General Cycling Discussion - Bicycling to foreign sounding places - all within an hour of home

I bicycled to Denmark this afternoon. And I started my trip right from my driveway in the snowy Midwest.

I also bicycled to Poland, passed Zion, Krakow, Berlin and other European sounding places - all within one hour bicycle trip from home.

We have towns here with names from Scandinavia, France, Russia, Germany, Poland, Belgium, and other countries from around the world.

It is a reminder of the melting pot that is America. At one time, these towns, established within a few miles of each other, were farm communities populated by people from different countries with different languages, different cultures, and different religions.

Still, within a few generations, the languages melted into English, and the children of these various communities met, fell in love with each other, started new families, and wove the fabric of America even tighter.

This is what makes America strong. This is the spirit that will bring Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Jews, and other people together to fight together against terrorism and fascism

If there is one thing that defines America, it is this. By becoming neighbors, people with parents from around the world grow up together and learn how human we all are. It's hard to attack someone you eat lunch with everyday.

Thanks, Mike!

You must be from Green Bay too. In addition to the places you mentioned I've also ridden out to Brussels, Luxemberg and Holland.

hey guys!

here in N.E.England we play that game with role reversal.
In my vicinity , we have New York, Washington. Philadelphia.

willi`c

I can cycle from New York to California in a long day.
New York is in Lincolnshire, UK, not far from the original Boston. California is a slightly cheesy holiday resort just by Great Yarmouth (even cheesier) in Norfolk UK.

Originally posted by MichaelW
I can cycle from New York to California in a long day.


That just about beats 'em all. However, ever since the Beatles said that there are eight days a week, I realized that the British are on a different clock and calendar than the USA. How long is a "Long Day", MichaelW?

In Chicago, the bicycle opens up the possibilities of experiencing the different ethnic neighborhoods that are difficult to experience in a car. An SUV driver going along Devon will be disgruntled over the lack of available parking places, while the bicyclist is happily enjoying a curry.

Perhaps the reason why Chicago's Chinatown gets a lot of tourists is the abundance of parking places. I like Chinatown well enough, but if one limits one's self to visiting places that have an abundance of parking spots, one really limits where they can go....

NY-Cal is about 100miles
Just to prove it
New York is here

http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?scale=200000&overviewmap=&coordsys=gb&X=510000&Y=350000&gride=&gridn=&width=700&height=400&client=europe&db=&right.x=19&right.y=12

And California

http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?gride=&gridn=&width=700&height=400&client=europe&db=&scale=500000&coordsys=gb&overviewmap=&X=625000&Y=325000&multimap.x=565&multimap.y=334


Multimap is great for anyone planning a cycle tour of the UK.

You could, if you wanted to, ride from Hobart to Perth via Bagdad in a 'long day'.

I don't know about you guys, but i refuse to acknowledge a town with a name like "Murwillumbah". Especially now that their bakery no longer opens on Sunday :mad:

I'm from Liverpool originally but I live in Wales now so everything seems foreign to me.

Llangybbi
Llandegffed
Llantrisant
Llanellen

You have missed everyones favorite Welsh place name.

Llanfairpwillgwyngllgogerychwymdrobvillantysiliogogogoch.
hope I spelt that correctly , tough one to remember.

willi`c

I live in NL, but was born in Brooklyn, and lived around New York for my first six years.

I find it interesting that I can now bike between Haarlem, Breukelen, and Heemstede (re Hempstead, LI) in a couple of hours.

Cheers...Gary

Originally posted by willic
You have missed everyones favorite Welsh place name.

Llanfairpwillgwyngllgogerychwymdrobvillantysiliogogogoch.
hope I spelt that correctly , tough one to remember.

willi`c

Jeesh! How would you like to live or work in a town named Llanfairpwillgwyngllgogerychwymdrobvillantysiliogogogoch and have to address your envelopes with that town name.

I wonder if you misspelled it if the post office would refuse to deliver it.

Yeh Mike!

That is one fantastic place name , are you ready for the English translation! here goes!.

St Marys in the Hollow of the White Hazel near a rapid Whirlpool and the Church of St Tysilio of the Red cave.

Try telling thats where you live with your mouth full! :D

willi`c

And people think the Germans have a lot of compund words. I have it on good authority, though that most [north?] Welsh towns have secondary, full names that no one uses because they're too long. [Me Gram was the authority, boy, so don't get nasty! :-)]

I visit the saints on my rides. On one, I cross the St. Lawrence river [by bridge] and ride down to Ste. Catherine d'Alexandrie, turn south through St. Constant, ride along St. Remi to St. Isidore; sometimes I'll head west toward St. Lambert and cross the bridge to St. Helen's Island...

I hope somewhere along the way you stop at St. Hubert! Drool, drool. ;)

Originally posted by willic
Are you ready for the English translation! here goes!.

St Marys in the Hollow of the White Hazel near a rapid Whirlpool and the Church of St Tysilio of the Red cave.


willi`c

I'm glad they don't give out that kind of descriptive addresses anymore. "Jim the middle-class fat bald guy near the bad neighborhood who doesn't cut his grass often enough".

Originally posted by gmason
I hope somewhere along the way you stop at St. Hubert! Drool, drool. ;)
In fact, St-Hubert is along the ride...

For BBQ chicken, though, I prefer Cote-St-Luc...