Gadling on AOL Travel

by Erik Olsen on

Some of you may have noticed, perhaps because you came
here from there, but we here at Gadling.com have done a couple of helpful travel pieces this week for the good folks at
AOL.com. We worked our brains over how best to satisfy the AOL audience as Spring
approacheth and people are making plans. And we settled on seven ideas for seven days.

We hoped to cover wide enough variety of trips to satisfy just about everybody, and so did
write ups on the best secret places to go in Mexico and Hawaii, as well as both East and West Coast Trips (Even through I’m from the West Coast, Neil
lives there now in So Cal, so he handled the West. And since I live in New
York, I took on the East Coast). Then there was a piece on Family Spring Breaks, and one on Spring Ski Slopes. And finally, last but by no means least, a
piece by Adrienne on Caribbean Trips. Anyway, if you came
to Gadling.com from these pieces, then welcome! Bookmark us and come back often. If you are a Gadling.com regular or
occasional visitor, go check out these pieces, maybe they’ll give you some inspiration to do some traveling.

Spring Break 2006

Red Corner: The Iron Curtain Bike Trail

by Neil Woodburn on

It was Winston Churchill who first coined the term Iron Curtain to refer to the heavily fortified border region between Western Europe and the communist Warsaw Pact nations. For years, the very term conjured up images of barbed wire, snarling guard dogs, and Kalashnikov toting Slavic thugs. If the EU has its way, such visions will be replaced by ultra-fit cyclists in little black pants and brightly colored helmets.

The EU is considering a proposal to create the world’s longest heritage trail along the former Iron Curtain. The 4,250-mile bicycle and walking route would begin at the Arctic Ocean where Russia and Norway share a border and then continue south, crossing through the Baltics, Poland, the former East Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and then skirt along the southern border of Bulgaria all the way to the Black Sea.

Whoa, that’s a long way. It was easier to escape from the Soviet Union than it will be to conquer this trail.

GADLING'S TAKE FIVE: Week of February 21

by Erik Olsen on

It’s that time again, time to highlight some of the more
interesting Gadling posts from this last week. And it was a rather rich week, I’d say, especially when you consider
that we put up another podcast for your ear budding pleasure. But let me start at the beginning with this week’s
list:

5. Blimp Travel: This was a post I
found over at Popular Science and it really fired me up. I’ve long been puzzled why we haven’t been able to ply the
skies slowly in a dirigible. I mean, the technology has been around for a while, and yet, no blimp rides. Did the
tragedy of the Hindenburg ruin blimp travel? Well, perhaps not. Looks like someone may be building blimps for us after
all.

4. Tiki Mania: To be honest, I had only
heard of this whole Tiki business through Neil, whose post on Tiki Mania made it clear that the current Tiki revival
(revival? When was the last great Tiki boom, again? Oh, the 60s) is something to pay attention to, at the very least
for the promise of delicious fruity drinks.  But seriously, little did I know that the Tiki craze has its own magazine, blog, and, a band called Ape.

3. Calypso:
Adrienne, you might have read, is spending some fine time in Trinidad, and are we jealous! Well, she’s somehow found a
nice connection down there and is sending some excellent dispatches on life in a place most of us have never been. They
are really superb, and we are grateful. I’d like, in fact, to direct you to this wonderful post on Calypso and Soca
music. I read it last night, and then the daylight come and me wanna go home.

2. Tunisian Star Wars Locations: Sorry, I’m,
about a big a Star Wars geek as they get. I’ll not get into the details, but trust me, I’m out there in a galaxy far far
away. And so that is why I enjoyed Neil’s post on Tunisian Star Wars locations. What can I say? I’d go there just to
stand in the sand and say: These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.

1. Gadling Podcast: Joshua Davis: I really
enjoyed chatting with author Josh Davis about his new book Underdog: How I survived the World’s Most Outlandish
Competitions (not to mention the forthcoming film on his sumo exploits). The podcast here is our first since we spoke
with Fabien Cousteau about his shark submarine, and I think you’ll really enjoy it. Josh is a great guy, and his story
will make you shake you head in wonder. 

Tour de California Bike Race

by Neil Woodburn on

The
Tour de California?

Yes indeed.  On Sunday, February 19, 128 riders left San Francisco to compete in an eight-stage, 600 mile
race through scenic California.  Competitors will race down the coast, crossing finish lines in San Francisco,
Santa Rosa, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Thousand Oaks and eventually completing the event in pretty little
Redondo Beach. 

This year’s “Tour of California” is the
inaugural race in what organizers hope will become as prestigious as the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and the Spanish
Vuelta.  Indeed, it has already attracted such cycling stars as Paolo Savoldelli, winner of last year’s Giro
d’Italia, and Bobby Julich who won a 2004 Olympic bronze medal. 

With California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger handing out the yellow jersey for the first stage, expect some very fierce competition indeed. 

 

Top Biking Trails

by Erik Olsen on

It’s
been far too long since I’ve done a totally ripper mountain biking trip. Back when I was living in Seattle,  I’d
head out all the time into the hinterlands to find some sweet single-track. But since living in New York, the
availability of local single track is decidedly scarce. Still, I love to mountain bike and try to keep my eyes open
for good articles about the sport and the mention of hot trails.

Well, Bike
Magazine has posted its list of ‘America’s 10 Best Trails’ and this
might be one you print out and place a check mark next to each conquered trail as part of a lifelist for yourself. The
list is varied, and covers a lot of territory. Some of the trails will be familiar, (i.e. Moab and Finger Lakes) but
others are decidedly less so. It’s a nice list overall, though. I post it here for your vicarious pleasure.

1. McKenzie River Trail: Eugene, Oregon
2. Downieville Downhill: Downieville, California
3.
National Trail: Phoenix, Arizona
4. Porcupine Rim: Moab, UT
5. The Edge Loop: Fruita, Colorado
6.
Upper Oil Can: North Vancouver, BC
7. Tsali Left Loop: Nantahala National Forest, North Carolina
8. Fisher
Creek: Ketchum, Idaho
9. Plantation Trail: Davis, West Virginia
10.Finger Lakes Trail: Letchworth State
Park, New York