斯洛文尼亚索奇河上的木制吊桥上骑自行车的人的鸟瞰图 Aerial view of cyclists on a wooden suspension bridge over the river Soča in Slovenia (© Amazing Aerial Agency/Offset by Shutterstock)

Get on your bike and ride

In honor of the UN's World Bicycle Day, we're at Triglav National Park in Slovenia, with a birds-eye view of riders crossing this dubious-looking wooden suspension bridge over the glacial blue water of the river called Soča. Protecting some of the most magnificent mountain landscapes of the Julian Alps, Triglav is the country's only national park, but it's a stunner. Running along Slovenia's northwestern border with Italy, Triglav was first protected as a 'conservation park' in 1924, then made a national park in 1981. The park gets its name from the mountain at its heart, Triglav, long considered a symbol of Slovenia and of Slovene identity.

Since 2018, the UN General Assembly has recognized June 3 as World Bicycle Day to honor 'the uniqueness, longevity, and versatility of the bicycle, which has been in use for two centuries.' The bicycle has gone through many iterations since Karl Drais created the brake-less, pedal-less bike forerunner called a 'velocipede' in 1817. The German inventor would likely be floored by today's variety of bike options, from new lightweight road bikes to heavier mountain bikes with fatter, knobby tires designed to handle rougher terrain. More than 200 years after von Drais introduced his two-wheeled contraption, bicycles remain as popular as ever. Chances are there's one just waiting for you to take it for a spin, and what better day to do so than World Bicycle Day?

骑上你的自行车

为了纪念联合国的世界自行车日，我们来到了斯洛文尼亚的特里格拉夫国家公园，鸟瞰着骑手们穿过这座看起来可疑的木制吊桥，桥上是一条蓝色的冰川河，这条河被称为Soča。特里格拉夫保护着朱利安阿尔卑斯山上一些最壮丽的山景，是这个国家唯一的国家公园，但它是一个惊人的奇迹。特里格拉夫位于斯洛文尼亚西北部与意大利交界处，1924年首次作为“保护公园”受到保护，1981年被列为国家公园。该公园的名字来源于其核心山脉特里格拉夫，长期以来被认为是斯洛文尼亚和斯洛文尼亚人身份的象征。

自2018年以来，联合国大会将6月3日定为世界自行车日，以纪念自行车的独特性、长寿性和多功能性，这种自行车已经使用了两个世纪。自从卡尔·德赖斯发明了无刹车自行车以来，自行车经历了多次迭代，1817年被称为“velocipede”的无踏板自行车的先驱。这位德国发明家很可能会被今天各种各样的自行车选择所打倒，从新的轻型公路自行车到更重的山地自行车，这些自行车的轮胎设计得更胖、多节，以适应更崎岖的地形。在冯·德赖斯发明了他的双轮装置200多年后，自行车仍然像以前一样流行。很有可能有一天你正等着去兜风呢，还有什么日子比世界自行车日更好呢？

新河峡国家公园中的新河峡大桥，西弗吉尼亚州 New River Gorge Bridge in the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, West Virginia (© Entropy Workshop/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

A river runs through it

To kick off National Park Week, which begins today, we're visiting America's newest national park, the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, in West Virginia. This incredible view is of the New River Gorge Bridge, which, when completed in 1977, was the world's highest bridge carrying a regular roadway. It held that distinction for 24 years and is now a popular attraction for BASE jumpers and rappelers.

Far below the bridge is the New River, which—despite its name—is the second oldest river in the world. Its exact age is unknown, but geologists believe the New River is a segment of the preglacial Teays River, which fossil evidence suggests could be 320 million years old. Today, rafters and kayakers come to ride the New River rapids, which can reach a level of Class V, which means they're among the most difficult waters to navigate.

一条河穿过它

为了拉开今天开始的国家公园周的序幕，我们将参观美国最新的国家公园，西弗吉尼亚州的新河峡谷国家公园和保护区。这是令人难以置信的观点是新河峡谷大桥，这是在1977年建成时，世界上最高的桥梁进行定期道路。24年来，它一直保持着这一殊荣，现在已经成为跳垒和饶舌的热门景点。

桥下远处是新河，尽管它的名字是世界上第二古老的河流。它的确切年龄不得而知，但地质学家认为这条新河是前冰期Teays河的一段，化石证据表明这条河可能有3.2亿年的历史。今天，椽子和皮划艇来乘坐新的河流急流，这可以达到五级水平，这意味着他们之间的最困难的水域航行。

Areuse峡谷的Saut du Brot石桥，瑞士纳沙泰尔 Saut du Brot stone bridge in the Areuse Gorge, Neuchâtel, Switzerland (© Andreas Gerth/eStock Photo)

Once upon a time there was a bridge…

Although this stone bridge, known as Saut de Brot, looks right out of a fairy tale, it serves a very practical purpose. It connects walking trails on each side of the Areuse Gorge, offering safe passage to hikers exploring the lush Brot-Dessous area in eastern Switzerland, a predominantly French-speaking region of this multilingual country. It's not known when the bridge was built exactly, though it's thought to be a recent construction. But if that's true, how do we not know who built it? All this mystery leads us to suspect it's the work of helpful gnomes and fairies living deep in the Swiss woods.

