Cycling the Divide, from New York to Montana



This week's Bike Overnight story is titled Blue Hole Loop, New York. It published yesterday, as it's been scheduled to do for weeks. Yet the timing is such we'd like to offer it in respect for those who suffered, and are still suffering, from the force of Superstorm Sandy. The ride takes place relatively close to New York, in that city's watershed, so we don't know what kind of shape the route is in right now. But it might be a good one to put on your "to ride" list for the future.

"This bike overnight ride brings you to picturesque pastoral and forested settings far from the daily existence we might call the 'real world,'" writes author Rich Ehli. "Yet it is surprisingly accessible to most of us who live within that great swath of urban sprawl stretching from Philadelphia to Boston."

Check it out at BikeOvernights.org.

I must admit, though, that for all of October -- and now into November -- most of my own virtual travels have been taking place far from New York City, along the spine of the continent. You see, I've been working on a new edition of Cycling the Great Divide, the guidebook to the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. I think about rides I've taken there, such as the adventure a group of twelve of us made last summer on the Canada section ... and a two-day Bike Overnight I did three or four years ago closer to home.

I wrote about that overnight in a piece titled Relearning the Lesson: Two Day Trip on the Great Divide. The story focuses on a 90-mile stretch of the Great Divide beginning at Big Springs Idaho, and ending in Lima, Montana.


Regarding the second day of the ride, I wrote, "An infinite morning sky hung over the wide open Red Rock River Valley. Prolific, willow-filled wetlands clashed with the surrounding hills, bald, brown, and crinkled. Grasses and cattails bent with the breeze. The only sounds were those of blackbirds and curlews calling, the wind?s soft whistling, and rubber tires snapping across gravel. Abandoned cabins and outbuildings reminded me that somewhere I?d read this valley was once more heavily populated than today, before the wildlife refuge was created in the mid-1930s to provide habitat for the endangered trumpeter swan.


"The 57 miles went by almost too quickly. When I arrived in Lima, my wife Nancy was there with the truck waiting for me. Reflecting on the two-day journey as we drove home, I realized it had taught me something I already knew: Things look, sound, and smell a lot clearer from the saddle of a bicycle than they do from the seat of a car. And it doesn?t matter if you?re riding for two months or two days -- it?s good for the soul just to get out for a refresher course now and then."
You can read the piece in its entirety at BikeOvernights.org.

This week's Photo of the Week, shown below, also comes from the region hit by Sandy. It's from the Bike Overnight tale By the Seat of Our Pants: 3 Nights in Southern New Jersey, by Marty Garnick.

BikeOvernights.org Photo of the Week, 11.02.12.

Top photo by Rich Ehli, middle two photos by Michael McCoy, bottom photo by Marty Garnick. 

--

BIKE OVERNIGHTS is posted every Tuesday by Michael McCoy, Adventure Cycling?s media specialist, and highlights content from BikeOvernights.org. Previously, from March 2009 through January 2012, Mac posted weekly at Biking Without Borders. He also compiles the organization's twice-monthly e-newsletter Bike Bits, which goes free-of-charge to nearly 47,000 readers worldwide.

Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2012/11/cycling-divide-from-new-york-to-montana.html

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A proper memorial for your revered bicycle

Wondering about a proper resting place for your two-wheeled riding partner? Consider mounting its handlebars on your wall.

There’s a rusting Fuji Dynamic 10 bicycle in my garage that is no longer road worthy and has been  replaced — several times. But I just can’t bear to part with it; we’ve been through so much …

Continue reading »

Source: http://www.bikingbis.com/2012/11/17/a-proper-memorial-for-your-revered-bicycle/

2011 tour de france

Chris Horner out of Tour de France 2011

Chris Horner appears to have broken his nose and suffered a concussion with the nasty crash on stage 7 of the TDF that separated the main field about 37 mi from the finish. A concussion is a “jarring” of the brain caused by head trauma with the severity often being related to the time of [...]

Source: http://www.teamradioshack.us/chris-horner-out-of-tour-de-france-2011/

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Levi Comments: Radioshack?s Leader in Tour de France

There has been plenty of speculation in the media and among fans regarding which Team Radioshack rider will lead the team in it’s efforts in the upcoming Tour de France. Even though Lance Armstrong is no longer riding professionally, the team still have several profiles who would fit the bill. In an recent poll on [...]

