Bicycle Travel

This page is a collection of our travel-related videos, photos, and posts.

Videos

Huggacast 80: Kona

Hugga rode Kona on the Big Island.

Download now for iTunes, your iPod, iPhone, and subscribe to the Huggacast Feed for more episodes.

Media

Watch now on YouTube
More videos
Huggacasts are also available in the iTunes podcast directory.

Huggacast 64: Mobile Social Interbike

This Huggcast shows the Mobile Social Interbike where we rode the Strip, met up at the USA Crit Finals, and partied. Fossil Fool rapped with his Soul Cycle- equipped Yuba Mundo and sent it out. Our friends at Xtracycle brought the Bike Blender and transported Aussie beer. I rode a new Novara Buzz road bike alongside a small fleet of Dahons. Crumpler and Ibex gave the scwhag and one lucky dawg won a set of Hed Wheels.

Read Huggacast 64: Mobile Social Interbike.

Commuting in Shanghai

Huggacast Episode Thirty Seven, we commute in Shanghai by bike, ferry, and on a Maglev train.

Notes:

Audio Sample is Dirty Harry (Schtung Chinese New Year Remix) — Gorillaz - D-Sides.
Maglev was running at lower power to save energy during non peak hours — it’s goes 408/kmh
The ferry boarding procedure was “intense”

Video Scenes from Shanghai

In Huggacast Episode Thirty Six, we visit the Bund by way of a trippy tourist tunnel and find the Pudong bike expressway where a scooter-assisted cargo bike is plodding along. Watch for the mockery from another scooter as they ride by.

Notes:

Audio Sample is Dirty Harry (Schtung Chinese New Year Remix) — Gorillaz - D-Sides.
Shanghai is most rideable, despite what you read or hear
More videos are coming from our ride into the French concession on roads reserved just for bikes and scooters.

Maui Winter Break Video

In our 31st Huggacast, we ride Upcountry in Maui, down an 8 mile descent, a bike path, lava fields, and meet a fixed rider on Honolulu …

Read Maui Winter Break Video.

Off the bike

The Bike Hugger, outside his natural habitat …

Note that Pam called me pussy foot and I said, “the rocks were rough” and to “shut up.” And, “ya know I can go like 50 mph+ down a hill, on my bike, eating a bar with one hand and removing my arm warmers with the other.”

Brompton Factory Tour

Our 22nd Huggacast, and last one for 07, features a tour of Brompton’s Factory with Will Butler-Adams, Engineering Director. Brompton is the London-based designer and manufacturer of the Brompton folding bicycle and related accessories.

I posted earlier this month on riding a Brompton with their tech specialist, Rory Ferguson. The video features a discussion of all the parts that go into a Brompton, welding, wheel building, and assembly. The bike shown at the end, folded by my desk, is the one I brought home. It’s a new model with a rear frame clip and a snappy 2 speed drivetrain.

Read Brompton Factory Tour.

34 Seconds of Bike Lane

Texas style bike lanes are featured in the fifteenth episode of the Huggacast. I think this is a token bike lane painted to get federal funding. It’s about 34 seconds long.

What’s the most ridiculous bike lane you’ve ridden?

Bike Hugger was in San Antonio test riding the Modal, a travel bike concept that folds and toggles between single, fixed, and geared modes. Besides this ridiculously short lane, San Antonio did have a good system of paths and roads on the Mission to Mission ride.

Update

Google Videos ongoing sketchiness results in sometimes the 34 second bike lane is available and sometimes not. You can download and view it from directly from our servers.

Betel Nut Boost Video

As noted in this post, Jason got a big betel nut boost during our ride around Taipei with Dahon. Betel nut is a chewable stimulant sold in stands, similar to cocoa leaf, and it’s dispensed by girls in lingerie.

Also available on the Huggacast.

Rush Hour in Beijing

In another clip from our Blogging Beijing by Bike videos, we ride during rush hour. In a city with 13 million people, 3 million cars and millions of bikes, riding is a chaotic experience. We just rode, found a way through it, and joined the flow in Beijing.

Photos

From our Flickr Photostream

Posts

Recent posts we’ve written about Travel.

Taiwan 2009: pt 1

The Prelude: Leaving Las Vegas….the hard way

This past Interbike experience now ranks as my worst. Never have I been more under the gun to cover the show and get business done. Thursday night I was just barely staying ahead of the cresting wave….working hard on last minute tasks for the mobile social. And then somebody suggested that I take drink some Jack Daniels straight from the bottle. After that, the night crashed…there wasn’t even a spiral, the plane just dove straight into the ground. Total blackout. Horrible. Sun Moon Lake temple guardian.jpg

Day One: Getting to Taiwan

If I drink a lot the night before, I cannot sleep in. While this is normally something of a curse, this trait totally saved my ass this time. I woke up at 6am and switched into full panic mode to find my bike and pack it along with everything else in the hotel room so I could fly to LAX for the beginning of the Taiwan Cycling & Cultural Tour, sponsored by China Airlines.

Surprises were waiting for me at the Vegas airport, for when I had rebooked my Interbike flights over the phone, Expedia had somehow put me on a 9:35 PM to LAX, rather than AM. I nearly threw up (again!) when the American Airlines ticket agent explained the problem, but somehow she tapped a couple buttons and got me on a 9:20AM to LAX as a standby. I got to the gate with just enough time to buy some water from a shop at the terminal. As my trembling hand dropped the bills into the palm of a surprisingly cute cashier, I described my Vegas experience in three simple words: “Worst. Trip. Ever.” She giggled; I dragged my ass onto an airplane.

