Messages

1

General Discussion / Pacific Coast Travelers - Campground Closure Info

« on: May 08, 2013, 02:53:03 pm »

Due to a recent fire in the Ventura County/LA County area of Southern California, Point Mugu Campground is temporarily closed.
Point Mugu is one of the many parks along the coast that offer hiker/biker camping and is popular with traveling cyclists.  The closure is temporary.

More info here:
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=630

2

Gear Talk / Re: Ultra Light TransAm Ride

« on: May 07, 2013, 07:53:57 pm »

Buddy, post the link!

OOPS!
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/Ultralight

Wow!
That was a lot of work.  Very helpful too.

Thanks for sharing

3

Routes / Re: Looking For Route Recommendations

« on: May 06, 2013, 10:16:37 am »

In Alberta, Canada the Icefields Parkway from Lake Louise north to Jasper has wide shoulders and tremendous scenery

I traveled by car and camped in that area 10 or so years ago.  Beautiful country!  Great suggestion.  Thanks.

And thanks to others for their input as well.

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Routes / Re: Looking For Route Recommendations

« on: May 05, 2013, 11:36:00 am »

You could ride the C&O Canal Towpath and GAP Trail combination. It is about 325 miles without any automobile shared usage.

I'll look that up.
Thanks Dan

5

Routes / Re: Looking For Route Recommendations

« on: May 05, 2013, 11:24:01 am »

Well I'm sure it varies by locale.
I have ridden very rural roads in northern CA and Oregon where the occasional vehicles were logging trucks that showed little interest in sharing the road with cyclists.  2 or 3 feet of shoulder is nice under those circumstances.

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Routes / Re: Looking For Route Recommendations

« on: May 05, 2013, 10:40:33 am »

Almost everywhere in the country except for southern California fits your requirements. Note that you can typically get wide shoulders or very little traffic, but usually not both at the same time.

Try Montana, or Wyoming, or Kansas, or North Dakota, or northern Wisconsin, or the Erie Canal, or west Texas, or rural Kentucky, or Idaho, or any of zillions of other places.

Thanks for the reply.
Given the choice, I would prefer nice wide shoulders.  I don't mind cars as much when I have my own space.  We actually have quite a few roads that meet that description here in SoCal, it's just that we often have to traverse narrow-busy sections to get to them.

7

Routes / Looking For Route Recommendations

« on: May 05, 2013, 10:23:48 am »

I looking for recommendations for safer and/or lower traffic routes for touring. 

I live in southern California and I'm no stranger to dealing with cars on the road - I ride our busy roads with cars virtually every day.  But I'm interested any route suggestions that would take me away from this and offer nice wide shoulders and/or very little traffic to contend with.  (Eventually I'd like to make my way to the Netherlands to give their network of bike paths a shot.) 

I've spent most of my life competing for space on the road with cars.  I'm interested in alternatives where I can relax and just ride my bike without being strafed by cars every few moments.  I have experienced a few places like this myself but I'm curious of what others have found.

Have you found an area, region or country that was relatively free of car-conflicts for bicycle travel?  Gravel and dirt roads are not out of the question either.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and suggestions. 

8

Gear Talk / Re: Bike Sizing

« on: May 05, 2013, 10:05:04 am »

Be sure to compare top tube lengths as well as frame size.

For me, it's always been a bit easier to adjust my fit to a slightly smaller frame rather than to a slightly larger one.  Stem length, rise, stack height and seat post (up-down, fore-aft) are easier to adjust on a smaller versus larger frame IMO. 

9

General Discussion / Re: The importance of always wearing a helmet

« on: May 02, 2013, 09:02:22 am »

A helmet is a personal choice - (unless a local law dictates otherwise)

Personally, I choose to wear a helmet. 
I figure if I chose not to wear it one day, and that was the day I crashed - it would nullify all those other times I wore and didn't need it.

10

General Discussion / Re: 3 years to retirement.

« on: May 01, 2013, 08:06:21 am »

Congrats on your pending retirement!

The mushy feeling could be the setting on your front suspension.  I don't know if the fork on that particular bike is adjustable?  Either way, personally, I would prefer a rigid fork for riding the road.  Some suspension forks have a "lock out" function that essentially converts it to a rigid fork with the turn of a dial while on the fly.

Are you planning a supported or unsupported cross country tour?  If you are planning to do it on your own, I think it would be well worth the cost of a touring-specific bicycle.  Decent touring bikes can be had for well under $1500.  A relatively small price to pay considering the numbers of hours, days, weeks you will be riding it cross country.

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Gear Talk / Re: Ultra Light TransAm Ride

« on: April 30, 2013, 09:27:56 am »

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/index.html

This is a link to a backpacking website but much of the info is valuable for bike touring as well.
In general, lighter gear means more expensive gear.  But worth it IMO.

12

Routes / Re: Route through or around Los Angeles.

« on: April 30, 2013, 09:22:00 am »

Following the coastal route through LA is certainly no worse (IMO) than some of the narrower sections of Highway 1 further north.  You will undoubtedly be sharing the road and trail with others, but it is relatively safe riding when compared to much of the route you will have already covered. 

As another poster mentioned - much of the coastal route through LA is on beach bike trails. 

13

General Discussion / Re: Inspire or Scare the Begeebees?

« on: April 28, 2013, 09:20:22 am »

Bears and rednecks are the least of my concerns.
Drivers texting and 80+y/o's driving motorhomes or pulling fifth wheeled trailers are the far bigger risks IMO.

14

General Discussion / Re: How to Blog? Crazyguyonabike?

« on: April 28, 2013, 09:09:12 am »

I have cruised Crazy... on many occasions.  While the formatting and graphics are not on par with today's web style, it is a very informative and interesting website.  I agree there is a TON of info to sift through.  I have had reasonably good luck just using their search function to find more specific information.

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General Discussion / Re: Tents

« on: April 28, 2013, 09:01:42 am »

A tent like many other items is a give and take.  The more you get in terms of comfort and convenience the more weight and bulk you will have to deal with. 

I am fine with the capacity ratings on most tents.  That being said, I usually will only share a tent with my wife and/or my kids.  If I were traveling with anyone else I would likely use a lightweight one person tent.  With a 1P tent you get your own private space plus it's easier to find a clear flat spot to fit the smaller footprint.  Plus, if for some unforeseen reason you and your partner get separated, you still have a complete shelter system.

UL 1P tents can be found at roughly 2 pounds:  https://www.bigagnes.com/Products/Detail/Tent/FlyCreekUL1