Trail volunteers at the Lehigh Portland Trails have been hard at work! Check out this map including the latest additions to the trail system.

Updates

• An extension has been added to the Foundations Trail.
• An adjunct to the Creekside Trail, called Midside, explores the wooded area between the Backbone and Elm Creek.
• New singletrack additions bring the total to over 14 miles of trails.
• Prairie grass restoration efforts are underway, with sites labeled on the map in pink–these are great areas to find wildflowers!

Visit the Lehigh Portland Trails today to check out all the latest improvements to the trail system. Get more information to plan your visit at lehightrails.com.

The post The Latest at Lehigh appeared first on Bike Allen County.

La Harpe celebrated the opening of the pump track today!

Thrive Allen County joined La Harpe Pride, local residents, and bike enthusiasts for the unveiling and ribbon cutting of La Harpe City Park’s newest amenity. The creation of the pump track grew out of conversations held in La Harpe around the dreams they have their community and was made possible through grant funding from the Kansas Health Foundation and PeopleForBikes.org. The pump track is free to the public. While you’re there take advantage of the zipline, firepit, and volleyball court as well!

What is a pump track?

A pump track is a looped sequence of hills and turns. The track maximizes your momentum, so you can ride with minimal pedaling. Riding on a pump track is both fun and functional. If you’re looking to enhance your bike handling skills, the track offers banks and bumps to practice. If you want to hit some singletrack at the Lehigh Portland Trails but aren’t yet confident, the pump track is a great training ground. Or, just ride the track like a roller coaster!

The post Pump it Up appeared first on Bike Allen County.

John Brown, fighting abolitionist, envisioned Kansas as an alternative endpoint to the Underground Railroad. He spent years in eastern Kansas fighting for a Free State and to send slavers packin’ back to Missouri and other disreputable parts. Pay homage to our most kickass state father with a quick lookout 5K to make sure no border ruffians are about, a ride on the Prairie Spirit Trail (the railroad North-ward!), and finally a 10K run to and from John Brown’s Cave (location top secret) via a winding, wooded track. Complete the whole thing on your own, or recruit your own Generals and Lieutenants for a relay. (maximum ten people!)

We’ll tell you your time if you really want, and keep track of who gets where and when, but this is an event for fun and shenanigans, and John Brown would never submit to timer chips. Make some plans to camp, bring some beverages Charley Melvin would’ve disapproved of, and, of course, BEWARE THE LEHIGH MAN.

Facebook event

The post John Brown Duathlon 2019 appeared first on Bike Allen County.

BMX Pump Track Planned for La Harpe

Residents of La Harpe have been working with Thrive Allen County on a three-year intensive community engagement program, funded by the Kansas Health Foundation, to revitalize their community. Residents have selected a number of projects related to health, wellness, and recreation, with a particular focus on La Harpe City Park. The park has seen several significant improvements over the past few years, including a zip line, new playground equipment, and a walking trail. For the next phase, the community is using crowdfunding to raise money for more projects, which include a kid-friendly BMX Pump Track. They just completed a campaign that raised over $20,000! Construction is expected to begin in Spring 2019.

The BMX project will consist of bringing in dirt and sculpting it into a series of ramps, berms, and rollers, so that kids (and adults!) can practice their bike-handling skills, learn new techniques, and have fun in a safe but exciting new way. Volunteers with Heartland BMX in Topeka are planning to help in construction of the pump track, which will be open to and rideable by all types of bikes, not just specialized BMX bikes.

Local volunteers are needed as well! Contact Thrive Allen County for more info. 620-365-8128

BMX Hall-of-Famer Visits Iola

In early February, we had Kansas BMX hall-of-fame bicyclist Darrell Pulliam in town, talking with Iola USD 257 students about his career as a professional BMX rider, and about the BMX pump track soon to be built in La Harpe.

Darrell is still racing, competing in the Masters class at major BMX events, as part of the Wichita Old School BMX team.

Forward BMX Show Thrills Students

On February 20th, Thrive brought the Forward BMX Show to the Bowlus Fine Arts Center to give a raucous high-energy performance to USD 257 students. Kids screamed and cheered as the bikes and riders flew through the air and performed intricate skill tricks on the Bowlus stage.

