Our Trail Angel Flies Away

Yesterday, June Curry, an amazing woman and a hero to many thousands of cyclists worldwide, passed away at the age of 91. June's story has been told many times but here's the snapshot:

Living in her home near the small town of Afton, VA, on the slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains, June was going about her normal routine in the summer of 1976 when she noticed an unusual number of cyclists passing her home going up and down the incline. Being a courteous person, she put out her garden hose for cyclists to fill up their water bottles. Being a social person, June learned that these cyclists were part of a phenomenon known as Bikecentennial. Eventually, she started supplying the riders with snacks and home-baked cookies (the reason she was dubbed the "Cookie Lady"). Then June took the momentous leap to re-purpose a building next to her home as an overnight stop-over for traveling cyclists. The "Bike House" had places to sleep, a full kitchen, and loads of cycling memorabilia and Polaroid photos of visiting cyclists. (There are some good pictures of June and the Bike House in this article in Nelson County Life.)

For more than three decades, June hosted thousands of cyclists from all over the planet. Her generosity was so great that we named our first formal bike-travel award in her honor -- the June Curry "Trail Angel" Award -- recognizing an individual or group that goes the extra mile (or ten) to help traveling cyclists.

Three years ago, I had the pleasure of riding from Charlottesville, VA to Afton for the purpose of visiting June and thanking her in person for all that she had done. When I arrived, she gave me another gift -- her warm spirit and her many memories of visiting cyclists. The beautiful thing about June and her recollections is that they weren't about her -- they were about all that the cyclists meant to her, how much joy and energy she got from serving them as they traveled under their own power across America. A trail angel, indeed -- we will miss her greatly.

We learned this afternoon that two remembrances are planned to honor June: An "Open Room" on Thursday, July 19 at the Reynolds Hamrick Funeral Home in Waynesboro, VA from 9 am to 5 pm,  and a graveside service on Friday, July 20 at 11:00 am at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Greenwood, VA. We will post more information here as we get it, and you can track the latest news at Bike Charlottesville.

Adventure Cycling will also be doing a special article on June in the October/November issue of Adventure Cyclist. In the meantime, you can peruse more stories about June, including this blog post from our own Jenn Milyko and this lovely compilation of bicycle anecdotes from June herself.

Thanks June, for all you did for so many people in the heart of the Blue Ridge. We hope and trust there is someone waiting for you with warm cookies at the entry to bicycle heaven.

Photo: Jim Sayer with June Curry in June 2009 on the porch of June's home in Afton, VA.

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JIM SAYER is the executive director of Adventure Cycling Association.

Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2012/07/our-trail-angel-flies-away.html

cycling trips

Amgen Tour, Levi Just Misses TT, Horner Keeps Lead

The winner of the last 3 Tours of California, Team RadioShack?s Levi Leipheimer, who is also the winner of its last 3 time trials in the city of Solvang, just missed his fourth victory in this year?s TT to Garmin-Cervélo?s David Zabriskie by 13 seconds. Levi looked very strong on the first parts of [...]

Source: http://www.teamradioshack.us/amgen-tour-levi-just-misses-tt-horner-keeps-lead/

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Cycling Plus Summer 2012 On Sale Now!

Roll up, roll up  – the latest issue of Cycling Plus is in the shops and packed with cycling goodness. And if you buy our iPad edition we’ve also got some cheeky extras for you! It seems like only yesterday that we were putting the finishing touches to issue 265 but it’s already gracing the [...]

Source: http://magazine.bikeradar.com/2012/06/27/cycling-plus-summer-2012-on-sale-now/

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This Is Sweet -- a "Best Place to Work" Award

I really enjoy working at Adventure Cycling Association. I could probably write a list of 100 things that are terrific about this organization from the mission to the members to the staff to the unique headquarters. But it's always nice to have that perception validated by an outside party -- and in this case, I really mean Outside, as in Outside magazine!

Today, Outside released its list of top places to work in the outdoors industry and, for the second time, Adventure Cycling is in the mix. What's gratifying is that our inclusion in this list comes as the result of an employer survey and a rigorous staff survey process in which our staff gives anonymous responses to many questions about every conceivable workplace and organizational issue. Through their candid responses, they said that Adventure Cycling is an exceptional place to work.

I want to pay special tribute to Sheila Snyder, our fantastic Chief Operations Officer, and our Work/Life Team, made up of staff from across the organization, who have helped us improve so many aspects of our workplace and our systems. Of course there's always more to do but right now, this recognition is sweet! Congratulations everyone!

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JIM SAYER is executive director of Adventure Cycling Association.

Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2012/08/this-is-sweet-best-place-to-work-award.html

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Pre-order our Bradley Wiggins souvenir magazine from only £4.99!

