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There's a crispness in the air, and with a long weekend approaching, it's the perfect time to plan the quintessential autumn leaf-viewing trip. A few weeks ago, we ran a list of the Top Ten Fall Foliage Drives excerpted from National Geographic Guide to Scenic Highways & Byways, and your comments assured us that there are far more than ten out there. So we decided to open it up to the masses. I asked Traveler staffers for their favorite fall drives, and then went to the Twitterverse (via @NatGeoTraveler) for more suggestions. Here's what we've gathered so far. Feel free to share your own, or look for a great drive near you in the comments.

Instead of responding by email, Traveler Editor in Chief Keith Bellows came into my office and had me Google "The Dragon" just so I could see the infamous US129 highway on a map. Spanning Tennessee and North Carolina, the drive has 138 hairpin turns in just 11 miles, and if you can take your eyes off the road, the leaves are incredible. "It. Is. Awesome," was all he needed to say.

Cycle Parade in Copenhagen from Copenhagenize on Vimeo.

Copenhagen ranks as one of the world's friendliest cities for cyclists, with 37 percent of residents in Greater Copenhagen using a bike daily. To encourage more residents to bike to work and school, the city plans to expand bike lanes farther into the suburbs. The city hopes to entice the 85,000 suburbanites who currently commute via car, bus, and train to switch to cycling.

Fifteen thousand people already bike into Greater Copenhagen from the suburbs, so these "bicycle superhighways" will enhance their commute and also make cycling more appealing for those who do not. Some perks of the new routes include fewer detours, service stations along the routes with air and tools, and priority crossing for cyclists at busy intersections. Additionally, cyclists who maintain a pace greater than 12 miles per hour will benefit from the Green Wave, affording them green lights all the way through sections of the city with frequent stoplights.

In the big picture, more cyclists mean fewer cars on the road and less air pollution. The European Cyclists' Federation is pushing for greater funding for bike-friendly initiatives in urban settings. The ECF estimates that increasing cycling levels from 5 to 15 percent in Europe could reduce carbon dioxide emission by 50 million tons and plans to do so by 2020.  

To do its part in saving the environment and bringing European bike-lovers together, Copenhagen hosted a cycling parade as part of CO2penhagen, the "world's first carbon-neutral festival."

While you're visiting, you can take part in "Bycyklen Kobenhavn," the city's bike culture, by snagging one of the 1,300 free bike rentals offered to visitors between May and December.

Watch out Washington: Now that the weather's beginning to cool down and we can once again spend time outside without succumbing to heat stroke, cycling is one of the best ways to enjoy the changing seasons. There is always the option of taking your bike down one of the many area trails, such as the C&O Canal path along the Potomac or through Rock Creek Park. But if you need some encouragement, there are several area events that may motivate you to pull your bike out of the garage, strap on your helmet, and hit the road.

Tomorrow, September 22, is International Car Free Day, an event that encourages commuters to leave their cars at home and consider all forms of alternative transportation: bus, metro, and especially bicycle. Here in D.C., 1,000 residents went car free in 2007, and that number increased to 5,445 in 2008. But the District still has a ways to go to catch up to Portland, Oregon, where 8% of the population bikes to work every day. (To learn more about biker-friendly Portland, look out for our November issue.)

For those of you who aren't sold on biking to work, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association is holding its 50 States and 13 Colonies ride this weekend, Saturday, September 26. The 50 States Ride, which is over 60 miles long, takes participants through all of D.C.'s eight wards and covers all 50 state streets. The 13 Colonies Ride is a less challenging path that covers the streets named for the 13 original colonies in under 15 miles. Event organizers offer lunch in the middle of the ride and discounted food and drinks at the end. It may not be around the world in 80 days, but I'd say around the United States in one day is pretty impressive.

--Traveler Intern Meg Beasley

Many of you have written us wanting to know how to replicate writer Stanley Stewart's motorcycle drive through Sardinia's North Coast. So we asked him to dish the details. Stewart's article, "Sardinia's Carefree Coast," just appeared in our September issue, but you can find the full story here, as well as a photo gallery online.

To book a motorcycle, contact Central Italy Motorcycle Tours (+39 339 1556988) who have a range of bikes including the the Ducati ST3, a good touring bike, from $916 for five days. A slightly cheaper option would be a Suzuki DL650 at $715 for five days. Bikes can be collected in Rome, Milan or Pisa, allowing you to cross by ferry from Civitavecchia, Livorno, Piombino or Genoa. Owned and run by Francesco Venzi, who speaks excellent English, CIMT also offer a range of group or private tours in Sardinia and elsewhere in Italy that include guides, support vehicles, and accommodation.
 
