WAYPOINTS 8 MECHANICAL ADVANTAGE 54 OPEN ROAD GALLERY 63 ADVENTURE CYCLIST GO THE DISTANCE. MARch 2011 WWW.ADVentURecYCLing.ORG $4.95 BIKE TRIPPING: Time to Take a Bicycle Vacation "We had a truly memorable trip...we had high expectations and Randonnee exceeded them. I would have no hesitation in recommending Randonnee Tours to friends." P. Hardy – Provence 10 days cycling Combine one-­of-­a-­kind hotels, meticulously researched routes, custom bicycles, luggage transfers and behind the scenes support that accommodates your desire for independence, flexibility and freedom. Visit www.randonneetours.com Or call 1-800-242-1825 Adventure Cycling Readers: when booking, please reference code AC0210 and you will receive a complimentary custom cycling jersey valued at USD$80. Great Explorations offers guided cycling and walking vacations to the world's most exotic places. “Many thanks for an incredible week of bicycling in France. The Choose between Luxe and Classic/Casual hotels were gorgeous, the meals incredible. The guides did an trips featuring distinctive hotels, excellent outstanding job. On a scale of 1 to 10, this trip gets a 12 in my book!” cuisine, unique events and exceptional L. Sams – Raleigh, NC, USA guides who make sure the magic occurs on each and every trip. Your journey starts here. Visit www.great-explorations.com Or call 1-800-242-1825 3:2011 contents March 2011 · Volume 38 Number 2 · www.adventurecycling.org ADVENTURE CYCLIST is published nine times each year by the Adventure Cycling Association, a nonprofit service organization for recreational bicyclists. Individual membership costs $40 yearly to U.S. addresses and includes a subscrip- tion to Adventure Cyclist and dis- counts on Adventure Cycling maps. The entire contents of Adventure Cyclist are copyrighted by Adventure Cyclist and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from Adventure Cyclist. All rights reserved. OUR COVER Maps, bikes, and wilderness. Three Y cool things that go well together. NE K Photo by Libby Sterling. EA BL (left) Rick Price of ExperiencePlus! EGG channels his inner Garibaldi. Actually, R G the painting depicts a local bandit in Orgosolo, Sardinia. 10 A PEARL IN THE MEDITERRANEAN by Gregg Bleakney Taking a bike trip of Sardinia with ExperiencePlus! reveals much of the ancient island. MISSION The mission of Adventure Cycling Association is to inspire people of all HUNG(A)RY IN STYLE by Colleen Friesen ages to travel by bicycle. We help 20 Seeing Hungary through wine goggles, with Bike Tours Direct, and Vinociped leads to a cyclists explore the landscapes and grand time of cycling. history of America for fitness, fun, and self-discovery. TOURING ALASKA’S PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND by Geoff Kirsch CAMPAIGNS 28 A New Yorker moves to Alaska and takes advantage of great touring opportunities. Our strategic plan includes three major campaigns: Creating Bike Routes for America MCKENZIE PASS REVISITED by Willie Weir Getting Americans Bicycling 38 Willie and his bike-travel companion, Thomas, return to the scene of an earlier adventure. Supporting Bicycling Communities How to Reach Us To join, change your address, or ask DEPARTMENTS LETTERS questions about membership, visit us online at www.adventurecycling.org or call (800) 755-2453 or (406) 721-1776 07 companions wanted 04 LETTER from the ediTOR email: [email protected] 08 WAYPOINTS 05 LETTERS from the readers Subscription Address: annual report LETTER from the direcTOR Adventure Cycling Association 42 06 P.O. Box 8308 Missoula, MT 59807 BICYCLE TRAVEL photo COLUMNS 50 Headquarters: coMPETITION Adventure Cycling Association 52 curves in the road / Jill Homer 150 E. Pine St. 56 LIFE MEMBER PROFILE Pushing the limits of what can be done on a bicycle Missoula, MT 59802 58 marKetplace/classifieds 54 mechanical advantage / Jan Heine Learning how to properly brake a bicycle 63 OPEN ROAD GALLERY ADVENTURE CYCLIST MARCH 2011 ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 3 ADVENTURE Letter from the Editor CYCLIST TIME TO CRANK IT UP March 2011 volume 38 number 2 Bike travel of all stripes is worth the effort WWW.ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG EDITOR michael deme mdeme@ adventur ecycling.org DEPUTY EDITOR jill homer Ah, the March issue, and the smell of bike jhomer@ adventurecycling.org ART DIRECTOR travel is in the air. Yes, bike travel. That’s a greg si ple gsiple@ adventurecycling.org term we’ve adopted over the recent years as a TECHNICAL EDITOR john schubert sort of catch all for what Adventure Cycling Association schubley@ aol.com FIELD EDITOR and Adventure Cyclist are all about. It’s an inclusive term michael mccoy mmccoy@ adventurecycli ng.org that accommodates all your own adventure. CONTRIBUTING WRITERS types of cyclists: those And for those inter- dan d'ambrosio nancy c lark willie weir joe kurmaskie looking