Dec 13 2010

Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Towpath trail section 2

To those of you who enjoyed yesterday’s C & O Canal trail post, you’re welcome.

I was quite pleased to get the C & O Canal Towpath section #1 trail guide published. Today I found out that section #2 C & O Canal trail guide has also been published. So here’s a link for that guide on the Everytrail website. And here’s a little picture from my latest outing on the canal trail.

Check out the wildlife pictures on the
Everytrail C & O Trail Guide.

If you get a chance, check out the Everytrail guide. Even if you decide not to buy it ($1.99) I’d appreciate your input. It doesn’t cost anything to look at it.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2010/12/13/chesapeake-ohio-canal-towpath-trail-section-2/

Dec 13 2010

C & O Canal Towpath trail guide published

Bike trails are a dime-a-dozen, right? I mean they’re all over the place; this one’s three miles long, that one’s five miles long. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.

bike rider on the
C & O Canal Towpath trail in Maryland

I dare you to ride the C & O Canal Towpath trail and say that. This one is truly unique:

  1. It’s over 180 miles long.
  2. It has more historical significance than your average trail.
  3. It starts in a big town, ends in our nation’s capital, and has some surprisingly remote countryside in between.
  4. The C & O trail probably has more campgrounds than any other trail in the world.
  5. C & O Canal trail users can connect with numerous other major trails including the Appalachian Trail, the Billy Goat Trail, the Western Maryland Rail Trail, and the Great Allegheny Passage trail.
Now, to make it even better, there’s a guide for section one of the C  & O trail(Georgetown, D.C. to Brunswick, MD) that you can download onto your smartphone (iphone or Android for example). The guide supplies users with a trail map, photos, points-of-interest, camping/lodging suggestions, and lots of great advise for negotiating the trail. And it’s a lot easier than lugging around a big old guidebook. I mean, admit it, you were going to bring your cell phone with you anyway. You might as well splurge for the $1.99 and get the guide. Where else could you buy such an awesome, helpful guide for less?

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2010/12/13/c-o-canal-towpath-trail-guide-published/

Dec 10 2010

Velo Ride Across America = Roll Over America

I’m a big recumbent fan, and these Velos (see picture) are the ultimate recumbent. So I was interested in this Velo ride across America at the website rolloveramerica.eu. From what I can gather, the velo movement is gaining steam and is becoming a major player in the recumbent cycle scene. 
I wish I had the time to join the Velo Tour of America. It sounds like a fun activity with enjoyable people. And when it rains, unlike with regular biking, you’re under cover and out of the elements.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2010/12/10/velo-ride-across-america-roll-over-america/

Dec 08 2010

Netherlands Bicycle Routes and City Planning

City planning in the Netherlands and throughout Europe plans around bicycles and bike routes. As the following video shows, they have organized the town(s) so that it is actually easier and safer to travel by bicycle than it is by car:

I don’t know about you, but I’d love to spend a couple months exploring all these European bike routes.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2010/12/08/netherlands-bicycle-routes-and-city-planning/

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/