Read Taiwan 2009: pt 1.

China Airlines Stewardesses on bikes

Stewardesses on bikes 01.jpg The Let’s Ride Taiwan 2009 event at Sun Moon Lake was sponsored by China Airlines, who thoughtfully provided company in the form of stewardesses (or if you must, “flight attendants”). Considering that it was raining and the sheer number of people on the ride, these women were quite competent riders on the bikes, provided by Giant. The route was only a short portion of the Round the Lake Road, as the sections on the far side would be challenging to the casual enthusiast and those not on performance bikes.

Besides, we needed to get to the Lalu Hotel so the organizers could bury us under a decadent Chinese style banquet. And if you’ve never experienced a Chinese banquet, then you’re missing out on life.

The weather here has been a bit damp, as there is a typhoon ravaging the Phillipines not too far away, but otherwise the the conditions here are really nice. If I had the opportunity to stay here a week or so during the depths of the Pac NW winter…just to relax and get fit, that would be AWESOME. The food here is really great too. Price-wise, it would be inaccurate to say that it is dirt cheap, but it is certainly reasonable, and much less expensive than Japan.

Read China Airlines Stewardesses on bikes.

James Hu of Giant

I’m in Taiwan for the Let’s Bike Taiwan 2009, a cycling and cultural tour of the island known as the Republic of China. Today’s ride was a scenic jaunt along the very picturesque Sun Moon Lake. Bikes were provided by Giant, an evermore appropriate name for the Taiwanese bicycle manufacturer. On one of the stops of today’s ride, I shared some tea, grown right here in the Sun Moon Lake area, with the vice president of Giant, James Hu. James Hu.jpg

After being at the forefront of bicycle production, both cutting edge and mundane, the Taiwanese leaders are looking to foster an enthusiasm for riding bikes in Taiwan itself. Has it worked? Actually, cycling has seemingly caught on like wildfire among the people, and bicycle friendly infrastructure in the capitol Taipei is on the rise.

Davidson S&S BMX: armed and fully operational

Here are the first shots of the S&S BMX from Davidson Handbuilt Bicycles. This is a titanium frame with chromoly steel fork, S&S couplings, a rear derailleur, and disc brakes. The concept is that a BMX is the most fun way to get around short distances and in the cramped quarters of the urban environment, where cars, pedestrians, and random infrastructure hamper the freedom of a road bike or fixed gear. The only thing about a BMX bike is that once you can get a straight shot at open pavement, you spin out of the low-ish single speed gear. But if you add a derailleur…well, then it’s like adding booster rockets to get you to orbital altitude. And if such a bike would be fun in on the streets that my front opens onto, then they would really be fun when I explore other cities.

Read Davidson S&S BMX: armed and fully operational.

Taiwan Cycling and Cultural Tour: Mark V

Mark V is in Taiwan with other bloggers and journalists for a cultural tour, including Cyclelicious.

Mark left for the tour on Friday, the day after Interbike and our Mobile Social.

Bike Hugger Mobile Social Interbike 2009

We had a fabulous time at the Bike Hugger Mobile Social Interbike 2009. Thanks so much to our partners Novara, REI, Globe and Dahon. We’ll write more about this after we’ve slept a bit and get all the images into the Hugger Flickr stream, but in the meantime, here’s the Flickr group of the images I shot of us riding down the Las Vegas strip and hanging out at our VIP tent course-side at the Crits.

We were thrilled to meet so many of you all (we had more than 250 people attending our booth, including Gary Fisher). We gave away a ton of schwag and raffle prizes, including Hed Wheels, Sun-Ringle wheels and a fantastic Novara bike.

This ride was by far the best part of Interbike for me, so thanks personally to everyone who made this such a great night.

Taiwan Cycling and Cultural Tour

Mark V is joining a Taiwan Cycling and Cultural Tour the day after Interbike. In the few years we’ve traveled, ridden, and blogged Taiwan, it has become a bike country.

Cycling is the national pastime and they’re working now on promoting the country as a cycling destination. We’re happy to help! The tour itinerary includes:

While on the trip, I’ve asked Mark to watch out for dogs in shoes, bring back a crazy small folding bike, and enjoy a Hello Kitty Pie. Also obey the traffic robots and get some Pizza Cut Five shirts.

Previous Taiwan Coverage

DAHON IOS XL + Folding Helmet

Dahon’s new IOS XL won a gold in the Eurobike Design Awards. The IOS XL features integrated ights, pump, and phone charger. Road.cc previewed the high-tech folder last month. Dahon also won an award for a new folding helmet. I was just commenting on the need for a travel helmet.

Read DAHON IOS XL + Folding Helmet.

Ride Oregon Ride

Travel Oregon recently published Ride Oregon Ride, a new site for cyclists that dream of riding in Oregon. We've ridden and raced all over Oregon ourselves -- beautiful country and good riding.

Biking in Denmark

LA Times reporter Susan Spano tours for 4 days in Denmark.

My 50-mile trip was hardly as long or as arduous as the Tour. I never tried to go fast because I wasn't competing for the yellow jersey. I went riding for the fine food and beautiful scenery, both of which I found on the island of Funen.

Photos: Susan Spano, Reporting from Copenhagen

She rode a self-guided bike tour route provided by the Funen Island tourist bureau website. More photos. We haven't toured Denmark yet, but it's on the list. Our next trip is to Prague.

Related tags

Check this tags from more travel posts from earlier years

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