Late summer (2011) cross-country cyclists needing last-minute re-routing around the flooded areas in North Dakota might want to try some of the ROAM route, which followed Highway 12.
The ROAM cross-country cycling tour's large size and tight time-table forced an unusual -- but very lucky -- route choice. Adventure Cycling's Northern Tier and classic routes were too indirect and didn't offer enough camping space in some regions for 50 or more velomobilists trying to pedal across the whole country in less than a month. After much online discussion of pros and cons, Josef Janning chose Highway 12 for most of the route west of the Mississippi.
In a summer plagued by road closures for flooding in North Dakota and heavy truck traffic for oil-drilling, Highway 12 may have been the only viable route for a herd of velomobiles. It lacks shoulders in many areas, and some of the shoulders have rumble strips down their centers or at intervals all the way across the shoulder, but there was only one detour for a washout; the velomobiles were able to go north of Hwy 12 on very small roads while the truck traffic was sent 50 miles to the south.
Downloadable GPS tracks for the Highway 12 route can be found under "The Journey" on the Roll Over America (ROAM) website, or by going to Bikemap.net and looking through tracks under Livewombat.
Showing posts with label bike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bike. Show all posts
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Fourth of July
We're just back from a 534-mile ride on a 2-trike tandem. We started in northeastern Wisconsin, up by the Michigan border, and rode with the GRABAAWR group along the Wisconsin River as far as Baraboo. At that point, we broke off and followed the 400, Elroy-Sparta, and LaCrosse River trails to LaCrosse, on the Minnesota border.
Today was the Fourth of July, and I rode a 5-trike tandem in the Edina Fourth of July Parade. Two of the other riders couldn't have participated without an option like this -- one was blind, and the other is in her 80's. The other rider carried a puppy on his lap -- not something you could do on a regular bike!
The title bar links to a video clip of several kids taking a ride after the parade.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Fastest guy on the planet!!
Sam Whittingham has bicycled at 82.33 miles per hour under his own power and broken the (one-tenth) sound barrier, winning the DeciMach prize. This prize, which has come tantalizingly close to being claimed several times over recent years, celebrates the first human to bike at over one-tenth the speed of sound.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
On the road to Stevens Point -- Osseo to Stevens Point
The third leg of our ride to Stevens Point was longer than we might have liked -- over 100 miles -- but the time spent laying out a low-traffic route in the hotel the night before was a good investment. We rode south from busy Highway 10 and followed quiet country roads, watching goldfinches and indigo buntings fly up from the ditches, occasionally spotting some sandhill cranes or wild turkeys, and often enjoying the shade of a roadside tree. The downside of the quiet country roads is that they have very few places to eat. We were glad to find a roadside bar and grill just when we thought we couldn't go any further. (Look on the map for a little detour off the road at the location of the restaurant.) The traffic from Highway 10 came to us, because there was a small bridge out on 10, and a detour brought quite a few large trucks to Highway 73, but we were soon able to leave that road and get back onto the smaller ones.
We were pleasantly surprised to find that this route across Wisconsin, despite the detours and construction, was reasonably safe and not too hilly.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Traveling by bike - Europe and the U.S.
I'll come back to mapping our route across Wisconsin, but first a little interruption to write about the differences between cycling in Europe and the U.S. -- or more specifically, cycling in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands versus Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Size: Wisconsin is more than four times the size of the Netherlands and more than twice the size of Austria, and Minnesota is even larger than Wisconsin. Together, Minnesota and Wisconsin are larger than Germany. Population is a different matter: Germany is 82.4 million, the Netherlands 16.5 million, Austria 8.2 million, while Minnesota has about 5 million and Wisconsin about 5.5 million. You have to ride a lot further to get to populated areas and interesting sites in Minnesota and Wisconsin than in Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria.
Routes between cities: except where there are rails-to-trails routes, you are generally on the road in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Only the freeways and a few large highways are forbidden to bikes, but some of the smaller roads are more bike-friendly than others. Wide paved shoulders on many of the roads make cycling with traffic tolerable. The Wisconsin Bike Federation publishes detailed maps with the bike-friendly and bike-unfriendly roads color coded. In the Netherlands and north Germany, intercity routes are on parallel bike trails. In many areas, these are well-labeled and well-maintained. There are some rails-to-trails routes in Germany, and other trails follow old towpaths along the rivers and canals. Austria has the Danube bike route and some other bike paths along rivers and around Neusiedler See, as well as designated bike routes on lightly-traveled roads, but does not have many separate bike trails along the country roads. Where there is a bike path in Germany and the Netherlands, cyclists are generally obligated to ride on it.
Routes within cities: in areas of the Netherlands and northern Germany where bikes are used for transportation, there seems to be an assumption that the rider knows the city. There are directions into town, but once you get there, you often won't find any directions for getting out. Be sure to have good maps and/or a GPS unit. In the U.S. (and in Austria), the edge of town is often car territory, with heavily-traveled streets that have no space for bikes. The green-coded country roads on the bike maps for Wisconsin turn to red around many of the cities, but "urban escape routes" are starting to appear in some areas. Rails-to-trails routes in Minneapolis and St. Paul reach into the center of the cities. City centers in many towns are car-free in these European countries.
