blue Lagoon on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwestern Iceland. After a short bus ride from Iceland Keflavik Airport to the Blue Lagoon, I was impressed by all the bike paths I saw. These bicycle trails ran beside the roads but were completely separate from the roads. They were mostly paved cycleways and not only followed the roads but provided access to nearby businesses and residences. I found it heartening and amazing that a country that nearly went bankrupt a few years ago has found the funding to provide a safe alternative transportation solution for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Bike Trails to the Blue Lagoon

bathers enjoy the warm waters of Iceland's Blue Lagoon

The Blue Lagoon in Iceland

Although I was unable to ascertain whether the bike paths ran ALL the way from Keflavik to the Blue Lagoon, it was pretty obvious that a safe cycling path was available at least most of the way there. Surprisingly, these paths don’t show up on most internet searches nor on Google Maps. In fact Google Maps doesn’t even show that biking is an option for getting around on the southwestern peninsula of Iceland. This demonstrates the need for a more comprehensive bike path directory on the internet.

London Bike Trails & Pedestrian Paths

The next Trailsnet blog post will be about the pedestrian and bicycle trails in London, England area. Are London bike trails safe? Are the London cycleways a viable alternative for tourist exploration? I look forward to exploring the bike trail system in London and reporting the results here on Trailsnet.com. Anyone with suggestions or comments, please leave them below.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2015/05/29/bicycle-paths-in-iceland/

May 22 2015

OmniWheel Review

Omniwheel electric bike conversion

OmniWheel by Evelo

OmniWheel Makes Any Bike an Electric Bike

This OmniWheel Review is part of an ongoing series of trail-related products featured on Trailsnet.com. The OmniWheel is a revolutionary new product, made by Evelo, designed to make just about any bicycle into an electric bike. In essence, when you purchase an OmniWheel, you are purchasing a wheel, tire, battery, console and motor. You provide the rest of the bike, install the OmniWheel, and you’re ready to go.

Why OmniWheel & Other Electric Bikes on Trails?

Before I go into more details about OmniWheel, let me give a quick recap about electric bikes in general, and what they have to do with trails. As you may recall, the most commented-on post on Trailsnet thus far has been the one about Electric Bikes on Trails. Trailsnet has always been a supporter of inclusiveness when it comes to trails. Other than motorized (internal combustion engines) vehicles, we believe that most personal transportation vehicles (PTVs) should be allowed on trails. This includes electric bikes. We believe that America should adopt rules that are already in place across the rest of the world where Pedal Assist (PAS) electric bikes with some kind of governor/regulator are allowed (often encouraged) on most bike paths. It’s simple. Pedal-assist e-bikes have pretty much all the same benefits as regular bikes. They encourage exercise, they are safe, they are affordable for most people, they do not pollute, and they do not use fossil fuel. But electric bicycles have an added advantage: They make trails and bicycling more readily available to a wider cross-section of folks. They take the intimidation factor out of trails that may be a bit lengthy or may contain hilly sections. Thus they make trail cycling more accessible to those who may be less physically fit or may have some sort of minor disability. In addition, electric bikes make bicycle commuting much more feasible. They allow a commuter to carry more work-related items (daypack, pannier, satchel) and to arrive at work less sweaty and bedraggled.

What Kind of Bikes Would Work With an OmniWheel?

This question is easy to answer. Take a look at the list of bikes that might work well with an OmniWheel:

  • most urban bikes
    installed OmniWheel electric wheel

    OmniWheel on a Cruiser

  • most road bikes
  • most mountain bikes
  • most cruisers
  • most tandems
  • some recumbents (bikes and trikes)
  • most classic bikes

So, as you can see, the OmniWheel has the potential of working well on a wide variety of bikes. I can’t quite say that it works on all bikes, though. Check out the section (below) about which bikes may not be suitable for an Omniwheel.

Who Might Want to Purchase an OmniWheel?

So, as mentioned in the first paragraph, the OmniWheel, by Evelo, allows you to turn just about any bike into an electric bicycle. E-bikes are a great option for recreational bicyclists, commuters or even folks on bike tours including long-distance trail tours. Electric bikes are common in Europe and offered on most of the trail bike tours in addition to non-electric bikes. Electric bikes come in especially handy for hilly terrain or when longer distances might make bicycle riding too much for the average bike rider. The OmniWheel is particularly suitable for someone who may want the benefits of owning an e-bike but doesn’t want the expense of buying the entire bikes. Someone who has a bike that they aren’t using much could especially benefit from transforming that bike into an e-bike.

What Are Some Bikes That Might Not be Suitable for the OmniWheel?

The OmniWheel does not work on every single bicycle. In most cases, it works well, but here are some possible bikes that may not be suitable for use with an OmniWheel:

  • bikes with a carbon fork
  • bikes used mainly for single track mountain biking
  • bikes that have wheel sizes other than 26″ (often mountain bikes & cruisers) or 700c road wheels
  • bikes that do not have at least a 100mm (3.9 inch) space between the fork dropouts (inside dimension)

For more information check out the OmniWheel Compatibility web page.

