Physical Activity is the Key to Fitness

Colorado is firmly established as the least obese state in the U.S. It is often cited as being the healthiest state overall.

Biking trails are part of a well-rounded fitness program.

In today's Parade magazine, it was clear that exercise, not diet, is the leading cause for Colorado's enviable fitness level.

Colorado did not make the short list of states that ate the most fruits and vegetables. However, it did make the list of top five states for physical activity.

Good job, Colorado. In essence, this means the key to a healthy, fit, trim life is exercise. To me, that's great news because I enjoy exercise such as bike riding, hiking, and other forms of trail-related activities. However, I also love to eat. Oh sure, I make small concessions when it comes to diet; but in general I eat early, often, and prodigiously. It's one of life's little pleasures.

This also bodes well for other trail users. You're staying fit while having fun. In my mind, this is just one more reason why trails should be funded, built, and maintained at a higher level. They are incredibly important to the health, recreation, and environment in this country.

I'd love to hear what you think is more important to people's health:

• exercise
• diet

Physical Activity is the Key to Fitness

Life's a beach, and then you ride.

Holy moly, that's some nice biking!!

The Huntington Beach Trail in California, may be the premier beach trail (dare I say it?) in the world.

Huntington Beach Trail in Newport Beach, California

It's got it all:

• beautiful beaches
• a wonderful bike path
• awesome people watching opportunities
• great rentals of alternative trail vehicles (Check out the 3GStepper)
• cool breezes in the summer and mild California weather in the winter
• incredible food/snack options
• easy access to the Santa Ana River Trail

And more.

I recommend that you start your ride in Newport Beach. Once you find parking (good luck) just head toward the ocean, and you'll find the trail. Once you find the trail, you should have no problem finding someone to rent you a bike or other wheeled trail vehicle.

Don't bother packing a bulky back pack with food. You'll find plenty to graze on as you go. Just bring some money and an appetite. If you don't find enough food options trailside, just head to Main Street (head up at the pier) in Huntington Beach. You'll find some funky-delicious restaurants there.

Make sure to have cool-weather and warm-weather clothing available because you can get some pretty decent weather changes from one minute to the next. The California sun and Pacific breezes team up to provide you with ever-changing conditions.

But ya gotta try this trail. It's crowded on weekends and busy on weekdays. Just chill out and enjoy your fellow trail users. Who knows what you'll see?

Life's a beach, and then you ride.

rail-trails for sale?

How much are our trails worth to you?

Times are tough, money is tight. We read the headlines every day. Funding will be reduced in an effort to reduce our nation's debt/deficit. As much as we'd like to believe that our precious trails will be exempt from the fiscal guillotine, that probably won't be the case.

So where will the funding come from to add more trails and maintain the current ones? Private donations play a role, but probably won't increase enough to make up for the upcoming government cuts.

In Florida, they have proposed selling the naming rights to their top eight trails to the highest bidder. Imagine such sports arenas as the Coors Field in Boulder, Colorado or the Honda Center in Anaheim. Now apply that to, say the Withlacoochee State Trail. Instead, it might be called the Budweiser State Trail or the Cigna Scenic Trail.

Do you think that's a good idea? I ask that in all sincerity, because I haven't decided yet. If it's done tastefully, it might not be such a bad idea. If the trail goes all commercial, with billboards every half mile, then it could be a nightmare.

Should rail-trails be funded by sponsorship
or trailside advertising?

Other options could include just selling sponsorship of the trailhead or allowing small, informational/advertising signs along the trail. This last suggestion is not as horrible as it sounds if the following rules are applied:

1. No more than one sign per mile is allowed.
2. Signs must be small, unobtrusive, and uniform.
3. Businesses must offer a service that is essential to trail users. Such services would include: lodging, camping, food, trail equipment sales, equipment rentals, equipment service
4. Signs would be simple, informational, and clear.

The signs suggested above would kill two birds with one stone. They would provide a steady flow of advertising income to the trail. They would provide information to trail users.

Don't picture big, gaudy billboards with garish colors and slogans. Instead, imagine small, wood or faux wood signs that list:

• Bob's Sporting Goods - .5 miles - trail left
• Emma's Diner - .3 miles - trail left
• Shady Cove Campground - .7 miles - trail right
• Shady Cove General Store - .7 miles - trail right

Only these official signs would be allowed on the trail right-of-way. Rather than advertising, they would be considered "trail sponsorship." Businesses would benefit from trail traffic and trail users would benefit from information about upcoming services. The trail would benefit from the funding.

What do you think? Should private industry be involved in public trails. Leave a comment with your input.

rail-trails for sale?

