Nov 19 2010

The Waitukubuli National Trail in Dominica

I love trails (as you already know), and I love islands.

So I am particularly interested in finding great trails on … (you guessed it)… islands.

I wonder how the biking would be
on this island?

I recently found this article on the Waitukubuli National Trail in Dominica.

I also found a great hiking blog about it that includes great video and textual information.

Please send me your recommendations for great island trails. I’d also like to hear about fun, safe biking experiences on islands, even if they’re not on trails.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2010/11/19/the-waitukubuli-national-trail-in-dominica/

Nov 18 2010

Danny MacAskill: Way Back Home

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2010/11/18/danny-macaskill-way-back-home/

Nov 17 2010

Beatles on Bikes: They’ve Got a Ticket to Ride

I love these pictures of the Beatles riding bikes.

Even the Beatles are huge
bicycle fans!!

Here’s one. For many more, check out the Bikes and the City blog.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2010/11/17/beatles-on-bikes-theyve-got-a-ticket-to-ride/

Nov 17 2010

New York City introduces long-term bike plan

The Big Apple is onboard with the worldwide move toward more bicycle transportation and recreation.
It sounds like the New York city bicycle plan includes lots of bike lanes…

I didn’t read much about independent bike & pedestrian paths. I think that is vital to making the bike plan accessible to everyone. There are many (I would say the majority) of people who do not want to risk their lives in traffic to get from point a to point b. This is true of some commuters but especially of recreational riders. And all such city bike plans should include both commuters and recreational cyclists in the planning process.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2010/11/17/new-york-city-introduces-long-term-bike-plan/

Nov 16 2010

Mapquest unveils new bike routes mapping

Mapquest has announced a new “Bike Route” service in their mapping program.
As most of you know, Google already has a bike route option available for some of their mapping areas and is expanding that option daily.

I’m glad to see Mapquest jumping on the bandwagon, or in this case the tagalong.

What pleases me most is that it sounds like whenever/wherever possible, the bike route will involve trails instead of roads. I think that is critical for safety and enjoyability.

Hopefully the new mapquest bike
routes will direct bicycle riders
under roads instead of on them.

Here is a list of rules or criteria that Mapquest has applied to the new Bicycle Routes:

  • Avoids roads where bicycle access in OpenStreetMap is set to false
  • Avoids all limited access highways
  • Favors bike specific paths (road segments that have bicycle access only – no auto or pedestrian)
  • Favors walkways with no auto access
  • Applies various weights to roads based on the maxspeed tag (ex. favors routes where maxspeed <= 30 mph)
For more details, visit the mapquest blog page by following this link.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2010/11/16/mapquest-unveils-new-bike-routes-mapping/

Nov 15 2010

It’s time to add a third category of bikers

I may never have really given the issue of trail categories a second thought if I hadn’t started writing and publishing trail descriptions, guides, and reviews. In fact, I didn’t even really need to ponder the category issue on my own trailsnet website or trails network blog because the sites specialize in multi-use, multi-user trails that are  used by people of all ages and abilities.
Just because you’re on a bike in the
mountains, doesn’t mean you’re
mountain biking.
However, when I started writing trail guides and reviews for other companies/websites/ blogs, I was asked to classify the trails as either mountain bike or road bike. That quickly became frustrating, because most of the trails I rode fell into neither of those categories. They definitely were not on the road, because I avoid road-riding whenever possible. And mountain biking is what I used to do, back when I was childless, immortal, and invincible… oh yeah, and when I spent a lot more time in the mountains. But alas (or thank goodness, depending on your perspective) those days are behind me.
Then I started looking for trails, that were family friendly, knee friendly, and, well, just plain friendly. That’s when I discovered rail trails and other recreational trails that weren’t necessarily mountain bike trails. These trails were scenic, they were fun, they allowed riders to pull tagalongs and strollers. And life was good…
Except for two problems. First, the trails were hard to find because there weren’t any websites for them; and two, there was no official category for this type of biking. And there still isn’t. As you can see, it isn’t mountain biking because it often isn’t in the mountains and it isn’t the crazy, roller-coasterish type biking that is associated with mountain biking. And (my favorite part) it isn’t done on the roads.
So my solution is apolitical. I say we just call it trail biking. It’s not only for the gonzo, speed-demon, over-the-top daredevils (although it does not necessarily exclude them) that are drawn to mountain biking. It can be practiced in any part of the country by seniors, youth, parents, toddlers in bike trailers, athletes, non-athletes, commuters, recreationalists… the list goes on.
It is a very inclusive type of biking that encourages family togetherness, exercise, ecotravel, energy conservation and so on.
I think that by adding the category of trail biking, it would be more inviting and less intimidating to those, like me, who just like to venture forth on our bikes for a relaxing jaunt on the trail, whether that trail is a half mile or 150 miles.
I know that’s a bit of a ramble, but I’m on a roll. It’s time to open up biking to everyone.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2010/11/15/its-time-to-add-a-third-category-of-bikers/