A made in the USA bicycle is in the works; maker hopes tariffs on Chinese imports will spur American production.

Guardian's USA-made children's bike is
still evolving. (Guardian graphic via WSJ)

Children’s bike maker Guardian Bikes moved its production from China to the U.S. intending to build its bikes with as many American-made parts as possible, reports Natasha Khan of The Wall Street Journal. The company's founder, Brian Riley, hopes "steep tariffs" on Chinese imports pledged by President-elect Donald Trump will make American-made bikes and parts more competitive.

Moving bicycle component production to the United States will still be tough partially because China has dominated the sector for decades. Riley knows the challenges and is still moving in that direction. Khan explains, "For now, components from China represent about 90% of the total cost of Guardian’s parts. By the end of next year, Riley hopes that figure will be about 20%. Guardian is starting production of its own bike frames. . . . As a result of Guardian’s new manufacturing, American-made parts could represent about 60% of the cost."

One of the reasons Riley moved his company to the United States was to build a "safer bike that could prevent the kind of head-over-heels braking accident that had injured his grandfather years earlier," Khan reports. "Many bikes sold at retailers such as Walmart or Target aren’t fully assembled when they are shipped to the retailers from overseas, so manufacturers don’t have oversight on the final assembly. Riley told Khan, "By controlling every aspect of production, we can guarantee the quality of every bike that rolls off our assembly line."

Riley admits that opening a U.S. factory was expensive and time-consuming. "At first, workers were slow to build the bikes, putting together 100 a day. It took time and constant tweaking of the assembly line to improve their speed and efficiency," Khan writes. Riley told her, "We had to bite the bullet. We had to be willing to lose money for a while to get to the other side of the strategy.”

The creation of Guardian's USA-made bike is evolving. "Guardian plans to begin making bike frames at the factory this year, using American steel. . . . Guardian is also considering making rims itself," Khan reports. "The bike maker has approached U.S. suppliers that could provide grips and reflectors."

Riley told Khan, "Everyone says making bikes here is impossible." Kahn adds, "His factory shows it isn’t."

A first-of-its-kind in the South, 'Bike Tennessee' offers breathtaking views from the state's rural towns

'Bike Tennessee' offers stellar views of the state's rural towns and endless scenery.
(Tennessee Department of Tourist Development photo)

For bike enthusiasts craving more paths, climbs and views, Tennessee opened 52 "newly-curated" road cycling routes, dubbed "Bike Tennessee" for cycling enthusiasts of all ages and levels. The development is the "first of its kind in the South," reports Jacob Beckwith of The Tennessean. It aims to encourage more people to vacation in the volunteer state while "bringing cycling to rural communities. . . . The initiative is so new, it's only offered in one other state, Oregon."

Given the state's topography, Tennessee is a great place to ride a bike. The routes' developer, Shannon Burke, is a cycling tourist expert who chose off-the-beaten-path locations that were still safe. He told Beckwith, "The state has every type of mountain, and you can also ride in all seasons. . . . I would ask myself, ‘If I put this on a bike tour, would they get their money’s worth? The result is a mix of escaping civilization, while still making sure people are comfortable.”

Of course, there's an app for these routes. Tennessee "partnered with Ride with GPS, a navigation platform used daily by thousands of cyclists, for the program," Beckwith explains. "The state's 52 Bike Tennessee routes are accessible to users of the app and are all designed as a loop to simplify parking, while still varying distance and difficulty, officials explained."

Tennessee Department of Tourist Development Commissioner Mark Ezell points to Bike Tennessee as a way for the state to sustainably support smaller rural communities. He told Beckwith, "In 2022 alone, the state welcomed 141 million visitors, who spent a record $29 billion. A big part of that is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is still the most visited national park in America. This initiative gives tourists just another reason to visit our beautiful state."

Quick hits: the top 10 agriculture stories of 2020; rural schools facing closures amid pandemic, and more

Here's a roundup of stories with rural resonance; if you do or see similar work that should be shared on The Rural Blog, email us at heather.chapman@uky.edu.

