Messages

46

Routes / Re: Louisana Information Sought

« on: January 10, 2013, 05:18:46 pm »

Highway 90 out of New Orleans will take you to Florida. From Baton Rouge, take 190 to 90. You can get to Covington, LA and ride Tammany Trace to Slidel. From there catch 90 a bit farther south.

47

Routes / Re: I quit a ST trip in2010. I was slow and ran out of time. Going ultralight. Tips?

« on: January 10, 2013, 05:14:15 pm »

Google maps has a bicycling option. I have not used it for cycling. I have tracked their routes on the internet through parts of the country and roads which I know are otherwise recommended for cycling. Google maps bicycling recommendations match some known routes, and miss others. I remember one area where they were off and away from a very good cycling trail. Exactly how significant that is I am not sure. State DOTs usually have the kind of information you need.

48

Routes / Re: The Western Southern Tier in the Winter (January-Feb)

« on: December 22, 2012, 03:51:47 am »

When I say southern tier I mean southern tier of states. I have cycled that ST a number of times. The interstate is not necessarily preferable to ACA's mapped route. The way I go follows the mapped route and departs from it off and on and off and on again. I used the interstates west of Las Cruces to Yuma, AZ. I would not really recommend it mainly because of the roughness of the surfaces and the debris in the bike lanes. It's just the way I go. On my last ST crossing I got on I-10 as far east as Junction, TX, and used interstates all the way to Yuma with forced uses of other roads in cities, and west of Van Horn going into El Paso. That sort of thing. Interstates are more direct and probably less hilly. There is often too much loud traffic though. On one ST trip I followed the extreme coastal routes from Florida to way down south to Port Isabel, TX and Brownsville, TX near Matamoros, Mexico, at the Gulf of Mexico. Then, I followed the border roads north to Van Horn, TX.

49

Gear Talk / Re: What is the best telephone & telephone service for cross country touring.."

« on: December 22, 2012, 03:18:35 am »

I used a cheapo cell phone from Wal Mart on the southern tier from FL to CAL. There were two places I could not get a connection, Ocala National Forest in Florida, and Jacumba east of Pine Valley, California.

50

Gear Talk / Re: Continental Country Plus II tires

« on: December 22, 2012, 03:15:49 am »

Continental is an excellent tire. There is something on youtube about "how it is made." I cycled from FL to CAL on two C-tires. They not only went the full distance without having to be replaced, they lasted for quite a long time afterwards.

51

Gear Talk / Re: Cheap Breathable Rain Gear and Shelter

« on: December 22, 2012, 03:12:15 am »

Tyvek gets rave reviews on youtube. I am definitely going to use some on my next tour. All you need are scissors and tyvek tape, and of course, don't forget the duct tape. I saw that graph. Even gore-tex clogs in a heavy sustained rain. What I don't like about tyvek is it is white. It highlights dirt and grime. It does look kind of hobo cheapo. No doubt, what you wear makes a difference, but if light weight, warmth, dryness, low cost, and comfort are the results, it might just be the way to go. I wouldn't use if to make a tarp or a tent because I do a lot of stealth sleeping / camping. White would show for a long way through a stand of trees. The camo blends in and makes you invisible from a distance. That's what it is for. Sure, tyvek can be painted. I think it is too much trouble, but who knows.

52

Gear Talk / Re: Cheap Breathable Rain Gear and Shelter

« on: December 19, 2012, 03:03:02 am »

I have two Gore-Tex jackets. One is the Summit series and costs about $450.00 or so. Both are too heavy for a long bike tour. Why spend hundreds of dollars for a result you can get for ten or fifteen dollars? The same with the stove. It is only four metal sides with a fan and conduit. Why spend $80.00 when you can make one easily that weighs much less for much less money in no time?