Installing an OmniWheel

How difficult is it to install an OmniWheel? The answer to that question depends on two factors:

  • How mechanically inclined are you?
  • What type of bicycle will you be installing it on?

These two factors are interrelated. For most bikes, the OmniWheel is quite easy to install, even if you aren’t particularly mechanically inclined. Assuming you have a bicycle that meets the correct specifications and are able to follow directions, installing OmniWheel is not very difficult at all. However, if your bike has issues, such as the fork isn’t wide enough, the bottom bracket is atypical or your brakes are incompatible, then it will take a bit more mechanical know-how and/or patience. Fortunately, both the phone and email support provided by Evelo/OmniWheel are top-notch and extremely helpful. They will walk you through the process with great patience and even send you replacement parts if the regular ones don’t work for your bicycle. In the end, if you’re not the least bit mechanically inclined, you may want to consider having someone from a bike-repair shop install the OmniWheel for you. If you go that route, be sure to take the OmniWheel Installation Guide with you as well as all the parts that came with the OmniWheel.

OmniWheel Review Summary

  • Do I recommend the OmniWheel? – Definitely. If you’re in the market for an electric bike, I highly recommend you check out Evelo and the OmniWheel.
  • Can the OmniWheel and other electric bikes be ridden on your local trails? – Unfortunately that question is way too complicated in the United States. Our laws are way too convoluted on this topic. Those who own/enjoy e-bikes as well as those who manufacture/sell e-bikes should work together to change the system. Once you spend some time on a pedal-assisted e-bike, you’ll realize that they are every bit as safe as any other bike.
  • How far can the OmniWheel go on a single charge? – I was able to go slightly over 40 miles on a single charge with my OmniWheel. Of course that will vary depending on the terrain and the individual riding bike. Keep in mind, the OmniWheel is pedal-assist, so part of that 40 miles was human power and (the biggest) part was the electric-assist of the OmniWheel. 40 miles with a pedal-assist electric bike provides some exercise/activity but is not overly taxing.

If you have ever thought of purchasing an electric bicycle, I would recommend you contact Evelo/OmniWheel at the links provided in this Trailsnet blog-post. It is a high-quality product that is relatively affordable. And, as always, Trailsnet welcomes comments (below) from subscribers, guests, potential e-bike converts, current e-bike owners or members of the Evelo/OmniWheel team.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2015/05/22/omniwheel-review/

May 15 2015

World Trails Network

World HIKING Trails Network

dirt trail with trail sign

Uniting the World, One Trail at a Time

I was so excited when I learned that there was a World Trails Network complete with a World Trails Network Conference. Was this finally it?… the Holy Grail of trail organizations and trail websites. There are certainly some awesome organizations out there with American Trails and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy right up there at the top. But they both have a decidedly focused approach both geographically and functionally. They both mainly focus on one country and RTC focuses mostly on, understandably, rail-trails. Don’t get me wrong. I love America, and I love rail-trails. But what about everything else?

Worldwide Trails

So where was I?…. trails…world…Network… Conference… Oh yeah, now I remember. I was excited about the World Trails Network…. and I still am… to a slightly lesser degree. It turns out that all that world trails stuff was exclusively for hiking trails. Once again, I love hiking trails, but… what about bikes, trikes, Trikkes, inline skates, horses, etc.? So when it comes to a worldwide network of trails on the internet, Trailsnet.com is still it. All trails, all countries, all types of trail users all in one network. I’m not gloating. Seriously. Quite the opposite actually. Building such a network takes a lot of time and $$$$. It ain’t going to be easy my friends. But, as the saying goes: It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2015/05/15/world-trails-network/

May 08 2015

Starry Nights Bike Path

Starry Nights bike path in the Netherlands

illuminated bike path

Back to the Future Bike Path

A very futuristic Dutch Starry Nights bike path pays tribute to Van Gogh and one of his most iconic paintings. This glowing bike path is in the town of Eindhoven in the Netherlands. (see map below) Eindhoven is southeast of Amsterdam and was once home to Vincent Van Gogh. Daan Roosegaarde, the artist who created this path, wanted to pay tribute to both Van Gogh and the Netherlands cycling culture. The result was this half mile stretch of bike path that is lit up with thousands of glowing LED lights. Not only is it a great place for riding bikes, but it’s also a popular spot for first dates. Wow this just keeps getting better. exercise, recreation, the arts AND romance. Leave it to those ingenious Dutch folks to get so much bang for their buck. Ya gotta love it!!

map showing where Eindhoven is in the Netherlands

Eindhoven, the Netherlands

Thanks to Trailsnet subscriber Audrey for submitting this blog-post idea and to NPR for their A Glowing Bike Path Inspired By Van Gogh story.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2015/05/08/starry-nights-bike-path/