Messages

1

General Discussion / Re: touring without "eating out"

« on: May 16, 2013, 01:55:25 am »

This is a really odd question because we don't really know your reason for wanting to try this without restaurant food !


One different thought comes to mind from my experience with through-hikering, walking along the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, or any other long hiking trail. "Thru-hiking" means that you are walking for a very long time on these trails without stopping except for a rest day no more than once a week. The mind-set of a thru-hiker tends to turn to nothing but walk, eat, sleep and then do it all again. The younger ones that are college age sometimes walk as long as they can until their money runs out.

So when the money gets tight and the appetite gets overpowering, they are famous for walking into a restaurant in the "trail towns", sitting down to order a cup of coffee, Coke, or some other small item. Then when nobody is looking, or maybe even if they are looking, walk over and grab a mostly intact plate left behind by somebody that just left !  This really works good if you are at a place that has a buffet table but lets you in to order off a menu like some KFC's and .......... can't think of that other restaurant at the moment................ ok, it's Shoney's

So if cost and the challenge of making the trip worth remembering are your goals,

2

General Discussion / Re: Cycling partner(s)

« on: May 16, 2013, 01:32:20 am »

hi Westinghouse,

I just checked in after posting a new dream tour of mine in the "Companions Wanted" section. Then I came over to search the forum for the word "Russia" with no luck, and then "eastern Europe" where I am browsing now.  You mentioned cycling there so I kept reading and was just wondering about your warning to cyclists on interstate highways?   How could a solo woman be in more danger on an interstate than on a backroad where the chance of undetected abduction would be in the "perps" favor?

Look for my request about a tour in Russia in a few days after it has posted if you care to reply to that.

3

Classifieds / Re: I just discovered the clasisifieds for loaning out my 6 map sets !

« on: April 08, 2010, 08:02:55 pm »

hey Ron,

I said I'd be interested in loaning them, not selling them except the ones I've actually ridden. I'd let you keep them to study for a month or 2 before your trip but would like to have them back in case I get a chance to ride with them later. Or if you really, really, REALLY want to buy them, I might sell them to you for 75% of what they are worth if you promise to always leave a forwarding address and e-mail, then loan them back to me if I want them later.

As far a details on a loan, rental or whatever you wanna call it, the money is not important, just show me you have a good e-bay rating, or a letter from your mother, or just talk nice on the phone if we chat.

Edwin

4

Classifieds / I just discovered the clasisifieds for loaning out my 6 map sets !

« on: April 07, 2010, 10:28:11 pm »

hi,

For whoever is interested, I'm a geography fan as well a bike tour nut. SO....

I need to put some of my many AC maps to good use if you are interested.
I bought lots of them and have used only a few of them. I'd be happy to loan them real cheap or swap for a set of Western Express for my trip this summer. Just send me a private message or ask in general here. Hope I remember to check back if the forum does not warn me of replies.

Here's the list - most are a few years old  I'm not sure what the L,D and F on the old map codes mean but I think the number is the year they were updated. Tell me if that's not right.

Trans Am Section 5-9 Bought last year, Revised Nov07-Feb08  used only 5,6,7
complete set of Pacific Coast  03L revision , never used
complete set of Southern Tier, 02L revision, used the whole set
complete Lewis & Clark set, 02F revision, never used
Great Rivers South set of 3 , 03L and 04D revision, Muscatine, IA-Baton Rouge, never used
Atlantic Coast section 1-7, bought as a set but revision codes 01L,03L, 04L This set does not have the Florida connector down the Keys.

Edwin in AL
 

5

Classifieds / Re: Want to buy maps of transamerica trail. Anyone selling????

« on: April 07, 2010, 10:04:35 pm »

Hi Chili,

I've got sections ..............  let me dig them out................... to see............

5 Yellowstone-Rawlins, WY
6 Rawlins- Pueblo
 
These two I'd be happy to sell or loan

7, 8, 9 from Pueblo to Murphysboro, IL

These 3 I'd prefer to loan since I have not actually ridden all of it myself yet

They were new last year when I bought them, Revised Nov 07 - Feb 08.  I did use 5,6,7 the whole way but they only have a few pen notations on them. I did not use 8 or 9 even though I carried them with me.


Also, this year I'm planning to do the Western Express from Pueblo to CA, so if you finish your trip before I start about June 10, or if I finish,July 20, before you start, then we can mail and share those - that is if you ride the western express at all. e-mail me since I'm not a regular here on the forum .


ednotmilkman is my name and I'm located a roadrunner ,com

Edwin in Alabama

6

Gear Talk / Re: Road Shoe vs Touring Shoe?

« on: April 07, 2010, 12:19:59 am »

Touring shoes should have a full rubber sole to walk on, except for the recessed part where the snap-in part is, which is best because it will not wear down quickly like cleats on a mtn shoe.


May I add that I love my Frogs, but I made the mistake of buying a top-of-the line SIDI Dragon mtn bike shoe because they had a replaceable set of cleats.

The problem was that the cleat replacements cost $80 which I did not check before spending the money. So now I just use the Dragons as my stiff road shoe, and I'll be looking for a new pair of flat sole "touring" shoe before I go on my summer tour.  I wore out my very nice Nike ACG (whatever that means) touring shoes last summer because I tried to do a long day hike over loose rocks in them at Hoosier Pass in CO on the Trans Am.

So if you like to hike on your tours like I do, be smarter than me and buy or carry  pair of sneakers for that !