At one point, the Principal was part of the show:

Other BMX Projects

• Our hometown bike shop, Southwind Cycle and Outdoor, carries a full line of high-quality BMX bikes and gear
• The City of Iola, in cooperation with the USD 257 Safebase after-school program and Southwind Cycle and Outdoor, is planning a BMX pump track of its own.
• The Lehigh Portland Trails features a small BMX Area, located just off the East Loop Trail. The site, situated in a small homestead quarry, has unfortunately faced some severe hydrology issues, making the area prone to standing water during wet periods. The Lehigh BMX Area has a lot of potential, but needs some work to make it more functional.

The post BMX in the Spotlight in Allen County appeared first on Bike Allen County.

The ABC Trails Plan offers a roadmap for future trail and route development in the three counties. It envisions bicycle routes connecting our communities, new rail-trail and singletrack trail projects, safety awareness education, bicycle touring and bikepacking routes that follow scenic and historic corridors, and routes than connect us to other state and national trails and routes.

Projects that could impact Allen County include:

• Signed bicycle routes on low-traffic rural secondary roads between Iola, Fort Scott, and Pittsburg.
• An alternate route for US Bicycle Route 76 (AKA the “Trans-America Trail”) through Iola. Thousands of touring cyclists ride this coast-to-coast route each year.
• Improvements to the Lehigh Portland Trails, such as restrooms, shelters, water access, and prairie restorations and habitat enhancements.
• Additional connections to the Prairie Spirit Trail in Iola.
• A new part of the U.S. Bicycle Route System, US Bicycle Route 55, would run north-south through eastern Kansas, using the Prairie Spirit Trail and Southwind Rail Trail.
• The historic King of Trails Highway ran from Canada to Mexico in the early 1900s. The King of Trails Bikepacking Route would follow this path through Iola and Humboldt, and passing over the King of Trails Bridge along the way.
• The Western Sky Connector would link the Southwind Rail Trail to the planned Western Sky Trail in Chanute, which would lead riders to Fredonia, and eventually connect to Wichita.
• The Neosho Grand Trail would follow the Neosho River from its headwaters near Council Grove, into Oklahoma, where it becomes the Grand River. Both Iola and Humboldt lie along the Neosho.
• The Zebulon Pike Historic Trail would follow the route of Zebulon Pike’s 1806 exploration of the American Southwest. The route passed near present-day Moran, La Harpe, Gas, and Iola.
• The Mo-Pac Trail would follow the old Missouri Pacific Railroad corridor from Iola west into Bourbon County.
• Singletrack trails along the Neosho River in Humboldt.
• Singletrack trails at Elsmore Lake (technically, this lake is in Bourbon County, but Elsmore is the closest town).

In addition to those individual projects, the ABC Trails Plan calls for improvements to Allen County’s tourism marketing efforts. The ABC Trails Plan envisions Allen County, and the larger region, as a trails tourism and recreation destination. View the full plan here.

The authors of the ABC Trails Plan believe that trails are a critical economic development strategy, providing a place for people to be active, to connect with nature, and to connect with each other, as well as helping to attract and retain businesses and residents, and bring visitors to our communities.

According to the Sunflower Foundation’s Senior Program Officer, Elizabeth Burger, “As a health foundation, the Sunflower Foundation supports public trails of all types and their potential to make outdoor physical activity accessible to all ages, backgrounds and abilities. The evidence keeps growing for the physical and mental health benefits of being active outdoors – but trails can also contribute to a community’s well-being in other ways, such as increased social cohesion and economic vitality.”

Statewide, Allen County is regarded as a leader in rural trail development, and this plan continues to build on that reputation.

The Allen County contingent at the ABC Trails Plan ceremony in Fort Scott. Bill Maness, Randy Rasa, and Allie Utley of Thrive Allen County, along with Allen County Commissioners Bruce Symes, Jerry Daniels, and Bill King.

Learn more from Thrive Allen County, Kansas Cyclist, and Bike Prairie Spirit.

The post ABC Trails Plan Envisions Connected Region appeared first on Bike Allen County.

Here is the presentation given by Thrive Allen County‘s Lisse Regehr:

Text of Presentation

In Allen County, we have a vision: We want to be the healthiest rural county in Kansas. And we see trails as a key part of our strategy.

In barely more than a decade, Allen County has gone from zero trails to nearly 40 miles of trails and routes. First came the Prairie Spirit Trail State Park, a public investment which inspired the Southwind Rail Trail and the Lehigh Portland Trails, both of which were primarily built by volunteers, with help from Sunflower and other foundations, as well as local businesses, cities, and county public works.

