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Here are the Best Rail Trails in North America to Explore by Bicycle

From MomentumMag.com

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The allure of a long, winding trail stretching across stunning landscapes has an undeniable appeal to cycling enthusiasts and nature lovers alike. North America boasts a plethora of rail trails, once the veins of the railway network, now transformed into beautiful pathways for cyclists and pedestrians. Let’s have a look at some of the best rail trails in Canada and the United States, exploring their unique characteristics, the must-see stops along the way, and how long it takes on average to complete these scenic adventures.

Katy Trail – Missouri

Description: The Katy Trail State Park, stretching across Missouri, is one of the longest rail trail in the United States. It spans 240 miles, following the Missouri River’s path, offering cyclists a blend of history, natural beauty, and small-town charm.

Highlights: Visit the historic town of St. Charles, take a detour to the Katy Bridge, and savor local wines in Hermann. Marvel at the Missouri River bluffs and diverse wildlife.

Duration: The average time to bike the entire Katy Trail is about 5-7 days, with plenty of B&Bs, campgrounds, and small towns for overnight stops.

Image courtesy of BLM.gov

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Beverly Hills closes gaps in bicycle infrastructure

From BeverlyPress.com

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Beverly Hills bicyclists might one day have a new way of traveling to West Hollywood, as staff prepares to install bike lanes on Beverly Boulevard that could connect to the neighboring city, transportation planner Jessie Holzer Carpenter said.

City officials will provide more details about the proposed bike lanes during a Traffic and Parking Commission meeting on Sept. 7, and residents are encouraged to give their thoughts in person or by contacting the city at askpw@beverlyhills.org.

The Beverly Boulevard bike lanes were identified in the city’s 2021 Complete Streets Plan because they connect to existing bikeways on North Santa Monica Boulevard and North Palm Drive, and because the street does not have existing parking spaces, meaning that the lanes will not reduce parking, Carpenter said.

Also, the city of West Hollywood is planning to install its own bike lanes on Beverly Boulevard, creating a new link between the two cities, Carpenter said. Beverly Hills is also working to close a “short gap” of bike lanes on Santa Monica Boulevard that would create another inter-city bikeway.

West Hollywood officials approved a contract for a feasibility study on expanding bike lanes on Santa Monica Boulevard.

Beverly Hills officials have been soliciting public input on the bikeway expansions for months, and so far, the feedback has been positive, Carpenter said.

“What we’ve heard so far is a lot of support for the project because it closes that gap in the network,” Carpenter added. “There is no on-street parking on this segment … so it doesn’t remove any street parking. All it does is narrow traveling to provide a dedicated bike way.”

Photo by BP Miller on Unsplash

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Get Started Cycling Indoors | Equipment, Set-Up & Zwift Explained

Indoor training is a great way to stay fit during the colder and wetter months. You can get on the bike for a hard training session or just a leisurely ride, all from the comfort of your own home. Manon shows you how to ride indoors, taking you through all the essential equipment you’ll need to get started!

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‘The First of Its Kind’ : Pasadena to unveil protected bikeway on Union Street

From PasadenaWeekly.com

By Luke Netzley

To help increase safety and connectivity for community members on the road, the city of Pasadena has neared completion on its Union Street Protected Bikeway project, a 1.5-mile-long, two-way protected bike lane that runs along Union Street between Arroyo Parkway and Hill Avenue. On Saturday, Sept. 9, there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony held in front of city hall to unveil the new construction.

“The project really started as part of the bicycle transportation action plan that was developed in 2015 … to determine how we could really enhance the bicycle network in Pasadena,” said Joaquin Siques, deputy director of transportation for the city of Pasadena. “Union Street was identified as a corridor where we could provide a bike facility that has additional protection and really provide that two-way connection between Pasadena City College, a connection to Caltech and bring people, residents and students from those campuses into the central business district on a corridor that had a lot of extra space.”

Along with routes meant for PCC and Caltech students, the project will also help connect residents and visitors to destinations like Old Pasadena and Playhouse Village on bike.

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Culver City Plans Protected Bikeway on Overland Avenue

From LA.Streetsblog.org

By Joe Linton

Culver City’s proposed ~2.5 mile Overland bike facility is mostly new protected bike lanes (about a mile and a half), plus about a half-mile of new unprotected bike lanes at the north end, and a short stretch of bike route at the south end.

Culver City is currently in the design phase for a project that would add protected bike lanes along Overland Avenue, Playa Street, and Hannum Avenue. Next month the city will host a community input meeting on the Overland Bike Lane Project – meeting details below.

The project would extend existing bike lanes on Overland that were installed circa 2019, covering about a half-mile between Culver Boulevard and Ballona Creek. The proposed new bikeway would be about 2.5 miles long – from Overland and Venice Boulevard to Hannum and Slauson Avenue.