Accommodations: the bike-friendly routes through the countryside in Wisconsin require advance planning and packing, because you can ride for dozens of miles without finding any place to eat or sleep. Motels are easiest to find where the small roads intersect the freeways. They generally allow the bikes to be stored in the rooms. Breakfast is usually included with the stay, but it is likely to consist of uninteresting baked goods, coffee, and juice; frequently there is a waffle maker for the guests to use. Internet access is usually free in the small motels across the middle United States, but it doesn't always work. In the Netherlands, northern Germany, and Austria, hotels are much easier to find. Breakfasts are usually generous and tasty. There is likely to be bike parking, often in a secure storage room, but you won't be able to keep the bikes in the bedroom.
Laundry: The biggest barrier to multi-day tours in Austria is the complete lack of coin laundries. You can wash clothes by hand and hang them in special drying rooms in a few bike-friendly hotels, but for the most part you will need quick-drying clothing and some bungee cords to hang them on. Coin laundries still exist in the Netherlands, especially in the large cities. In Wisconsin, we were amazed to find motels with guest laundry facilities -- a large coin-operated washer and dryer; bring lots of quarters!
Size: Wisconsin is more than four times the size of the Netherlands and more than twice the size of Austria, and Minnesota is even larger than Wisconsin. Together, Minnesota and Wisconsin are larger than Germany. Population is a different matter: Germany is 82.4 million, the Netherlands 16.5 million, Austria 8.2 million, while Minnesota has about 5 million and Wisconsin about 5.5 million. You have to ride a lot further to get to populated areas and interesting sites in Minnesota and Wisconsin than in Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria.
Routes between cities: except where there are rails-to-trails routes, you are generally on the road in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Only the freeways and a few large highways are forbidden to bikes, but some of the smaller roads are more bike-friendly than others. Wide paved shoulders on many of the roads make cycling with traffic tolerable. The Wisconsin Bike Federation publishes detailed maps with the bike-friendly and bike-unfriendly roads color coded. In the Netherlands and north Germany, intercity routes are on parallel bike trails. In many areas, these are well-labeled and well-maintained. There are some rails-to-trails routes in Germany, and other trails follow old towpaths along the rivers and canals. Austria has the Danube bike route and some other bike paths along rivers and around Neusiedler See, as well as designated bike routes on lightly-traveled roads, but does not have many separate bike trails along the country roads. Where there is a bike path in Germany and the Netherlands, cyclists are generally obligated to ride on it.
Routes within cities: in areas of the Netherlands and northern Germany where bikes are used for transportation, there seems to be an assumption that the rider knows the city. There are directions into town, but once you get there, you often won't find any directions for getting out. Be sure to have good maps and/or a GPS unit. In the U.S. (and in Austria), the edge of town is often car territory, with heavily-traveled streets that have no space for bikes. The green-coded country roads on the bike maps for Wisconsin turn to red around many of the cities, but "urban escape routes" are starting to appear in some areas. Rails-to-trails routes in Minneapolis and St. Paul reach into the center of the cities. City centers in many towns are car-free in these European countries.
Accommodations: the bike-friendly routes through the countryside in Wisconsin require advance planning and packing, because you can ride for dozens of miles without finding any place to eat or sleep. Motels are easiest to find where the small roads intersect the freeways. They generally allow the bikes to be stored in the rooms. Breakfast is usually included with the stay, but it is likely to consist of uninteresting baked goods, coffee, and juice; frequently there is a waffle maker for the guests to use. Internet access is usually free in the small motels across the middle United States, but it doesn't always work. In the Netherlands, northern Germany, and Austria, hotels are much easier to find. Breakfasts are usually generous and tasty. There is likely to be bike parking, often in a secure storage room, but you won't be able to keep the bikes in the bedroom.
Laundry: The biggest barrier to multi-day tours in Austria is the complete lack of coin laundries. You can wash clothes by hand and hang them in special drying rooms in a few bike-friendly hotels, but for the most part you will need quick-drying clothing and some bungee cords to hang them on. Coin laundries still exist in the Netherlands, especially in the large cities. In Wisconsin, we were amazed to find motels with guest laundry facilities -- a large coin-operated washer and dryer; bring lots of quarters!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Ice Bike Racing
The Minnesota HPVA Ice Bike Races have had some bad luck with conditions over the years. This year our usual lake froze just as the first snow fell, and the ice surface was unrideable. We moved to an impromptu location on Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, using some paths that had been cleared for a pond hockey tournament the week before. Temperatures were warm -- in the 20's -- and the ice was pretty good. The bikes and trikes were, as usual, splendid!
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Dutch treat
Cycling options in Minneapolis expanded this weekend, when two local entrepreneurs introduced the Dutch Fietscafe to the Twin Cities. This 16- or 17-passenger rolling pub is one "bike" that easily upstages the Cab-Bike! I cycled cycled over to the Mississippi River, enjoying the Cab-Bike's good protection against the rain and puddles, and lined up for a free ride on the Pedal Pub. (The Dutch name, we could hear from the puzzled questions -- "fights-calf? Is that the guy who built it?" -- just wouldn't work in the Midwest.) Despite the cold, rainy weather there were plenty of eager riders. More than thirty of these party bikes are for rent in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany, serving tourists, wedding parties, and other groups. They aren't built for speed, but they have lovely cup-holders and an old-world tap which in Minnesota will have to dispense non-alcoholic beverages from the front-mounted keg. We rolled back and forth across the Mississippi on the Stone Arch Bridge, which has been turned over to cyclists and pedestrians. Despite the dismissive comments of a local news program's overly made-up talking head, we greatly enjoyed the ride and can only hope that more human-powered fun catches on!
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