7

Gear Talk / small wheel folding bikes vs. traditional frames with S&S couplers

« on: April 07, 2010, 12:01:40 am »

I'm thinking I need to buy an airline, Greyhound, and even cruise ship, friendly folding bike to get me to lots more bike tours in the next 20 years.  I would like to stay with a conventional frame and have never tried a "Friday" type bike. It seems the touring bikes available with the real nice looking S&S couplers all cost over $2500 which is hard to swallow with my current priorities.

Any suggestions of how the small wheel bikes would work for me? I'm tall and have used a basic aluminum  60cm frame racing bike for 6 years that I've beefed up by building my rear wheel with a Mavic CPX rim and double butted spokes. This bike pulls a BOB trailer.  If I had a steel frame instead of aluminum, it looks like (according to the sandsmachine website) I could just send it to one of many custom bike frame shops for a $700 retrofit of the S&S ?

I look forward to what the magazine says about this in the near future since Dan D' Amborosio has a great article this month on traveling with your bike but he says he'll cover folding bikes and S&S couplers in an upcoming issue.

Edwin in Alabama

8

Great Lakes / Re: Welcome to the Great Lakes Region

« on: June 07, 2009, 11:38:33 pm »

Hi,

I enjoy glancing at the "companions wanted", but am wondering if I might find a small group to ride with in this part of the country for about a 2 week tour sometime between August and October. I could either fly in if you start and stop near an airport, or I've traveled with my bike on Greyhound a lot as well.  I've never been in the upper midwest at all. I'm a retired dairy farmer from the south, so I'd love to do a "barn tour" where I could sleep in barns and maybe help milk a few cows in exchange for dinner or breakfast.  Milk houses always have good hot water for camp showers too. This would have to be your plan, as I'm not even considering a solo trip unless it's just a few days to get back to a bus station or airport. I'd Hope to cross over and see at least three states, but a good loop in one would be fine anyway.  50-80 miles a day.

Send me a private message please
Edwin

9

Classifieds / Re: Would like to borrow BOB Yak trailer (Eastern PA)

« on: June 07, 2009, 11:22:43 pm »

if you want to pay shipping, I'll mail you my bob and bag. I'm not near you, nor where you are going though.  I won't be needing it till after July 20th if you can get it back around then.  Do you have a paypal account or an e-bay account with excellent feedback? That would be good enough "credit" for me to mail it to you. 


I assume you'll need the skewer too?  My trailer is not the original bob, but a YAK that has a teardrop shape vs. the square front bob. The skewer and hooks are different but the YAK still fits a BOB skewer. Bag is a BOB replacement, since the YAK bag had a zipper that was never waterproof.

Send me a private message
Edwin

10

Gear Talk / Re: 10 speed triple Cranksets compatible with 9 speed?

« on: June 07, 2009, 11:05:54 pm »

would you ever want to switch to 10 speed ? unless you can no longer buy a 9 speed STI style shifter ??  Does anyone have an idea if these will still be sold in 15 years?  I'm using 9 speed Shimano 105 shifters now. If they quit selling these, I might clamp mtn shifters on my road handlebar.

11

Gear Talk / Re: Touring Tires

« on: June 07, 2009, 10:59:44 pm »

I'd think any tire would hold up for a ride across one state, unless maybe the state is Alaska. If they are not new, or you just wanna play it safe, buy and roll up one spare to carry.

Did you mean Forte, as coming from Performance Bike catalog or store?

12

Underground Railroad / underground railroad bike route

« on: September 25, 2006, 10:50:38 pm »

I don't know much about the UGRR route, but since I live in southeast AL, I would like to join a small group riding the southern end of it for a week or so if I happen to be free when you come to Alabama. Too  bad the route does not go far enough east to see Tuskeegee Institute, the G.W. Carver Museum and the Tuskeegee Airmen museum. I don't think it goes through Selma and over the Edmund Pettus bridge either? These sites are important in African American history of 20th century instead of slavery period but are well worth a detour if you are interested
Edwin ednotmilkman@adelphia.net (retired milkman!)

13

Classifieds / touring shoes

« on: December 13, 2006, 12:26:49 pm »

If you mean "better than SPD" , as far as the cleats releasing easy instead of poor shoes themselves, then go with Speedplay Frog pedals and cleats and keep your same shoes with the holes in the bottom ! They have no spring tension holding foot to pedal. All you do is twist your ankle out 30 degrees to dismount. I use high end SIDI mountain bike shoes and have starting adding common hardware store resin/hardener epoxy glue to build up the worn parts of the tread to keep the cleat safely away from the ground longer.

14

Gear Talk / handlebar,shifter,brake options

« on: December 06, 2006, 11:03:05 pm »

Sorry I can't give a perfect answer about flat bar hand positions, but I do have an unproven suggestion you might think about.  Why not add an "aerobar" on your flatbar to rest your wrists completely as your forearms hold your weight and also give you the best aero position in headwinds while touring ??  I have one on my drop bar touring bike that I use maybe 20% of the time while on the road to save my wrists more than for any aero advantage. The aerobar sticking out front may interfere  with some handlebar bags, but it actually gives you more tubing to hang a bag under once you do a little 3rd world engineering of it.

15

Gear Talk / STI shifters with XT crank?

« on: December 06, 2006, 11:14:47 pm »

Hi bikermitch, I was told each front derailleur works best with only the size big chainring it was designed for. An Ultegra designed for a 52 tooth ring will have problems with a smaller mtn 44 big ring and vice versa. This is because the "cage" radius is the same as the radius of the chainring it is designed to push the chain onto. Also there are problems of spindle length with different bottom brackets that may make the rings not line up well??  I have no first hand experience myself - keep asking