Celebrate the year of Wiggo with this beautiful special collector?s edition magazine It’s been an amazing few weeks for Bradley Wiggins with a historic 2012 Tour De France victory, followed up with gold in the Olympic time trial.  This special collector?s edition magazine contains everything you need to know about the man himself. Inside our special [...]

Source: http://magazine.bikeradar.com/2012/08/10/pre-order-our-bradley-wiggins-souvenir-magazine-from-only-4-99/

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Denali Adventure Experiences

For an avid touring cyclist, there is nothing quite like the opportunity to check another item off your bucket list of places to ride. Alaska was one for me. It was my 45th state to visit by bike and until I came to Missoula from Massachusetts last August, it was one that I thought I would never see. Adventure Cycling's Denali Adventure, a 14-day romp through some of the most spectacular scenery and wildlife that North America has to offer, was also my first Adventure Cycling tour as a participant and not as a leader. Leader Pete Strause did an excellent job of leaving me out of the loop so that I could enjoy my vacation.

Our tour offered up lots of challenges including primitive campsites, hours of riding where you would only see two or three cars, gravel roads, plenty of rain and cool temperatures, and of course the infamous mosquitos. Did you know that Alaska has 29 different types of mosquitoes? The largest I saw was 3/4" long. Fortunately I was in my tent at the time.

But this Alaska tour also offered up stunning glaciers, snow-capped mountains, clear streams and rivers clouded by glacial silt, abundant wildlife, great camp hosts and roadhouse waitresses, a nicely timed bunk-house when a mother grizzly and cub were roaming the local campsite, espresso nearly every day, a chance opportunity to meet the governor of the state during the Governors Picnic in Glenellen, and an opportunity to meet and ride with 14 great people.


One of the easiest aspects of this tour, which I greatly appreciated, was the simplicity of the route after leaving Anchorage. We departed Anchorage as a single group in the rain the first day with me sweeping the pack since we were traveling on bike paths and some surface roads. Once we reached the outskirts of Anchorage we are all free to ride as we wished as the remainder of the trip included only 4 roads: Glenn highway, Richardson highway, Denali highway (120 miles of dirt/gravel), and the Parks road. Most days found us on only one of those roads.


The hardest day of the tour happened to be the shortest day as well. It was the climb to Maclaren Summit on the Denali highway. The cue sheet read 28 miles, but when you look at the route profile you noticed two massive climbs at 8% for the first 21 miles of the day. The dirt/gravel naturally slowed us down as we climbed to the summit, but my gear hindered my top speed as well. As I remembered it, there were several moments during those climbs when my speedometer registered 3.4 mph. I eventually reached the summit where my son, Brandon, was waiting patiently to have his lunch with me. The remaining 7 miles were fast as neither of us used our brakes very much, maxing out at 35 mph as we hit the river basin below and giving up nearly all the elevation gain we racked up that day!

I was actually glad to see the 120 mile dirt/gravel portion of the Denali highway end after three days. Although it offered up some spectacular views, the 25 mile section of fresh gravel played tricks on my 20" Bike Friday wheels. The rear end was very loose with the weight on the back and often would swing around on the faster downhills.

When asked about my favorite part of the Denali Adventure, I have to say it was the opportunity to spend two intense weeks with my youngest son, Brandon. We had not ridden together for more than four years since he has been away at college and we had not really had a vacation together either. It was a very sweet time of catching up, sharing future plans, and enjoying the beauty of Alaska together. I teared-up when we arrived in Denali and when he hopped in a taxi heading to the Anchorage airport. Just like the two cross-country trips we had completed together in the past, we renewed a deep connection in our relationship and shared some awesome cycling. He even got a brand new touring bike as well, a Surly Disc LHT.

The tour ended with an spectacular 8 hour train ride on the Alaskan Railroad from Denali to Anchorage. I bid farewell to all those on the tour as Brandon and I headed to the hostel to begin our own preparations of returning home.

The most common question I heard on my return to Missoula was something to the effect of, "did you see Mount McKinley's snowy, 20,320-foot summit?" I replied as almost anyone would, "No, it was clouded in".

Next up for me will probably be Glacier-Waterton and the Going-to-the-Sun Highway or Death Valley.

See you down the road.

- Arlen

Photos by Arlen Hall


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ON THE ROAD is written by the tours team -- Mo, Paul, Madeline, and Arlen -- tours specialists and intrepid bicyclists, covering all things related to Adventure Cycling's Tours Department. Find your  dream tour now!

Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2012/08/denali-adventure-experiences.html

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Get your videos in the news

There?s a new site on the block called Newsflare. It’s a place for people to upload their newsworthy videos which are then syndicated to news organisations. Any clips that are sold, you then get paid. To promote it, they?ve decided to partner up with London Cyclist for the Olympics and Paralympics. If you?ve got helmet [...]

Source: http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/get-your-videos-in-the-news/

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