"Sardinia is a biker's dream," Stewart tells us. "The roads are excellent but curvy enough to make the whole thing good fun, and the Mediterranean on your shoulder is a great companion. Inland you can get some wonderful straight runs though it is difficult to keep your eyes on the road as the mountains begin to loom.
 
"What Francesco doesn't know about touring Sardinia, isn't worth knowing," he continued. "He is not only biker, he is a traveler and an excellent guide and has seen parts of the island only the shepherds know. He supplies bikes but he also points you in the right direction, and his group tours, with support vehicles, are one of the most congenial and sociable ways to tour the island."

[Central Italy Motorcycle Tours]

Photo: Stewart rides a Ducati along the coastline, shot by Dave Yoder for the September 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler

If you think riding the stationary bike at the gym is exhausting, imagine riding your bike 28,000 miles through 37 countries in eight years. Tired yet?

Keiichi "Kei" Iwasaki , 36, of Japan began such an adventure when he grew tired of working at his father's air-conditioning company. ''I thought to myself that 'My life will soon be over before I do what I want to do!' so I decided to start this trip," Iwasaki told the London Telegraph.

Iwasaki left his home in Maebashi, Japan in April 2001 with just 160 yen, around $2, in his pocket with the intention of biking through Japan. He enjoyed the trip so much that he caught a ferry to South Korea. He has since been robbed by pirates and arrested in India, nearly died after being attacked by a rabid dog in Tibet, and narrowly escaped marriage in Nepal.

Our bamboo-bike-loving intern Christine Wei, currently tweeting from Taiwan, noticed this story on Inhabitat about an ingenious design for future parking lots. It looks like an attractive way to shade your car from the intensity of the sun, but in fact the panels are harvesting solar rays, not just deflecting them. 

Inhabitat explains:

Each of the trees in Neville Mars's solar forest is composed of a set of photovoltaic leaves mounted on an elegantly branching poll. The base of each trunk features an power outlet that can be used to juice up your eco ride as you run errands.

Neville told Inhabitat that the tree and leaf design wasn't a goal but came naturally as they tried to maximize the shaded surface that the structures provide. Although the efficiency of overlapping photovoltaic panels initially raised some concerns, Neville went on to explain that the leaves rotate with the sun to ensure maximum efficiency. The solar forest is certainly an aesthetic step up from your standard sun-baked concrete parking lot, and serves as great inspiration for integrating solar technology with natural forms.

How cool is that?!

[Inhabitat]

Photo: Neville Mars

With some 1,100 islands, islets, and reefs in the pristine Adriatic, Croatia's Dalmatian Coast rivals the Amalfi Coast in terms of drama, beauty, and history.

There is no question that these islands offer unforgettable views, a wealth of cultural and historical experiences, and a diverse list of outdoor activities--but how do you get there? From cruises to catamarans, or even kayaking 400 miles, you can travel from island to island. While all of these have their advantages, an emerging trend on the coast is island hopping by ferry.

We don't just talk the talk when it comes to being green here at the National Geographic Society. We're constantly working on reducing our impact on the environment, from using compost bins in our cafeteria, to switching all desk lamps to energy-efficient CFL bulbs, to purchasing wind power instead of getting our electricity from coal-fired plants. But even we were impressed when we heard about our colleague Fabio Amador's sporty new ride. Called the Go-One, it's a three-wheeled "trike" with a removable top -- making it a convertible of sorts. Weighing in at about 50 pounds, it pedals like any other recumbent bike. Fabio (whom we can't help but think is aptly named, given his sleek, racing car-styled vehicle) received a special parking place in the NG garage and uses the trike to commute the two miles between his home and the office.

"I figured this was a great way to show personal initiative in an organization that cares about conservation," he says. "No gas, no insurance and no permits. And I wanted to make an effort to leave no carbon footprint."

We asked him to tell us a bit more about his ride.

So what does it feel like to get around in that thing?

Moving through a suburban and urban cityscape, you're very low to the ground and you're moving between cars at a high speed. You can seem invisible, though the vehicle itself gets noticed quite fast once people do see it.

What's kind of response do you get?

Mostly amazement, laughter. I've been a shy person all my life, but this is not the way to continue living anonymously. But I see it as a way for a person to motivate others to do something, whether it's fighting against diabetes or not leaving a carbon footprint. One person can change the world.

Boston Marathon 2009 at the halfway point coming up to the intersection of Route 16 and 128, by Paul Keleher

I'm going to go out on a limb and say it: Today is the best day of the year to be in Boston. Patriots' Day, aka Marathon Monday, is an official state holiday, a day when citizens crowd along the streets to watch some of the most elite runners in the world sprint by (and some of the no-so-elite as well - I ran the race myself back in 2001). This year was the 113th running of the race, and it was won by Ethiopia's Deriba Merga, and Kenya's Salina Kosegi. But it's by no means over for the thousands of people still running as I type.

