Dear BIKES,

           

As you stretch your legs in the early spring air, Adventure Cycling hopes that you are finding more time to get out and ride in the sunshine.  This issue contains some great articles and tidbits for your spring newsletter and website:

 

·        Cycling Street Smarts

·        New Maps

·        Making a map

·        Adventure Cycling Clipart

 

 Ride On!

 

Amy Corbin

Club Coordinator

 

THE MAKING OF A MAP

Fun and potentially profitable

By Michael McCoy, Adventure Cycling Field Editor

 

There are hundreds of good examples of bike-route publications on the market; you’ve no doubt utilized one yourself in the past. Is there already a good bike-route book, map, or atlas covering your state or region? If not, perhaps your club should investigate filling the gap by creating one. The research can be fun—it involves little more than cycling the great routes you already ride, while recording such data as mileage, turns, terrain, GPS waypoints, and landmarks (a hand-held recorder works great). As far as production goes, you may find there’s a grant available from your state or region to help keep costs down. The end result can have a number of positive spin-offs, not the least of which are 1) using the product as a club fund-raiser and 2) publicizing and disseminating the map as way to increase your club’s exposure and membership. 

 

Here I’ll offer just a couple of examples of projects that have been successfully completed recently. The two are quite different in scope and format, but they accomplish similar goals: showing people the best riding an area has to offer.

 

The Twin Cities Bicycling Club and Hostelling International-Minnesota recently announced the release of an all-new version of their 35-year-old Minnesota Bike Atlas. The new atlas comes with an interactive CD—which, the creators say, will “blow your cycling socks off.” Scenic, road-tested routes in both Minnesota and rural western Wisconsin are included—more than 100 road and trail rides in all, ranging in length from 15 to 100 miles. Each map contains a clearly delineated route, a complete ride description and mileage log, and suggested rest stops. The atlas is available for $19.95 at local bike shops or online at http://minnesotabikeatlas.com/

 

Farther west, the local organization Teton Valley Trails & Pathways has put together a fold-out map showing ride routes in Teton County, Idaho. Though fat-tire routes in the  mountains ringing the valley are the primary focus, the Teton Valley Idaho Cycling Map also shows road rides in the lower country. Printed on nearly indestructible Polyart, the map features GPS-located trails, detailed mileage logs, and elevation profiles. You can order it for $11.95 plus shipping by going to www.tvtap.org/

 

I was involved in helping create the Teton Valley map, and I can tell you how we started the process: We obtained as many maps and guidebooks as we could get our hands on (including Adventure Cycling maps), and ticked off what we did and did not like about each one for our particular circumstances, until we had a process and format figured out. This is how I would recommend you and your club proceed, too, if the idea of creating a where-to-ride product appeals to you.