A lot of emphasis has been placed on bicycles recently. With the current energy crisis and the movement toward energy-save modes of transportation, bicycle riding has experienced a surge in popularity. Cycling as a mode of transportation is cheap, energy-efficient and often time-saving, as bicycles are rarely caught in traffic and can be a quicker route especially in major cities. Bicycles have even become integral components of certain professions, from curriers and taxis to police officers and postal workers.
However, cycling, while a good transportation option, has other uses as well, even outside of athletic competition. Cycling is a good source of fitness and fun, as well as self-discovery and the discovery of nature. The Adventure Cycling Association, a non-profit organization, is dedicated to inspiring men and women of all ages to travel by bicycle, whether for work, pleasure or competition, but especially for the discovery of America’s natural beauty.
Purple Mountains and Blue Seas
Founded in 1973, the Adventure Cycling Association began with a single event. The Bikecentennial, created by Dan Burden, Lys Burden, Greg Siple and June Siple, was a cross-country bicycle event intended to celebrate the bicentennial of the United States. Over 4,000 cyclists participated in the inaugural 1976 tours. After the completion of the Bikecentennial, the organization lived on as the Adventure Cycling Association.
A non-profit member organization, it calls itself America’s bicycle travel resource and inspiration. It offers various programs for cyclists, including a national network of touring routes and organized tours and trips. The former Bikecentennial Trail remains its most popular route. Now titled the TransAmerica Trail, the route stretches from Astoria, Oregon to Yorktown, Virginia, with over 30,000 miles of mountain bike trails and road routes.
The Adventure Cycling Association has also published the Pedal Pioneers Guide, a manual designed to help with the planning and implementing of youth bicycle tours. A how-to guide for adults, it is intended to help leaders execute youth cycling tour projects, whether weekend tours or summer-long cross-country adventures. With its emphasis on leisurely enjoyment rather than competition or required transportation, the Adventure Cycling Association has helped to bring back the joy of cycling.
The TransAmerica Trail itself includes numerous national landmarks, including Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. Due to the influence of the Adventure Cycling Association, various cafes, restaurants and hotels include journals written by former riders that provide new riders with a history of the route.
The TransAmerica Trail takes about three months to complete, and can be ridden from May to September. The highest pass on the route is over 11,500 feet, and snow can occur at any time in the Rock Mountains. Pueblo, Colorado is the halfway point of the route and is the largest city until Carbondale, Illinois. While some stretches of terrain are relatively flat, a lot of heavy climbing can be expected at different points on the trail, especially in the Rocky Mountains, the Ozark Plateau and the Appalachian Mountains.
Knowing how to select a good electric bicycle is a good way to help you save money. Buying a suitable electric bike is somewhat difficult because you need to pick out the most suitable one from hundreds even thousands of electric bikes. In order to help more people buy their suitable electric bicycles, I will tell you how professionals choose electric bicycles. Electric bicycle professionals know more about electric bikes, so their tips can help you greatly.
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Aug 20th 1887 saw 24 starters tackle Westerham Hill, Kent in the very first Hill Climb held by Catford CC one of the oldest cycling clubs in London. Not only was it a challenge to get to the top, but solid tyres on the then unmade roads made it an iffy ride, particulary for ‘Penny Farthings’.
For this was in the times of the Old Normal or High Bike, when chain driven machines with 2 wheels of the same diameter were just beginning to put in an appearance. The winner, S. F. Edge of the Anerley BC (later of the Catford CC) rode one of the new ‘safety ‘ machines.
Of the twelve competitors who got to the summit, 8 rode safeties, three were tricycles and only 1 ‘Penny Farthing ‘ made it, which came 4th. That was a 54 in. wheel machine and therefore had a 54 in. gear. The lowest permitted gear was 52 inches. (possibly to stop the new chain driven bikes from having an unfair edge, seeing as there had been a limit on the tiniest size wheel that you could use on an Ordinary, due to leg length).
There had been also an effective minimum weight limit of 35lbs for bicycles and 45lbs for tricycles (who said the UCI were original to introduce weight rules). Since then Westerham Hill has been the climb on 16 occasions and other hills used were Brasted (21); Toys (4); Waller (3); Titsey (1) .But the real home of the Catford Hill Climb is Yorks Hill.
First employed in 1935 it has after that been used some 65 times. This quiet Kent country lane is transformed each October with lots of spectators lining every side of the road encouraging on the straining competitors with cries of ‘Up-Up-Up’. The scene is more harking back to the crowds on the ‘cols ‘ of the Tour de France but it's also uniquely a social occasion, an opportunity for an annual re-union of many club riders. Being a sunken road, overhung by trees, in the autumn, ‘leaves on the line ‘ cause many traction Problems.
In 1937 the un-metalled surface defeated all but 16 of the 92 starters. Yorks Hill is a short and pointed ascent. In 1940 a carpet of wet leaves made sure that only four of the 43 starters succeeded in getting to the top of the Hill. To minimize wheel slip, the hill is now swept before the event but in wet weather conditions this is still a significant issue for rivals.
The trees caused a greater problem in 1987 when on the day before the event was scheduled to be held the North Downs ridge bore the brunt of the infamous ‘Hurricane’. The next day the few Catford members who managed to get through the blocked roads revealed that the gulley was totally full of 100s of fallen trees, making racing not possible.
The next year when these were cleared away the race went thru an exceedingly bleak landscape with barren embankments each side. It is only now, some 20 years on that the new trees are maturing and the ‘Hill ‘ is taking on its old aspect. After the ‘Hurricane’. The road was churned up by tractors removing the fallen trees so it was resurfaced and is still in a fair condition.
One aspect which we are hoping will not return is that Hurricane road surface. Originally when the lane was first used it was unmade (shades of the ‘Hell of the North’). Short compared to the Northern hill climbs, 707 yards. Extraordinarily steep, two hard sections of 1in 4. It is a 2 minute lung-bursting aerobic effort.
Best suited to the dynamic track style rider or the road racer with a dynamic run (we'd just love to see what Boonen would do on it). The riders ‘ no holds barred effort means that we need a marshal at the very top to support the exhausted finishers and stop them from falling off!!
Seph Talbot is a lifelong devotee of cycling and is keen for new members to join Catford Cycling Club. For a real challenge the club run the Hell of the Ashdown once a year, an event not to be missed.
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