May 21 2014
Imagine a world without cars? If you’re having trouble with that, let’s scale it back to a city without cars. Hamburg, Germany has ambitious plans to replace roads with greenways and gradually eliminate the need for automobiles within 20 years. It’s already in my calendar to visit there when it’s done. A city of trails, open spaces & parks would be a beautiful place to live and to visit.
Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2014/05/21/city-trails/
Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2014/05/19/trail-comments-working-already/
May 18 2014
What makes Trailsnet unique? We are one of the only trail websites that cater to active travelers and trail travel. As
Post Trail Travel Info
promised in yesterday’s post, today we’ll take at some of the new features on the Trailsnet Add a New Trail page. These new trail submission features are unique, helpful and a huge improvement over our previous trail submission form:
Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2014/05/18/new-trail-post-features-active-travel-trail-travel/
May 17 2014
Finally, after months in the making, the new Add-a-Trail format is up and running on Trailsnet, and it’s fantastic. Old features have been improved and new features have been added. These new trail features make Trailsnet a truly unique trail website and one of the best trail-finding websites on the internet. I will explain a couple of the new features in today’s post and explain other features in upcoming posts. But most importantly, I hope you visit our new trail submission web page and add one of your favorite trails.
new trail submission form
Let’s start with the features we already had on our old Add a Trail web page that we improved on the new trail submission web page:
I hope you get a chance to try out our Add-a-New-Trail feature soon. If you tried it before, you’ll be surprised and pleased at how much easier it is now. You’ll also be a valuable part in the trail information update process with our new trail comments feature.
Tomorrow, I’ll provide information about some of the brand new trail features on the improved trail submission form. Some of these new features are totally unique to Trailsnet and are helpful for both local trail users and active travelers who enjoy visiting trails all over the world. So please check back tomorrow and feel free to add comments right here on our blog and on our individual trail pages. Let’s talk trails!!
Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2014/05/17/add-trail-trailsnet-com/
May 08 2014
bike helmets
Thanks to Caley for forwarding me an article entitled Why It Makes Sense to Bike Without a Helmet. It is from Howie Chong’s blog and makes a good argument that bicycle helmets may actually make bike riders less safe. It cites interesting studies and makes a good case for biking without a helmet. But more than anything else, it causes readers to think about an issue that, for most is at least a foregone conclusion and at most, sacred. I’m a huge fan of questioning the status quo. And personally, I wear a helmet about 90% of the time. I always wear a helmet when I’m riding a mountain bike or a road bike. That is because, when I’m riding those two bikes, I’m either on a mountain bike trail or on the open road. When I ride my cruiser bike, I seldom wear a helmet. To be honest, until I read the Why It Makes Sense to Bike Without a Helmet article, I wasn’t totally sure why I chose this course of action. Now, however, the article seems to justify my actions. When I’m riding my cruiser, I’m either on a bike path (remember, these are not the same as mountain bike trails) or on local 25 mph roads or on sidewalks.
As today’s selected blog post, Why It Makes Sense to Bike Without a Helmet, suggests, bike helmets are not always the best option. It would make just as much sense to require pedestrians and automobile drivers to wear helmets as it would to make duly cautious recreational bike riders to wear protective head gear. In other words, if there’s good reason to believe that you may crash your bike, then a helmet is probably a good idea. But if you are a safe bike rider operating in generally safe conditions, then a helmet may not be necessary. As with most situations, common sense should prevail over over-encompassing rules. It is similar to the ridiculous rules that ban bicycles from sidewalks in many places. Dangerous bicycle riders (fast, reckless) should not be on sidewalks whereas slow, cautious and careful riders have just as much right on the sidewalks as pedestrians. Punishing good people for the actions of bad ones is never a good idea. Discouraging bike transportation is not a good idea either.
As always, your comments, opinions & rebuttals are welcome in the comments section below. And, on a final note, you may have noticed the new banner for Trailsnet.com. That’s small potatoes compared with what is coming up next. A huge change is just around the corner, so stay tuned. Hopefully, it was money well-spent.
Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2014/05/08/bicycle-helmets-make-us-safer/
Apr 11 2014
Top Trails in USA for Bikepacking
Spring is here and with the arrival of spring many people are already beginning to look forward to summer and all of the vacations, adventures, and travels that will take place. If you’re an outdoors person, chances are you’ve already begun planning outdoor trips. My favorite activity is bikepacking: the act of backpacking with a bike. There are many trails throughout the US that are perfect for this activity. Some of these trails are only a few hundred miles, while others go on for thousands of miles throughout multiple states. Regardless of which trail you choose, they all offer the chance to connect with nature and see the world through a new perspective. If you’re thinking about taking a bikepacking vacation this summer, you may want to try one of these top trails in the USA for bikepacking.
1. Oregon 3 Rivers If this is your first time bikepacking, you may want to try the Oregon 3 Rivers Trail. The Oregon 3 Rivers trail is known for being fairly easy to bike through especially for less experienced bikers. What makes this trail so unique is that there are three different routes that you can take and you can even link them all together in one trip. These routes include the Middle Fork Willamette Trail, the North Umpqua Trail, and the Mackenzie River Trail.
2. Colorado Trail With its ample supply of mountains, Colorado has always been known for being a
Colorado Trail
great place to travel to for an outdoor adventure. This is a 500-mile trail through mountains, streams, and other gorgeous outdoor sceneries. While mountain bikes are common for outdoor trails, you might want to opt into using a fat bike instead. This trail is commonly covered in snow until around July. As seen in this infographic, fat bikes are great for handling snowy conditions at the Colorado Trail.
3. Arizona Trail The Arizona Trail begins at the Mexico border and runs approximately 800 miles to the Utah border. From the very beginning, this trail was created with mountain bikers in mind. This trail was created based on feedback and consultation with mountain bikers to ensure that they created the best possible trail. This trail is very aesthetically pleasing and features a wide range of conditions and settings including mountains, canyons, deserts, forests, and other wilderness areas. It is open for other outdoor activities including hiking and camping as well.
4. Continental Divide Trail Located in the heart of Montana, the Continental Divide Trail is one of the longest trails in America. If you’re planning to bike the entire trail you’ll want to prepare months in advance to make sure you are in good shape as this trail is over 3,000 miles long. While the length of this trail may seem intimidating, it is anything but stressful. This trail runs from Canada to Mexico, through Montana into Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. With all of these different territories covered throughout the trail, you can look forward to connecting with nature and viewing miles of breath-taking mountains, hills, and lakes. Those who successfully complete all 3,000 miles will have their name featured on the CDTC Official List of 3,000 milers.
Have any of you been on any of these trails? If so, which one was your favorite? If not, which one would you be the most willing to try? Is there anyone you prefer that’s not on the list? What trails would you nominate as the best bikepacking trails in America or the world? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.
Byline:
Ann Shirley is a freelance writer that enjoys writing about a wide variety of topics. She enjoys using her writing skills to educate others on the joys of bikepacking, one of her favorite pastimes.
Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2014/04/11/americas-best-bikepacking-trails/
May 19 2014
Trail Comments Working Already
05/19/2014
Trail Entry Screen Shot
New Directions To Trailhead
Thanks to Larry, an astute Trailsnet user, the new comments option located directly below each trail information area is being put to good use. Actually Larry sent an email about some potential misdirections on one of the Trailsnet trail listings for the Hawthorne Trail in Florida. Larry pointed out that the trail map may have an error. Thanks Larry!! That’s exactly the kind of user interaction we’re looking for at Trailsnet. Since we rely on volunteer trail submissions, we realize that all of our trail entries may not be 100% accurate or up-to-date. So we appreciate users who take the time to correct errors and provide updates. That’s why we added the comments option to our new trail information format on Trailsnet.com. Hopefully other Trailsnet fans will send in comments (preferably using the comments option at the bottom of each page.) to keep our network of trails accurate, up-to-date and interactive.
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