Railroad pedaling offers new kind of adventure
You don't need to pedal faster than a speeding freight train because, obviously, the two forms of rail riding don't use the same tracks.
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Talk about your high-speed rail!
There you are, pedaling along with your buddy on a cart specially designed for use on railroad tracks. You casually turn around after hearing a train whistle and see an Amtrak locomotive bearing down on you.
Better get a move on.
Thankfully, it doesn’t work like that
Rail pedalers use decommissioned rail lines, still functional but off-limits to speeding locomotives. It’s a relatively new form of outdoor adventure in the last 10 years that capitalizes on America’s growing interest in bicycling.
All it takes is a relatively flat decommissioned rail line in a scenic tourist setting, with desirable staging and turn around points. Plus someone to start the business.
The rail-riding adventure outside Las Vegas is offered during cooler morning hours of summer days, or during midday in winter. Tour-takers pedal four miles between Nevada Southern Railroad Museum and Railroad Pass, bringing a snack and drink for a 20-minute break at a rail-side picnic area.
The tour ticket includes a ride back in one of the museum's historic trains, plus entry to the Boulder City museum. The tour takes 1.5 hours, including check-in, rail-bike ride, and return to the station via train. Other types of tours are also available.
Tours elsewhere outfit a tour leader rail pedal car with a go-cart engine powerful enough to push rail riders along when they get tried of pedaling. Or some even augment all pedal cars with electric or gas motor assist. Rail pedal cars are built for two or four riders.
Four peddlers may just be able to stay ahead of America’s “high-speed” rail.🤣
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