Numerous other trails projects have transformed our community, with nearly every town, big or small, either building, or getting ready to build, trails of their own. Iola and Humboldt have added trails and routes connecting schools, parks, and shopping. We raised over $300,000 for a bridge to connect Iola to the largest employer in Allen County. Even the tiny community of Savonburg, population 102, has caught trail fever, opening the “Old Swedish Trail”, and running a bike share from their community library, part of a county-wide program that gets regular people, not just the active ones like us, out on our streets and trails.

Trails are now part of our community identity. In 2017, Iola was named the Kansas Trail Town of the Year. We’ve adopted the name “King of Trails” as a marketing slogan. Now, cars with bike racks are a common sight, and these people eat at our restaurants, stay in our hotels, shop in our downtowns. We now have a busy bike and outdoor shop.

In Allen County, we like to play a game we call “tag-spotting”. Whenever we stop by one of our trailheads, we’ll look at the license plates on the cars and trucks. And we keep track. We see tags from all of our neighboring counties, and well beyond. Tags from the Kansas City area, Wichita, Topeka, Lawrence, Manhattan, Salina. Tags from Missouri, from Oklahoma, from Arkansas, from Texas, from Colorado, from California. And those are just the one’s we’ve happened to notice.

We’re building all these trails, and making all these connections, because we recognize that trails are a critical economic development strategy. Yes, trails can make us healthier and happier, connect people and towns, and build community pride. But trails can also boost our sales tax revenues and property values. Trails can help attract and retain businesses and residents. Trails mean tourism dollars. Trails, for us, are an integral part of building a Culture of Health, and a community that not just survives, but Thrives.

The post Allen County at the 2019 Trail Appreciation Day in Topeka appeared first on Bike Allen County.

The new bike/ped bridge provides a safe and convenient connection between Downtown Iola and the Lehigh Portland Trails, the Southwind Rail Trail, and businesses south of Elm Creek.

The new bridge helps burnish Allen County’s reputation as the “King of Trails”! (Learn more about the history here.)

The post The King of Trails Bridge is Open! appeared first on Bike Allen County.

There will be bike helmet giveaways, healthy snacks, and lots and lots of celebrating. Bring your bike or put on your walking shoes to take advantage of this new connection.

The King of Trails Bridge has been made possible through Thrive Allen County, the City of Iola, the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City, the Kansas Health Foundation, the Sunflower Foundation, PeopleForBikes, and New Belgium Brewing, as well as a federal Recreational Trails Program grant administered by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism.

The bridge is named in honor of the historical King of Trails Highway which once crossed this span, as well as Allen County’s growing reputation as the ‘King of Trails‘.

The post King of Trails Bridge Grand Opening May 5th appeared first on Bike Allen County.

Join us on June 9th for a family-friendly ride to celebrate Allen County Trails!

It’s the 5th birthday for the Southwind Rail Trail, and the 2nd for the Lehigh Portland Trails! Come join the party with a group bike ride, starting at 9am from Velo+ in Iola (17 E. Madison Avenue). We’ll cross the new King of Trails Bridge, explore a bit of the Lehigh Portland Trails system, then ride the Southwind Rail Trail to Humboldt for lunch at Opies Family Restaurant, before heading back to Iola for a short jaunt on the Prairie Spirit Trail and Mo-Pac Trail, followed by refreshments at Velo+.

It’s a fun, family-friendly way to celebrate our award-winning trail network! Total distance of the ride is about 20 miles. There’s no cost for the event, but free-will donations toward trail upkeep are appreciated.

The post Allen County Trails Celebration Ride 2018 appeared first on Bike Allen County.

• 21 Allen County riders logged 19,639 points
• Our Bike Allen County local challenge ranked #31 in the nation
• Iola was #7 in Kansas, and Humboldt was #13 in Kansas, the top small towns in the state
• We had one rider, Randy Rasa, log miles every day during the Challenge
• We had two riders in the Kansas top 20 (Randy Rasa at #8, Terry Broyles at #19)
• Iola won the 2017 Prairie Spirit Trail Challenge

With the NBC changing their logging platform, participants and miles were down both nationally and locally. It is hoped that as people become more comfortable with the technology, and discover how easy it is to log their rides, the numbers will rise in coming years.

If you’d like to get a head start on next year’s Challenge, be sure to set yourself up with free accounts at Strava and NationalBikeChallenge.org. Once you get into the habit of logging your miles, it becomes automatic, and it’s wonderful to look back and see everywhere you’ve ridden.

The post National Bike Challenge 2017 Results appeared first on Bike Allen County.