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Bike Bits Vol. 16, No. 1, January 8, 2014
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This is the 325th issue of Bike Bits, Adventure Cycling's twice-monthly
bicycle bulletin. Bike Bits is delivered to you, and 51,177 other
readers, because you've signed up for it at the Adventure Cycling
Association website,
http://www.adventurecycling.org. Bike Bits arrives
in text-only format for quick download and includes links for more
information. We want to inspire you to dream and to live your own
bicycle adventures.
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"People don't take trips, trips take people."
--John Steinbeck
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A JOURNEY ACROSS REMOTE LANDS
Thanks to a member from Boise named Dave for sending along the following
link to a post by blogger Nicholas Marino. He's a photographer who, for
the past eight years, has been bicycling to remote regions of the earth
to document landscapes and cultures. In this piece Marino highlights
"two places that truly touched my heart, Tibet and Mongolia." The
photographs may be of this world, but they're also out of this world.
http://bit.ly/1gdQxvZ*******
2ND ANNUAL VIDEO CONTEST OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS
To celebrate the beauty and spirit of bicycle travel, we invite you
to submit your best bicycle-touring videos to Adventure Cycling's
2014 Bicycle Travel Video Contest on Vimeo. The judges will name
one winner for each of the three submission categories (Best Long
Distance Tour Video, Best Short Tour Video, and Best Portrait of a
Traveling Cyclist). Winners will each receive a two-year membership
with Adventure Cycling and a $500 gift certificate for Cyclosource,
our gear catalog. Learn more and watch last year's winning videos:
http://bit.ly/1cWf1tT
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YELLOWSTONE-GRAND TETON RAIL TRAIL
One of the more exciting rail-trail projects we've learned about
recently is one that will ultimately link West Yellowstone, Montana,
and Victor, Idaho. The distance is more than 100 miles and the
scenery is some of the world's most marvelous. Certain segments are
already developed, including the eight miles linking Victor and
Driggs, Idaho (asphalt surface), and the 30 miles between Tetonia
and Ashton, Idaho (gravel). Other sections have yet to be reclaimed
and developed. You can view photo galleries, learn about the railroad
history, and keep up on trail news at this link:
http://tetonrailtrail.tvtap.org
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JOIN ADVENTURE CYCLING (OR URGE A FRIEND TO)
Are you not a member of Adventure Cycling, but intrigued by the idea
of receiving two-wheeled inspiration and armchair adventure on a
regular basis the year around? Join by January 12 and we'll send you
the 2014 Adventure Cycling Calendar for free; this in addition to
all of the other benefits associated with membership, including nine
annual editions of Adventure Cyclist magazine and discounts on maps
for the Adventure Cycling Route Network. Already a member? Then
please share this offer with your friends. They'll thank you every
time they receive an issue of Adventure Cyclist.
https://www.adventurecycling.org/membership/join/?r=SM-CMD
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ZIP IT
This posted almost three years ago, but it somehow escaped our
notice until now. These heavy-duty Ziploc Big Bags might be just
the ticket for keeping your gear dry in sustained rains. Tamia
Nelson's site includes ample photos of the creative way she has
used them.
http://www.tamiasoutside.com/2013/08/06/ziplockbigbag
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TULSA BICYCLE TRAVEL EVENT
Join Adventure Cycling Association and the Tulsa Bicycle Club for a
free event on Thursday, January 16, from 6 to 8 p.m. at McNellie's
Pub, 409 East 1st Street in downtown Tulsa. Enjoy snacks and
refreshments, meet kindred cycling spirits, and learn about the
latest in bike travel and cycling in North America. Adventure
Cycling's travel initiatives coordinator, Saara Snow, will present
on our work to create Bicycle Route 66, which will be the first
section of the Adventure Cycling Route Network to pass through
Oklahoma, our new Idaho Hot Springs Mountain Bike Route, and
provide updates on the U.S. Bicycle Route System and national
advocacy. RSVP by January 10 via email, info@adventurecycling.org,
or by calling (406) 532-2751. Learn more:
http://bit.ly/TulsaGathering
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HOW SLOW CAN YOU GO?
The video linked below is of the annual Dirty Dozen race, in which
cyclists tackle Pittsburgh's steepest hills, including one said to
be the steepest street in the entire U.S. Parts of it look like
they're in slow motion, but we're not sure if that's so. In some
cases riders are going so slow that they fall over sideways from
the lack of momentum.
http://urbanvelo.org/31st-dirty-dozen-hill-race
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RIDING THE POLITICAL DIVIDE
"Transport is a subtly political business. Left-wingers like trains
(central planning, low fuel consumption, largely egalitarian seating).
Right-wingers like cars (freedom, independence, individualism). Only
the bicycle crosses the political divide: it embodies both liberty
and equality." This is the first paragraph from a short article titled
"The Bicycle is Best" by Emma Duncan, deputy editor of The Economist.
The piece is one in a series by a collection of writers answering the
question, "What's the Best Way to Travel?" You can even express your
own opinion by voting in the online poll linked at the bottom of the
article.
http://bit.ly/1hDPkyN
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WE COULD'VE BEEN MILLIONAIRES!
"If people say it's impossible we have to prove them wrong." That's
the attitude Dutch design students Anna and Terese assumed when they
took on an impressive challenge as a school project: designing an
"invisible" bicycle helmet. Watch a video explaining it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMAhptqk-4Q
Longtime members may recall that we at Bikecentennial were on to
this idea more than 25 years ago, though in a slightly less
sophisticated fashion. Hail the Bikecentennial Air Bag Helmet,
conceived by Greg Siple, photographed by Gary MacFadden, and
modeled by a somewhat willing Mac McCoy.
http://sheldonbrown.com/airbag-helmet.html
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Until next time, click on http://www.transcontinentalrace.com to
learn about yet another self-supported bicycle race, this one going
across Europe from London to Istanbul.
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Adventure Cycling Association is North America's premier nonprofit
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