One thing that may keep them going this year is the knowledge that among the many, many footprints that will cross the finish line - many of them will be accounted for, carbon-wise, by the race organizers, who have purchased offsets for the many buses used to transport runners to the starting line. They've also swapped out the motorcycles used to follow the elite runners with new electric scooters, and have installed a "green team" to ensure that all discarded cups, bottles, and blankets make their way into the barrels posted along the route. It's the first step, so-to-speak, that the race has taken to become more sustainable.

Senior editor Norie Quintos recently visited New York City with her teenage sons, trying to go as green as possible. Here's Part 2 of her report. To see Part 1, click here.


What to do

We picked up bikes from Bike & Roll (from $10 per hour), which has several locations, including one at Pier 84 along Hudson River Park. New York's Greenway is a bike-friendly series of linked waterfront parks that hug lower Manhattan. The kids loved the ride, filled as it was with pockets of green, waterside views, and joggers. It was sightseeing on steroids, just the way teens like it: We blew by Chelsea Piers, the Frank Gehry-designed IAC building which locals call "The Ice Cube," the Meatpacking District, Battery Park City, the crane-dotted site of the World Trade Center, and ended up at Battery Park, just in time to lock up the bikes to get on the ferry for our rendezvous with Lady Liberty. After a relatively quick howdy-do (purchase your tickets online to cut the waiting time), it was back on the bikes for the ride back.

The rest of the time we walked or took the subway or bus everywhere, just like the locals. Parents: Pick up a subway map (available at hotels or subway stations), hand it to your teens, tell them where you want to go, and let them figure it out; it's good for them.

On a wet, dreary night in March last year I got a phone call from my parents. They were having dinner on the beach in Cabarete, a small Caribbean beach village on the northern shore of the Dominican Republic. I could barely hear my mom over the voices and music in the background. "You would not believe how fabulous this place is," I managed to gather from her exclamations on the other end of the line. "Mark your calendar--we're taking you with us when we come next year." At the time, the concept of dining on the beach in the Dominican Republic was far from being a plausible dot on my radar. I was in D.C. mentally preparing for work the next day, and it was raining. I tucked the possibility into the back of my mind and hung up the phone. But now, a little over a year later, here I am on the beach in Cabarete with my parents. I've just returned from a morning of surfing on the ruggedly beautiful Playa Encuentro, and I'm already sore--the sort of sore that's not supposed to hit you until the day after. But it was worth it.

A few other people in-the-know about Cabarete have implored me not to blog about it lest the tourist crowds from the all-inclusive resorts of Punta Cana be inspired to hop on the next plane to Puerto Plata and overwhelm this small, hidden gem. But I couldn't resist. So after you read this blog you must promise not to tell anyone else about it...

It's the eternal question: What do you get for the beer-loving travel junkie that has everything? Turns out, a vehicle exists for exactly that target demographic - the motorized bar stool. Who needs to look for a seat at the bar when you arrive on your own guzzle-ready chariot?

But this otherwise brilliant invention gained notoriety yesterday when the AP reported that an Ohio man was picked up by the cops earlier this month for driving under the influence on his contraption. (We wish that was a joke, but we can't help but think that was kind of the point?) Apparently, it can move up to 38 mph.

Photo: AP

If you are someone who hopes to hike the entire Appalachian Trail, word to the wise: It's getting longer and longer every day.

OK, so the original Appalachian National Scenic Trail isn't getting longer--those 2,175 miles are staying as is. But the International Appalachian Trail (IAT)--the stretch of trail that follows the Appalachian Mountains beyond the original Appalachian Trail terminus in Maine--is getting longer each year.

Newfoundland and Labrador plan to complete three new sections of trail through the Long Range Mountains, bringing the total length of trail in the province to approximately 750 miles. And with more mileage comes more amazing scenery. The three three sections in the works for 2009--Lewis Hills, Blow Me Down Mountain, and Devil's Bite (pictured below)--boast rugged mountains, pristine river valleys, and 1,000-foot waterfalls.

Don't make plans to trek through the three new paths this summer, as they aren't scheduled for completion until the fall. If you're really chomping at the bit for some fresh IAT action, check out Indian Lookout trail near Gros Morne National Park, which will open on August 1. Surely its views of fjords, scenic backcountry, and a 1,200-foot waterfall can placate you until the full 750 miles are completed.

Read more about the IAT's history and plans for the future after the break.

