Messages

1

General Discussion / Re: Most interesting stretch and why?

« on: February 22, 2011, 08:24:26 pm »

The most recent memorable stretch would be the Icefields Parkway (Banff National Park), Canada.  Even though I had been living in the southern Rockies for a year, it still blew me away.

Cycling to Uluru (Australia), the day we got there when it slowly grew bigger on the horizon.  I had seen enough images of it before the trip that I thought it would be a non-event.  Far from the truth.

Another memorable, but not particularly interesting, stretch was in western Queensland (Australia). About 4pm we decided to camp under the next tree.  We ended up riding until 9pm when we got to the next town.  No joke, its pretty flat and treeless out there!

2

General Discussion / Re: Compact carbs? Do they exist?

« on: February 16, 2011, 09:46:10 pm »

Hi Tony, I'm Australian and biked from Brisbane to Uluru in 99.  We generally had to carry enough food for a week (approx), restocking in the major centres.  We carried water for up to 3 days although generally only overnight - some rest areas have tanks and bores.  (i know someone who cicumnavigated oz about 30 years ago and got sick of carting water and just hailed down cars when he got low)  In my opinion, the easiest, and possibly best, option as far as carbs is to suck up the extra weight of some cooking gear (a few pounds at most) so that you can cook.  then have the cyclical (pun intended) diet of rice and spaghetti. (packs more compactly than shells).  From memory, the sauce that went with the 2 carb options were fairly similar!  Despite massive, fairly healthy meals that we cooked, my buddy and i still had plenty of space for fries (hot chips as they are called in oz) and chocolate ice cream at each roadhouse we passed.  The food is usually fairly good at the more remote roadhouses that cater for the long haul truckies (rather than tourist coaches)

3

Gear Talk / Re: Long Two-Person Trip Tent

« on: February 08, 2011, 02:09:19 pm »

Procratinating by trawling this forum so maybe this issue is resolved!  Check out the REI Quarter Dome T2 Plus. Most hiking tents are pretty much the same dimension but this is longer, wider and a bit higher. I'm 6ft 2 and it works well for me.

4

General Discussion / Re: Travel Insurance Q.

« on: February 08, 2011, 01:56:33 pm »

Some travel insurance policies won't cover cycle touring because it is considered a 'high risk' activity - up there with base jumping and high altitude mountaineering.  It varies from company to company.

My problem - and hopefully someone can help me out - is that i need coverage for my bike!  I'm an Australian currently in Canada and about to head to Sth America for some touring.  My insurer from Australia will cover me medically but won't cover my bike.  Can anyone suggest a comapny I can try?