Messages

1

General Discussion / Re: Montana Proposes Bill to Force Cyclists to Ride the Wrong Way in Traffic

« on: Today at 01:12:34 am »

I never heard of anything that dumbass. What did they think, also, that anyone needed to be told they could not cycle opposite the direction of automobile traffic with a pilot vehicle? They must have consumed a fifth of Irish whiskey before they thought up  that one.

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General Discussion / Re: Costs per day?

« on: Today at 01:00:17 am »

... Cheap motels are out there and not often, from what I have seen, to be found advertising on Google. I think some are dodging the tax man. ...

Funny you should mention that.  I've noticed quite often at the less expensive motels that the credit card machine is "broken" and they only are accepting cash that day.

Yes exactly. I noticed the same thing. No electronic record anywhere. I did not ever tell. I was grateful for the reduced prices. If they got caught it was off their own bat.

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General Discussion / Re: Sleeping bag recommendations, bike tour from SF->NY and return

« on: January 18, 2025, 12:38:50 am »

Watch out for those inflatable, lightweight, sleeping mattresses. I bought one from gear doctors. It was good for 26 nights and then deflated permanently. I pumped it to capacity and submersed it in water and found no leaks that were obvious. It deflated again under no pressure from weight on it. They sent me another one. It lasted 14 nights of sleep and deflated slowly. Submersing and searching for leaks was useless.  My guess is the air leaks out through the material in myriad little openings that are so miniscule as to be impossible to detect clearly. I do not know what is to be reasonably expected of the durability of an air mattress that cost $80.00---$100.00, but 14 nights of sleep or 26 does not seem fair or reasonable. Does anyone know of an air mattress you know for a fact stands the test of time and endurance? Not from price or ads but from experience in the field.

Checking many advertisements for these mattresses online, one glaring omission stood out after a while. They went on and on about the comfort of the product, which is a legitimate claim, but not one said anything about their actually sleeping on one for a period of time that would justify the cost. One said he used one nine nights. That is poppycock. If you are dishing out cash in the sum of $100.00 or more, you need durability cross country, not only for 10 or 15 nights, but all the way.

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General Discussion / Re: Costs per day?

« on: January 18, 2025, 12:13:26 am »

In eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, $5.00 a day was more than adequate, but the services and food were equally low-grade--As in will I survive the next meal? A three-course meal, dessert and two Pilsner beers (sparkling dishwater) for 50 or 75 cents. What can you expect? Dysentery, diarrhea, possibly much much worse. In the US it is possible to squeak by on $25.00--$30.00 a day free-camping most of the time. In that case, food is your main cost. More expensive using restaurants, less so using food stores. Cheap motels are out there and not often, from what I have seen, to be found advertising on Google. I think some are dodging the tax man. Some might be a bit dumpy but clean, and, after all, you will not live there, so a night here and there in a low-rent is hardly a problem. I try to bike tour as economically as possible. It takes a long time to cross the continent by bicycle. What seem like relatively low costs for extras add-up over two months to be expensive. A $20.00 a month black-card membership with Planet Fitness gets you entry in any and all PFs in the country, with a guest if you have one to invite. That takes care of personal hygiene when you opt for camping most nights. The one thing that bugs me about bike stealth camping is being unwashed for days on end. I am a spoiled westerner used to personal cleanliness.

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General Discussion / Re: Sleeping bag recommendations, bike tour from SF->NY and return

« on: January 17, 2025, 04:31:23 am »

It might be very cold that far north in March. I cycled the east coast in 1990. In May in New York the temperature fell below freezing one night. You need a bag rated for low temperatures. You should know the pros and cons of down and synthetics. I bicycled from Florida to California in the dead of winter 1984-85. My tent cost $8.00 from Eagle Army and Navy store. My sleeping bag cost $15.00 at a department store. But that was farther south. You better have a good tent and sleeping bag.

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General Discussion / Re: Seeking Trans/Am or Great American Rail Trail Group/Partners

« on: January 17, 2025, 04:21:25 am »

The so-called great American rail trail is probably good for a cross-country bicycle ride. There are gaps, which, if you get a close look at a map, are easily traversable by alternate roadways that are safe, and they cut miles off the 3700. The gaps and short sections are sometimes out of the way. Skip those places and keep going in your cardinal direction. You can cut 400 miles off that 3700 doing that.

