Cycling Madagascar from Dennis Koomen on Vimeo.
We explored the southern part of Madagascar by bicycle. Our route: Antananarivo, Morondava, Antsirabe, Manakara, Fianarantsoa, Toliara. We also made two walkingtrips; Ranamafano NP and Isalo NP.>
More info and pictures can be found on our website
The midwest's first multi-day, self-supported mountain bike race! These types of events have been popular for several years in the west. It's time we begin to develop this form of mountain bike racing here.
Registration is open! Race day start is June 18th, 2010. To enter you need only to send an e-mail with your name, age, and address as the only information needed.
For more specific information on the race, check out the race details page.
TransWisconsin will follow the 550 mile Trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail from Wisconsin's southern border with Illinois to the northern most tip of the Bayfield Penninsula, finishing on the shores of Lake Superior.
Along the route riders will travel through the distinct geographical regions of Wisconsin and towns settled by trappers, farmers, and fisherman. The trail will vary between gravel road, two-track, ATV trail, singletrack, and an unfortunate bit of pavement.
If you've been dreaming of an Ultra Race here in the Midwest, look no further!
TransWisconsin
George Christensen, a 55-year-old bike messenger, likes to set challenges for himself. In 1975 he sat through every inning of every game in the bleachers at Wrigley Field. In 1991 he made 73 deliveries in one day, a record for Chicago bike messengers at the time. Last spring he attended 70 movies in 12 days.
But of all his serial obsessions, one stands out. Any bicycling enthusiast might take one long trip of 5,000 or more miles. Some take two or three. Christensen has taken 15. He's also done at least one 1,000-mile tour every year since 1977 and more 300-to-500-mile trips than he can count. At this point, he says, "It takes several days of jogging the memory to shake them all out."
Since 1989 he's been a messenger with Cannonball, now called Dynamex. He works only in the winter--he says there are fewer pedestrians to contend with and the money's better because fewer messengers are working--and the rest of the year he tours. He says sometimes on a frigid January morning a downtown office worker will ask sympathetically if he's all right. He isn't insulted. He knows you don't see many white-haired bicycle messengers, especially in the winter. "If I tell them a little bit about myself," he says, "they're relieved." Then it's his turn to feel sorry for them. "I feel like I'm out there riding around the Loop asserting my freedom, going by buses with all these people that are comatose and people sleepwalking down the sidewalks. And I'm intensely alive out there, alert and sensitive to every little stimuli.
Nice interview with Tilmann Waldthaler on crazyguyonabike.com. He's done some amazing riding, but he's not the sort of person who you can read about on Wikipedia.Tilmannhas been touring on a bicycle for 32 years and seen and done things that most people can never imagine. His first trip lasted 4 years and took him from pole to pole between 1977 and 1981. This alone deserves a lot of admiration but that was only the beginning. He's originally from Germany but is now residing Australia. At 68 he's about to embark on Norway to New Zealand tour. He's written several books and done some speaking engagements in several countries. He was gracious enough to answer a few questions for me. I'm not the best interviewer so bear with me, hopefully my interviews will improve with time.
Some choice questions.Q. Which of your long trips is your favorite and why?
My very first trip from the Antarctica to Spitzbergen in the Arctic, because I see this trip from todays viewpoint as a 4 year apprenticeship on a bike through many cultures and experiences. I had the best chance to get to know myself much better.
Q. What is the one piece of equipment you never expected to need and now will never leave home on a trip without?
The Internet
Q. How did you go about getting sponsorship for your trips?
The first 10years of my biketravels I worked as a qualified pastrychef and as a cook, later I started to work as a photographer and Journo. It was easier as a Journalist to convince people to receive something back from me during and after my trips. As a pastrychef all I could offer my sponsors were maybe some 'strawberry tarts' which didn`t interest most potential sponsors.
Q. What's your favorite adventure book?/ Who, if anyone has influenced you to take up such a lifestyle?
My favourite adventure books are the ones I write myself (17 in all) A very good old friend Jean Pierre Valley has helped me to get going because I bought a bike with his help.
Q. Imagine if the bicycle had never been invented, how do you think your life would have gone differently?
I`d most probably be dead by now!!!
A real estate agent who was told in 2004 he would never bicycle again after a terrible accident, proved the doctors wrong. And now Ryan Castleberry of Keller Williams Realty wants to prove something else: Two wheels work better than four when it comes to showing homes in a sluggish market.
Castleberry, 32, plans to lead a dozen bike tours of homes from April 18 to Sept. 19 in Decatur and Avondale Estates. The first one begins at Glenlake Park in Decatur.
“Now you can experience everything that probably would have been overlooked while looking at homes in the traditional car way,” he said. “You get the chance to see parks, meet neighbors or experience the roads that your children may be playing very close to.” Castleberry mass-mailed 4,000 announcements and hopes 10 to 12 people sign up per tour. Each tour will cover five to six nearby homes.
Linda McKenna Boxx, the president of the Allegheny Trail Alliance and the
driving force behind the creation of the Great Allegheny Passage, a 150-mile
trail connecting Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Maryland, will receive a lifetime
achievement award, announced today by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council.
[...]
In 1993, she saw an opportunity to work with a number of regional trail groups
in Western Pennsylvania and coordinate their local efforts into one large
continuous trail connecting with the C&O Canal Towpath trail in Cumberland,
Maryland, effectively creating a 335-mile continuous hiking and biking trail
from downtown Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C.
The success of that work resulted in the Great Allegheny Passage, which is now
nearly complete. All that remains is to finish a few miles of trail between
McKeesport and downtown.
Every year thousands of people complete the Washington to Pittsburgh trail ride,
including the hundreds of cyclists who last year participated in the week-long
sojourn or the 24-hour relay ride as part of the "Pittsburgh 250" celebration.
Ms. Boxx also serves on a number of boards, including the Fallingwater Advisory
Committee, the Regional Industrial Development Corporation of Southwestern
Pennsylvania, and the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau.
Ms. Boxx`s distinguished career includes public service positions in state
government in both Pennsylvania and Arkansas. Her experience included a wide
variety of positions in conservation, land use planning and the infancy of the
rails-to-trails movement in Pennsylvania.
She has also served as the chairman of the Katherine Mabis McKenna Foundation,
based in Latrobe, since 1982. In this capacity, Ms. Boxx has worked to provide
support for a wide range of innovative programs including the remediation and
protection of land and waterways, development of community and recreational
facilities, rehabilitation of landmark buildings and a broad range of
educational opportunities.
A word about Signal Cycles. They're located in Portland Oregon, only build racks for their own bikes which are clean, modern, elegant and beautiful with amazing attention to detail. Also they love Simon and Garfunkel. And so do I. :)
These cages are based on an old French design from the '40s or early '50. In our estimation they are the best looking bottle cage of all time.
The Retro is a regular one-handed cage; you put in the bottle just like on any other cage; but it holds the bottle very securely due to the spring-like shape. The little tabs allow you to spread the cage for an oversize bottle. You can also squeeze the cage inward for better fit with a metal water bottle.
