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.

Ice Bike Racing - 2009 version

The Minnesota Human-Powered Vehicle Association's 18th Annual Ice Bike Races drew a small enough crowd that I was able to win my class. (No other women showed up -- the only way I ever win these things.) Temperatures hovered just below zero Fahrenheit (minus 18 C), and the ice was rough. It had rained a few times early in the season, ruining the surfaces of most area lakes. Nonetheless, we had a little group of loyal ice bikers and a few spectators when we met on Medicine Lake, just west of Minneapolis. I rode a Greenspeed GTO recumbent trike this year, but the overall winning times were put in by riders on conventional 2-wheelers.

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.

Another Route Option

We've been continuing to explore the routes across Wisconsin, using BikeMap.net as well as Wisconsin's own online maps (click the header for a link), which show even the smallest roads, with color-coding to identify the bike-friendly ones. The route in the previous post was quite direct, but it showed up in red as a high-traffic route not suitable for cycling, so we tried a different option. Here's what we came up with:

Bike route 62197 - powered by Bikemap 

It is still pretty hilly, but that may be unavoidable.

Choosing a route

We're planning a bike trip to the Recumbent Rally at the Hostel Shoppe in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Our previous long-distance bike trips have been in Europe, using the splendid bike routes and maps of the Netherlands, Austria, and Germany. One reason for not doing multi-day trips near home has been the difficulty of identifying suitable roads and getting information about them.

We're experimenting with a route-mapping system developed in Germany by Bikemap.net and building on Google Maps. (Click the header for a link to the site.) It provides detailed topographic information and allows for GPS device imports and exports. Riders can share their route information on the site or draw proposed routes and look at the distances and elevations to see whether the ride will be practical. Here's a route that we are considering (we'll report back on whether it works out):

Bike route 61416 - powered by Bikemap 

We can see already that there are some big climbs and drops; we will try drawing up some other routes and see if anything looks gentler.

Midwest Recumbent Rally

August 10-12, 2007, around 300 recumbent cyclists assembled in Stevens Point, Wisconsin for rides along quiet country roads as well as opportunities to admire and try new bikes and trikes.

The Hostel Shoppe, a dealer, importer, and manufacturer of fine recumbents, hosted the event.

Three-wheelers were prominent this year. We considered riding velomobiles, but decided on two Greenspeed trikes, because they were somewhat easier to transport and it's easier to communicate with other riders.

60 Velomobiles

Velomobile enthusiasts celebrate the end of the year with the Oliebollentocht. This annual late-December ride in the Netherlands draws more velomobiles than any other, despite the challenges of darkness, ice, and snow. In 2006, the weather appears to have cooperated, and 60 velomobiles made it to the event.

Participants compete to post photos first, so this year's photo pages began appearing by the end of the rally day on December 28. The Dutch recumbent website assembles a list of links to the photos and reports.