Topics

16

Routes / Wyoming and Colorado routing?

« on: December 05, 2010, 05:13:36 pm »

Ahoy, Cyclo-tourists:  This is WAY long range planning for a paved Continental Divide ride.  Our plan is to start in Jasper, Alberta, in August and work our way south with the goal of hitting Silver City, New Mexico in late October and crossing the Arizona desert starting sometime in Nov. to avoid the heat to finish in San Diego.  The options are clear for us in Wyoming, with the only question being to deal with the main part of Yellowstone and the Tetons or not, swinging out further east before heading south.  I hear the drop down Dead Indian Pass to Cody is quite fine.  Opinions on the options?

Re. Colorado: We seem to have two main choices there, too. 1) Take the ACA route which goes through Breckenridge, Fairplay, etc. or 2) Route to the west, taking in Carbondale, Hotchkiss, etc.  Both routes, roughly speaking, taking us to Gunnison for a drop down Hwy 149 through Lake City and points south.  I've read the run from Salida to Fairplay is pretty obnoxious, traffic, bad shoulders, etc.  Opinions on the options?

Thanks!

Scott

17

General Discussion / Solar assist bike tour on bikebits...

« on: October 20, 2010, 01:27:41 pm »

I just read and viewed the video about a fellow's trans-Asian ride with a solar assist mounted to a BOB trailer--panel, etc.  This looks like a great idea, but on hearing the statistics of his travel, it looks like a reasonably fit cyclist could do the same WITHOUT the fancy trailer--just good ol' muscle and wind, eh?  This often seems to be the case with the solar-powered exploits.  They look cool, but the human powered alternative seems to always win the day.  Perhaps the technology just isn't there yet.

The posting:

SUN ASSISTED
Check out this Wall Street Journal video of Florian Bailly, a French
cyclist who bagged more than 8,000 miles while going from France, across
Europe, and to Japan aboard his solar-power-assisted bicycle. We have
a feeling we're going to start seeing a lot of cool developments like
this coming down the pike!
http://bit.ly/cf9HP2


Cheers,

Scott

18

General Discussion / Camping in Pismo Beach?

« on: July 21, 2010, 03:13:46 pm »

It looks like all the hiker/biker options in Pismo are kaput.  Is that true?  Am I stuck with a motel if I want to stay in that area?  I'm SURE reg. sites will be mega-booked.

Thanks.

Scott

19

General Discussion / Great Divide Race Gallery

« on: July 12, 2010, 07:03:40 am »

A huge thank you to Aaron Teasdale and Adventure Cycling for the GDR photo gallery.    It was very inspiring, and although I tried to prepare myself for the photo of David Blumenthal that I knew was coming, it still hit me hard.  He seems so supremely happy in that shot.  Sincere condolences to all who knew him.

Scott

20

Routes / Sierra Cascades south of Lake Isabella?

« on: June 29, 2010, 07:45:37 pm »

I now find myself living on an ACA route!  Very cool.  I'm not in the market for the maps, but I was wondering if anyone with a set could tell me if the climb along Hwy 58 goes all the way to Tehachapi, or does the route cut off at Keen and take the Woodford/Tehachapi road--very much preferred?

One MUST take Hwy 58 for about 5 miles (excellent shoulder), but the route really should cut off at Keen for a fine, quiet, super beautiful ascent.  I frequently ride between Tehachapi and Bakersfield, and I've toured a few times from Tehachapi to Lake Isabella and beyond, so I know what I'm talking about.

Cheers!

Scott

21

General Discussion / Young lad's touring bike?

« on: April 04, 2010, 06:46:43 am »

Hey, Y'all:  I'm shopping around for a young lad (15).  His family does not have much cash, so I'm getting some folks to chip in for a decent bike.  He's a keen rider and did a 350+ mile mountainous tour with me last year on a bike I loaned him.  He really needs his own ride.  He's about 5'7" with about a 32" inseam, but I don't think he's going to grow A LOT more because his family is Indonesian.  So I'm thinking about a 20" frame.  Anyway, here's the bike I'm thinking about.  I wanted your input.  My plan is to put in a smaller granny--as small as will fit, hopefully 24t--and put on some bar ends.  I'll set it up with the other basics, pump, seat bag, bottles.  For the money, this seems like a great choice. 



Link to bike info.http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/road/fx/72fx/

Thoughts?

Thanks!

Scott

22

Routes / Sierra Cascades Bicycle Route

« on: December 28, 2009, 06:30:23 pm »

Looks like this is going to follow Hwy 89 in N. California.  Watch out for this route!  It has many crazy, angry logging truck drivers.  I can't recommend it.  With some careful study, you might be able to find ways around it.  I've never been quite so frightened as when we cycled that route during regular trucking days.  Sundays/holidays suffer from tourist traffic, but that seemed less dicey to us.  We've ridden sections of it on two occasions.  Beware.

Scott

23

Routes / San Diego County area tour?

« on: October 31, 2009, 05:25:12 pm »

Ahoy, riders:  My wife and I are looking forward to doing a winter tour this year, probably before Christmas.  We've pedaled a lot through Death Valley/east Mojave and may do so again for want of other options, but I'm wondering if anyone has recommendations for about a week to ten day tour that we could do in San Diego County.  Of course, we're interested in the lowest traffic roads and nice scenery.  Hills and mountains don't scare us.

