Mar 07 2015

Ohio Trails and Bike Museum

Bike Trails in Ohio

Way back in 2011, Trailsnet dubbed Ohio as Trail State of the Year. Well it just keeps getting better. Trailsnet has now discovered two new attractions that make Ohio the king of trail biking. So in addition to great trails like the Ohio to Erie Trail (325 miles), the North Coast Inland Trail (NCIT) (270 miles) and the Ohio & Erie Towpath trail (100 miles), and great websites like the Ohio Bikeways website, they also have two other fantastic bike/trail related attractions.

Xenia Station

What a great idea. A trail hub to serve numerous converging bicycle paths. Xenia Station, in (where else?) Xenia, Ohio serves as a link to five different trails and over 170 miles of paved bike paths. Built as a replica to the original 1880 train station in the same area, this beautiful and functional structure serves as a museum, an observation tower and a classroom. But it’s more than just a symbolic meeting place. The Xenia Station is also a lifeline for Ohio trail users since it provides restrooms, vending machines, water and shelter for bicyclists, hikers and other outdoor recreationalists. It is this type of devotion to trails and their fans that makes Ohio such an incredible trail state.

 Bicycle Museum of America

Another great gem in the state of Ohio is the Bicycle Museum of America. Located in New Bremen, Ohio, the Bicycle Museum can be found right next to the Miami-Erie Canal Trail. With over 280 bikes on display and another 700 in storage (displayed on a rotating basis) you’ll probably find that nostalgic bicycle you remember from your childhood. With three floors of bicycle displays, the bicycle museum includes Schwinns, banana (seat) bikes, recumbents and bicycle memorabilia. They even have the famous Pee Wee Herman bike on display. Ohio would make a great vacation destination for bicyclists of all ages. With over 900 miles of bike trails, a bicycle museum and lots of friendly Ohioans, you may want to consider Ohio as a destination for your next epic bike tour.

 

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2015/03/07/ohio-trails-and-bike-museum/

Feb 28 2015

Weekly Trail Information Posts

Saturday Trail Posts

With all the big Trailsnet news coming out including the international trails information blog-post and the big surprise announcement coming out on March 14, it’s about time that we got a little more organized. So starting today, we’re going to try making at least one post per week on Saturday mornings. What do you think, are Saturdays mornings best, or should we publish these posts sometime on Fridays to help trail users prepare for the weekends? Our biggest readerships are, in the following order: Sundays, then Saturdays, then (surprise) Mondays, then Fridays. Readership falls off pretty steeply on Tuesdays through Thursdays.

Which Day Would You Prefer to Get Trail Information Updates?

What day do you think would be best to post trail information blog-posts and trail updates? Would you prefer Friday, Saturday or some other day? Please leave a comment below with your preferences and suggestions.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2015/02/28/trail-information-blog-posts/

Feb 21 2015

Trailsnet Goes International

International Trails on Trailsnet

discover worldwide trails

Find trails worldwide!

Finally!! Trail lovers worldwide, rejoice. Now it is possible to add trails from anywhere in the world on Trailsnet.com. Have a favorite river trail in France? No problem. How about a favorite historical trail in England? Add that baby. A trekking trail in New Zealand? We’d love to see it.

Adding Trails is Easy!!

To add a trail, just click on the Add A New Trail link above. If you’re already registered on the Trailsnet site, you can begin adding trail information right away. If you’re not registered, it’s super easy. All you need is your email address. Don’t worry; at Trailsnet, we never share your email with anyone and we never send Spam or sales emails. As you can see by the Trailsnet site, we’re not about selling stuff. We’re just about trails. So

if you’ve never entered trail information on Trailsnet, please help us build a network of international trails. When filling out the Add a New Trail form, some items are required and others are optional. Don’t worry if you aren’t positive about one of the required information fields. If you add a question mark beside the entry, I’ll be glad to do some research and make

Find trails throughout the world.

International Trails

corrections as needed. And if you have any troubles, please use the contact link above to get ahold of me so I can you help you resolve the issue. For more information about adding trail information, visit the Trailsnet How to Add Trails page.

More Important Trail News Forthcoming!!

