Messages

31

General Discussion / Re: Do we need to do any training?

« on: April 22, 2013, 10:10:22 am »

90 days is on the generous side, so you have some time to get in shape en route. The problem with starting out with inadequate training, however, is that the risk of overdoing it early on are high. If you push it the first couple of weeks, you may end up with something like a knee strain that may not get better fast enough for you to complete your trip on schedule. To mitigate this risk, I suggest you increase your mileage, including some training on hills and with your gear. As paddleboy said, however, being young sometimes allows you to get away with breaking all the normal rules.

32

Gear Talk / Re: do I have too much crap?

« on: April 21, 2013, 02:53:36 pm »

My typical ride to work route is a good test of weight.  It gains about 800 feet over 10.5 miles.

Wow, where do you live? 800 feet over 10.5 miles fits my definition of "flat". If your tour will also be flat, then I agree that your ride is a good test. But if your tour is somewhere more hilly, make sure you do a test under tour conditions.

33

Gear Talk / Re: do I have too much crap?

« on: April 19, 2013, 08:18:43 pm »

Normally, I would say that if you ask this question, the answer would be "yes".

Although 80 pounds is probably above average, assuming you are including everything including three full water bottles and your pump and all your tools and spare parts, it's not outrageous. Load it up with the rest of the weight and take it for a 50-mile ride, including up and down all the biggest hills in your area. That will tell you if it is too much.

Lots of people like to go light, but it's not necessary to do so. If you want to eliminate some weight, most people take at least twice the clothes they need, so that's the first place to look.

34

Routes / Re: Avoiding Yellowstone

« on: April 19, 2013, 10:13:50 am »

What I did not like about Madison is what Jamawani notes. Madison was crowded and loud.

It is an unfortunate dilemma, but many times the coolest places to visit attract the most people, and therefore making them less cool. The main areas of Yellowstone definitely don't offer much solitude, but in my opinion they are worth it anyway. Besides, on a long tour, I typically get plenty of solitude other places.

I nearly got doored during an "animal jam." Someone who thought they had seen a moose or something stopped and the lemmings did the same.

One of the great things about being on a bicycle during these animal jams is that you can easily ride right up to where the animals are without worrying about finding a parking place. Then when you're done looking, you can ride away without waiting for the roads to clear. When a herd of bison blocked the road between Madison and West Yellowstone, I was able to ride right through the herd, while those in their cars got stuck in a five-mile traffic jam. The only people who got to see the bison were in the first few cars--the hundreds of cars behind them saw nothing and waited hours. I had many frustrated drivers stuck in that five-mile line of cars ask me what the hold-up was. It got to where I just started answering the question before it was asked by saying "bison on the road" every time a driver opened his mouth.

35

Routes / Re: Across North America

« on: April 17, 2013, 09:48:09 am »

The route that seems to meet your criteria the best is the ACA Northern Tier. At the western end, the NT will get you within a day's ride of Seattle. At the eastern end, there are many different routes possible from NYC up to the NT. One way would be to take the train to Albany, and then ride the Adirondack Park Loop up to the NT in eastern NY.

36

Routes / Re: Weather in the TransAm Mountains

« on: April 17, 2013, 06:53:19 am »

Good luck Curt. I love to see declarations such as yours:

Important: All donated money will go directly to the Wounded Warrior Project — none will be used for ride costs!

37

Connecting ACA Routes / Re: Portland,or to Seaside

« on: April 16, 2013, 07:45:02 pm »

There is excellent, inexpensive, twice-a-day bus service between those two cities on Northwest POINT. The bus leaves from the same place as the train arrives. There's even TV and free WiFi on board. When I did it, I didn't take my bike with me, so you better call them to see what their policies are for that.

38

General Discussion / Re: Bears

« on: April 15, 2013, 05:11:26 pm »

On the TransAm, I only wild camped once in bear country, along that very long stretch along the Lochsa River in Idaho. There are, of course, a number of campgrounds along that road, but wild camping there is extremely easy to find and perfectly legal (i.e., no need for stealth). There are no Grizzlies in this area, so you only need to worry about a rare black bear. Just hang your food at least a hundred yards from your tent, and bring no food or smellies within a hundred yards of your tent, and the risk is miniscule. In my case, I stopped and ate dinner at a pullout along the road, brushed my teeth and cleaned up there, and then rode several more miles down the road before camping.

