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News, commentary and humor about bicycling and other topics of the day

 

Biking to play horseshoes

I can't say that I know bicyclist Chuck Carter, although I've probably seen him around since he lives in nearby Cahokia, Ill. Nevertheless, Chuck tells an interesting tale.

The 58-year-old Chuck biked from Cahokia to Moline, Ill., to participate in this weekend's Illinois State Horseshoe Tournament.

A story in the Moline Dispatch says when Chuck was younger, he lost his toes to frostbite in a hunting trip in the mountains. He has an artificial knee and said his rib cage is held together with wires after he was stomped on by a bull when he worked in the rodeo.

"I've been everywhere," Chuck told the Dispatch, naming off Canada and states such as New York, Wyoming, Nebraska, North Dakota and Washington.

Chuck has some good news for people who want to do long-distance cycling: 98 percent of the folks he encounters are good people!

Labels: bicycling, Illinois, touring

Roger 0 comments links to this post 2:03 PM

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

10 Great American Bike Trails

I wasn't too surprised to see the Katy Trail made the list of 10 Great American Bike Trails recently published at Forbes Traveler and republished at USA Today. I rode the vast majority of the225-mile trail last summer from St. Charles, Mo., to Clinton, Mo., and it exceeded my expectations.

The article, written by Jeff Wallach, quotes Polly Mayberry of the Great Bicycle Trails Web site as saying: "As older riders, surface matters to us. We don’t want to ride a trail that’s too rough. The Katy Trail would be a ten because of the beauty of the territory and the trail surface—mostly of hard-packed limestone. It’s basically flat and it’s an easy ride for people of all ages. You can ride for mile after mile seeing nothing but country."

The other trails that made the list were:

• Hiawatha Trail, Idaho to Montana
  
• Underground Railroad Trail, from Mobile, Ala., to Owen Sound, Ontario
  
• Deschutes River Trail, Oregon
• Great Divide Trail, Roosville, Mont., to Antelope Wells, N.M.
• Trans-America Trail, Astoria, Ore., to Yorktown, Va. (The trail also goes through Missouri and Illinois)
• Slickrock Trail, Moab, Utah
• Green Mountains Loop, Vermont
• C&O Canal and Towpath and Great Allegheny Passage Trail, Washington, D.C., area
• Central Park Loop, New York City

If you want to see a short glimpse and a photo of each trail, go to Forbes Traveler's slideshow. Too bad I don't have the time or money to get to all of these great trails!

Labels: bicycling, touring, trails

Roger 1 comments links to this post 10:56 PM