Messages

661

Mid-Atlantic / Re: Welcome to the Mid-Atlantic Region

« on: January 19, 2010, 12:04:35 pm »

For camping, Bull's Island along the Delaware River about 4 miles north of Stockton, NJ is a nice spot.  You might need reservations on the weekends, and there is a two-night minimum on weekends unless you show up on Saturday and there is a space.  Worthington State Forest in NJ across from Delaware Water Gap, PA is also nice. Take the trail from Lambertville, NJ to Frenchtown, NJ (it may even go as far north as Milford now).  It's doable even on skinny tires, and NJ Rte. 29 between Lambertville and Stockton is narrow with no shoulder.  Rte. 29 does have a wide shoulder starting about 1 mile north of the center of Stockton, but it can be littered with gravel and broken tree branches sometimes.  In the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, the Walpack Inn has famous black bread. (It may be off route.)  The Erie Hotel in Pt. Jervis, NY has good eats.  A few miles up U.S. 209, the American Family Campground off route a tad is overpriced and, I here, could use a face lift.  10 years ago I was tenting there when hurricane Floyd came up the coast. The next morning I asked about one of their bare-bones cabins.  The owner said I had to take it for 2 nights (at $50/night) even though the place was empty.  The embarrassed woman working in the office called a motel down the road and secured a room for me.  Rode about 6 miles in a hurricane.  When the campground owner saw me about to leave he changed his tune about the two-night minimum, but I was out of there.  Not the sort of guy I would ever give business to again.  The motel/retaraunt is called the Cornucopia, and the owner was very nice.  Supposedly have terrific German food.

662

Connecting ACA Routes / Re: Umpqua-Crater-Rogue alternate, southwestern Oregon

« on: January 18, 2010, 11:46:35 am »

Had the pleasure of riding the entire Rim Road in 2007, including the tail out to Cloud Cap Overlook, as part of Cycle Oregon.  Amazing place.

663

Routes / Re: Chicago to west coast?

« on: January 18, 2010, 11:42:25 am »

AC's Northern Tier route passes through Odell, IL, about 100 miles from Chicago.  You could hop on their, take it to outside Anacortes, WA and then take their Pacific Coast route to Seattle.  But it would be a pretty tall order to do it in 35 days.  From Muscatine, IA to Anacortes alone is over 2,700 miles.  Odell to Muscatine is probably another 200 miles.  And it's another solid 2 days to Seattle from Anacortes.  Even if you could save a day or two buy skipping the trip into Canada from Cut Bank, MT, you would still need to average close to 90 miles.day with no rest days to make it in 35 days.  You could trim a few days off of that by taking the shorter alternative through MN--going from Dalbo, MN to Fargo, ND without going up north to Grand Rapids, MN, but then you would miss Lake Itasca, where the Mississippi River starts.  (If you look at the Norther Tier maps detail on the AC web site this will make more sense.)

To give you an idea, when I did Seattle to Maine using the Pacific Coast and Northern Tier routes, I started around May 27th.  Got to Fargo, ND on July 6th.  Taking the long way through MN took another 2 weeks.  Averaged about 60-65 miles/day with a day off every 6th or 7th day.

If it turns out you will be pressed for time, consider taking the train to Minneapolis and starting from there.  (Seattle is also convenient for taking the train back to Chicago.)

As for scenery, it all depends on what you consider scenic.  I happen to love the rolling farms of ND.  Others don't get excited about that. The Northern Tier route uses Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park.  You can't get much more scenic than that from a mountain perspective.  The ride along Lake Koocanusa between Eureka and Libby, MT and the North Cascades Highway in WA are also quite pretty, just to name a few.

664

General Discussion / Re: Dry Counties on the TransAM

« on: January 14, 2010, 02:04:02 pm »

Here is a starting point:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_counties

You can match what you can find with the couty names shown on the maps.

But unless you are going to go off route you might find yourself high and dry unless you carry your own supply.

665

General Discussion / Re: Amtrak Travel folder style

« on: January 14, 2010, 11:33:38 am »

Try to find a seat near where the box will be stashed.  (That will depend on what type of train equipment is used on your train.)

Get up and check on it periodically.  If it walks off between stops alert a member of the train crew.  It can't have gone far.

Keep in in sight at every stop.

I really don't think you have much (if anything) to worry about.  You could have a piece of carry on in the rack above your head, fall asleep or go the bathroom and have it walk off.  In fact, that's probably a more likely scenario (See recent charges against Cybil Shapherd's son for allegedly stealing from carry on bags while in flgiht) than someone trying to walk away with your bike box since in the former scenario they could rifle your bag for valuables and then dump it back on the overhead rack of another car.

666

Routes / Re: Transamerica general questions

« on: January 14, 2010, 09:10:00 am »

One way to look at it:  4,750 miles.  Maximum of 63 days (9 weeks).  To average about 80 miles/day (79.16) would mean only 3 rest days, which is one every 21 days on average.  That's an average of 560 miles/week for 3 weeks--non-stop and then one day off.  Repeat.  Repeat.  IMO, that's very agressive.  With such a high daily average, having to take an unscheduled day off for something like horrible weather conditions, sickness or mechanical trouble will require more effort to get back on schedule that would be required with a lower average.  But if that's what it has to be, you feel you are capable of it AND you feel you would enjoy it, I say go for it.