As if the international trail news wasn’t enough, Trailsnet has another big announcement coming up within the next couple weeks. It’s another important milestone that I’ve been promising for the past year, and we’re almost there. So stay tuned to Trailsnet.com to find out what’s going on in the world of trails.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2015/02/21/trailsnet-goes-international-trails/

Feb 01 2015

Trail Funding Fast Fact

Federal Funding for Walking and Bicycle Paths

man walking dog on path

walking path

 

A recent survey indicated that 74% of Americans would like to see federal trail funding maintained or increased for biking and walking paths.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2015/02/01/trail-funding-fast-fact/

Jan 31 2015

Colorado Front Range Trail

Colorado Front Range Trail logo

Front Range Trail

Colorado Front Range Trail from Wyoming to New Mexico

Most Colorado citizens are unaware that one of America’s premier trails is being proposed to run along the most densely populated portions of the state including Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Denver, Boulder, Longmont, Loveland and Fort Collins. The Colorado Front Range Trail would run all the way from the New Mexico border to the Wyoming border and would end up being 876 miles long. In a recent article from the Boulder Daily Camera, it was noted that not only does Governor John Hickenlooper support the trail, but “wants to see a bike trail from the Wyoming state line to New Mexico

completed waiting the next five years.” Now that is both ambitious and awesome!!

Colorado: The Trail State

Wouldn’t it be great if Colorado changed it’s state moniker from The Centennial State to The Trail State? That would more accurately reflect Colorado’s position as one of the leading states for bicycling, hiking and outdoor recreation in general. In addition to the upcoming Colorado Front Range Trail, Colorado is also home to some other incredible long distance trails including the Great Plains Trail, the Colorado Trail and the Continental Divide Trail.

Thank Governor Hickenlooper for Supporting Long Distance Trails

This is the second in a (short) series of blog posts encouraging trail fans to contact their representatives who support trails and cycleways.  I encourage you to Contact Governor John Hickenlooper and thank him for his support of the Colorado Front Range Trail and/or to encourage any and all elected representatives who support trail building and funding. So, once again, I will share the recent message I sent to Governor Hickenlooper about his support for Colorado trails:

Dear Governor Hickenlooper,

I recently read, in the Boulder Daily Camera, that you would like to see a bike trail from the Wyoming state line to New Mexico. Thank you for supporting this important issue. I am a huge fan of the Colorado Front Range Trail. I am glad to hear that it is still alive and well. I am on the Board of Directors for the Great Plains Trail Alliance as well as a supporter of both the Colorado Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. I would love to see Colorado become known as The Trail State. I appreciate your support of Colorado trails and especially bike trails. They are extremely valuable for health, safety, recreation, the environment and transportation. Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help support the Colorado Front Range Trail either as a private citizen or through the trail advocacy website Trailsnet.com.

Kevin from Trailsnet.com

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2015/01/31/colorado-front-range-trail/

Jan 30 2015

Trail Advocacy

Colorado Senator Larry Crowder

Senator Crowder

Support Politicians Who Support Trails

In this age of partisan politics, it is refreshing to note that trails seem to be a nonpartisan issue. Although it is true that some strongly anti-trail politicians such as John McCain and Jim Inhofe are republican, that is not necessarily the party’s default viewpoint. Recently, Colorado Republican State Senator Larry Crowder, from the Alamosa County area proposed a bill to fund more bike trails. Unfortunately, the bill did not make it out of committee. Fortunately, it was not voted down because of a lack of interest in trails but on a procedural policy issue. Hopefully Senator Crowder and his colleagues will continue to advocate for more trails as a safety issue, a recreational issue, an environmental issue, a transportation issue and a health issue.

Contact Your Local, State & National Politicians About Supporting Trails

In the meantime, I encourage all of you trail supporters to contact your policy makers about continual support for trails of all sorts including cycleways, hiking paths, rail trails, urban trails and more. Don’t just contact them when you want a favor or when something goes wrong. Contact them when they do anything in support of our trail systems. To that end, here is the email I just sent to Senator Crowder:

Dear Senator Crowder,

Thank you for attempting to build more bike trails in Colorado. I am pleased that you recognize the recreational, health and safety benefits of bike trails. I realize that the bill you proposed did not successfully make it out of committee, but I hope you will continue trying to improve Colorado by improving our trail infrastructure. It is my hope that Colorado will one day be known as The Trail State, and that designation will increase tourism as well as helping people to realize what a healthy and enjoyable state this is.
Alamosa County (& the surrounding area) is fortunate to have you as a representative and all of Colorado is fortunate to have you serving us in the state senate and on the Health & Human Services Committee. Thanks for all you do.
Kevin from Trailsnet.com

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2015/01/30/trail-advocacy/