Viu Bicing, Vodafone in Barcelona

 A bike rack

For Viu Bicing in Barcelona.  Today is the letter V as we move through our A-Z challenge (if you want a V location post, here's several for Virginia...Richmond, Monticello, Arlington National Cemetery, Williamsburg, and more.

We saw these strange bikes everywhere while we were in Barcelona.  Viu Bicing is a bike sharing program that began in March of 2007 in Barcelona.  It has moved about Europe, to Germany, Netherlands, and Italy as a means to reduce traffic and carbon dioxide emissions in busy cities, reduce noise and it seems to be very popular.  You purchase a pre-paid smart pass annually, and with a swipe of a card can slide a bike out to use.  They are meant for short distances, to supplement public transportation for the locals.

There are 420 stations and close to 100,000 members in Barcelona.  Vodafone (a mobile wallet app) is now involved giving members the ability to track their distance, average speed, and emissions saved.  The first 30 minutes of use are at no additional cost beyond the membership.  Each subsequent half hour has a charge and can be used up to 2 hours.  They are meant for short distances and therefore you are in fact penalized if you hit 2 hours, and your membership can be revoked if you hit 2 hours too many times.

You do not need to return the bic to the same location where you collected it.  Example you hop off the city bus or metro, hop on a VIU bic and ride 3 more blocks, park it and go to work.  When you slide the bike back in the rack, it is identified and locked until the next person/member slides their card.  They are meant for 1 way transportation.

What a great idea, too bad the US doesn't get on board with something like that, then again we don't have good public transportation in most areas either.  Not only is this a means to control noise, traffic and emissions, think of the wonderful on going exercise you'd get.

**After the close of April's A-Z, I plan to continue to write a post a day in the month of May using again the A-B-C's as my guide.  My focus for the month of May will be Spain.  I've been planning and almost have every letter thought out.  If others are interested in continuing to blog daily using our A-B-C's, please let me know.  We could start a linky and continue what we've begun during April.  I don't imagine it will be anywhere near the scope of the annual April Challenge.  But, if you're interested, please let me know in your comment.  And even if you're not up for another blog challenge, do stop back in, I have much to share from recent travels to Spain.**

If you're a new follower, please let me know so I can reciprocate.

HandleBar in The Grove St. Louis

There's a story behind the animal prints and me climbing up on this rather large bike sculpture, (HERE), but for now let me tell you about Handle Bar.

The bike sculpture is outside the bar, and once inside you understand why.  Bikes also hang from the walls and ceiling,

It's a friendly, neighborhood establishment located in The Grove in St. Louis on Manchester Avenue (4127)

Where it's not uncommon to see people really relaxing, playing games or cards.

Born in Moscow, Tatyana immigrated in 1999.  She was homesick for her native land, but soon fell in love with the city of St. Louis and moved there in 2005.  She rode her bike through all the parks, The Riverfront, and interesting neighborhoods St. Louis has to offer and realized she could truly commute on her bike, not something possible in Moscow.  She was free to pick a destination, hop on her bike and just pedal.  She opened HandleBar in 2010 at the Old ChurchKey Bar5 location to share her interest in healthy food with a bit of a Russian influence (unusual for bars), local beers, local artists, and bikes.  Bikes as art, bikes to sell, bikes to ride. 

The Grove..seems to be a newly named neighborhood area in St. Louis.  Manchester Road, parts there off are part of Historic Route 66.  St. Alopysius Church was vacant for years, demolished and some of the brick and other items were used in the building/rehab of ChurchKey, now HandleBar.

**I'm reminded of a saying, Get your kicks on Route 66.......and you still can.

Stop in, enjoy a brew, play a game and enjoy!

One Hundred Miles of Bike Fun at Hilton Head Island South Carolina

Walk, Run, Pedal along with me on Hilton Head Island South Carolina.  This red bike with a nice comfy seat was my transportation during the first week of our 2 week vacation.  Rented this bike directly from Marriott's Monarch Resort for $30.00 a week which included the basket, the lock, delivery, and set up.  You really must rent a bike while on The Island.  It's loads of fun, easy, cheap and great exercise.  You can ride for miles and miles and miles.  The beach is nice and packed making it a wonderful place to ride as well as all the bike paths.  AND, as you can see wide open during the winter months.  We've traveled to Hilton Head now for the 4th year during either January or February.  Love it.  No, it's not the time of year to go if you want to bake yourself on the beach; but it's a great time of year to go for peace, quiet, fewer crowds, cheaper prices and there's much to see and do.

