Apr 28 2012

Navigate Swiss Trails via Electric Bike

International Trails, Electric Bikes & Travel

trail in swiss alps

Swiss Alps trail

Rarely do I find three of my favorite topics in one article; a recent New York Times travel article seemed to reassure me that all is well in the universe. The article was especially interesting because it highlighted a network of trails in Switzerland, revealed a fleet of electric bikes with which to navigate those trails and reassured me that some publications still publish a travel section. All three of those topics are wonderful, indeed.

For 50 Swiss francs a day, about $62 at $1.25 to the franc (with discounts for multiple days), you can rent an electric bike from one of 400 rental stations around the country and then set out on some 5,600 miles of well-marked bike paths. With hundreds of places along the way to obtain fresh batteries free, you don’t need to be a whippet-thin racer to roll for days through the spectacular Swiss hinterlands — up steep mountain passes and past soft meadows, burbling matterhorn in swiss alpscreeks and curious cows.

via The Swiss Alps on an Electric Bicycle – NYTimes.com.

 Swiss Trails

With the help of smooth trails and an electric bike, just about anyone can pedal the Swiss Alps. It’s like mountain biking without a mountain bike. But if you’re not into biking at altitude, you’ll be glad to find out that a group called Swiss Trails has a plethora of Switzerland bike rides that don’t involve heavy duty mountains. Some of the bicycle trails include the:

And more…  Have you ever biked in Switzerland or been on any Swiss trails? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2012/04/28/navigate-swiss-trails-via-electric-bike/

Apr 27 2012

Add a Trail Feature is Working Well on Trailsnet

Add Your Favorite Trail to Trailsnet.com

screen shot of trailsnet.com page

Swamp Rabbit Trail page on trailsnet

The Swamp Rabbit Trail in South Carolina was the latest trail to be added to the network of trails on trailsnet.com. Thanks to @BikePedBrian for adding a great new multipurpose trail and for adding the first South Carolina trail to trailsnet. As with all new technologies, we still have some bugs to work out of the trail submission system. But in general, it’s working great. To make sure we end on a positive note, let’s take a look at some of the areas where we need to improve the “Add a Trail” experience:

  • pictures – The process for adding pictures could be easier and smoother. Currently, many users are experiencing difficulties when trying to add trail photos to trailsnet. Part of the problem is that we have the picture size set pretty low. This is to avoid slow loading times. We may experiment with allowing larger trail pictures, just to see how it works.
  • maps – Up until recently, no one was adding maps w/ their trail submissions. Other than copying and pasting codes from other trail websites, we didn’t know how to get map files onto trailsnet. Fortunately, that’s an easy problem to fix. If you can get your map into GoogleMaps, it’s easy to get the trail map code onto trailsnet. While on the Google Maps page, you will see a link symbol near the top left of the page. When you click on that symbol, you’ll get an option to “Paste HTML to embed in website.” Just copy that code and paste it into the “Add a Google Map Code” area on the trail entry submission form.

Fortunately even the bad news about adding trails to trailsnet is being improved. And even better, we’ve got more good news than bad news:

  • People are starting to add trails to trailsnet.
  • The trails that are being added are awesome.
  • Most people who add trails are also notifying folks on their Twitter accounts and Facebook pages.
  • We’re getting a much greater variety of trails than when I was entering all the trails myself.
  • We’re hoping to go international with our “Add a Trail” feature soon.

Needless to say, the more people who add trails to trailsnet, the better it will be. Trailsnet is still hoping to have trails from all fifty states on there by the end of the summer. So if you haven’t added a trail yet, go for it. It’s quick and easy and makes you part of the solution. It’s important volunteer work you can do from your own home, coffee shop or library.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2012/04/27/add-a-trail-feature-is-working-well-on-trailsnet/

Apr 25 2012

Trail Tours on Trailsnet

Trail Tours

You love to travel; you enjoy riding or hiking on trails. Maybe your perfect vacation would be an active travel tourwith a tour company that specializes in trail tours. The benefits are obvious:

bikers viewing sacred valley peru

Sacred Valley Peru

  • safety
  • scenery
  • tough to get lost
  • usually allow you to go at your own pace
  • often less expensive
  • great exercise
  • less crowded
  • new destinations

Bike to Machu Picchu in Peru

machu picchu

Machu Picchu

If you haven’t noticed yet, there’s a pull-down menu in the header bar above that includes the category called “Trail Tours.”  All of the active travel tours and adventure travel tour companies listed under the trail tours heading involve trail-based tours. A good example of a trail tour is the Peru biking adventure offered by Aspiring Adventures. Here’s a little excerpt from the ActiveTravelTours blogpost about Aspiring Adventures:

“We’ll bike to Machu Picchu, ride myriad tracks around the hills of Cusco, and cycle from Maras to Salineras – two unique and incredible Incan sites. Cycle through the incomparable farmland and river gorges of the Lares Valley, camping overnight along the way at high-altitude, natural thermal hot baths perched over a jagged river gorge! Mix hiking and biking single-track or easy downhill road riding in any combination.”

via The Bike trip – 12d – Aspiring Adventures – Adventure tours – hiking, biking and cultural vacations – New Zealand, Peru, Australia, Vanuatu.

