Messages

1

Gear Talk / Broken Forks on Dawes Galaxy

« on: March 06, 2005, 04:26:12 pm »

I saw on another forum page recently that that someone had broken the front forks on their Dawes Galaxy. I too had this exciting experience this summer on a particularly steep part of the UK coast to coast ride.  My bike was only two years old and had done just two tours.

HAS ANYONE ELSE had this happen to their Dawes?  Is there a systematic fault?

[BTW: it took Dawes 6 months to replace the forks - with a nice black pair to "match" my silver bike.  Oh, and the new forks don't have retention lips.  Nice one Dawes!]

2

Routes / What are the 'Classic Routes' for bike touring?

« on: July 01, 2004, 04:03:57 pm »

My personal classic routes are:

 - Trans Pyrenees - Atlantic, zizag between France and Spain and on down to the Mediterenean
 - Trans Costa Rica - Pacific, across volcanoes, thru jungles and down to the Atlantic
 - Eastern Cuba loop
 - High Atlas traverse in Morocco
 - Californian Sierras
 - Californian Sonoma County Wine Country

3

Routes / California Wine Country

« on: June 06, 2004, 10:13:34 pm »

We am planning a short break to the Californian Wine Country - any advice on routes or accomodation.  We plan to cycle, maybe 50 miles per day and prefer backroads to main thoroughfares

4

General Discussion / Mtb'ing in California

« on: November 25, 2005, 06:53:26 pm »

Hi Stephen

LifeCycle Adventures (www.lifecycleadventures.com)do some self-guided MTB trips focused on the winecountry counties of Napa, Lake & Sonoma.  It's not pure MTB as you do a transition day on the pavement.  But they do find you some of the best riding in the area.

There are also some tahoe companies - that tend to specialize in the Sierras.

Hope this helps.

5

General Discussion / Uphill

« on: July 01, 2004, 03:57:56 pm »

When I started touring I did a ride across the Pyrenees.  I was not really fit enough, but I was determined.  In the second week we reached the Col du Tourmalet.  With a 20 km climb the Col du Tourmalet seemed endless, steep and exposed.

Having ehausted options of changing down gears and slowing down, I put the top out of my mind and resorted to telling myself I could get to the next white stripe in the the road.  The stripes were only a few feet apart.

Eventually there were no more white stripes & I had reached the top.