 This map shows the bike trails and the shared bike paths...both paved and not throughout the Island.  The part that looks like the toe of the foot is Sea Pines Plantation and they have their own map, showing the trails and paths there.  It changes constantly, but currently there are over 100 miles of bike trails/paths and shared roadways to enjoy.  Biking is easy as there very little up or down hill biking to worry about.  Staying on the bike paths also helps you avoid traffic and is safe for people of all ages.  Though I think you'll see more families during the traditional beach months, June, July and August when the kids are out of school.

Once again you can see the Island truly is shaped like a foot.  This map shows all the Marriott resorts in the area.  Marriott has a huge presence on the Island both with hotels, timeshares, and The Marriott Resort.  Click to enlarge so you can read the resorts names.  There are 3 time shares in Sea Pines, with a 4th near by that has easy access.  Some of the Marriott's are on the ocean, some on the marsh, some in the harbor area. 

Here's the bike trail map of the Sea Pines area where one can ride in a very picturesque setting of ponds, golf courses, ocean, marsh and wildlife areas.  There's shopping and dining by bike as well.  I've added some color dots to this map of locations where we've stayed.  Up by the lighthouse where the red dot is Heritage Club in Harbour Town where we've stayed twice.  Very nice adult oriented time share.  The purple dot middle bottom is the approximate location of Marriott's Monarch, the very first timeshare.  We spent our first week there this trip and really enjoyed it.  More on Monarch to follow in other posts.  Biking from there is the best of both worlds.  You're on the beach and in the middle of Sea Pines with somewhere around 17 miles of bike paths!  To the right bottom of the map is the blue dot which represents Marriott's Grande Ocean Resort.  This resort is also right on the beach and has it's own rather large bike shop.  It's a large resort and probably the most family oriented of the 3 with lots of extra kid friendly activities.

Will be blogging in more detail about the various resorts, what to see and do; but......hop on your bike and follow along; don't want you to miss anything.

**You'll be seeing some changes here on the blog, as this newer template doesn't work quite right.  Too bad, it seems perfect.  The previous blog template went by the wayside as many of the graphics on it weren't supported so I nabbed this one awhile back and see there's still need to keep looking, please bare with me**

Biking on Hilton Head Island

There she is, my beautiful lime green bike with basket and lock. We had quite a good time the week we spent together. Rentals are everywhere on the Island, save yourself the trouble of transporting your own bike and rent for a very reasonable rate once you're there. There are public rentals, rentals at hotels, rentals on the various plantations. All are easy to obtain and reasonably priced. I rented my Lime Green Companion for $30.00 a week from Marriott's Vacation Time Shares. Each time share has an arrangement, making the process very easy. I've rented in the past while staying at Grande Ocean where due to the size of the facility there's a rental shop right in one of the parking garages. This year, we stayed in Heritage Club in The Sea Pines Plantation. I simply let the front desk know I needed a bike, and within 10 minutes the "bike guy" pulled up in his truck and got one ready for me. Quick and easy. At weeks end, I merely left my bike in the rack and he picked it up. They adjust the seat for you, check to see if you want a basket and or lock for no additional charge.

Within Sea Pines there are 17 miles of bike paths, believe I traveled them all, some multiple times. Sea Pines is private and so you do need a pass on your bike and or need to know the code to get back in the plantation's gate once you leave.

Additionally, there are 50 miles of public bike paths throughout the rest of The Island. It's fun, it's good exercise, it's pretty and a lot of fun.

I rode on the trails, and I rode on the beach which is 12 miles (though I didn't ride the whole distance on the beach). I visited historic areas on the bike and found a wonderful yarn and book shop, The Courtyard from my bike. Blogged about the yarn and book shop here, check it out.

The above map shows you the 50 miles of public paths, the toe area is Sea Pines that has it's own set of bike paths.

Keep Pedaling, Hilton Head South Carolina

Get your bike and join me. Mine's the pretty bright lime green bike. Bike rentals are everywhere on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Hotels have rentals as do private vendors to make it convenient. Prices are quite affordable. Some private vendors will even delivery your bike to the hotel or resort, while other resorts have the rental right there at your finger tips. I was given a sturdy lock and basket along with my rental; and a map of the trails. Paths go everywhere on the Island. In fact there are 10 scenic miles of bike paths and don't forget you can also ride on the beach.

On a hot summer's day you could enjoy some shade from the tree lined pathways. I get lost easily so pleased to see lots of signs to help you find your way.

You can enjoy trees, birds, beach scenes as well as caulking at the beautiful private homes. There's even a couple of guided tours you can take on your bike. One such popular tour is to Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge. It was too cold for me to what to venture to another island; but hope to take that in on a return trip to the area.

You can ride just to ride, you can ride to shop or eat, you can ride and see historic sites, and you can ride to enjoy wildlife. I highly recommend renting a bike for a few days when you visit Hilton Head. The one partially warm day I rode all day while hubby was golfing. I had a ball and saw many things you might miss while riding by in a car at a higher speed.