Messages

1111

General Discussion / Women who've gone x-country alone?

« on: June 23, 2006, 06:28:19 am »

crm wrote:
I would love to hook up with your friend who rode in Spain, if she were willing to be in touch.

Sure. Please send me an email (address in my profile) and I will forward it to her so she gets your address. I'm not sure when she will be back in the States, but she is a good communicator.

Fred

1112

General Discussion / Women who've gone x-country alone?

« on: June 22, 2006, 06:39:11 am »

Hi, Shoe.

Be sure to read the thread "Safety--women travellers" about seven lines down on the contents page of this group. It already contains most of the answers you can expect here; interestingly not one by a solo woman traveller. However, Molly should soon be done with her trip and perhaps will tell us how it went.

The friend I mention there is riding somewhere in Spain just now, so I cannot put you in touch with her, sorry. She has said that she does nothing special beyond the normal cautions about avoiding situations that don't feel right. My wife says the same.

Not much help, I know, but the best a man can do.

Fred

1113

General Discussion / Atlantic coast, nothern area

« on: June 27, 2006, 04:24:31 am »

I'd note that the Atlantic Coast Route is a coastal route rather than going through the mountains.

A good point, Peaks. Janie, there is plenty of color in the coastal areas, usually a week or so later than in the hills of the same latitude, but most leaf peepers want the hills. If you have never experienced fall foliage, you might want to bite the bullet and make advance reservations to see the show. A bike is the best way to see it, and the ACA route keeps you off the big roads with their tour busses from Nebraska.

Call some of the places on the route and ask how much notice they need for a particular week or weekend. In the heavy tourist spots (think Stowe VT) many of them want a two-night minimum on foliage weekends. I have found innkeepers to be very helpful. They like cyclists, who eat a lot and go to bed early.

Fred

This message was edited by FredHiltz on 6-27-06 @ 3:25 AM

1114

General Discussion / Atlantic coast, nothern area

« on: June 21, 2006, 05:06:12 am »

You will hit the sweet spot for cycling in the Northeast. The period between Labor Day and foliage time is quiet on the hospitality front and the weather is the best of the year for cycling.

During foliage season you will indeed want advance reservations or perhaps take backup camping gear. Check the states' tourism web sites for foliage times. Roughly, though, from the second week of September in far northern New England to the third week of October in New York. It varies from year to year, and of course weekends are tighter than Sunday - Thursday nights.

Enjoy!

Fred

1115

General Discussion / newer than a newbie

« on: June 12, 2006, 04:41:42 am »

Hi Diantha. Badger is right about where to start. There is so much information out there that sorting it for your needs is the hard part, not finding it. I might add to find someone who does the kind of riding you intend and who will spend some time, perhaps riding along the lake with you, to remember how he or she got started. Ask at the bike shop or at a club ride advertised as a fun ride, not an event for wannabe racers. What a racer says with the best of intentions about, for example, the right bike and how to train will not be much use.

Don't ignore one of the best resources right here, the How To link on Adventure Cycling's front page.

And most of all, have fun!

Fred

1116

General Discussion / Cycling maps?

« on: June 10, 2006, 03:15:56 am »

Hi S_G,

If you have not seen them yet, do check out the excellent cycle maps published by NH DOT at http://www.nh.gov/dot/nhbikeped/. They are available for download, but they are large and colorful, so you may want to order the free paper maps after a look on the web site. Many NH rest areas also had the maps last year.

The statewide map covers the state on two sides of a 34" x 21" sheet at 3.8 miles per inch. Seven regional maps of the same size give more detail than you probably need for a trip of this length, but are great for local hacking around. Roads are color coded for bike suitability. The back pages contain monthly temperature and precipitation graphs, state campgrounds, parks, rest areas, and useful telephone numbers.

Fred

1117

General Discussion / POllUTING BICYCLES

« on: June 03, 2006, 04:41:34 am »

Right, and we should not ride the bike either. All that heavy breathing releases additional carbon dioxide. Killing yourself will not help, as your decomposing body emits methane, an even worse global warming gas.

I'll just drive over to watch the NASCAR race instead.

Fred

1118

General Discussion / How to survive weather on the Northern Tier

« on: April 05, 2006, 05:43:04 am »

Hi Paul,

My experience with the NOAA weather radio was much better than yours. I got a useful signal on a cheap Radio Shack receiver 95% of the way across the Northern Tier in 1999, and it should be better today according to NOAA's map at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/usframes.html. Perhaps your receiver was not up to par.