The design varies somewhat for different parts of Overland, Playa, and Hannum, with the lion’s share (about a mile and a half) being new protected bike lanes. The project would include about a half-mile of new unprotected bike lanes at the north end, near Venice Boulevard. It also includes a short stretch of bike route connecting to the Culver City Transit Center on Slauson near Sepulveda Boulevard.

Image courtesy of Kimley Horn

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I Tried Riding Up My Local Climb 35 Times In One Day!

Local Legend: the athlete who completes a given segment the most over a rolling 90-day period. But what would it take to become a Strava Local Legend in just one day? Always up for a challenge, Conor decided to find out by taking on his local Bathwick Hill climb 35 times in a single ride. That’s over 5,000m of elevation gain! Will he claim the coveted laurel crown?

 

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Shimano drops two 12-speed GRX groupsets, new gravel wheels

From CyclingNews.com

By Josh Croxton

Mechanical gravel groupsets accompany 105 mechanical launch

Shimano is having a busy day. Alongside the just-announced launch of the new 12-speed mechanical 105 road groupset, the Japanese brand has also unveiled a spate of new gravel tech, including two new 12-speed versions of GRX, as well as a new set of carbon gravel wheels.

Starting with the groupsets, they come in the form of the higher-spec RX820 series and the more affordable RX610, but besides some specs, material choice and the associated weight difference, they both provide a similar solution to gravel riders’ needs, offering 12-speed cassettes in 1x and 2x configurations.

Notably, they are both mechanical, meaning anyone holding out for 12-speed GRX Di2 will have to continue playing the waiting game. It also means the entry-level RX400-series remains unchanged. There’s no news as to whether either will see an upgrade in the near future

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My favorite biking gear I’ve tested this year, from locks to helmets and more

From Elektrek.co

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At Electrek, we cover plenty of new electric cars and other EVs as part of an overarching goal of shifting transportation towards a more sustainable future. But it’s important to keep in mind that electric cars aren’t the only answer – sometimes a vehicle much smaller than a car is an even better tool for the job.

But to use that tool to its fullest, it can help to have a few other tools along the way. As someone who gets around almost entirely on two-wheels, here’s my list of the coolest gear I’ve tested on my e-bikes so far this year.

As a point of housekeeping, let me note that some of this gear was purchased and some was given to me by companies hoping I’d say something nice about their product. Throughout the year several things show up on my desk that never make it to these lists because frankly they aren’t good enough. So in summary, if I say I bought something here, I bought it. Anything else was given to me as a media sample and was truly good enough for me to want to honestly write about it.

Woowind electric bike pump

I’ve used a few electric pumps over the years, but this is one I bought a few months ago to have as a spare and I’ve been super happy with it.

It claims to go up to 120 PSI, though I never run my tires that high so I’ve only used it up to around 40 PSI. But I can confirm that the battery lasts a long time, it feels well made with an aluminum case, and it’s even bright red so it doesn’t get lost in a pile of black bike gear.

I’ve never actually run it empty, but I tend to charge it every ten uses or so and it’s never made me feel like it was about to run out of battery.

 

 

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f Wider Road Bike Tires Are Better, Why Not Go SUPER Wide?!

How wide is too wide for road bike tires? We know that wider tires are faster, but how wide can you go until this stops being true? Hank and Alex are back with more GCN Does Science to test out three different tire widths: standard 26mm, chunky 35mm and super-size 50mm. How much does tire width really affect comfort, confidence, bike handling and speed?

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Metro unveils plan for walking, bicycling or rolling to a train station or bus stop

From SGVTribune.com

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LA Metro laid out a plan on Tuesday to create a chain of paths, regional bikeways and pedestrian crossings to connect passengers who are walking, rolling or bicycling to and from the transit agency’s train lines, bus stops and depots.

The release of the agency’s Active Transportation Strategic Plan is the first update in seven years to a plan from 2016, but it comes with a hefty price tag, no concrete funding sources and plenty of pushback.

Metro, during a virtual public meeting Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 29, outlined three areas for improvement, identifying 602 “first and last mile” areas located near transit, 81 pedestrian districts and 1,433 miles of regional bikeways.

Just completing the list of regional bikeways, which would connect to existing ones, would cost about $36 billion, which is four times the entire LA Metro annual budget.

Metro narrowed down the ambitious plan by prioritizing all the projects by need. For example, many projects would be in areas where many people do not own cars, including mostly Black and Latino neighborhoods in L.A. County, in an effort to give potential passengers a driverless way to reach transit.

Completing just 2.5% of the projects would cost about $1.86 billion, and breaks down as follows, Metro reported:

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