Messages

1

Routes / Re: Englishman Orlando FL to DC trip

« on: January 24, 2013, 08:54:34 pm »

The scouts pick trails where they can, but in this part of the country the route uses quiet back back road for--I'd guess--90% of the way. Perhaps some local riders will chime it.

Fred

2

Routes / Re: Englishman Orlando FL to DC trip

« on: January 24, 2013, 10:30:36 am »

Your found the right place, Howard. Welcome to the best resource for travel by bicycle in the U.S. The Florida Connector and Atlantic Coast routes look like exactly what you need. Check them out here.

You can find tales about every city of good places to be as well as bad places. I expect Orlando to be no different. At least you know from the ACA maps that a scout has visited and the food and lodging have been checked. Combined with TripAdvisor food and lodging, they are most useful.

Fred

3

Routes / Re: Route from Minneapolis Internaitonal Airport

« on: January 23, 2013, 03:06:37 pm »

Wondering how the route is out of the Twin Cities heading East toward Osceola?  Is there alot of traffic to deal with or are there bike trails available?  Planning trip in July 2013

As you see, it can be done on trails and a few residential sections. If you would like the full benefit of Adventure Cycling's mapped and documented route, get Section 6 of the Northern Tier, where it is the Minneapolis/St. Paul Spur.

4

Gear Talk / Re: Generator Hubs and USB Devices

« on: January 20, 2013, 05:12:55 am »

You are right; this is an old topic with lots of experience recorded right here. Rather than run the search for you, I will suggest the search box at the top of the topis list on the  Gear page.

Fred

5

Routes / Re: Allegheny Gap

« on: January 20, 2013, 04:58:37 am »

Hi - My wife and I are preparing to do the Allegheny Gap, probably from Pittsburgh to DC in the late spring, or early fall...

QUESTION:  What are the trail surfaces like.  Can we use 35C wide tires?  Or should we be thinking about using our mountain bikes?
Pat.

Hi Pat. Asked and answered many times here. 35C willl suffice most of the time, excepting an all-day downpour.

Try the  search box at the top of the topics list on the Routes page for a lot of opinions

Fred

6

Routes / Re: Missoula to Banff

« on: January 13, 2013, 08:25:41 pm »

Keep looking, Pete, and you should soon come across http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/greatparks.cfm

Fred

7

General Discussion / MOVED: Bike Friday Touring and Travel

« on: January 09, 2013, 10:55:23 am »

This topic has been moved to Gear Talk.

http://www.adventurecycling.org/forums/index.php?topic=11282.0

8

Routes / MOVED: Coast to coast across America - book for sale

« on: December 29, 2012, 07:01:55 pm »

This topic has been moved to Classifieds.

http://www.adventurecycling.org/forums/index.php?topic=11251.0

9

Routes / MOVED: Hwy 1 chip seal petition

« on: December 29, 2012, 06:59:53 pm »

This topic has been moved to California.

http://www.adventurecycling.org/forums/index.php?topic=11252.0

10

Gear Talk / Re: Efficient Lightweight Stove

« on: December 28, 2012, 04:49:07 am »

There's a new solid fuel (ie wood) stove on the market that also generates electricity for gadget charging.  I haven't used one personally, but it's getting good reviews and seems to have good potential for cycle touring.  Check it out: http://biolitestove.com/

See also a thorough discussion by touring cyclists at http://www.adventurecycling.org/forums/index.php?topic=11005.msg55617#msg

Fred

11

Routes / Re: Need help with getting ready for bike tour

« on: December 16, 2012, 05:04:27 pm »

Topic drift This thread started with fairly general questions, but is now discussing routes. I have tried to combine the posts in the Routes forum with partial success. Maybe today's effort will work better.

Fred

12

General Discussion / MOVED: Re: Need help with getting ready for bike tour

« on: December 14, 2012, 02:28:09 pm »

Topic drift. This topic has been moved to Gear Talk.

http://www.adventurecycling.org/forums/index.php?topic=11219.0

13

Routes / Re: Need help with getting ready for bike tour

« on: December 14, 2012, 02:17:05 pm »

Since you have already asked about what to pack on the bike, I will hazard a guess that you want to learn about the bike itself and its equipment. Head right back to that How To Department http://www.adventurecycling.org/features/howto.cfm. The sections on bikes and gear begins with a discussion of the whole bike, then delves into the details of all the bits that go on board. That will most likely answer all your questions, but do browse this Gear forum for even more, and write back.

Fred

14

GPS Discussion / Re: GPS Data Wish List

« on: December 13, 2012, 06:04:54 pm »

Two excellent points, Warren. Thanks for writing.

...
First... Keeping waypoints along a route separate from the intermediate points within a route make it very easy to load them as POI's...

You ought to be able to do this now, using the waypoints' symbols. All the waypoints that lie on the route (that define the route) use the generic waypoint symbol. Lodging, stores, campgrounds, museums have different symbols.

MapSource can sort the waypoint list by symbol. I do not know BaseCamp well enough to say. You can then load the waypoints you want into the GPSR or into a .gpx file.

...
And second - find a decent way to handle trails.  I am planning to ride the GDMBR this spring and Garmin's Mapsource and my gps devices go crazy trying to auto-route the backwoods...

I'm afraid we are at the mercy of the mapmakers for this one. I notice Garmin's TOPO 24 supplies auto-route data for a few biking, hiking, and rail conversion trails. When they see enough market, they will probably do more trails on maps better suited to cycling.

Meanwhle, I switch to straight-line navigation in these situations. We wrote the ACA data with this expectation. It works pretty well on all but the most contorted trails.

Fred

15

General Discussion / MOVED: Google maps vs garmin GPS

« on: December 09, 2012, 06:27:23 am »

This topic has been moved to GPS Discussion.

http://www.adventurecycling.org/forums/index.php?topic=11205.0