Small banks helped businesses win more Paycheck Protection Plan loans. Read more here.

A school district is suing parents for unpaid textbook fees during the pandemic. Does your state allow such lawsuits? Read more here.

Rural schools are more likely to hold in-person classes, but the pandemic is hitting staff and students in many areas, forcing closures. Read more here.

Ken Burns' Country Music documentary is "feel-good but badly conceived entertainment," writes one critic. Read more here.

Columnist shares ways to create caregiver-friendly workspaces in rural communities. Read more here.

DTN/The Progressive Farmer has the top 10 agriculture stories of 2020, one per day. Read more here.

A recent paper from the Aspen Institute takes a deep dive into the rural disparities exposed by the coronavirus pandemic and how they might be tackled. Read more here.

The proposed nationwide bike and foot path is making progress. Read more here.

Quick hits: Cycling helps rural economies; Maine islands get health care by boat; rainbow tailgate goes viral

Here's a roundup of stories with rural resonance; if you do or see similar work that should be shared on The Rural Blog, email us at heather.chapman@uky.edu.

Health care comes by boat to Maine's most remote islands, Modern Healthcare reports.

Last week thousands of cyclists from all over the world "set off on a grueling 200-mile race across gravel roads in Emporia, Kansas. The sport has grown to such a level that there are now 600 such events across the country — and they're lifting rural economies," Jay Price reports for WUNC FM in North Carolina.

Check out "This Land," a true-crime podcast from journalist and Cherokee Nation citizen Rebecca Nagle, about a high-stakes murder investigation that triggered big questions about Native American land rights and sovereignty: https://deadline.com/2019/05/crooked-media-this-land-1202621176/

A group looks to mountain biking to give rural New England an economic boost:
https://bangordailynews.com/2019/05/27/news/new-england/group-looks-to-mountain-biking-to-give-rural-new-england-an-economic-boost/

Here's a viral social-media post from a rural Oklahoma man who decorated his truck's tailgate with a duct tape rainbow in honor of Pride Month:
https://journaltimes.com/news/national/how-a-duct-taped-tailgate-from-rural-oklahoma-touched-people/article_6ee011bf-2bbe-57e1-bdc7-ba7233ed6440.html

Could returning to sheep farming help the Appalachian economy? Read more here: https://www.saveur.com/appalachian-sheep-farmers-lamb/

Map of proposed first coast-to-coast bike trail is revealed; group raising money to secure remaining 48% of route

Proposed route for the Great American Rail-Trail. (Map by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy)

The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, the nation's largest trails organization, has been planning an uninterrupted cross-country bicycle trail for the past year, and recently published the first map of it.

"The Great American Rail-Trail will stretch 3,700 miles across 12 states, from Washington, D.C., to Washington state. Collectively, the trail will connect more than 125 currently existing trails and 90 trail gaps," McKinley Corbley reports for the Good News Network.

About 52 percent of the trail is already open for public use; RTC has announced a funding campaign to help open the other 48%. The trail could be a popular trek for serious cyclists and bring tourist dollars to rural areas and small towns along the path. But history has shown that securing the best property for trails can be difficult.

"We have the chance to create from that vision a national treasure that unites millions of people over thousands of miles of trail," said Ryan Chao, president of RTC. "This trail is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to provide—together—an enduring gift to the nation that will bring joy for generations to come."

Transportation Dept. says competitive grants were 64% rural in last round; last one under Obama was only 20% rural

Non-metropolitan areas got 64 percent of the money in the last round of a competitive grant program that funds transportation projects, the Department of Transportation said in press release. "That’s a reversal from the Obama administration, which in its last year in office provided just $102 million in grants to rural areas. That was just above the 20 percent minimum required by the law that established the program" in 2009, as part of President Obama's economic-recovery bill, Andrew Taylor reports for The Associated Press.