for something ested in finances, on jan heine of a get-away vacation page 42 you’ll find COPY EDITOR phyllis picklesimer that still includes riding the Adventure Cycling ADVERTISING DIRECTOR a bicycle as a major com- Association 2010 Annual rick bruner 509.493.4930 ponent of their trip or Report detailing the advertising@ adventurecycling.org self-contained cyclotour- financials of the previ- STAFF ists, who are the epitome ous fiscal year. If after EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR of self reliance and hit perusing those infor- jim sayer the road ready to enjoy mation-packed pages jsayer@ adventurecycling.org CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER whatever experiences you have any questions, sheila snyder, cpa come their way as they pedal along well- contact our Chief Financial Officer Sheila MEMBERSHIP & DEVELOPMENT julie huck amy corbin traveled or less formalized routes — and Snyder at (406) 721-1776 x 212 or email thomas bassett joshua tack we’ve got stories in this issue that repre- [email protected]. MEDIA sent both kinds of bike travel. (I know, On page 50, you’ll find our second winona bateman michael mccoy PUBLICATIONS there are other types, and we’ll get to annual Bicycle Travel Photo Competition. michael d eme greg siple them in later issues). This year, there were well over 700 sub- jill homer derek gallagher IT DEPARTMENT Gregg Bleakney’s story about a bike missions to choose from, many of which john sieber richard darne trip on the Mediterranean island of were very good, making our decision on matt sheils TOURS Sardinia with ExperiencePlus! is a good the final seven quite difficult. We hope rod kramer mo mislive ts example of the former. It’s a great read, you’ll enjoy the final selections as much sam hall paul hansbarger ROUTES AND MAPPING and it reminds me that I should retire to as we do. carla majernik jennifer milyko Sardinia. All I’ll need is a shack with a Also, we’ve published our first-ever virginia sullivan kevin mcmanigal casey greene nathan taylor view of the ocean, a goat, and the ability web-only feature. It’s about a free cycle SALES AND MARKETING to make cheese. Oh, and a lot of peace and camp created for traveling cyclists in teri maloughney CYCLOSOURCE quiet. And probably a rudimentary broom Twin Bridges, Montana. You can find it ted bowman sarah r az to occasionally sweep out the place. here: adventurecycling.org/features/twin OffICE MANAGER To represent the more rough-and bridges.cfm. beth petersen ready-style of bike travel, we’ve got A couple of corrections from the BOARD OF DIRECTORS Willie Weir re-cycling a bike adventure February issue: We missed a placeholder PRESIDENT from his youth and Geoff Kirsch putting and listed the price of the Brooks Oxford carol york VICE PRESIDENT together a wild and wooly adventure in Rain Cape as $2X0. Well, it’s not a cognac jennifer garst Alaska, America’s last great frontier. but it is $290. And Bubbafest only has SECRETARY andy baur Perhaps reading this collection of room for 125 riders, not the outlandish TREASURER bike-travel stories will inspire you to 1,200 that we printed. andy huppert take a trip with one of the many bicycle- BOARD MEMBERS jason boucher todd copley tour operators listed on page 26 or visit Michael Deme george mendes jeff miller donna o'neal wally werner the Cyclists’ Yellow Pages online (adven Editor, Adventure Cyclist magazine turecycling.org/cyp) and start planning [email protected] 4 ADVENTURE CYCLIST MARCH 2011 ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG ADVENTURE CYCLIST MARCH 2011 ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 5 Letters from our Readers Keep skin damage at bay, training wheels fight back AC as lobbying tool Saving face nine times a year. So, nine times a year feeling the breeze on my face — liber- Willie Weir’s photo in the October/ bicycling occupies each reader’s (legisla- ated! November issue had the desired effect. tor and staffer alike) attention for a little As an aside I mention that Mr. Heine’s All I had to do was point to the small, while. Acronyms seem to be important dissection of the physics of the turn scaly spot below the corner of my left to governments and agencies so this pro- should help people who want to learn to eye and the dermatologist said “Oh, yeah, gram is now titled HELP (Help Eliminate ride with no hands on the bars (a very that’s a pre-cancerous lesion.” She gave it Legislative Pouting!). Try it in your dis- useful skill at times). It’s not a matter of a couple of blasts of nitrogen, briefed me trict. balance, arms outstretched like a Flying on UV-A & B, specified SPF 50 or better, William Abbey Walenda on the high wire. Rather it’s a and, for me the cyclist, recommended Poulsbo, Washington matter of exploiting the bike’s steering Neutrogena Helioplex Sport and No Ad geometry to move the handlebars with sunscreens.