I Heart My Tent, Part 2

I feel like every little while I have to write a blog post about how much I love sleeping in my tent. Last weekend we went on a bike overnight on the beautiful Trail of the Coeur d' Alenes in northern Idaho. The weather was fairly cold and wet (I was wearing my down jacket and it's almost July!), but at the end of the day I was happy to climb in and dry off in my cozy tent and hear the rain drumming on the rainfly.

We have a great selection of tents at Adventure Cycling. I'm partial to the Hubba Hubba.

Photo by Kerri Rosenstein

--

SHIPPING NEWS is brought to you by Sarah Raz, sales representative/outreach coordinator/lover of all things outdoors. She also wishes Eddy Merckx was her father (sorry Dad!).


Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2011/06/i-heart-my-tent-part-2.html

cycling clothing world cycling

The Switchback

Piggybacking on our pannier discussion of last week, I want to introduce a newer bag that's a little more urban. The Arkel Switchback is designed to take you from the office/school to the grocery store to the gym, in one fell swoop.


Tours specialist Madeline masters the conversion. Photos by Sarah Raz

--

SHIPPING NEWS is brought to you by Sarah Raz, sales representative/outreach coordinator/lover of all things outdoors. She also wishes Eddy Merckx was her father (sorry Dad!).

Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2011/06/switchback.html

cycling clothing uk cycling team kits

Transit Touring

We've officially left on our trip to explore America by folding bike, trains, and transit. Right now, we're updating from the Book and Bean in Prineville, OR, a town on Eastern Oregon which is along the TransAmerica Trail. While we haven't intercepted an Amtrak route yet, we have had the interesting experience of combining bikes and buses.

We've met many cyclists that start their Pacific Coast bike tour from Portland. There is, of course, a little matter of the coastal range to get over before one gets to the Pacific ocean. For the time constrained -- or those that don't want to ride over the mountains (though we highly recommend it for the gorgeous scenery!) -- there is a great multi-modal option from Portland Union Station -- The Wave bus.

Operated by Tillamook County Transportation District, the bus very conveniently leaves from downtown Portland and drops you off at Tillamook (a shortish ride from the famed Tillamook factory).

What is remarkable about The Wave, is how bicycle-friendly it is. We did a short loop from Portland to Tillamook and back utilizing The Wave. By the time we got to Tillamook, there were no less than 5 bicyclists on board and four of us were touring! While only equipped with a 2-bike front rack, the drivers are friendly and helpful. We were able to store our bikes folded in the rear luggage area. The driver even took on other bikes inside as the rear luggage area filled up.

The Wave is a great option if you're riding the Pacific Coast and want to beeline to the coast form Portland, or if you want to make an excursion into Portland during your coast tour without taking up 4 days going back and forth.

Another great bus option from the Portland area is The Breeze bus, that leaves from downtown Union Station and drops you off at central Oregon's bicycling gem -- Bend. The Breeze bus does not have front bike racks and you must box your bike, though we were able to get on board with our Bromptons after some reasoning with the driver. It's rather unfortunate since it's a great connector between two excellent cycling cities. Hopefully, with VisitBend's big push to promote Bend as a cycling destination, they will add more accommodations for bikes (especially car-free Portlanders that want to escape the gloom of the valley).

Once in Bend, you have access to days of beautiful and quiet riding on country roads. Bend is home to many professional cyclists and hosts many large cycling events every year. It is also very bicycle-friendly, with bike lanes, roundabouts and no less than 10 bicycle shops in town! After exploring Bend, you can also ride to Redmond or Prineville and hop on the TransAmerica route.

We already know that transit and bikes are a great combination in urban areas, but it is also a great way to vacation with your bicycle! It can help the time-constrained tourist visit areas that would have been difficult by bicycle alone. It can also afford the curious cyclist a way to explore beyond what they could typically cover in a day.

--

RUSS ROCA and LAURA CRAWFORD sold all their belongings to travel by bicycle in 2009 and started PathLessPedaled.com. Since then, they have been bicycling around the United States and documenting bicycle culture.

Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2011/06/transit-touring.html

live tour de france tour de france live

Tour De France Questions

The tour is one of the biggest sporting spectacles in the world. No matter how many scandals and allegations of doping, we can’t resist the allure of watching 180 Lycra clad men, cycling their lightweight bikes around France.But, if you’ve ever wondered at the range of seemingly strange tour vocab, hopefully, this will explain the mysteries of echelons, bidons and the white jersey with red polka dots. How Long is the Tour? Modern versions are roughly about 3,600 kilometres (2,200 mi) spread out over three weeks. Early Tours were longer. In 1926, riders had to cover 5,745 km over 17 stages. How Fast do the Riders Go? In 1926, the tour winner averaged 24Kmph over the whole 5,745Km. By comparison in 2010, the average speed was just under 40Kmph for the 3,642Km What Does the  Yellow Jersey Mean? The yellow jersey is worn by rider at the top of the overall classification. (the quickest time over combined stages so far). The yellow jersey was introduced in 1919 several years after the Tour started. It was chosen it was felt the yellow jersey would help identify the  leader to spectators on the road. Yellow was chosen because the newspaper L’Equipe which [...]

Source: http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/cycling/tour-de-france-questions/

cycling clothing uk cycling team kits

Meet the Team :: ?Small? Paul Horsfall

Almost the smallest male triathlete on the planet, Paul’s power to weight ratio matches that of a flea allowing him to leap tall buildings in a single bound and ride up hills like they aren’t there. Improved biking in the last 12 months along with a rumored step up to long distance racing on the [...]

Source: http://blog.bike-science.com/2011/06/28/meet-the-team-small-paul-horsfall

nalini cycling schwinn indoor cycling

London through the eyes of a cycle courier

A recent Tumblr blog I?ve been acquainted to is Man With A Moving Camera. It is curated by James who takes pictures of his discoveries around London during his travels as a bicycle courier. I find London to be an infinitely interesting city and I still stumble across things such as The Giant Plug. The [...]

Source: http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/cycling-london/london-through-the-eyes-of-a-cycle-courier/

cycling gear cycling clubs

Trekkers bike and hike the Mountains to Sound Greenway this week

If you're planning to ride your bicycle on the John Wayne Pioneer Rail-Trail this weekend, be prepared to rub shoulders with a lot of others with the same idea.

The Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust's 20th anniversary trek set off from Ellensburg Sunday morning for a bicycling and hiking trip for 130 miles, ending next Sunday in Seattle.

A highlight of the 8-day bike-hike will be the grand re-opening of the Snoqualmie Tunnel at 11 a.m. Tuesday in Hyak.

The 2.3-mile tunnel on cross-state rail-to-trail had been closed for a couple of years ....

Source: http://www.bikingbis.com/blog/_archives/2011/7/3/4850974.html

cycling events 2011 best cycling shorts