53

Gear Talk / Re: Cheap Breathable Rain Gear and Shelter

« on: December 14, 2012, 07:10:17 am »

No problem. Nobody makes more typos than I do, though lately I have taken to cleaning them up. I am planning another long bicycle trip. I have been doing research on buying or making highly efficient, low cost, lightweight gear and lightening my load for a trip of perhaps two months or longer. I am putting forth ideas I plan to put into effect. The stove is a winner. I've seen it working. Everybody swears by the Tyvek. It got only the best reviews over and over again. I will definitely use it. Not everyone can afford to spend a lot of money for fancy expensive status-symbol gear.

54

Gear Talk / Re: Efficient Lightweight Stove

« on: December 14, 2012, 06:52:07 am »

That's right. I forgot about Heet. I have used Heet. It works fine in place of denatured alcohol. But this forced air wood burner is so much more efficient and much hotter than the alcohol stove I have. I have made up my mind. It's the best of choices, IMO. I am a wood burner on my next long tour. I cannot say when the tour will happen. I have an idea of where it will be.

I like eating in restaurants. The problem is I always get some kind of diarrhea or dysentery sooner or later eating in public places like those. The only coast to coast trip I took with no food-related sickness at all was the one where I cooked all my own meals about 95% of the times I ate. I like the sociability of eating in restaurants, having hot food served to me, and being able to sit back in comfort with a cup of coffee in a heated or air conditioned room. I'm a decent tipper too. However, in doing these things I also make a trade off of putting what I eat in the hands of others before it gets to my table. Most times it was no problem, but too many times it was a problem. One time is too many. On my next long tour I'm looking out for myself. I will take the time to thoroughly cook my own food and make sure it is clean.

55

Gear Talk / Cheap Breathable Rain Gear and Shelter

« on: December 14, 2012, 06:35:45 am »

Tyvek is a material that is cheap, breathable, waterproof, windproof, and light weight. Trace lines on the material that will fit your size for jacket and pants. Cut out two pieces for each. Tape them together with Tyvek tape and there you are. Tents, bivy bags, jackets, rain flies, and tarps are easily made. It breathes like Gore Tex. It is more durable than Gore Tex. It is very light in weight.

Of course, it does not look all that spiffy like some people all decked out in $400.00 Gore Tex jackets riding $1500.00 touring bikes, but it does the same thing and has the same benefits to its users. One guy got a 50 foot by 9 foot roll of it for $50.00 at Craigslist. It could cost $150.00 at Home Depot or Lowe's for a 50 by 9 roll.  It sells by the yard in some places. It cuts easily but is very difficult to tear. You could make a breathable waterproof lightweight tent with plenty of space with a floor for maybe $25.00-$45.00, maybe less. No sewing. Just use Tyvek tape or outdoors, doublefaced, carpet tape for the seams.

56

Gear Talk / Efficient Lightweight Stove

« on: December 14, 2012, 06:08:13 am »

In anticipation of another long bicycling tour, I have been scouring the internet for a highly efficient, lightweight, inexpensive, camp stove, and somehow those criteria just don't go together. Alcohol stoves weigh nothing, but what about the fuel which is sold in quarts only. That ups the weight to that of a multi-fuel, Coleman, one-burner with a full tank which if much more efficient than the alcohol burner. The Coleman is nice. It costs about $95.00. The other lightweights that use separate pump-bottles are efficient and hot, but $129.00 for some little few ounce apparatus? Ha. You must be joking, or rich. The Sierra Zip woodburner is nice too, but here again look at what they want for it. It takes a lot of space in your panniers too. There are various homemade wood gas stoves that burn nearly smoke free. They are reasonably hot and efficient, but not reasonably enough in my estimation. Then there is the Vital Stove. IMO, this stove is much more directly to the point, except it weighs much more than is necessary to produce that kind of heat which they say can top 12,000 BTU.

See the Vital Stove on Youtube and you will see the sense in my modification of the idea. Just cut four rectangles from an aluminum sheet, cookie sheet, pie plate or whatever about seven inches long and five inches wide, or some other sizes that will work. Drill holes near the edges of the lengths of four pieces and attach them with wires so that they can be folded over like a deck of cards. Not all sides would be wired. Cut an opening at the bottom to allow a flow of air. Form an air conduit with aluminum foil. Tape a small computer cooling fan to one end of the conduit. Fit the other end into the opening at the bottom of your standing burn chamber. Fill with wood. Light. Turn on your fan and there you have it.

