Messages

1

Classifieds / Re: European BikeLine maps (Danube and Po rivers) for sale

« on: April 04, 2013, 05:26:59 pm »

Yes they are.  Sorry about the late reply.  I've been touring.  Which are you interested in?  If you are still interested send me a private message with your zip code and the maps you want so I can get an exact shipping cost.  I take payment via PayPal.

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Classifieds / Re: Old ACA maps for sale, large variety

« on: February 14, 2013, 04:37:16 pm »

Sure are.  Give me your zip code and I'll get you a shipping price.

3

Classifieds / For Sale - Bicycling the TransAm companion guide book - SOLD

« on: February 11, 2013, 03:08:45 pm »

For Sale, The Complete Handlebar Guide to Bicycling the TransAm Virginia to Oregon/Washington, 3rd Edition published 2009 by Ager Kirz.  This is the companion guide to the TransAm maps.  $10 plus shipping to your address.  If interested give me your zip so I can calculate shipping costs.  It is used and in good condition.

4

Classifieds / European BikeLine maps (Danube and Po rivers) for sale

« on: February 04, 2013, 06:20:36 pm »

We had 3 maps from Esterbauer Bikeline for sale for $12.00 each plus whatever it costs to put them in the mail.  They're in very good condition.  They are:

Cycline cycling guide, Danube Bike Trail (in English) from Vienna to Budapest, 1st edition dated 2006
Cycline cycling guide, Danube Bike Trail (in English) from Budapest to the Black Sea, 1st edition 2008

Po- Radweg in Italy (German is the only language available) from Milan to the Po-Delta, published 2012

5

Classifieds / Old ACA maps for sale, large variety

« on: February 04, 2013, 06:14:11 pm »

We have a bunch of old maps just gathering dust.  We are offering them for $4.00 each plus whatever it takes to put them in the mail.  Here's the list plus what addendum we have:

Washington to Minnesota Section 1, #BC-1121-95L Plus addenda to Jan 1998
TransAm Section 4, #BC-1521-L93, Plus addenda to Jan 2000
TransAm Section 5, #BC1522-94L, Plus addendum for summer 1995
Maine to Virginia Section 1, #BC-1441-L93, no addendum
Maine to Virginia Section 2, #BC-1442-94L, plus addendum for spring 1994
Maine to Virginia Section 3, #BC-1443-94L, no addendum
Virginia to Florida Section 1, #BC-1401, plus addendum to spring 1994
Virginia to Florida Section 2, #BC-1402, plus addendum for spring 1994
Virginia to Florida Section 3, #BC-1403-94D, no addendum
Virginia to Florida Section 4, #BC-1404, plus addendum for spring 1994
Iowa to Maine Section 1, #BC-1101-94L, plus addendum for spring 1994
Iowa to Maine Section 2, #BC-1102-94L, plus addendum to spring 1994
Canada to California Section 1, #BC-1611-96D, no addendum
California Coast Section 3, #BC-1623-D93, no addendum
Great Parks North Section 1, #BC-1211, plus addendum to Jan 1998
Great Parks North Section 2, #BC-1212, plus addendum to Jan 1998
California to Florida (Southern Tier) Section 1, #BC-1710-L94,  no addendum
California to Florida (Southern Tier) Section 2, #BC-1711-94L, no addendum
California to Florida (Southern Tier) Section 3, #BC-1712-94L, no addendum
California to Florida (Southern Tier) Section 4, #BC-1713-94L, no addendum
California to Florida (Southern Tier) Section 5, #BC-1714-94L, no addendum
California to Florida (Southern Tier) Section 6, #BC-1715-94L, no addendum
California to Florida (Southern Tier) Section 7, #BC-1716-94L, no addendum

6

Classifieds / Wanted Underground Railroad Route Map Set

« on: February 04, 2013, 05:49:01 pm »

We are looking for the complete Underground Railroad map set.  If you'd like to sell yours let us know.

7

International / Re: Extended Solo European Tour on the Cheap

« on: March 23, 2011, 05:28:33 pm »

One thing most folks don't mention are the visa requirements.  Most of western Europe is now in the Shengen group.  While that means you don't need to worry about passport inspections at each country border it does mean that it's far more difficult to stay for a long period.  The rule is you can stay within the Shengen region for no more than 90 days out of a 6 month period.  You can go in and out all you want, but your stay in that 6 months cannot total to over 90 days.  Shengen countries now include all the way from Portugal to Scandanavia to Hungary, Italy and even Greece.  Croatia is one exception.

Pratically speaking, it's very rare that you'll get caught especially if you've been in and out a lot.  Each time you enter you get a passport stamp that shows where you entered and how; i.e. plane, boat, or car.  It's not likely that even when departing that the border guard will go back and look for any more than your last stamp nor will they add up all your time if you have a lot of enter and leave stamps.  As yet it doesn't appear that it's all computer linked.  I expect someday that will change.  But in theory you cannot restart the clock simply by going out of the Shengen region for a few hours or days and then coming back in.

