League of American Bicyclists * National Bike Summit

National Bike Summit
March 8-10, 2011
Grand Hyatt|Metro Center|D.C.

Acting on a simple solution - national bike Summit

There are more people riding bikes than ever. Yet half of all U.S. trips are three miles or less, and more than 90 percent are made by car. The National Bike Summit has improved bicycle-friendliness and livability in many communities, but the need and opportunity to improve physical activity, safety and livability in the U.S., while reducing congestion, greenhouse gas emissions and our dependence on oil – remains greater today than a decade ago.

League of American Bicyclists * National Bike Summit

Mass Central Rail Trail

 

An intrepid adventure traveler can still find traces of it in the wilderness. A 104 mile railroad line was shattered by a hurricane in 1938. The line once stretched from downtown Boston to Northampton, MA.
Now, almost seventy years later, dedicated volunteers, property owners and our government agencies and business partner in 24 communities are working to dig it out and open it up. Instead of trains there will be tourists and locals, bed & breakfast inns, cross-country skiers, bicyclists, hikers, joggers, and babies in baby carriages.

Mass Central Rail Trail

Franklin-Bellingham bike trail plan has long way to go - Milford, MA - The Milford Daily News

Proponents of a paved bike trail along an old railroad bed in Franklin and Bellingham have vowed to continue pushing for the idea despite limited funding.

"It's a wooded environment and it's nature," said David Labonte, chairman of the Franklin Citizens Rail Trail Committee. "We need to do a little sweat equity in paying for this thing upfront to have something for generations of people of all ages."

Franklin-Bellingham bike trail plan has long way to go - Milford, MA - The Milford Daily News

Hancock council backs rail-trail extension plan - herald-mail.com

The Hancock, MD Town Council backs an expansion of the Western Maryland Rail Trail, a project that supporters say is important for expanded tourism opportunities in the region.

[caption id="attachment_171" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Bike in Hancock MD"][/caption]

This is a lovely town adjacent to the C & O Canal Trail and the Western Maryland Rail Trail. On one of our trips we had lunch in town and had need for some bicycle repair. The local bicycle shop was excellent. To read more about the expansion click the link below.

Hancock council backs rail-trail extension plan - herald-mail.com

Canal Trust - News & Events

Locking it up on the C&O Canal

A writer for the Washington Post tells the story of her overnight stay at Lockhouse 49: "It was a dream realized to play house in a historical structure, with no punitive guards skulking about or signs warning me to keep off the furniture."

Friday, December 3, 2010
Andrea Sachs, Washington Post

I have ridden this area of the C & O Trail several times. On my next trip I hope to stay overnight at Lockhouse 49. To read the entire story click on the link below.

Canal Trust - News & Events

Hanover board wants former rail bed made into pathway - The Boston Globe

Hanover for turning an abandoned rail bed in the town’s southwestern corner into a lush, 6-mile trail that would let people walk and pedal safely to two nearby communities.

Proposed by the town’s Open Space Committee, the plan would add precious collateral to a decade-old local greenway vision to link isolated tracts of town-owned land while forging connections with a similar rail-to-trail effort in neighboring Rockland that reaches all the way to Abington, officials said.

If the town signs a contract with the Nevada-based nonprofit Iron Horse Preservation Society, the new trail would come at no cost, said Hal Thomas, the committee cochairman. But first, selectmen must decide whether to approve the partnership.

Hanover board wants former rail bed made into pathway - The Boston Globe

Rail trail authority escapes mandatory upgrades - WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather & Sports

 

Rail trail authority escapes mandatory upgrades - WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather & Sports