Nebraska Department of Transportation map

Some of the rural designations on the department's detailed list of Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants are debatable; for example, a $25 million grant for a southern beltway of Lincoln, Neb., is classified as rural, as is a $25 million boost for a connector road in suburban Loudoun County, Virginia, that opponents call "an outer Beltway" of Washington, D.C. The list says it will provide "safer, more efficient and reliable access to the western, more rural portion of Loudoun County."

Nevertheless, the program "is focused more on projects in rural areas that turned out for Donald Trump in the 2016 election," Taylor writes. "That means more road and rail projects in GOP strongholds such as Idaho, North Dakota, and Oklahoma, and fewer 'greenways,' 'complete streets' and bike lanes."

While the list said 64 percent of the money was going rural, its definition of rural was broad: anything outside an "urbanized area" as defined by the Census Bureau. That is even broader than the typically broad definition of rural, "non-metropolitan." For example, one of the "rural" grants was $8 million to redo several blocks of a major street in the state capital of Kentucky, Frankfort, population 25,000. A city must have 50,000 people to be the core city of a metropolitan area.

The release said a record $39 million was going to projects on Native American reservations; more than half of that is going to rebuild a road in the Lower Brule Sioux reservation in South Dakota.

Other than those above, the largest grants listed as rural were $25 million for improvements of a major truck route in Nogales, Ariz.; $17 million for the riverfront in Burlington, Iowa; $16.6 million to finish rebuilding US 212, the Beartooth Highway, in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming; $16 million to repair the route for Amtrak's Southwest Chief in Kansas and Colorado; $15 million for climbing lanes on Interstate 15 in Utah; and  $13.1 million for streets in Immokalee, Fla.

The largest urban projects were $20 million for a port in Baltimore; $20 million for a freeway in Rhode Island; $19.9 million for a road-railroad grade separation in Raleigh; $18.3 million for a brudge in North Bergen, N.J.; $$13.25 million for a bridge in a suburb of Charleston, S.C.; $13 million for a port in St. Bernard, La.; $12.7 million for the port of Mobile; and $12.6 million for a new bus route in Atlanta.

In 2013 about two-thirds of TIGER funding went to Democratic districts, which tend to be urban. Trump twice sought to eliminate the program, but Congress tripled its budget to $1.5 billion in last month's spending bill, which he signed.

"Of the 41 grants announced by the Trump administration, 25 totaling $271 million were awarded to projects in congressional districts represented by Republicans," Taylor reports. "Districts represented by Democrats garnered 14 projects and $190 million. Two grants worth $25 million went to projects spanning district lines." Not counting those two, GOP districts got 64 percent of the grants and 59 percent of the money; Republicans hold 55 percent of the seats in the House.

Ken Burns series on national parks repeats on PBS to celebrate National Park Service entennial

To help celebrate the National Park Service Centennial, PBS is rebroadcasting a six-part Ken Burns series on national parks. The series, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," was filmed over six years at various parks. It is the "story of people: people from every conceivable background—rich and poor; famous and unknown; soldiers and scientists; natives and newcomers; idealists, artists and entrepreneurs; people who were willing to devote themselves to saving some precious portion of the land they loved, and in doing so reminded their fellow citizens of the full meaning of democracy," reports PBS. For more information or air times click here. The official 100th anniversary date is Aug. 25. There are 407 national parks in the U.S. To find a park click here.

Michigan lawmakers propose raising rural highway speed limits to 75 mph; critics cite safety concerns

Speed limits on Michigan's 600 miles of rural highways could soon be raised to 75 or 80 mph, Emily Lawler reports for MLive Media Group. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Tuesday approved a package that includes raising speed limits to 75 mph on most rural highways and eventually raising limits to 80 mph on ones where it's deemed feasible and safe. (MLive photo: Current speed limits in Michigan)

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Bradford Jacobsen (R-Oxford), who sponsored a similar package in 2014, told Lawler, "Most expressways are designed for 5 over, if you would, so they're designed at 75 miles per hour. ... While this legislation specifically calls for raising speed limits on certain freeways to 75 mph, we included provisions that also allows for the studying of raising the speed limit to 80 mph in the future."

