Idaho trails featured in latest Everytrail guides

The Trail of the Couer d' Alenes, a paved path that runs for 72 miles from the backwoods of northern Idaho to the shores of beautiful Lake Couer d' Alene is one of two featured trails on both Everytrail and trailsnet.com.

Bikers rest outside one of ten tunnels
 found along the Route of the Hiawatha
  bicycle trail in northern Idaho.

This trail is famous for it's perfectly sloped grade and smooth surface. It is ideal for inline skating, recumbent cycles, bikes, and Trikkes. If your idea of a good time is bumping and bouncing over tree roots, rocks, and ruts or constantly avoiding deadly encounters with cars, then you might not like this trail. But For the rest of us, the Trail of the Couer d' Alenes is paradise on earth.

The other trail featured this month is the Route of the Hiawatha, another great northern Idaho trail. It is not paved, like the Couer d' alene trail, but it has some of the greatest trail tunnels and trestles anywhere in the world. It is also rife with wildlife, history, and bodacious scenery.

Visit trailsnet and Everytrail to view these two great Idaho trails and start planning your trail trip today.

Idaho trails featured in latest Everytrail guides

Inline Skating Resource Center Blog

With all the great paved and concrete trails highlighted on trailsnet.com, I haven't spent nearly enough time on the topic of inline skating.

Trails rock & inline skating rolls!!

So that's what this post is about. Unfortunately, I'm far from an expert at inline skating. Oh sure, I own a pair, with all the pads, to boot. And I first tried the sport long ago when pads were not on the market and the sport was known only as "Roller-blading." Of course, I took a nasty fall and bruised my ego. The girl I was with took an even worse fall and bruised much more than just her ego. I also remember the skates being HUGE. 

Boy did I digress. The point I wanted to make, rather than try to come off like an expert skater, I'll introduce you to a blog I just discovered called the Inline Skating Resource Center Blog. After perusing the site, I can guarantee you that the folks @ IISA knows a heck of a lot more about "Roller-Blading" than I do.

So if you get a chance, hop on over to IISA's blog and read about her experience on the Trail of the Couer d' Alenes, in Idaho. It's a great trail for biking and a great trail for inline skating. And while you're there, you can check out another Idaho path called Trail of the Hiawatha and the Spokane Centennial Trail, in Washington. The Trail of the Hiawatha is gravel, but the Spokane Centennial Trail is concrete, like the Trail of the Couer d' Alenes.

Have fun, but be sure to wear a helmet and pads.

Inline Skating Resource Center Blog

The five newest & coolest forms of human-powered transportation

Elliptigo

At trailsnet, we're all about human-powered transportation, and normally, we highlight the standard fare of biking, hiking, snowshoeing, nordic skiing, inline skating, & horseback riding. But we're also intrigued by some of the newer forms of sweat-equity transportation; so here's a list of some cool new ways of getting around while getting in shape:

The Schweeb

• The Schweeb, by Google is like a hybrid between a bike and a monorail. It is currently located in New Zealand as a recreational application, but it's potential for transportation is sky-high!

• Those of you who enjoy the elliptical trainer at your local gym will love the Elliptigo. It allows you to cruise like a bicyclist while standing upright like a cross-country skiier. It's like running without all the jarring impact.
• The Trikke, like the Elliptigo, allows you to stand up while moving down the street or trail. But it's a lot less expensive and more of a full body workout. And once you master the Trikke, it'll be a cinch to move onto the Skki during the winter months.
• Okay, recumbents aren't all that new, but they haven't yet caught on like I think they're bound to someday soon. So many of you may not even be aware of the recumbent movement. However, if you give one a try, I predict you'll be hooked. I know I was.



recumbent

• Technically velomobiles are a form of recumbent. But I think they look way cool, and seem to have their own following, so I'll give them their own category. They look like the human-powered machine of the future.

