Messages

1

Gear Talk / shelter

« on: June 22, 2005, 02:52:37 am »

Thanks for the answers. I would have replied sooner but I was having trouble with cookies or something. Anyway, We are looking for something that has a pack size of less than 20 inches, and the more area the better. I was looking at a Sierra Designs AST, but now I am leaning more toward a Mountain Hardware Mountain Jet. We are new to riding and are planning our dream trip even though we can't ride that far yet. We have to work up to it.  We will probably have a trailer for the long trips, but want to accomodate shorter trips without as well.
By the way, that floor leaking you were mentioning - was that with or without a foot print?

Jan

2

Gear Talk / shelter

« on: June 19, 2005, 11:49:10 pm »

Does anybody have any recommendations for a good, light weight, roomy tent for easy carrying on a touring bike?

Jan

3

Routes / New Orleans to Pensacola

« on: June 26, 2005, 11:31:13 pm »

I was able to drive on highway 90 from the West Pearl River in Louisiana to Pass Christian Mississippi. I know that isn't the whole thing, but here is what I saw:

From The River to where 90 junctions with Highway 607 in MS is a two lane road with some shoulder.  There was a 5 mile or so section that was freshly paved that looked ridable, but at least at 5 pm on Friday afternoon there was a high amount of fast traffic including many 18 wheelers. The part that was not freshly paved looked very rough and in some cases the shoulder was non existent. These stretches were short, but would put you on the main road at that time.

After the 607 junction the road heads toward Waveland MS and becomes a 4 lane divided highway. The shoulder is fair but the traffic is fast and the road is not freshly paved. It is rough driving in car and the shoulder doesn't look very nice. There was a lot of tire debris, gravel and weeds. If I were to bike to work I would have to take this road and I don't want to risk it.

Once you get into Waveland, there is of course city traffic and stop lights to deal with. The shoulder continues but this is also the turn lane. I am sure however you could find a side street that would be much easier to get through.

After Waveland is Bay St. Louis and it is just like Waveland. Highway 90 then crosses the Bay of St. Louis on a 4 lane drawbridge. The bridge is flat, but traffic is high, fast, and the sidewalk on edge is very narrow. You probably couldn't ride aloaded bike through there but you may be able to walk it.

Once you get a cross the Bay you are in Pass Christian. The highway goes over a high viaduct type bridge and  (There may be another route around the steep bridge but the shoulder is good there) then continues along the beach. There is a narrow walk way and sometimes boardwalk that I believe goes all the way through Biloxi if I am not mistaken, but the traffic only gets more congested as you go through the towns to Biloxi.

I did talk to some of the riders in the Gulf Coast Bicycle Club who recommended getting on MapQuest and finding a side street to take you through most of the MS Gulf Coast. Old Spanish Trail is a street someone mentioned that goes straigh through at least some of the cities. They said once you get to Gautier, 90 gets quite nice, but I see that is not far from where the Southern Tier connects anyway.

I don't want to be a spoil sport not yet having done any touring, but I wouldn't recommend that route if you can avoid it.

Jan

This message was edited by jlsccjan on 6-26-05 @ 7:41 PM

4

Routes / New Orleans to Pensacola

« on: June 24, 2005, 02:20:37 am »

I may be able to help with the MS border to Ocean Springs or so, but I haven't driven it myself in a while and before I give you bad information I need to go take a look at it. It will probably be Sat afternoon before I can gt back to you. I know that there is a boardwalk along the beach for at least part of the way and I have seen loaded touring bikes along there. I am new to road bike riding and haven't looked at 90 with biker eyes yet.

I will get back to you with what I can in a couple days.

Jan

5

General Discussion / Hoteling across the US

« on: June 26, 2005, 11:40:30 pm »

I read a book about called Cycling Across North America by Lue & Shannon Christian. They are a retired couple who tandemed their way from San Francisco, CA to Quebec City Quebec by staying in motels or with biker friendly people every night.  The book was inspirational to me as they detailed their route and their experiences. It helped motivate me to get busy and start building my endurance so I can do something similar.

Jan

6

General Discussion / Numb feet

« on: June 19, 2005, 11:33:05 pm »

I have this trouble too. I first noticed it when I was doing physical therapy at the gym on a stationary recumbant bike as well as other machines. I was concerned at first that something else was wrong with me but my therapist told me I was probably putting too much pressure on that part of my foot.

When I ride my upright comfort bike,I can move my foot around anywhere I want, I don't notice the problem. I recently upgraded to a road bike with spd pedals and mountain bike shoes. My feet start going numb with in about 10-15 minutes. I moved the cleats back slightly and now I can go 20-30 minutes before I start having a problem.

I believe that if I move them back as far back as they can go, I will solve the problem all together but I haven't tried it yet. In the mean time, before they get seriously numb, I usually unclip one foot at a time and  flex it for a few seconds when I am rolling a long at a good pace. I clip back in, get back up to speed and then do the other one. I also take advantage of rest stops to get of and move around a bit.

Jan

7

General Discussion / Why are you here?

« on: June 22, 2005, 02:56:39 am »

We need all the help we can get. We are new to riding in general and are working up to being able to do some touring. Always nice to hear what others have to say and hopefully we can learn something.