从前有一座桥…

尽管这座被称为索特德布罗特（Saut de Brot）的石桥看起来就像童话故事，但它有着非常实际的用途。它连接阿瑞斯峡谷两侧的步行道，为徒步旅行者探索瑞士东部郁郁葱葱的布罗特-德索斯地区提供安全通道，这是一个多语种国家的主要法语地区。虽然这座桥被认为是最近才建造的，但不知道它到底是什么时候建造的。但如果这是真的，我们怎么不知道是谁建的呢？所有这些谜团让我们怀疑这是生活在瑞士森林深处的有益的侏儒和仙女的作品。

易北河上的巴斯泰桥，德国撒克逊瑞士国家公园 Bastei Bridge above the Elbe river in Saxon Switzerland National Park, Germany (© Reinhard Schmid/eStock Photo)

A bridge that rocks

Sandwiched between soaring pinnacles of sandstone, Bastei Bridge is a highlight of Saxon Switzerland National Park. But don't be fooled by the park's name because we're not in Switzerland; we're hundreds of miles away in eastern Germany, close to the border of the Czech Republic. The name comes from two Swiss artists who visited the area in the second half of the 18th century and felt the picturesque upland scenery was reminiscent of their homeland.

The park boasts untamed forests and spectacular rock formations, including the Bastei in our photo. The rock pillars here were formed by water erosion over a million years ago and tower 636 feet above the Elbe, one of the major rivers in Central Europe. If you're not afraid of heights, you can walk the bridge that has connected these jagged rocks for almost 200 years. Originally made of wood but rebuilt with stone in 1851 to accommodate the increasing tourist traffic, Bastei Bridge offers stunning panoramic views of the river and surrounding Elbe Sandstone Mountains. It also leads to the remains of an ancient castle that once stood here and is now an open-air museum.

岩石桥

巴斯泰桥夹在高耸的砂岩尖顶之间，是撒克逊瑞士国家公园的一大亮点。但不要被公园的名字欺骗了，因为我们不在瑞士；我们在几百英里之外的德国东部，靠近捷克共和国的边界。这个名字来自两位瑞士艺术家，他们在18世纪后半叶造访过这个地区，他们觉得风景如画的高地风景让人想起了他们的家乡。

这个公园拥有未经改造的森林和壮观的岩层，包括我们照片中的巴斯泰。这里的岩柱是由一百万年前的水蚀形成的，耸立在易北河上方636英尺处，易北河是中欧主要河流之一。如果你不怕高，你可以走过这座连接这些参差不齐的岩石将近200年的桥。巴斯泰桥最初是用木头建造的，但在1851年用石头重建，以适应日益增长的游客流量，在它上面可以看到令人惊叹的易北河全景和周围的埃尔贝砂岩山脉的全景。它还通向一座古堡的遗迹，该古堡曾经矗立在这里，现在成为了一座露天博物馆。

兰鲁斯特一座名为Pont Fawr的石拱桥，英国威尔士 Pont Fawr, a stone arch bridge in Llanrwst, Wales, UK (© Pajor Pawel/Shutterstock)

A bridge too Fawr

How much quaintness can be crammed into one picture? We're pushing the limits with this verdant summer scene in North Wales, looking across the Conwy River from its east bank in the town of Llanrwst. Past the Pont Fawr (Big Bridge) in the foreground, the shrubbery-shrouded cottage dubbed Tu Hwnt I'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) seems to sprout straight from the grass. Built in the 15th century as a farmhouse, it's now a traditional Welsh tearoom serving up scones to locals as well as visitors bound for nearby Snowdonia National Park.

The Pont Fawr is itself the stuff of history: Built in the 1630s, it's often called the 'Inigo Jones bridge' after the pioneering early modern architect who, legend has it, designed the triple-arch span that today carries motor traffic. A one-way bottleneck along an otherwise two-way main road, the bridge's humped shape tends to obscure oncoming cars, earning it yet another local nickname: Pont y Rhegi (Bridge of Swearing).