Article Image Alt Text

Frank Lodge of Adelaide, Australia, pictured in downtown Holyoke, cycled through town Tuesday, June 13, as part of a new variation of the well-established TransAmerica Trail. —Johnson Publications

‘Eastern Express’ route could bring cycling tourism to Holyoke

    How can 4,000 miles on a bike seem even longer? If you’re used to watching kilometers click over instead of miles.
    “Kilometers click over a lot faster,” said Frank Lodge of Adelaide, Australia. After cycling from Washington, D.C., through Maryland, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Kansas and more, Holyoke marks roughly the halfway point of his 4,000 mile — or 6,000 kilometer — bike ride across America.
    Resting at a local coffee shop as he waited for the breeze to die down, Lodge’s bike is fully loaded with snacks, supplies and other items for his bike tour of the U.S. Haxtun-bound before evening, he looked forward to taking Highway 14 the following day into Fort Collins, where he planned to take a rest day and meet up with other cyclists.
    Lodge is one of the first to try this particular tour route, the “Eastern Express” version of the well-established TransAmerica Trail, which is the Adventure Cycling Association’s oldest and most popular cycling route and traveled by hundreds of cyclists every year.
    “I think this version is far better than the traditional one — it’s phenomenal,” said Lodge. “It avoids some of the more difficult portions through the Appalachians and Ozarks.”
    In the Rockies, the Eastern Express meets up with the traditional TransAmerica Trail, which will take Lodge through Yellowstone National Park and Missoula, Montana, where ACA headquarters are, and end in Astoria, Oregon.

The full article is available in our e-Edition. Click here to subscribe.

Holyoke Enterprise

970-854-2811 (Phone)

130 N Interocean Ave
PO Box 297
Holyoke CO 80734