667

General Discussion / Re: Bike Rack Reviews

« on: January 13, 2010, 12:53:36 pm »

I got a pair of Bob Beckman racks nearly 11 years ago, and in 2008 I got him to make me a new pivot mount so I could retrofit the rear rack to a new touring bike.  Bomb proof and great looking.  The front rack's large platform is particularly handy.  When I toured with a North Face Slickrock tent I could it easily fit on the front rack lengthwise.  The rear rack also has a long and wide platform.  Holds my Velox 3 tent lengthwise with no problem.  You will never have to put anything perpendicular to the carrying surface.

Assuming the guy in still in business, be prepared to wait for your stuff.  You may even have to leave a message with his wife.

668

General Discussion / Re: assembling a bike at NY JFK airport...

« on: January 13, 2010, 07:37:40 am »

Check these out:

http://www.ridethecity.org/

http://www.bikenewyork.org/resources/local/routes.html

If you look at the NYC bike map (hard copy is free) you will see that, at worst, there is a train you can probably take for part of the distance.


P.S.  Good and affordable Polish/Russian food at Teresa's at 80 Montague St. in Brooklyn Heights.

669

General Discussion / Re: assembling a bike at NY JFK airport...

« on: January 12, 2010, 11:52:31 am »

You can ride over the Brooklyn Bridge from B' Heights to Manhattan.  I do it every year in the opposite direction as part of a NJ to Brooklyn ride.  (Take a short side triip to the Promenade in B' Heights.  Great view of lower Manhattan, especially at night).  You can even see the Statue of Liberty.)  The walkway, which has a narrow bike lane, is above the car deck so you have great views of the bridge architecture.  The trip across is a very popular tourist attraction so it can get very crowded at times.  Be careful because people often walk out into the bike lane without warning.

NYC has a very active bike advocacy scene.  Look into it.  One of the organizations may have a bike map showing potential routes from the airport.

670

General Discussion / Re: Considering Solo XCountry Trip...friend can't get time off from work

« on: January 12, 2010, 11:41:37 am »

The only correct pace is the pace you are comfortable with.  And your body will tell you if you are riding too hard.

I doubt you will find yourself tenting alone in a remote place. Never happened to us during our Northern Tier trip.  There were always others besdies us around.  Same is true for the combination of the Great Parks North and South and Trans Am routes from Missoula to Cortez, CO.  The only place I ever camped alone was the AC biker camground on the west side of Togwotee Pass in WY, and even that was only about 5 miles from a town.  Unless you specifically intend to do othwerwise, for the sake of convenience you will likely find yourself camping in populated areas since those are the areas with services (e.g., private campgrounds with showers, grocery stores, etc.).

The major defense concern encountered were mosquitos.  DEET deters them quite nicely.

In theory you could run off the road into the woods and not be found until it's too late.  But you could also injure yourself while alone at home or while driving alone with the same result.  Again, since it doesn;t sound like you will be in the wilderness, I don't think it's something that should deter you.

Headwind is a great excuse to slow down and smell the roses.  You won't have stretches of flat, windy terrain for thousands of miles.  And I have a dollar to do a donut that says that on some hilly days you will long for those flat, windy stretches.

All the other advice given is sound.  Just go for it.

P.S. Consider front panniers rather than rear ones if using a B.O.B. to balance the weight.

671

General Discussion / Re: assembling a bike at NY JFK airport...

« on: January 11, 2010, 07:58:49 am »

You might want to check with the domestic airline to see if they will accept a bike in a bag.

672

General Discussion / Re: General Age Range of the TransAm?

« on: January 07, 2010, 01:05:28 pm »

Bob, are you the same BobG that led the last part of our NT tour in '99?

The age range for that trip was from around 23 to 76.  4 in the early 20s, 2 in mid 30s.  I believe everyone else was over 50.

Wayne, some people might say to you "Why would you pay someone (e.g. Adventure Cycling) to ride across the country?"  When I did AC's Northern Tier tour in '99 I had zero loaded bike experience other than one 62 mile ride and zero camping experience other than test pitching my tent in my mom's living room.  Going with a group that included an experienced leader and other participants with experience was invaluable.  I learnned a lot of gained the confidence that helped me during two extended solo tours the following year.

673

General Discussion / Re: bike for TransAm trail

« on: January 07, 2010, 12:56:27 pm »

Wayne,

Where in NJ are you?  (Love riding in Hunterdon Couty.)  If you are not unreasonably far from Philly, Trophy Bikes at 33rd & Walnut usually has some Long Haul's in stock.  One of Trophy's specialties is touring.   So they carry racks and panniers as well.  Last time I checked the LHT complete bike is retailing for around $1,100 these days.  I bought one a few years ago and I love it not only for loaded touring but for getting around town.

674

General Discussion / Re: Should we have a sub-forum for Guided Tours?

« on: January 04, 2010, 12:49:34 pm »

In writing "Bike Forums", I think Cyclesafe was referring to www.bikeforums.net

And CGOAB is www.crazyguyonabike.com

Poke around both those resources and you might find something relevant.

675

Temporary ACA Route Road Closures / Re: Green Mountain Loop, map 10 - 2009

« on: December 30, 2009, 09:36:03 am »

They blew it up the other day.  Saw the video on GMA.