Quad Cities - A week for 2 wheels

Sun June 11 2006
Posted Jun 11, 2006
4,414

By David Burke If you ride on two wheels, powered by your own two feet, this is your week in the Quad-Cities. It’s the first Quad-Cities Bicycle Week, beginning today with the 29th annual Tour of the Mississippi River Valley, and concluding on Father’s Day with the 22nd annual tradition, Ride the River. In between is the Quad-City layover in the Grand Illinois Trail and Parks bicycle tour, a seven-day trek through northern Illinois where cyclists can ride anywhere from 331 to 555 miles. Wednesday, bikers will make their way from Savanna, Ill., down the Great River Trail to Augustana College in Rock Island. The next day is a “day off” on the trip, where cyclists will spend the day in the Quad-Cities. Jessica Waytenick of the Quad-Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau said other activities were added for the week, including a youth bicycle rodeo and appearances by the authors of “Biking Iowa” and “Biking Illinois.” “We have such a great trail system in the Quad-Cities, and all these groups are working to promote it and let everybody else know about it,” Waytenick said. “We thought we coud combine efforts and get even more attention for the trails in the Quad-Cities.” Chuck Oestreich, a member of the Quad-Cities Bicycle Club and active in the League of Illinois Bicyclists, said “we have an enviable bicycling situation in the Quad-Cities.” Madison, Wis., Oestreich said, recently received attention from a national bicycling magazine for its genorosity to bikes. “We are so much better than them, as far as trails and amenities,” Oestreich said. Riders from 13 different states are expected for the Great Illinois tour, he said. The Great River Trail currently runs from Savanna to the Quad-Cities, and eventually will stretch from Galena to Quincy, Ill., and even all the way to St. Louis, he said. Ride the River, designed for parents and their children, is emphasizing the latter with a new area, “Kids Ride the River Too,” at Bass Street Landing in Moline. Dan McNeil, program manager for River Action, which sponsors the ride, said the area is for those who can’t pedal or ride for long distances. “We’re building a little city over there, with a faux river down the middle and tricycles and Big Wheels,” he said. This is the first Ride the River where there’s access to the new bike and pedestrian area on Government Bridge, McNeil said. “This will be the first year they can cross from Davenport to Rock Island using that bridge, and it may be the first opportunity for some people to actually experience it,” he said. Oestreich said people in the Quad-Cities should appreciate what’s available for bike riders here. “It blows my mind when I bike from Savanna into the Quad-Cities, and I see all the amenities that we have,” he said. “We don’t appreciate it, and that’s why (we have) this week.” David Burke can be contacted at (563) 383-2400 or dburke@qctimes.com.