Critics say raising speed limits on rural roads is dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists, Lawler writes. Nancy Krupiarz, executive director of the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance, "said many of these rural roads in context are carrying pedestrians and bicyclists and sometimes connecting them to trails." Krupiarz told Lawler, "People can come flying over these hills and around these curves and it could be a very perilous journey." (Read more)

Nearly 9,000 miles of official U.S. bike routes bringing tourism dollars to rural communities

Bike routes are an easy and cheap way to bring tourism dollars to rural communities, reports Nicholas Deshais for The Spokesman-Review. Deshais last month began a 416-trek across Idaho and Washington's U.S. Bicycle Route 10 (Spokesman-Review graphic) which is part of nearly 8,992 miles of official bike routes in 18 states—Alaska, Florida, Kentucky, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington and the District of Columbia, states Adventure Cycling Association. The proposed National Corridor Plan would create 50,000 miles of numbered bike routes in all 50 states. 

"An official bike route doesn’t require much," Deshais writes. "No bike lane, signs or even a substantial shoulder is needed, though all of these things are very desirable. The only real rule for an official bike route is that it must connect two or more states or a state and an international border or to another official route." The biggest hurdle is getting every jurisdiction along the route to approve the route. USBR 10 includes 18 cities and towns, seven counties and a handful of transportation districts.

Paula Reeves, a planner in the Washington State Department of Transportation's engineering policy and innovation division, said "that for every dollar spent on bike gear and equipment, an additional $4 is spent on trips and travel," Deshais writes. "A recent study done by Tacoma-based Earth Economics said "bicycle riding in general generated more than $3.1 billion in annual spending."

Saara Snow, travel initiative coordinator with the Missoula-based Adventure Cycling Association, told Deshais, "A lot of communities want bicycle tourism in their towns. Bicyclists tend to ride on rural roads, and because of that it brings a new type of tourism these communities don’t normally see. Cyclists spend more money than motorized tourists. That’s because they spend more time in the state, they spend more on lodging and food, and they do that in rural communities. Essentially, they have a greater impact on these smaller, rural towns.” (Proposed routes for the National Corridor Plan. For a larger version, click here)

New York Times lists '52 Places to Go in 2015'

The New York Times' list of "52 Places to Go in 2015" includes a few rural hotspots in the U.S. At No. 4 on the list is Yellowstone National Park, No. 19 is Steamboat Springs, Colo., No. 30 is Bend, Ore. (City of Bend photo), No. 39 are the Catskill Mountains of New York, and No. 50 is the Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico. We bet the least known is Bend, in central Oregon, just east of the Cascade Mountains.

"Once a frontier logging town called Farewell Bend, this picturesque city of 80,000 is a seductive spot for travelers who are into craft brewing and the great outdoors," reports Dave Seminar. "The Bend region has 26 breweries, three wineries, two craft spirit distilleries, two cideries and the Cycle Pub, a tour that allows visitors to quaff craft beers while powering a sort of mobile pub by cycling."

"Two new distilleries, Cascade Alchemy and Backdrop, and a new cidery, Far Afield, are set to open this year," Seminar writes. "Bend has nearly 300 miles of single-track mountain bike trails, including two new ones, Tyler’s Traverse and Duodenum; a soon-to-open fat-bike trail (at Wanoga Sno-Park); world-class skiing at Mount Bachelor; and an embarrassment of riches for hikers, fishermen, climbers, stand-up paddle boarders and kayakers." (Read more)

Magazine picks best U.S. mountain biking towns

Where are the best towns in America to go mountain biking? The Active Times compiled a list of its top 10 mountain-biking towns, based on trail systems, parks and pump tracks, Kristin Butcher reports. The list: East Burke, Vt.; Park City, Utah; Harrisonburg, Va.; Santa Fe, N.M.; Marquette, Mich.; Bend, Ore.; Asheville, N.C.; Grand Junction, Colo.; Louisville; and Tuscon. (Read more) (Flickr photo: Mountain biking in East Burke, Vt.)