Reply to Trail Web Design

So, odd question for you folks who have used this website for your trip planning.
How many other bike trails used this web designer for their sites?

-bikecando.com
-bikekatytrail.com
-bikecowboytrail.com
All appear to be from exact same designer. I REALLY like this format and would research more trails.

Thanks for the note - glad you like the websites!

There are two others....

Silver Comet / Chief Ladiga trails in Georgia and Alabama:
http://www.bikeSilverComet.com

Rock Island trail, which intersects the Katy Trail (and the websites intersect somewhat too):
http://www.bikeRockIsland.com

If you know of any other long trails out there that don't yet have good websites, I'm open to suggestions for other sites!

Happy trails!

Ray,

THANK YOU for your work on this and the other sites.
I need to tell you more about WHY I’m SO happy with your site design.
My oldest daughter and I biked the Katy Trail in September, 2014. My youngest and I biked the GAP/C&O in September of this year. Both girls were 9yrs old when they took their trips. Both were also out of school for the duration of their trip, including travel to/from our home. As part of the conditions for their time off school (and to get myself out of carrying their textbooks along) I had to incorporate academic work into the trip itself. Geography, math, history, budget/finance and speech all were covered. In the winter, the girls laid out the endpoints of the trip and did the math and mapping of “how many days?” and “how far can we go each day”, “is it uphill/downhill and how much?”, “Where can we camp, get food, water?”, “What do we want to see?” “If we have a breakdown, where can we go?” “Is there something historically significant?”... We bought or library-loaned books on the areas we were going and read about the history and I even made the girls work up a budget for us for camping, food, drink, souvenirs, repairs, etc. We had tens of hours of prep-time in January and February prior to each of our trips. We’ve photo-documented the whole thing as they are in a Bicycling 4-H project as well. It was AT LEAST two weeks of classroom work rolled into a well-planned and executed trip.
After we returned the girls each had/have to do a Powerpoint (technology) presentation for their wing (grades K-5) of the school. –My youngest does hers tomorrow! I will bring in the tandem bike and gear and all the kids will get to ding the bell and try sitting on it and see the little stove and other cool stuff we used…
All that said, can you imagine how valuable your site was in planning our trip?? The girls and I have spent HOURS on your websites and have found them to be the clearest, most straightforward way to plan a

bike trip. So easy a child can do it. LITERALLY!
Thank you for your efforts on these. I’m sure they require a lot of resources be assembled during creation and updated as businesses/contacts change. Now we’re spoiled and have a hard time using any other sites. We’ve never done the Cowboy or the Silver Comet, but I’ve bookmarked those sites and one of those will be our next trip.
THANKS AGAIN!!

Sorry if my post was duplicated)

Awf Hand - sorry I'm slow to reply, but I love your description what an amazing learning experience you were able to give your kids. It's gratifying to know that one of my websites was able to play a key part in that. I love running these websites, and hearing stories like yours makes it all worthwhile. Good luck with your future trips!

Ray - don't you do the C and O/Great Allegheny Passage as well? The design of the site looks very similar.

Not sure what your definition of long trails is - or how short/long you want to work on....but...

Longleaf Trace in Mississippi isn't that long but could use some work. Found it fairly hard to find information. So could the Pine Creek Trail has a good/active Facebook page and a really good guidebook but no much in terms of a web presence (that I could find) Same with the famous Mickelson Trail in SD. Good guide book that can be downloaded as a PDF but not an active web presence/discussion forum (again - that I can find.)

As noted - there's some online information for all of them, but I really appreciate the active Comment Forums and the trip planning resources that you offer.

Finally - the Prairie Spirit Trail in Kansas and the newly developing Flint Hills Nature Trail in that state could also use some additional website work/design in my opinion.

Thank you for the heads-up on those other trails!

I will definitely take a look and see how well they fit. I love doing these websites and am always happy to have a new one to work on (and yes BikeCandO.com is one of mine)

Thanks again and happy trails!

I find this , as well as the other trails utilising these page templates, to be very useful when viewed on a desktop monitor. Very good planning tools.I think it would be useful to integrate google maps into the content..I find myself toggling between pages to look at topography , terrain details.
Keep up the good work Mr. Ray