Dec 07 2010

Asabet River Rail Trail

I enjoy finding new trail blogs.

I just found one entitled, Assabet River Rail Trail’s Blog.

It had me from the first sentence: “Some communities embrace rail trails more than others.”

The Boulder Creek Path passes
through downtown Boulder, CO.

That is so true. I put rail trail communities into three categories:

  1. Those that don’t have a trail system.
  2. Those that do have a trail system.
  3. Those that have a trail system and wholeheartedly support that system.
I’ll focus on the positive here and give a couple examples of towns that have great trail systems and continue to make them better.
The first trail town that comes to mind is Keene, New Hampshire. On my visit there last year, I was impressed at their goal to become a trail hub. Two of the bigger trails in Keene are the Ashuelot Rail Trail and the Cheshire Rail Trail. The Ashuelot trail starts/ends right in town and meanders out into the countryside following the Ashuelot River. It passes numerous old cemeteries, abandoned rail centers, and quaint New England villages.
The Cheshire trail starts outside of town and crosses over some beautiful bridges on its way to the Massachusetts state line. Last I heard, the plans were to bring the trail right into downtown and connect it with the Ashuelot Rail Trail. I believe these are two crucial steps for assuring the trail thrives and gets lots of users.
Another great trail town is Boulder, Colorado. It has a nice mix of trails such as the Boulder Creek Path and the Meyers Homestead Trail, and it keeps adding trails and connecting one with another. This dynamic trail building is essential to the success and usefulness of a trail system. With lots of open space around the town, Boulder has lots of room to grow its trail system and, hopefully, that’s exactly what it plans to do.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2010/12/07/asabet-river-rail-trail/

Dec 06 2010

Recumbent bikes and trikes

For those of you interested in recumbents, I just added the recumbent bicycle source to the blogroll (in the left column).

I still think that recumbents and rail-trails are the perfect mix. Riding a recumbent trike or bike on a rail trail is about as close to heaven on earth as we can get.

I rented this recumbent for my ride on the Longleaf Trace Trail in Mississippi

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2010/12/06/recumbent-bikes-and-trikes/

Dec 05 2010

Winter trails are nice, but…

Even those of those of us who enjoy cross-country skiing and snowshoeing on snowy winter trails, sometimes long for the warmth of a summer trail filled w/ the sounds of babbling brooks, chirping insects, and croaking frogs.

So here’s a little slice of a summer trail for you to play whenever you start to feel the need for your sunny trail fix, or a peaceful French song, or to see a hike from a bug’s (or very small dog’s) eye view:

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2010/12/05/winter-trails-are-nice-but/

Dec 04 2010

Freecross perfect for rail trails

OMG!! Can you imagine this on the Silver Comet Trail or the Tammany Trace trail or… Well watch this video of the Freecross, a cool outdoor elliptical machine and tell me you’re not dying to get this on a nice paved path or concrete trail somewhere:

According to the Freecross website, founder Wolfgang Eisenberg started the company as follows:

“A long-time bike enthusiast, runner and fan of the indoor elliptical trainer, Wolfgang Eisenberg (47) had the flash of inspiration back in 2006 to get the elliptical trainer outdoors and onto wheels. “After a back injury, I noticed the strain that biking puts on the lower back, as well as the impact associated with running/jogging. The elliptical was a great solution because of the upright, low-impact motion and great all-around workout. I just thought it would be better outside.”

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2010/12/04/freecross-perfect-for-rail-trails/

Dec 03 2010

The Netherlands Invests in Cycling Routes

I am constantly amazed by how, when it comes to cycling infrastructure and trail building, the Netherlands and other Scandinavian/European countries seem to “get it.”

In the United States, the answer to congestion (and just about everything else) is to just keep throwing money into more highways, more lanes, more polluting, more fossil fuel consumption…

The serenity of trails is a national treasure.

Whereas in the Netherlands, they just announced the addition of 16 new long distance inter-city bicycle routes. They just seem to understand that an investment in bicycle trails/paths/routes is an investment in transportation, health, antiobesity, recreation, family togetherness, decreased pollution, decreased use of fossil fuels, increased work productivity, and improved health.

Keep in mind, they already have a strong cycling culture in the Netherlands, and they are constantly trying to improve that culture; and it’s paying off. According to David Hembrow of A View from the Cycle Path:

“In the Netherlands, 35% of all journeys under 7.5 km are already by bicycle. Also, 15% of journeys between 7.5 km and 15 km take place by bike. For all distances over 15 km, the numbers drop to just 3% of journeys. However, even for these longer distances that’s still a larger percentage by bike than people make even of short journeys in many other countries.”


Those figures are already pretty amazing; but it’s even more amazing that they are not satisfied with good. They are still working for great. While politicians and some nationally known corporations in the U.S. are trying to cut funding for bicycle paths, they have learned elsewhere that now is the time to increase funding and to increase the biking infrastructure.


I might also point out that European countries are not just content to add unsafe biking lanes to roads, but they are more likely to add dedicated biking routes that are separate from the roads.  That sounds safe, relaxing, and enjoyable; it sound a bit like Utopia to me.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2010/12/03/the-netherlands-invests-in-cycling-routes/

Dec 02 2010

Great Explorations bike tour company

Great Explorations is the type of active travel company that is normally featured on our sister site, OTM Tours. But it offers such great bike trail rides, I also wanted to highlight it on the trailsnet site.

For example their Sea to Sky bike trip in British Columbia sounds like the perfect mix of trail types to keep most riders happy and moving. If you’re familiar w/ the good old diamond rating system for ski slopes, you’ll appreciate the mix of trail types on the Sea to Sky bike ride.

“Just because you’re biking in
the mountains, doesn’t mean
you’re mountain biking.” –
Kevin Purdy, trailsnet founder

According to the Great Explorations website, 30% of the trail is green, 60% is blue, and 10% is blackish.

That sounds ideal to me. As I’ve stated on this site before, my heavy-duty mountain biking days are over. That wasn’t necessarily my decision, but my knees.

However, I still like an occasional challenge on a mountain bike trail like my recent trip down memory trail as I ventured back onto Hall Ranch near Boulder, Colorado.

What I’m trying to say is that 10% blackish trails is just enough to provide a dash of variety, a pinch of adrenaline, and a hearty helping of nostalgia.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2010/12/02/great-explorations-bike-tour-company/