If you get caught it means a very big fine, we've heard something like 500 euros, and you may be barred from going back for many years.  Different countries are more or less picky about this issue.  In some cases you can get a temporary residence permit allowing you to stay longer, but it can be a pain to get, again depending on what country you want to get it from.  We did it last year and aren't sure it was worth it.

One thing that can help is England is not in Shengen and US citizens can enter and stay for up to 6 months.  So in theory you can spend 3 months on the mainland, 6 months in the UK, and then return to the mainland for another 3 months.  Or you need to head toward east Europe into countries that are not as yet in Shengen such as Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, etc.  But these countries aren't quite as bike friendly as those further west.

Just make sure you're fully aware of your visa requirements before buying your tickets.

8

Routes / Re: Alaska to Argentina

« on: March 22, 2011, 04:05:18 pm »

You will have to go around the Darien Gap in southern Panama.  There are no roads plus there are a lot of bandits hanging around in the jungle. 

9

Routes / Re: Info Required for First Time Southern Tier

« on: March 22, 2011, 04:03:07 pm »

We did the ST way back in 1996.  Started in FL in Jan and arrived in San Diego just in time for tax day.  We took a week long side trip to Big Bend NP plus we visited just about every park along the way.  We hit bad ice storms near Houston and wound up renting a car for a week to wait out the bad weather.  So we would not recommend the middle of winter as a good time.

For some reason the ferry across the Mississippi was not running and we had to hitch with some truckers.  That's not the normal situation, but it could happen again.
 
Water in Texas can be a big issue as some of the towns we went by were basically ghost towns.  The ride up to Davis Observatory was worth the visit, but if you're on a really tight schedule you may want to bypass it.

I agree that when those wind storms hit you can end up completely stalled.  We got stuck in 2 or 3 and wound up having to hold up or make just 4 miles per hour.  One word of warning, when those wind storms hit a lot of sand gets blown around and that can damage your tent.  Take a hotel room.

RE: shipping your bikes.  If you fly British Air they count your bike as your second bag.  So the cost is currently $50/bike in a bike shop bike box.  That's what it was last year but by 2012 that may change.  One small tip for protecting your bike, use those foam pipe insulation tubes you can buy at a hardware store.  These split nicely and wrap around each tube.  Make sure they're well taped in place.  You toss them when you arrive in San Diego and then buy new ones when you're done.  Always use a fork spacer and we also use a plastic piece of pipe to ensure the rear frame dropouts don't get smashed.  Remove your rear derailleur since it will usually be pushed right on the side of the box.  This makes sure it doesn't get bent.  Even still, expect damage.  Every time we take our bikes on a plane they come out of the experience with new scratches and dings.  Last year my frame pump got smashed and I got a big new dent in my downtube.

Just remember, if you're not dirty you're not doing anything.

10

Routes / Resupply on road to Bella Coola, BC

« on: March 22, 2011, 03:42:28 pm »

Has anybody been along the road to Bella Coola, BC lately?  If so, what is the food resupply situation like?  Are the stores reasonably well stocked in summer or should we plan to carry extra?

11

GPS Discussion / Re: Getting around Garmin Waypoint limits

« on: March 22, 2011, 03:32:22 pm »

Fred, we bought the 2011 version of City Navigator which includes some 6 million POIs which I'll bet include almost every off route waypoint that ACA has with the exception of perhaps a few bike shops and the more out of the way places.  So I'm tempted to delete the ACA off route waypoints and then combine the routes and then see what I wind up with.  If that's still too much for the Etrex I'll just include off road routes; i.e. Lewis and Clark thru Lolo pass and the GDMBR.

We've been riding ACA routes since 1988 so we're used to not having a GPS so it's no big deal.  It just makes finding services easier.  Even the GDMBR didn't give us any problems with getting lost.  Too bad Garmin put such a dumb limit on their handheld units.

12

GPS Discussion / Re: Getting around Garmin Waypoint limits

« on: March 19, 2011, 08:45:34 pm »

Thanks Fred.  What about converting the waypoints to POIs using GPXtoPOI and then merging the many routes so there's just one per map section which would wind up fewer than 50.  Would that work?  I think POIs get written with the maps onto the SD card.

13

GPS Discussion / Getting around Garmin Waypoint limits

« on: March 19, 2011, 07:04:30 pm »

We are planning a long tour that will cover about 1/2 of the Trans Am maps, a couple panels of Lewis and Clark, most of the Great Parks maps, several states of the GDMBR maps, plus the British Columbia portion of the Trans Canada trail.  All of these have GPX files available with hundreds of waypoints and many routes.  The problem is, we are working with a Garmin Etrex Vista CX.  I can easily put the City navigator 2011 maps on an SD card.  But how can I get around the 500 waypoint and 50 route limit?  We won't be carrying a laptop so we can't just load data on the Garmin as we go along.  I don't think this Garmin will read waypoints and routes from the SD card and those limits will really cut down what we can take.  Is there a workaround?

Thanks