Continue monitoring the Trail Tours section of trailsnet.com for more information about active travel tours and trail travel tours.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2012/04/25/trail-tours-on-trailsnet/

Apr 23 2012

Hawaii Trails: Na Ala Hele

Map of Maui, Hawaii trails

Maui trail map

State of Hawaii Trail and Access Program

“Na Ala Hele” is the State of Hawaii Trail and Access Program. Established in 1988 in response to public concern about the loss of public access to certain trails and the threat to historic trails from development pressure. Na Ala Hele has become increasingly engaged in trail management and regulatory issues due to both public and commercial recreational activities and emerging legal issues.

via Na Ala Hele – Hawaii Trail System: Info.

Longest Hawaii Bike Trails

Hawaii has incredible potential for moderately long bike trails. Combined with Hawaii’s natural beauty, temperate weather, and fascinating historical background, it is amazing that it is not more famous for it’s hiking trails and bike paths. One of the main reasons for this lack of recognition is… well, a lack of recognition. Most people don’t realize what incredible trails exist on each of the Hawaiian islands. Of course another culprit is the fantastic Hawaiian beaches, luaus, and other tourist attractions. It’s understandable that trails are not the first thing people think of when they imagine a vacation in Hawaii. It’s also a shame. Hawaii is one of the most attractive trail travel destinations in the world. Below is a list of some of the longest bike trails in Hawaii. This is by no means a complete list, but it’s a good start. Of course these are also fantastic hiking trails, too:

In addition to having some of the best trails in the world, Hawaii also has one of the best state trails websites. It is nicely organized, easy to navigate, and very thorough. I haven’t had a chance to ride all five of the trails listed above yet, so I’d love some feedback about these and any other Hawaii trails. I’d especially like to hear from Hawaii residents, Hawaii visitors and employees/volunteers who helped design, build, organize, coordinate and publicize these great Hawaii trails. Comments, questions & suggestions are welcome.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2012/04/23/hawaii-trails-na-ala-hele/

Apr 22 2012

PurifiCup Provides Safe & Sanitary Water on the Trail

Whether you’re riding bike on a rail-trail, hiking on mountain path, or backpacking through Europe, water is a necessity. But sometimes, carrying a big water purification system with all its tubes and filters and accessories can be a pain to pack and a hassle to set up.  So I was pleased for the recent opportunity to demo the PurifiCup Portable Water purifier. I started out by testing it at home with good old tap water. Then I took it on the trail for a trial-by-stream test.

water purification system

Portable Water Purification

My first impression of the PurifiCup was a positive one when I saw how compact it was. I was pleased to note that it could easily fit in a daypack or even a bicycle seat-pack. From the outset, this meant that the PurifiCup was the best choice for shorter outings such as sight-seeing tours or day trips. As a regular bike rider, I can imagine just keeping one of these water filters in my bicycle pack so I could always be assured of safe drinking water on my cycle excursions.

Easy to Assemble Water Purification

I was a bit worried about assembling the PurifiCup. You see, I’m not the most mechanically inclined person on the planet. I never finished a single shop project in my high school days. However, between the clearly written instructions and the nicely

assembled water purification cup

engineered product, I had no problem with the assembly and had it ready to test in a matter of minutes. Of course, my next worry was whether I could take the PurifiCup apart for storage… No problem! That was just as easy.

Trail Test

Once I was satisfied that the PurifiCup was easy to assemble and reassemble at home, I took it on the trail. In this case, I tried it on one section of the Colorado Trail. So once again, I took the PurifiCup out of my day pack and assembled it. Easy Peezy!! Then it was time to field test the unit. We were resting near a beautiful beaver pond, very near the portion of the trail where the Colorado Trail spurs off to a side trail for climbing Mt. Elbert. This would be the test: cold water, short period of time, and no countertops, sinks, or faucets like I had at home. Would it work?

beaver dam

Absolutely no problem.The filter worked, the water tasted great, and not one hint of stomach discomfort afterward. So now I knew that the PurifiCup worked both at home and on the trail. I guarantee you, this won’t be the last time I use this handy, portable water purification system. I would not use it as my only source of water on a very long, self-contained back-packing or snowshoe trip. It ‘s fantastic for producing easy, tasty and quick drinking water. It probably wouldn’t be ideal for producing large amounts of cooking water for a big group of people. Oh, I would still take it on those trips as my source of drinking water. In fact, I’d probably convince someone else in the group to bring the cooking water filter. I think I’ll be happy to carry the PurifiCup on all my biking, hiking, & backpacking trips. It’s fast, it’s easy, and it works.

This review can also be found under the trailsnet reviews button on the top menu bar.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2012/04/22/purificup-provides-safe-sanitary-water-on-the-trail/

Apr 21 2012

National Trails in England, Scotland & Wales

British National Trails

National Trails are long distance routes for walking, cycling and horse riding through the finest landscapes in England and Wales. In Scotland the equivalent trails are called long distance routes.

coastal path in southwest wales

Pembrokeshire Coastal Path

Altogether, in England and Wales, there are about 2,500 miles (4,000km) of National Trail. They have all been created by linking existing local footpaths, bridleways and minor roads and by developing new ones where there were gaps. There are 15 Trails in England and Wales (when complete 2 of these will be suitable for use by horse riders and cyclists along their entire length) and 4 in Scotland.

via About the National Trails – National Trails.

List of National Trails in England, Scotland and Wales

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2012/04/21/national-trails-in-england-scotland-wales/