Browsing this map, it looks like the Great Divide route would not be well covered except up on the high ridges. Has anyone been there and done that?

Fred

This message was edited by FredHiltz on 4-5-06 @ 4:43 AM

1119

General Discussion / Safety-- women travellers

« on: March 16, 2006, 06:54:07 am »

Are there any women out there that can respond?

Molly, please email me at the address in my profile. I'll refer you to "that woman with much XC riding experience."

Fred

1120

General Discussion / Safety-- women travellers

« on: March 15, 2006, 05:52:17 am »

One woman did mention that she felt people noticed her and looked out for her more when she was travelling alone...

That is exactly what my sweetheart said on return from a solo trip. Another woman with much XC riding experience remarked that she was probably safer in those small towns than in any large city. Do you carry when walking alone in Minneapolis?

I'd say to trust your good instincts just as you would anywhere. If a place doesn't look and feel attractive, move on. When camping in small town "city park" campgrounds, check in with the cops (or the local equivalent, often the grocery store owner) if only to avoid having them check you out later that night.

Forget the pistol. Even with proper training, it is more likely to do damage than prevent it. So say the shooters I know, anyway.

Fred

1121

General Discussion / Solar Panels

« on: March 01, 2006, 07:26:12 am »

The trouble with solar charging is that our rechargeable batteries do not take well to trickle charging. They need the high pulsed current supplied by good chargers to get a full charge.

http://www.batteryuniversity.com is an excellent place to learn more than you ever wanted to know about all this, written by a man who makes his living charging and testing batteries.

I carry a small Maha charger and 6 AA cells, all weighing less than a solar charger, for my GPS. I need to find an outlet only every 4 or 5 days.

Fred

1122

General Discussion / Knee pain and what to do about it.

« on: February 07, 2006, 05:45:34 am »

I'll second WW on the cadence. It will feel strange at first (50 is close to walking cadence) and will need some practice. For motivation, remember Lance spinning his way past the competition up those mountains.

I got a cyclometer with cadence to use as a nanny. Whenever it dropped below 80, she nagged "shift down." It is easy to backslide when you are tired.

Spinning is easier if your saddle is not too high. The knee should be slightly bent--just a little--at the bottom of the stroke. Your hips should not rock on the saddle.

One more thing. Think circles. When my riding partner seems to be stomping on the pedals, I say "think circles" and her speed increases noticeably.

Give it a month or two. Smooth circular pedalling at 90 rpm made a huge difference for me. It probably will for you.

Fred

1123

General Discussion / anyone biked across the US in 15 days or less?

« on: January 08, 2006, 06:12:43 am »

Yes, with vehicle support. Take a look at the Race Across America at http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/ and http://www.ultracycling.com/.

Fred

1124

General Discussion / Not finding the ideal GPS for cycling

« on: January 06, 2006, 06:11:53 am »

The way it works: each track point stores the latitude, longitude, altitude, and time. You can set the unit to record a point at a chosen distance interval, time interval, or "automatic" with five choices from least often to most often. On automatic, it watches how far you have deviated from a straight line connecting the last two points, which results in more closely spaced track points on curves.

Ron's comment about the altimeter is important. All GPS receivers can read altitude from the satellites with typical error of < 100 feet, 95% confidence. Some units  also contain a barometric altimeter, which gets the error down to perhaps < 20 feet. If more precise profiles are important to you, then the extra cost and small extra battery drain may be worthwhile.

I'd like to recommend http://gpsinformation.net/ where you can find a wealth of information about consumer GPS. Jack's two lead articles,"My First GPS for Hiking" and "My First GPS for Automobile Navigation" are excellent starting points. You can hybridize them for biking.

Fred

1125

General Discussion / Not finding the ideal GPS for cycling

« on: January 05, 2006, 06:45:14 am »

Hi Mike,

I'd consider Garmin's GPS 60. Small, rugged, waterproof, stores 10,000 track points with altitude, and runs on two AA cells. Regardless of the unit you choose, you will need a small PC or a PDA to offload your tracks during your three-month trip.

If the countries you are visiting have good maps, the extra money for a mapping unit really adds to the utility. But you probably know that already .

Also try the GPS Discussion forum. You might get a broader audience there.

Fred