The five newest & coolest forms of human-powered transportation

Trail Sharing

Some things we just take for granted.

For example, most trails I've ridden on around the U.S. were shared trails. One very limited example of a shared trail is one on which both hikers and bikers can recreate. (Not procreate... that would be just a little too sharesy for most jurisdictions.)

But many trails also include numerous other forms of trail mobility including inline skating, horseback riding etc.

But in a recent email from Barry, in Japan, I was surprised to learn that "In my country cyclists are forbidden to ride on hiking trails under the jurisdiction of the "Department of Conservation", or National Parks."


I've been meaning to write a blog on the topic of shared trails for a while, so my thanks go out to Barry for prodding me to "...get 'er done." So without further ado, here was my email reply to Barry:

I am so glad you asked me about shared trails...

The majority of trails in the U.S. are shared trails... some more than others. The last two Everytrail Guides I completed were about trails shared by: snowmobilers, cross-country skiers, snowshoers, hikers, bikers, and equestrians. One of the two was also shared by ATVs and motorcycles.

However, those trails were not quite the ordinary. Most trails prohibit motor vehicles. But many of the paved trails do allow inline skaters.

As for whether I support them... Wholeheartedly. It goes back to, "Why can't we all just share and get along?"

Now for the unspoken question: "Do other people agree with me?"

If you judged based upon the letters to the editor in my local newspaper... Absolutely not!!

Many people are vehemently opposed to sharing trails with bicyclists. Needless to say, biking is one of the most important activities in my life, and I do it on a daily basis, mostly on trails. But I can't blame people who are enraged by bikers. To some people/bikers, all life is a race. They're always rush, rush, rushing. This is intimidating, unsafe, and unfriendly for hikers. 

I have experienced this rush, rush attitude w/ bikers on roads and on mountain bike trails. I have not seen it on rail-trails. It seems like bikers on rail-trails are more calm, relaxed, and courteous. It also helps that rail-trails are usually much wider than mountain bike trails.

Anyway, that was the just of my email response to Barry. Now if it sounds like I'm picking on bikers and want to limit their trail use, quite the opposite is true. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a tireless advocate for more bike trails. However, that's not going to happen as long as bikers are rude and inconsiderate to other trail users.

Oh, and by the way, I think just as many hikers are equally rude. Why do some hikers feel compelled to take up the whole path and have to be asked/begged to share the trail? I am also a hiker and I always stay to the far right and am aware of what's going on in front of me and behind me. I love to share the trail and stay out of the way of other trail users. Whether I am biking or hiking, I do so in single file about 90% of the time. If I ride/walk side-by-side, I pay even more attention to other trail users and move over when I see someone approaching.

The Mount Vernon Trail in Virginia is a
 good example of  a shared trail
with bikers, trail runners, walker, skaters...

It's all about courtesy and sharing. Trails are one of the greatest luxuries in life. Let's all respect one another and share the wealth.

It sounds like this may be a good subject for the next survey in the left sidebar. What do you say? As always, I'd love reader feedback.

Trail Sharing

Staying healthy while traveling

For some people, a vacation is for relaxing. Whether that is sitting on a deck chair beside the pool, lying on a beach, or lounging around their hotel room, these same people often enjoy "vegging out" at home, too. Maybe it's because they're too busy working or maybe it's just in their nature.

Either way, don't use vacation time as an excuse for inactivity time. Make activity part of your daily routine when on a trip. Exercising in the hotel recreation room is one way to do that; but a better way is to get outside and enjoy the local offerings.

In a 2007 New Zealand study, vacationers recorded their feelings/mood each day. According to the results, "Travelers with more active schedules who packed their days with [activity] claimed higher contentment levels than those who lazed for hours on end."

So don't just "hang around" while on vacation; ride a bike, go for a walk, swim, ice skate, or rent some inline skates. Not only will you feel better, but you'll look better and see some places you'd have otherwise missed.

Staying healthy while traveling