TELEGRAM & GAZETTE
Worcester, Mass.
April
14, 1996
Bookshelf hold guides to real and virtual cycling
By Lynne Tolman
Slick roads and impassable trails can make a cyclist
cranky, but consolation for the snowbound this year came in the form of several
new biking books. Some recently published volumes that staved off cabin fever
and will be handy references in season:
- "Bike Cult" by David Perry (Four Walls Eight Windows, $23.95,
212-206-8965). This hefty compendium of all things bicycle-related has lots of
illustrations and lists, and fascinating histories of human-powered vehicles,
bicycling as a political tool, sports feats and more. Worcester's own Marshall
W. "Major" Taylor, world sprint champion in 1899, rates eight full pages.
- "Cycling in Cyberspace" by Michelle L. Kienholz and Robert Pawlak (Bicycle
Books, $14.95, 800-468-8233). Just when the bike bookmarks in my Internet
browser were getting out of hand, I got this thorough, up-to-date and
well-organized guide to biking news, information and advice on line. It took
me months of surfing the Net on my own to come across a fraction of the
on-line sources catalogued here, including World Wide Web pages, e-mail lists,
Newsgroups and bulletin board services. A couple of locally useful sites that
aren't mentioned are the North East
Bicycle Club, which has a link to the New England racing calendar, and Midcoast Velo/Team
Bikeman, which has the lowdown on masters racing in the East.
- "Great Rail-Trails of the Northeast" by Craig Della Penna (New England
Cartographics, $12.95, 413-549-4124). The author is a railroad manager from
western Massachusetts who mountain biked more than 1,300 miles to research the
book, which consists of detailed maps and mile-by-mile descriptions of 26
trails on old rail beds. Railroad histories and a healthy list of resources,
such as the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, are included. One local trail
featured is a state-owned, 12-mile stretch of the former Ware River Railroad,
from Route 122 at the Barre-Oakham line to Route 2A in Templeton.
- "Mountain Biking the National Parks" by Jim Clark (Bicycle Books, $12.95.
800-468-8233). This small volume has maps and short descriptions of 30 scenic
routes, 2 to 53 miles long, in the West, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. Like
Clark's earlier book, "Cycling the U.S. Parks," this is a more of an
introductory sampler than an all-you-need guide. I'd use it to decide which
park to visit, then seek more detailed information.
- "Bike Abroad" by Gerri Alpert (New Voyagers Trip Finders, $29.95,
800-639-8692). Beautiful color photos adorn this index of hundreds of
commercial bike tours in Europe, Asia, the Pacific, Africa and Central and
South America. The introductory chapters on how to plan and prepare for an
overseas bike tour, and what to expect, are good for first-timers who don't
want to go it alone. The book tells which companies run trips in which places,
and how much they charged in 1994, although it is far from comprehensive. The
trip descriptions are excerpted from catalogs you'd be better off ordering
directly, and you can get even more tour operators' names and addresses _ and
a lot of other benefits _ for about the same price by joining the League of American Bicyclists
(410-539-3399) or Adventure Cycling
Association (406-721-1776).
- "Getting There: Strategic Facts for the Transportation Advocate" (Advocacy
Institute, $11, 202-659-8475). This 36-page booklet came out of the
Washington, D.C.-based Gas Guzzler Campaign, which helps communities reduce
reliance on cars and build support for transit, bicycling, walking and
alternatively-powered vehicles. It consists of statistics on traffic costs,
pollution, oil dependency, land use, public transportation, electric cars,
telecommuting and, of course, walking and bicycling. For instance: In China
there are 250 bicycles for every car, while in the United States we have 1.4
cars for every bicycle.
~~~
John G. Wald, 35,
of Cambridge, who was killed in an avalanche while climbing Mount Washington
last month, was an activist with the Bicycle
Coalition of Massachusetts and the Cambridge Bicycle Committee. He was
editor of the statewide group's newsletter, Mass Cyclist, from 1993 to 1995, and
was working with the Cambridge committee on plans for an Alewife connector to
the Minuteman Bikeway, possible site of a planned memorial. Memorial
contributions may be made to BCOM/John Wald Fund, 214A Broadway, Cambridge,
Mass. 02139.
~~~
TIP OF THE HELMET -- To Dick "The
King" Avery, 60, of Worcester, named 1995 Volunteer of the Year by the Seven Hills Wheelmen and
honored as such last month with a plaque from the League of American Bicyclists.
Avery, who earned his nickname climbing poles for the telephone company, runs
the Worcester bike club's annual Quabbin century, set for June 15 this year.
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