For Immediate Release: RideTHISbike.com/Amtrak Partnership
Supports New Orleans, Hattiesburg & the Longleaf Trace

NEWS RELEASE

October 10, 2007, New Orleans, Louisiana - RideTHISbike.com is pleased to announce a partnership with Amtrak that supports the communities of New Orleans and Hattiesburg as well as the Longleaf Trace bike trail.

Amtrak has contributed a limited number of seats on board the Crescent between New Orleans and Hattiesburg for participants of the Jerry Ryan Memorial Ride. Proceeds from the group bike ride benefit the Longleaf Trace bike trail. To register for the bike ride, log onto www.longleaftrace.org.

Scenic, well shaded and offering fewer road crossings than similar trails, the Longleaf Trace is one of the nation's best, long distance bike trails. Following the route of a rail line abandoned decades ago, the trail is virtually flat. With work underway to extend the Trace from the USM campus to the doorstep of Hattiesburg's newly restored train station in the center of town, cyclists will soon be able to hop off the train and ride a paved, car free trail over 40 miles to Prentiss, Ms.

With special fares available for groups large and small, Amtrak is the best way to visit the Longleaf Trace bike trail as well as all the other sites in the Crescent City. New Orleans is served daily by three Amtrak routes, the City of New Orleans (New Orleans - Memphis - Chicago), the Crescent (New Orleans - Atlanta - Washington - New York) and the Sunset Limited (New Orleans - Houston - El Paso - Los Angeles).

Amtrak's Train # 20 (The Crescent) rolls out of New Orleans' Union Passenger Terminal at 7:20 am. Equipped with a lounge car, large windows, food service and restrooms on board, passengers arrive rested in Hattiesburg at 9:43 am and have over 6 hours to enjoy local attractions including the Longleaf Trace. With the return journey on Train #19 leaving Hattiesburg later that day at 4:19 pm, rail passengers can even have dinner aboard the train while enjoying the passing scenery. Train 19 arrives in New Orleans at 7:10 pm.

To qualify for this special offer, register to participate in the Jerry Ryan Memorial Ride using the registration form found at the Longleaf Trace web site (http://www.longleaftrace.org/). Cost to participate in the ride (including a ride t-shirt, food, rental bike for the day and staffed aid stations along the ride route) is $40. Memorial ride participants from New Orleans should submit the registration form and bike ride payment locally to Larry Lagarde at RideTHISbike.com by no later than October 19, 2007.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Larry Lagarde
RideTHISbike.com
PO Box 9025, Bridge City, LA. 70094
Ph: 504-324-2492
Email: larry@ridethisbike.com
Web: RideTHISbike.com

Labels: Amtrak_Crescent, Jerry-Ryan-Memorial, Long-Leaf-Trace

by Larry Lagarde

Recently ranked by Sperling and Sander as the best place to live in the USA, Charlottesville, Virginia (pop: 118,400) is best known for the 2 UNESCO World Heritage Sites located there - Thomas Jefferson's home (Monticello) and the university he founded (the University of Virginia). Also the southern gateway to Shenandoah National Park (just 20 miles west off I-64), Charlottesville offers a wealth of recreational opportunities which soon may grow to include a bicycle beltway trail that will encircle the city.

According to a story yesterday in The Daily Progress, Charlottesville is acquiring easements for 20 miles of bike trails that will parallel the existing Rivanna River hiking trail system. City planners hope to begin construction by the end of the 2007 and complete the system by 2015. The city is budgeting $100k/yr over the next 5 years for trail construction and is counting on state, federal & private grants to cover much of the multi-million dollar total cost.

For a city the size of Charlottesville to embark upon such an ambitious bicycle facility building program speaks volumes towards the importance of bicycling. Obviously, this is a city that wants to remain among the best places to live for years to come.

Labels: Amtrak_Crescent, Charlottesville_Virginia, Virginia_bike_trails