It weighs much less than any other stove with comparable heat and efficiency. It costs anywhere from 10% or 20% of of what you would pay for other stoves. There is no need to buy and carry fuel. All you need is a couple of AA batteries which may last 20 hours or so. No repairs. It can produce a flame two feet high at 12,500 BTU and more. You can see the design at work on youtube. It works very well. It folds together and takes only a little more space than two decks of cards. If you want to avoid burning the ground or the surface it is on, put some aluminum foil underneath.

There are some downsides to this stove. You have to collect small bits of wood. In my estimation, it is no problem. I have been by many places on tours where fuel like that was readily and amply available, but it does take time to do. It also blackens cookware with soot. If you are cooking a full meal, you have to feed the burn chamber repeatedly. It must be kept in its own pack to keep the soot out of your panniers. Cookware must be cleaned externally and packed in separate bags.

All in all, when it comes to light weight, low cost, smallest volume,  highest burning efficiency, low maintenance, and fuel costs, this homemade stove is the best. In essence it's the Vital Stove minus the excess, unnecessary weight and raz mataz.

57

General Discussion / Re: Advice needed!!!

« on: December 14, 2012, 05:22:53 am »

Do read on the subject. It isn't rocket science, but there are several bits of knowledge and preparation that can make the difference between some days being home runs, base hits, or outs. Spend for really high quality tires. The cheaper ones can be a real pain. Still bring a full patch kit. Be ready for all kinds of weather. You'll be surprised what nature will throw at you, and not pleasantly. Keep your load at minimum. On the road you'll see what you need and what is superfluous. Dump the unnecessary. Check out lightweight backpacking on youtube. It shows what a person can get by with on a 4-6 month through-hike of the Appalachian Trail. No need to buy an expensive stove if you are going to cook meals a lot. I have figured a way to make a very cheap, highly efficient, wood-burning stove. It's not as if nobody else has thought of it. They have. I will post it under gear. No need to pay out for costly gore tex. Make your own breathable rain suits from Tyvek.

58

Routes / Re: The Western Southern Tier in the Winter (January-Feb)

« on: December 08, 2012, 12:08:02 pm »

What weather you might get is a matter of probabilities and so variable. Cycling through Van Horn one winter was all blue skies and some overcast. Another winter through Van Horn snowed me in for six consecutive days at a motel. You can try the interstate.

59

General Discussion / Re: Ft Lauderdale to Key West & Marco Island to Ft Lauderdale

« on: December 03, 2012, 12:48:16 pm »

Pennecamp state park is underwater. Key west is historical. It is small and compact. Ernest Hemingway's house. Harry Truman's house. You can google it. I had a great uncle from the civil war who met his future wife there. He later became a governor of Pennsylvania. KW was a customs station during the CW.  It was occupied by union forces. Henry Flagler had a railroad built through the keys. A hurricane killed many of the people working and building that railroad. The fishing should be good. It had a reputation of being a sort of homosexual gathering area. I don't know if that is still true. There are large cruise ships operating out of that place. You can go bonefishing. There is free camping in the woods. Just don't advertise your presence. Keep it secret. Don't build a campfire. There is a southern most point marker. They have guided tours of the city in small trains. There's the Hog's Breath Saloon if it's still there. There are plenty of gorgeous women there in winter. There are many places to knock back some beers and relax. There's a historical sailboat there, or there was. They were refurbishing it. There's a naval base, air base, whatever.

60

General Discussion / Re: Ft Lauderdale to Key West & Marco Island to Ft Lauderdale

« on: November 30, 2012, 01:33:53 pm »

Camping is feasible which I define as an onernight sleep site. Is is officially allowed? I'm not sure. People do it. I camped every time I did the Keys which has been six times so far. I have cycled the keys six times. I camped every night. I do not build fires. For me it is simply set up, sleep, wake up, pack up, go and find the nearest restaurant.