Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Of Mountains and Maps

We took a break from the bikes on Saturday and did a classic mountaineering route in the Longs Peak/Mt Meeker cirque. We’ve been to this particular part of Rocky Mountain National Park several times. We know the hike from the Longs Peak Ranger Station to Chasm Lake by heart. Over the years we’ve ticked off a few different routes, each one memorable for its own reason. On Saturday we completed the Dreamweaver route on the northeast aspect of Mt Meeker.




The image above provides a good view of Mt Meeker and its neighbor to the north, Longs Peak. The process in which I found this perspective was quite interesting and rather efficient. It’s crazy how much geographic information is available on the internet. I began by typing “mountain ranges of the world” into the Google search engine. The results took me to the following link on the Peakware website: http://www.peakware.com/areas.html. From there I found the “Front Range” under "North America". By following the link I was able to see an overview satellite image of the area and see a listing of the peaks that comprise the Front Range. Each mountain in the list was linked to a page containing vital geographic information about the peak as well as photos. My curiosity then led me to download GoogleEarth so that I could view the mountains in 3D. GoogleEarth has become a popular tool in recent times. It has added a whole new dimension to interpreting information from a spatial perspective.


More info on mountains throughout the world and their significance:

http://www.mountain.org/education/subexplore/explore01.cfm

View the photos of our climb:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bicyclegeography/sets/72157600275015082/

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Press Release: The World Tour

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Leslie Kehmeier
Bicycle Geography
PO Box 4433
Eagle, CO 81631
bicyclegeography@yahoo.com
http://www.bicyclegeography.org/

Chris and Leslie Kehmeier Announce Plans to Ride Bicycles around the World to Promote Geographic Knowledge

Chris and Leslie Kehmeier of Gypsum, Colorado will realize a lifelong dream of seeing the world by selling their house, quitting their jobs and traveling the globe by bicycle. They call their project Bicycle Geography.

The Kehmeier’s self-supported journey begins in Oct 2007 from their home state of Colorado. Their timeline is two and a half years and they plan to visit the following areas: New Zealand/Australia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, China, Mongolia, Russia and Europe.
During the journey Chris and Leslie will promote geographic knowledge, inspire people to ride bicycles, and endorse sustainable modes of transportation.

Chris and Leslie consider bicycles to have great practicality and functionality and have chosen them as their main mode of transportation. Bicycles not only allow increased mobility, health and economic benefits, they require only human-power as fuel.

After reading an alarming news article in 2006, The Kehmeiers were inspired to promote geographic awareness as part of their trip. They learned that young adults in the United States are significantly lacking in their geographic knowledge. They hope to bring more awareness to the subject of Geography through photos and journals on their Bicycle Geography website.

[END]

About the Bicycle Geography team:
Leslie Kehmeier was born and raised in Colorado. She can usually be found turning the pedals on her mountain bike, hanging from the side of a mountain or planning a weekend trip to Paris. Leslie is a 1991 graduate of Bear Creek High School in Lakewood, Colorado and 1995 graduate of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs with a degree in Geography.

Chris Kehmeier was born in New Mexico, and raised in Nevada and Colorado. When he is not working in irrigation design and sales he gets out on his bike, on foot, and on a rope as much as possible. When he is resting his legs he dabbles in the kitchen and plans his tick lists for future bike and climbing trips. Chris is a 1993 graduate of Littleton High School in Littleton, Colorado and a 1998 graduate of Colorado State University with a degree in Horticulture.

For additional information about Bicycle Geography please contact Chris or Leslie Kehmeier bicyclegeography@yahoo.com or visit http://www.bicyclegeography.org/

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

The Bicycle Commuting Diaries: The BOB Trailer Accident

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” my husband asked as I wobbled out of the driveway. “Yes, I’ll be fine. It will be better once I get moving”. I was commuting to work on my bike. I was also towing 50lbs of National Geographic magazines in a B.O.B trailer. I intended to deposit them in newly installed recycle bins at work. The trailer seemed a little unstable, but I had hauled loads before and figured that I would be fine. Apparently speed wasn’t a good thing for this particular load and I ended up crashing a third of the way into the ride. As I picked myself and my bike up off the ground, I thought to myself “Hmm, I’m not so sure about this reduce, reuse, recycle thing…”

National Geographic is a great resource for all things Geography. There are also many other great ways to get geographic information. Here are some links:

About.com: Geography
http://geography.about.com/index.htm?terms=geography
ESRI Geography Matters Weblog
http://blogs.esri.com/roller/page/geographymatters
National Geographic Map Machine
http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/
Geography Zone
http://www.geographyzone.com/new/index.php
My Wonderful World
http://www.mywonderfulworld.org/
AGS: Geographic Organizations
http://www.amergeog.org/geographical_organizations.htm
Geography Network
http://www.geographynetwork.com/