{"id":167831338,"date":"2010-04-27T11:48:58","date_gmt":"2010-04-27T11:48:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=167831338"},"modified":"2010-04-27T11:48:58","modified_gmt":"2010-04-27T11:48:58","slug":"technology-makes-bicycling-more-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=167831338","title":{"rendered":"Technology makes bicycling more fun"},"content":{"rendered":"

By TIFFANY ARNOLD
\nTechnology and online social networking has made the already low-tech hobby of bicycling that much easier.
\nWant a new route? People to ride with? What happens if your bike gets a flat?
\nLook no further than your computer\u2019s keyboard or the keypad of your cell phone or GPS device.
\n\u201cYou can find that on our website,\u201d said Mike Mittel, owner of Hub City Sports, a bike shop in downtown Hagerstown.
\nLocal bike shops are catering to the needs of bikers by offering more than products for sale on their websites. They are seeking to offer tips and provide forums. Beyond retail sales, electronic gadgets and social-networking forums are making it easier for cyclists from out of town to find routes and connect with others who share the same passion.
\n….
\n
\nBefore, beginner cyclists had to rely on word of mouth and a bit of trial and error to find running clubs and meetups.
\n\u201cPeople need to have that information to have a good riding experience,\u201d said Mittel, who bikes three to five days a week, covering between 20 and 30 miles on a typical ride.
\nMicro-mini GPS devices are the most popular gadget at the moment and come so small they can fit on a cyclist\u2019s wrist, Mittel said.
\nPeople are also open-sourcing their favorites routes online.
\nA search for \u201cHagerstown MD\u201d on popular MapMyRide.com, for example, turned up more than 1,000 user-generated routes in the Hagerstown area. Visitors to the site have the option of using Google Earth technology to watch video of the routes \u2014 useful if you\u2019re unfamiliar with the area.
\nYou can even reserve a bike online.
\nThe website RentaBikeNow.com adopted a business model similar to discount online flight-booking sites. The website lets people reserve bikes from more than 250 bike shops in the United States and Canada.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re kind of like Travelocity for bikes,\u201d said the company\u2019s president and founder, George Gill, in a recent phone interview with The Herald-Mail. \u201cAnd it\u2019s all in real time.\u201d
\nThere\u2019s also road-side assistance for cyclists in the event of an accident, he said.
\nGill, who averages 4,000 miles a year on his bike back home, said he got the idea for the business during a business trip to Dallas. He was getting frustrated with the process of trying to find a place to rent bikes \u2014 which he said involved a slew of phone calls. He said somehow he made the connection between how his flight got booked and the need for a national online bike rental service.
\n\u201cI wrote the business plan down on an American Airlines napkin,\u201d Gill said.
\nToday, he works from an office in the northern Chicago suburbs. There are a total of four people in the company.
\nLocally, Shepherdstown (W.Va.) Pedal & Paddle is part of
\nRentaBikeNow.com\u2019s online network. Pedal & Paddle owner Eddie Sampson said he wouldn\u2019t have fathomed opening the bike shop three years ago without offering bike rentals.
\nHe said the bike-rental business is lucrative in the Eastern Panhandle because of the number of out-of-state tourists looking for outdoor recreation.
\n\u201cRight across the river, we\u2019ve got the C&O Canal,\u201d Sampson said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to worry about being hit by a car.\u201d
\nThe Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park is what remains of the 19th-century commercial transportation system that served the Potomac River Valley.
\nThe 184.5-mile stretch of trail runs adjacent to three states and into Washington, D.C., as it hugs the banks of the Potomac River.
\nLike Pedal & Paddle, C&O Bicycle shop in Hancock attracts tourists hoping to bike along the canal. The shop is also near the Western Maryland Rail Trail.
\nBut C&O Bicycle shop owner Dennis Hudson said the shop does its reservations by phone, person or e-mail. Hudson doesn\u2019t offer online booking.
\n\u201cOnline, you don\u2019t know who they are, their age, whether they want a nice cushioned ride or something for better performance or trail,\u201d said Hudson, who owns the shop with his wife, Judy Hudson.
\nDennis Hudson said that he and his wife try to convey a person-to-person feel on their Web page, through personal blog entries and by offering local bike routes, links and other resources for bikers.
\n\u201cIf I can\u2019t talk to them, at least they\u2019ll know who I am,\u201d Hudson said.
\nEven with all the high-tech gadgets and online social media buzz, Mittel, owner of Hub City Sports bike shop in Hagerstown, said that the most useful \u2014 and most popular \u2014 tool a cyclist has doesn\u2019t involve URLs, tweets or turn-by-turn directions.
\nHe\u2019s talking about old-fashioned, waterproof paper maps available for free at Hub City\u2019s shop.
\n\u201cThey\u2019re put together for cyclists by cyclists,\u201d Mittel said.
\nhttps:\/\/www.herald-mail.com\/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=244211&format=html<\/a>oldId.20100427114858168<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By TIFFANY ARNOLD Technology and online social networking has made the already low-tech hobby of bicycling that much easier. Want a new route? People to ride with? What happens if your bike gets a flat? Look no further than your computer\u2019s keyboard or the keypad of your cell phone or GPS device. \u201cYou can find … <\/p>\n

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