Roody

I think almost every city in the world sponsors or supports non-automotive transportation. Even my city--home of one of the first two automobile assembly plants in the world--sponsors many carfree activities. Most city planners and policy makers seem to grasp that non-car travel is something to be encouraged, even if they don't always understand the best way to go about it.

As for tourism, the carfree trail system here brings in several thousand tourists for three seasons of the year. I'm not sure if "tourist" is the right word, but these are people who come from the suburbs and nearby cities with the express purpose of riding on the trails. Of course, they often dump a few dollars at city restaurants, party stores, and bike shops while they are here. And more than half do not drive their cars to the trails!

Machka 

So for all you car-free/car-light people in the northern hemisphere where it is nice and warm ... tell us about your travels over the last couple months!

enigmaT120

Ha. As usual, I don't go anywhere by bike or otherwise. It's amazing how I got over a hundred thousand miles on my motorcycle, over 5,500 miles on my newer (2012) bike, but it's almost all commuting. I am supposed to go mountain bike riding Sunday with the boyfriend of a friend of my wife, to keep him occupied while they visit. The logging roads around me are all closed to public entry so we'll probably go to some state forest land over by Corvallis.

Machka 

I am really looking forward to summery conditions again ... and I hope we have more of a summer than we did last year. I would like to get out and do some short tours this year.

https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/98...ort-tours.html

enigmaT120

We ended up riding here:

Blackrock Mountain Bike Association | Banzai Downhill

It's the easiest trail they have on their map. You ride (or for most people, push your bike) up to the top on a gravel road, then ride down on the trails. It was fun and I wanted to do it again but Tony was too tired to ride back up again. I took my Rocky Mountain as it has nice fat knobbies on it.

It's only about 4 miles from my house so I can easily ride there. It would get old after a while, but it can give me something to do until the logging roads are again open to public entry.

Machka 

It's great to have things like that so close to home. We've got a handful of hiking trails right close to where we live, and some beautiful views.

I think if I were doing that ... going downhill on a trail with a mtn bike, even an easy trail, I'd need help to unglue my hands from the handlebars. Just not my thing!! But I can see how it could be fun.

enigmaT120

I go much faster on the logging road descents, though I admit it's not too smart. The banked twisties at Black Rock were amazing, and I was barely getting the hang of going around them quickly before we got to the bottom.

Machka 

I'll bump this for the north americans who have a long weekend this weekend.

Machka 

Just got home from an overnight cycling tour. Just a short tour, but an enjoyable weekend nonetheless.

We drove to Kettering and parked the van. Yes, there was a little bit of driving to get to our start location, but after that, it was all bicycle and boat. We unloaded our bicycles and gear ... then caught the ferry across to Bruny Island, from there we cycled to Adventure Bay, stopping for chocolate fudge at the Bruny Island Providore (Bruny Island Providore ) and lunch at the Bruny Island Berry Farm (https://www.brunyislandberryfarm.com.au/ ). We weren't sure what to expect with the Bruny Island Berry Farm because sometimes places like that can be quite expensive and rather have a rather limited selection, but they were reasonably priced and the food was good. We had pancakes with ice cream, whipped cream and strawberries.

Then we picked up dinner supplies at the Adventure Bay grocery store, and set up camp in a grassy area at the campground, populated by rabbits and wild hens.

Once we were set up, we went for a walk along the beach ... the campground is right across the road from the beach. Rowan whipped up a delicious rice, tuna and veggie curry with his Trangia, and then and after dinner, we went for another walk along the beach. Then we spent the evening relaxing and reading. When we went to bed, we were lulled to sleep by the rhythmic roar of the waves.

Even though it got down to about 11C overnight, we were warm and cozy in our tent. Rowan, however, had a bit of difficulty with his mattress.

Today, we packed up and cycled to the Pennicott tours office and checked in. We had booked for their 3-hour tour, and it was great!! Well worth it! The scenery, the seals, the birds, the dolphins, and the speed!
Bruny Island Cruises

And then we cycled back to the ferry terminal ... stopping at the Bruny Island Berry Farm for lunch, of course. Toasted croissants with cheese for me, and a toasted salmon baguette for Rowan ... with meringues, cheesecake, ice cream, cream, and strawberries for dessert.

Saturday was quite a nice day .. today was drizzly and cooler. But we were prepared for the weather. And although the route does include some flat sections in the middle, it is fairly hilly at the beginning and end. A few steep ones which were a bit of a challenge with a load.

Total tour: 83.39 km

Machka 

Lunch!


Camping!




And if you click the photos you'll be taken to quite a few more. There will be even more in the next few days.


[HR][/HR]

See the Short Tours thread from last year for more photos of our short tour at the end of November ...
https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/98...ort-tours.html

Machka 

If you're planning a short cycling tour in 2016, check out the Short Tours thread ...
https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/10...ort-tours.html


And if you happen to be planning a tour of any length, feel free to talk about it here ...
https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/10...you-going.html


Remember cycletouring is a nice way to be car-free or car-light for a little while.

mr geeker

This spring/summer/fall I plan to take a good long overdue ride on all of the local bike trails to get a good idea of how much they've expanded over the last couple years. It should be interesting if nothing else.