Snapshot of trail users

happy, healthy bike rider on trail

Who are all those people using our nation's trails?

I can't give a conclusive answer for all trail users, but I can give you information about the TrailLink audience, thanks to a brief overview found on the traillink website.

* 62% of the users are male and 38% female (a bit of a surprise)

* 71% of them are between the ages of 31 & 60 years old with ages 46 to 60 being the most dominant group.

* 70% of users are college graduates (I figured the college educated group would be larger, but not that significantly larger.)

* 87% of trail users are bicyclists, 43% walkers, 31% hikers (hmmm, is there that much of a difference betwixt walkers & hikers?), and 17% are runners. (This percentage fits right in with what I've seen on the trails too, except, I always get completely confused between the walkers and hikers.)  (-:

I did my own informal "trail user poll" and came up with the following important statistic:

On any given day, out of 100 trail users, 99 of them were happy, healthy, and friendly, while one was a cranky old fart. The good news is, if I didn't keep including myself in these polls, trail users would be 100% awesome.

Snapshot of trail users

American Trails is advocating for trails and trail users

Two of the biggest advocates for United States trails are Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and American Trails.

American Trails

I am a big supporter of both. However in this blog post, I'd like to focus on American Trails. I especially enjoy their level-headed trail advocacy. In addition to their contributions in the physical development of the U.S. trail system, they are also quite helpful and vocal when it comes to supporting legislation and community trail planning and implementation.

I have included links to the American Trails: Supporting Trails web page because it gives a good overview of the types of support that we have grown to expect from American Trails over the years. They are involved in alternative transportation funding, the history of bicycle/pedestrian issues, the federal surface transportation program, SAFETEA-LU, and many other important issues.

I hope you take the opportunity to view the American Trails website. If you are as impressed as I was, it would be awesome if you'd consider joining American Trails. If you do, you will receive a monthly newsletter and the satisfaction of knowing that you support an extremely worthwhile organization. I haven't regretted my membership; on the contrary, I'm quite proud of being an American Trails member.

American Trails is advocating for trails and trail users

Expedia's TripAdvisor has purchased EveryTrail

Is the latest corporate merger good for trail lovers?

Last week, TripAdvisor acquired EveryTrail, the distributor of online trail guides. If you don't recognize the name TripAdvisor, you may have heard of their parent company, Expedia, the internet travel giant.

This could be good news or bad news, depending on the final outcome of the merger. It would be good news if Expedia used its online muscle and presence to further promote trails as a viable and preferred travel activity. This would expose even more people to the joys, health benefits, and environmental benefits of trail travel. More people would realize that they can use a particularly awesome trail as a major deciding factor for choosing a vacation destination. At the very least, destination trails could become one of the talking points when discussing vacation spots.

It could be bad news for trail users if Expedia changes the Everytrail experience too much. For example the current model for Everytrail is to offer both trips and guides. Trips are free and offer some basic information about trails worldwide. Guides are much more extensive and usually cost about $1.99 per trail. Bundles, or groups of trails bound by a single theme, cost more than guides, but are usually less expensive on a per trail basis. In other words, if you buy the Southern Trails bundle, it includes

Everytrail Guides can be downloaded onto a smartphone such as an iPhone or a Droid. Users can then access trail information including a map, photos, points-of-interest, and a written description of the trail directly from their phone, before they leave for the trail (for trip planning purposes) or while they're on the trail. Most of the guides show how to get to the trailheads, give visual directions for following the trail (map), include links to other useful websites, and have information about lodging, camping, food, equipment/bike rentals, and other important details.

Time will tell whether this business acquisition will be good for trail users and guide publishers. The current business model is one of those rare win-win situations where those of us who publish guides on Everytrail have the opportunity to make a (very) small income by publishing guides while trail users have the convenience of an informative guide located right on their smart phone. They no longer have to pay the big bucks for a bulky guidebook that includes way more trails than they'll ever explore. Everytrail guides allows users to purchase guides for just the trails they will actually visit.

If you're not familiar with Everytrail, click on one of the links above and give them a try. Remember all their trips are free and even some of the guides are now free. Let me know if you agree that, given the current Everytrail model, downloadable trail guides are the wave of the future.

Expedia's TripAdvisor has purchased EveryTrail

New trails network poll on left

What is the ideal Christmas
gift for the active traveler
in your life?

Tis the season of gift giving.

Check out our new poll in the left margin of this blog. What would be the ideal gift for an active traveler? Of course with the limited space of a blog, I couldn't include anywhere near all the possible options; so feel free to add your choices in the comments section of this (or any) post.

I hope to get some creative responses from all the creative trail users, bicycle tourists, and active travelers in general.

New trails network poll on left