States I've Biked In

visited 15 states (30%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or another interesting project

I rode with my kids when they were growing up but then the bike hung from the garage ceiling for many years while I did other things. Riding a bike was always one of those things I was going to do when there was more time. Well, that time finally came in 2006 when we took the plunge and bought a bike rack so we could carry the bikes with us on our annual trip east to visit family. The plan was to stop at various Rails-to-Trails and bike a few miles every few days as a way to break up sitting in the car day after day. We had a blast riding on the Cape Cod Rail Trail and several others in Massachusetts, the Towpath Trail in Ohio, a piece of the KATY trail in Missouri, several trails in Denver and Boulder City in Colorado, Moab and St. George in Utah, and lots of rides in and around Las Vegas. In all we covered 512 miles that year. In 2007 we road more miles around Las Vegas and we took our bikes to Europe and road several bike paths along the Moselle and Rhine rivers, mostly in Germany. Our miles grew to 626 that year. In 2008 we again headed to the eastern US and hit more rail trails and scenic routes as well as spending a week on Prince Edward Island (PEI) in Canada where we biked about half of the Confederation trail. Our mileage really grew in 2008, to 1409 miles. So, although biking over 2500 miles in three years is really not much to a serious and dedicated biker, that is far more experience in the saddle then I ever thought I would acquire. I'm anxious to share what we've learned about touring with bikes, and to learn even more from others who share this interest.

Getting ready to roll

I am a turtle; love to ride but plodding - like to look around rather than race to the finish. I'm relatively new to cycling; rode 500 miles in 2006, 625 in 2007, and 1400 in 2008. Took my Giant to Europe in 2007 and rode some stretches of the Rhine and Moselle Rivers during a 9-week stay. The only multi-day organized ride I've participated in so far was the Bonton Roulet in July '08. Think I prefer independent traveling with my bike on the car rack and hitting the various Rails to Trails that I pass on my trips around the country. I'm serious about commuting by bike as much as possible (couple of times a week to work, library, church). I'm going to use this space to share some of the trails I have experienced and create a wish list of opportunities for the months ahead. Would love to hear suggestions from my readers or compare observations on a particular trail.