39

Routes / Re: Weather in the TransAm Mountains

« on: April 15, 2013, 04:38:54 pm »

When starting in the West, you're picking an ideal time to start. If you were to start much earlier, you could anticipate very cold weather, not so much in the Rockies but before that in the Cascades and high plains of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. Weather in the last half of June in the Colorado Rockies is about as good as it gets. The worst you might expect is for it to drop down to freezing briefly overnight. Even then, that will likely only happen if you camp up high, above 7000 feet. That's probably only going to happen a couple of days. You can mitigate this by choosing a low spot on the route to camp rather than a high spot. Daytime temperatures in the mountains in June may be anywhere from the 60s to the 90s. June is one of the least rainy months in the mountains, but you may encounter a brief thunderstorm, perhaps with some hail. If that happens, seek shelter until it passes (sometimes easier said than done). If you want, you can take extra clothes and send them home from Pueblo.

40

General Discussion / Re: Tents

« on: April 15, 2013, 04:32:36 pm »

I agree that unless you're pretty chummy, a 3P tent would be worth the extra weight.

If I look at all the 2P tents at REI in this price range ($220-$235), I find the REI half dome, the Marmot Limelight, the Marmot Earlylight, and the Mountain Hardware Drifter. Two of the other tents are about the same weight (a bit over 2 Kg) and same floor area (32 square feet). The REI half dome is heavier by a half kilogram, but has 6 extra square feet of floor space. All the other tents have more than twice the vestibule area, and more importantly, two doors and two vestibules. I think the two doors and two vestibules will be very much appreciated. All four tents are freestanding.

41

General Discussion / Re: touring without "eating out"

« on: April 10, 2013, 02:02:33 pm »

I carry a couple of energy bars for emergency food, and I really hope I won't need them. Other than that, everything I carry and eat is bought in stores along the way. There's no need to carry much more than it takes to get to the next town (or maybe the town after that in case everything is closed in the next town).

42

Routes / Re: Pacific Coast Highway - Section 4 - Map 47 & 48 Single Lane Restrictions

« on: April 10, 2013, 01:08:25 pm »

I've encountered that situation quite a few times. The worst was climbing Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. Climbing at 5 MPH, there was no way I was going to make it through the construction before the automatic light reversed directions. I jumped the gun a little, starting as soon as the last car passed and before the light turned green. I rode as fast as I could. Nevertheless, I was still only halfway through when the cars starting coming at me. The drivers all understood my predicament, however, and accommodated me as best they could, either slowing to a crawl or stopping completely. If they moved over as far as they could, there was just enough room for me to squeeze by between their driver's side mirror and the concrete barrier. It's exciting!

In other cases where I've been going downhill through the construction, there's not a problem as I can keep up with the cars.

43

General Discussion / Re: Weather on the TransAm

« on: April 10, 2013, 12:56:02 pm »

I went East to West, May through July. I planned zero nights in advance. Out of 70 nights, I paid to sleep only nine times: $45 for one motel (Lexington VA), $10 for one cabin (Guffey CO), and $75 for seven campgrounds (five National Park campgrounds, one state campground and one Forest Service campground). I averaged $14 a day for food, one third of that spent in grocery stores and two thirds in restaurants. I took no stove.

44

General Discussion / Re: Weather on the TransAm

« on: April 10, 2013, 08:05:08 am »

Riding East to West in the more typical May through September is usually chilly to pleasant in the East, hot through the Midwest, and pleasant to hot in the Northwest. Riding August through October is more likely to be pleasant in the East, pleasant in the Midwest, and chilly to cold in the Northwest. McKenzie Pass in Oregon usually closes for the season in late October or early November. The high and low in Sisters Oregon from last October was 81F and 19F, with an average high of 62F and an average low of 30F.

45

Routes / Re: Atlantic Coast Route close to Moorestown New Jersey

« on: April 10, 2013, 07:09:03 am »

The Atlantic Coast route doesn't use much of New Jersey, and what it does use is in the northwestern part. The closest this route comes to Moorestown is about 25-30 miles west in Conshohocken or Plymouth Meeting or Ambler, PA.