Source: http://www.teamradioshack.us/levi-comments-radioshacks-leader-in-tour-de-france/

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TdF Stage 15 ? Sprinters Rule

Covering 193 kilometers, or 120 miles of pedaling in today?s 15th stage, the Tour revisited 2 cities in the southwest of France that it?s come through many times in the past, Limoux at the start and Montpellier at the finish. Montpellier near the Mediterranean shore holds fond memories for the 2 Robbies on Team RadioShack [...]

Source: http://www.teamradioshack.us/tdf-stage-15-sprinters-rule/

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The Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders), Sunday April 3, 2011

Warning: Cycle Crazy Week Ahead! A high of 13 degrees Celsius with showers in the morning becoming cloudy in the afternoon. That’s the forecast for Sunday’s Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) on the ProTour circuit. One of the five so called “monuments” in the sport, this 95th edition of the race will see many [...]

Source: http://www.teamradioshack.us/the-ronde-van-vlaanderen-tour-of-flanders-sunday-april-3-2011/

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Cycling the Divide, from New York to Montana



This week's Bike Overnight story is titled Blue Hole Loop, New York. It published yesterday, as it's been scheduled to do for weeks. Yet the timing is such we'd like to offer it in respect for those who suffered, and are still suffering, from the force of Superstorm Sandy. The ride takes place relatively close to New York, in that city's watershed, so we don't know what kind of shape the route is in right now. But it might be a good one to put on your "to ride" list for the future.

"This bike overnight ride brings you to picturesque pastoral and forested settings far from the daily existence we might call the 'real world,'" writes author Rich Ehli. "Yet it is surprisingly accessible to most of us who live within that great swath of urban sprawl stretching from Philadelphia to Boston."

Check it out at BikeOvernights.org.

I must admit, though, that for all of October -- and now into November -- most of my own virtual travels have been taking place far from New York City, along the spine of the continent. You see, I've been working on a new edition of Cycling the Great Divide, the guidebook to the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. I think about rides I've taken there, such as the adventure a group of twelve of us made last summer on the Canada section ... and a two-day Bike Overnight I did three or four years ago closer to home.

I wrote about that overnight in a piece titled Relearning the Lesson: Two Day Trip on the Great Divide. The story focuses on a 90-mile stretch of the Great Divide beginning at Big Springs Idaho, and ending in Lima, Montana.


Regarding the second day of the ride, I wrote, "An infinite morning sky hung over the wide open Red Rock River Valley. Prolific, willow-filled wetlands clashed with the surrounding hills, bald, brown, and crinkled. Grasses and cattails bent with the breeze. The only sounds were those of blackbirds and curlews calling, the wind?s soft whistling, and rubber tires snapping across gravel. Abandoned cabins and outbuildings reminded me that somewhere I?d read this valley was once more heavily populated than today, before the wildlife refuge was created in the mid-1930s to provide habitat for the endangered trumpeter swan.


"The 57 miles went by almost too quickly. When I arrived in Lima, my wife Nancy was there with the truck waiting for me. Reflecting on the two-day journey as we drove home, I realized it had taught me something I already knew: Things look, sound, and smell a lot clearer from the saddle of a bicycle than they do from the seat of a car. And it doesn?t matter if you?re riding for two months or two days -- it?s good for the soul just to get out for a refresher course now and then."
You can read the piece in its entirety at BikeOvernights.org.

This week's Photo of the Week, shown below, also comes from the region hit by Sandy. It's from the Bike Overnight tale By the Seat of Our Pants: 3 Nights in Southern New Jersey, by Marty Garnick.

BikeOvernights.org Photo of the Week, 11.02.12.

Top photo by Rich Ehli, middle two photos by Michael McCoy, bottom photo by Marty Garnick. 

--

BIKE OVERNIGHTS is posted every Tuesday by Michael McCoy, Adventure Cycling?s media specialist, and highlights content from BikeOvernights.org. Previously, from March 2009 through January 2012, Mac posted weekly at Biking Without Borders. He also compiles the organization's twice-monthly e-newsletter Bike Bits, which goes free-of-charge to nearly 47,000 readers worldwide.

Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2012/11/cycling-divide-from-new-york-to-montana.html

irish cycling

Team RadioShack?s Sophomore Season: Plenty of Reason for Excitement in 2011

The racing?s well underway in the 2011 ProTour season, and it?s clear that Team RadioShack (TRS) means to make its mark during its sophomore campaign. With the team?s well-known founder, Lance Armstrong, announcing his retirement after this year, and already concluding participation in international races for the season, there?s plenty of opportunity for the many [...]

Source: http://www.teamradioshack.us/team-radioshack%e2%80%99s-sophomore-season-plenty-of-reason-for-excitement-in-2011/

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