A "walking tour" in New Holstein, Wisconsin

How many of us have signed up for a walking tour only to find ourselves wandering around distracted, wondering about all of the weird things that the tour guide overlooks? Turns out, the quirks are what makes a tour more authentic, according to Preservation Nation, the blog over at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. They're blogging from Chicago this week at the National Main Streets Conference, and posted about a lecture given by Anthony Rubano of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. In it, Rubano says that a good tour should incorporate the unexpected:

...[I]t's not just your downtown commercial buildings you should be highlighting. Waters towers, gas stations, grain elevators, or a two-story outhouse (no kidding) that are sites of interest. "If it is quirky, it is good and should be added to your walking tour," [Rubano says]. Even those advertising slogans and murals of decades past that are still clinging to the sides of today's buildings, called "ghost signs," also have a nostalgic appeal to residents and visitors alike.

Anthony's presentation was about leading walking tours in Springfield, Illinois and a majority of his images were from Illinois communities. But the ideas and program can be used by a Main Street community anywhere. People seek authenticity; you do not find walking tours of big-box stores or a new suburban shopping strip. Those who already have this interest in your downtown and its history will learn more with a successful walking tour, and more importantly, will spend more time and money in your downtown.

A smart, and seemingly obvious thought, but one we're more than happy to pass along. Have you taken a great walking tour that's captured the quirks of a place? 

Read More: For a recap of our tour coverage, visit our Tour Guide posts. 

Photo: Via Preservation Nation

Friend of IT Brian Schott sends us a dispatch from the ski slopes of Utah, where he and others attempted to ski all of the state's 13 resorts in one day.

"Intelligent" was not the word uttered by anyone when I mentioned my upcoming trip. "Insane!" "Absurd." "Ridiculous"--these were a few of the adjectives that slipped easily into email or conversation when I remarked that I would join a team of ten skiers who would attempt for the first time to ski all of Utah's 13 resorts--in a single day.
 
To set the stage for our gluttony, we loaded into a twelve-passenger van at 2:30 p.m. in Salt Lake City for a 250-mile drive south to Brian Head Resort. As I settled into the back seat, I began to think that perhaps I should have looked more carefully at a map before offering to participate in this road trip that seemed ripe for a bad reality TV show. As we pulled onto I-15, the brakes of the van started to grind. But under an expanding sky, across an empty highway, following an ever-setting sun, I began to get excited.
 
After dinner on my way to my room in the Cedar Breaks Lodge, I longingly eyed the indoor pool and hot tub before asking the concierge for a 3:30 a.m. wake-up call. The front desk called my room to make sure that I was serious.
 
"Dizzy." "Skeptical." "Nervous." These were the words slithering through the withered roots of my brain as our dedicated driver piloted us toward the maintenance shop located half way up the mountain slopes. We clicked into our skis and rambled down smooth corduroy on Giant Steps under the big moon. 4:37 a.m. Mood elevated and adrenaline rushing, we took off our ski boots, chomped bagels, and settled down to sleep as the van rocketed us back towards the big Salt Lake.

So, the other day, while I was trying to get my horse to tölt across a lava field in Iceland...

OK, so maybe I don't get to say things like that on a regular (or even an irregular) basis. Darley Newman, however, does. Newman is the host of Equitrekking, a PBS television series about equestrian travel.

I'll admit; when I first heard the name of the series, I was ready to write it off. Though I've always enjoyed horseback riding on my own, I have suffered through many smelly, boring, tourist-oriented trail rides in my lifetime, and I certainly have no desire to watch a television series about them. After watching a few promo videos, checking out the show's website, and exchanging e-mails with Newman, however, I think I will be tuning in to the new season come May.

As the world's most widely published underwater photographer, Stephen Frink knows a thing or two about the ocean. For 30 years, he's traveled the world shooting everything from starfish to great white sharks for publications like Glamour, Time, Newsweek, and National Geographic, and he's even published a book, Wonders of the Reef. When he's not submerged in a remote tropical lagoon, Stephen serves as a columnist and photography director to Scuba Diving magazine. He lives in Key Largo with his family, where he was nice enough to take a break from running his gallery and photography school for a quick Q&A with Kristen Gunderson. Read on to find out his take on kids, tricky photography, shark fishing, and the plight of the world's oceans.

Tell me about your favorite photo.  What's the story behind it?

My favorite photo is one of my daughter Alexa swimming with a dolphin, which I took several years ago near Freeport, Grand Bahama. She was three years old at the time (she has her learner's permit now). For me, the photo shows a moment of incredible and touching interaction. It was also an inspiration that a kid that age would be open to jumping in with such a big "fish." We weren't sure how she would handle it, but she showed no fear. There was also a 13-year-old in the water, and at one point, he began to freak out. Alexa put her head in the water, resurfaced, and said matter-of-factly, "Daddy, it's just a nurse shark." I knew then we wouldn't have to worry about her.

See the photo, and the rest of the interview, after the jump.