Any ideas?  Routes?  Specific roads to avoid?  The usual.

Thanks!

Scott

24

General Discussion / Camping on Blue Ridge Parkway?

« on: September 02, 2009, 05:48:12 pm »

Hooray, my wife has said she really wants to do a cross country bike ride.  Right now the plan is 2012, when I can get time away from work for a tour starting in the fall.  So, like the nut I am, I'm already thinking about routes.  The plan is to start in Sept. and start working south pretty soon, following the autumn until we hit the Southern Tier (dodging any hurricanes) and head west. 

The idea o hitting the Blue Ridge seems a natural.  After reading a bit on it, it seems campgrounds are far apart, at times, it seems, to far to cycle in a day.  This is especially true for us as we'll be in trikes AND pulling our dog along.  What's the skinny on camping between designated sites?  I've read the park people are really down on this, but is it reasonably doable? 

Any experience/advice greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Mr. Bent AKA Scott

25

General Discussion / Shorts recommendation?

« on: May 25, 2009, 01:26:05 pm »

Greetings:  I need some recommendations on affordable cycling shorts.  I'm taking a crew of three young dudes out on a multi-day tour, but they're pretty inexperienced and come from families without a lot of money.  I'm providing trailers and some other basic touring gear, but I'm putting together a gear list for all the basics they will need.  My main concern is comfort. I don't ride long distance on a conventional bike anymore.  Since getting recumbent, most of the saddle issues that bothered me are long gone.  My charges, however, will be on conventional bikes.

Do you think padded shorts are necessary?  I think so, and I'm going to recommend that that each have two pair: one to wear and another set that can be cleaned and drying for the next day.  I would like to keep the cost at under $40 per pair.  What do you suggest?  Any other hints at helping me make this a success are welcome!

Scott

26

Routes / Sierra Cascades Bicycle Route

« on: March 18, 2009, 07:31:25 am »

I'm excited to see ACA putting together this route.  I have one serious concern.  From the rough map on the home page, the route appears to take the main highway between Mt. Shasta and Truckee, Hwy 89.  I certainly hope this is not the case. I've been on that stretch  a couple of times.  While the section north of Truckee is okay for a while, the area around Quincy and north is some pretty hairy riding--tight, shoulderless, and, worst of all, subject to some very high volumes of very fast driving, very angry logging truck drivers.  These dudes are some special kind of unhappy jerks.  They'd lay on their horns, curse, shake fists, even called the CHP with the hopes of forcing us to get off the road.  A cop actually stopped to talk to us.  He was great, and told the truckers that we had every right to be on the road.  I CANNOT recommend this route to anyone.

The country is beautiful, but stay off 89.  You can take some alternates further east, hooking through Susanville and then climbing out and over to Calpine/Sierraville area.

Be well!

Scott

27

Routes / Gen. impressions of Washington coast and Mt. Hood, OR?

« on: March 08, 2009, 10:30:52 am »

My wife and I are planning a tour for this summer, and we're thinking of starting in Vancouver, BC, heading down through Washington to Portland, OR, then heading out around Mt. Hood/Columbia River for a while.

For those who have ridden in these areas, what are your impressions of the ACA Washington route?  Traffic, etc?

For those familiar with Oregon, how is the road around Mt. Hood?  Shoulders, traffic, quality of the ride?  I know a bit more about the Columbia River route because of the detailed maps the Oregon department of transportation puts out.  The Oregon side seems excellent for touring.  What about the Washington side?

Any help/information greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Scott

28

Routes / Nevada route info.

« on: February 15, 2009, 02:36:39 pm »

I'm researching a tour for this coming summer that will involve a section of Hwy 50 from Silver Springs to Middlegate.  On looking at Google Maps, I discovered a set of roughly parallel roads from Lohatan Res. : Cadet Rd. and Pioneer Way, among others.  Does anyone know the road surface on these?  In short, is it possible to ride  good dirt, preferably pavement between the reservoir and Fallon without getting on Hwy 50?  Contrary to marketing claims, that hwy is NOT especially lonely on that stretch. 

Thanks!

Scott

29

General Discussion / Copies of photos from latest Adventure Cycling magazine?

« on: February 05, 2009, 10:25:04 pm »

I'm totally taken by the photos from the latest magazine of Frank Lenz, especially the title page.  Is there any way to get copies or high quality jpg's of these pictures?  The sepia tone, cool bike, old gear, I love it.  A wonderful and sad story about that young man.  Sad to say, the Middle East is still pretty sketchy place to ride.  So little has changed in a hundred years.

Thanks!

Scott

30

Youth Bicyle Travel / Sag or not to sag?

« on: January 31, 2009, 06:26:37 pm »

Greetings:  I'm in the initial stages of putting together a big touring club in my area with the goal of getting local kids and others to train for and undertake a challenging tour.  I've already made my first pitch to some high school boys, and they seem keen.

Without getting too detailed, I'm planning a challenging approximately two week, 500 mile tour.  I'll be leading lots of training rides over the next three months or so to get the kids in shape (youngest will be 15). My thinking right now is to go fully self-supported.  The idea is to prepare them well enough so the group can do it in a pure style, but I could possibly get one or more of the parents or a teacher to provide some sag support/back up.  What are your thoughts on this?

Thanks!

Scott