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General Discussion / Re: Seeking Trans/Am or Great American Rail Trail Group/Partners

« on: January 17, 2025, 04:13:05 am »

That is quite a ride for bicycling. You might want to use a pre-mapped route. You will meet like-minded people doing what you are doing---heading out cross country from coast to coast. Mind you, these mapped routes can have you traveling many more miles than other routes. The ACA southern tier is about 3200 miles. Other routes are 2800. The ACA Atlantic coast route will have you pedaling 3000 miles, and other routes are about 1800. The maps do put you on safer, quieter, less trafficked roads most of the way. I bicycle camped from Stuart, FL to Bangor, Maine in 22 days total, with 2 days off because of inclement weather. It rained like hell. Using the ACA route would have required about 36 actual days of cycling.

8

General Discussion / Re: Everglades Coast to Coast

« on: January 14, 2025, 01:37:25 am »

Panthers, bears, coons, coyotes, pythons, mosquitoes and the alligators. The gators live in the fresh and brackish-water lakes, ponds, canals and drainage ditches. Other animals go to these watering holes to drink. Keep your own position on the food chain, not theirs.

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General Discussion / Re: Cycling Germany, Czech, Poland 1994, west to east.

« on: December 21, 2024, 08:20:37 am »

How did it change my views and feelings about bicycle touring? I would strongly advise anyone planning bicycling tours through foreign countries to conduct thorough research of conditions where they plan to go. Cross the border from one country into another, and everything  turns upside-down and sideways immediately. It is like going from a prosperous area of the USA over the border into Mexico straight into towns and villages riddled with gross poverty and substandard everything. The contrasts are stark, sudden and shocking.

10

General Discussion / Re: Most dangerous roads

« on: December 19, 2024, 09:30:20 am »

Usually I feel I am able to cycle most roads.
Usually I can adjust my schedule to fit low traffic times.
"Usually" does not apply to the Gallatin Canyon Road - US 191.
Nobody in their right mind should EVER cycle this road.

The traffic is insane from before sunrise to after sunset.
The speed limit is 60 mph - which few drivers obey.
There are rarely any shoulders and the road edge is poor.
The Montana DOT has done little to nothing to improve safety.
(Other than flashing signs that say "Please Drive Safely".)

The number of crosses on the roadside was sobering - at every curve.
And the number of huge dents in the guardrails were the lucky ones.
There was little time to enjoy the canyon - I loved it back in 1987.
I pulled off into a few campgrounds to restore my nerves -
but my psychic energy was completely drained.

Those conditions creep slowly into the central nervous system. It takes a while for the stress to set. Crosses, skid marks, dents and shrines and big burned rectangles where cars incinerated. Crazy people in New Orleans uncontrolled by other traffic deliberately swerving toward you to within an inch. Cars with illegally modified exhausts appropriately described as psychotronic weapons clearly audible at three miles that vibrate and shake and shiver your internal organs every time they come near. Wide roads with wide side paths suddenly turning to narrow, two-lane death traps with no side lane at all and fast insane traffic. 

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General Discussion / Re: To whom can I send my bike in Denver/Salt Lake City/Seattle or nearby

« on: December 19, 2024, 09:11:05 am »

You have the information you need. Just one more thing. You got good advice on a subject that was explained only once briefly. I will repeat it to highlight the facts: DO NOT TAKE GREYHOUND BUS long distance. It is the offscourings. If you want to go cross-country and see the country, get your ticket on AMTRAK. It is stars and clouds above and superior to the bus in every amenity, convenience, comfort and dimension.

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General Discussion / Re: Contrasting the ACA route and any way you want to go.

« on: December 19, 2024, 08:56:46 am »

People change, populations change, towns change, roads change, businesses change, conditions change, prices change. Routing maps for cyclists should flex and change with the times and the unstable conditions. If they do not change, they risk obsolescence.

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General Discussion / Re: Florida criminalizes sleeping on public land.

« on: December 17, 2024, 10:34:55 pm »

Facts mentioned here are some of the reasons why I advise free-camping bicycle tourists to avoid foot-paths into wooded areas near cities. Look elsewhere for a sleep site. If you use a path, investigate thoroughly before pitching your tent.

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General Discussion / Re: Have you cycled Tasmania?

« on: December 17, 2024, 10:11:03 pm »

No I have not Tasmania, Australia or anywhere near there. NO. I wanted to cycle the perimeter of Australia. That was many years ago.

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General Discussion / Contrasting the ACA route and any way you want to go.

« on: December 16, 2024, 01:40:52 am »

You can cycle many miles of interstate highways. You can expect many multiples of punctures in your tubes. They are punctured by radial wires. You will suffer far fewer flats on the mapped bicycle routes.

Mapped routes could ensnare you in the convenience-store trap. Multiple dinky little towns where cafes are closed, where only health-altering junk foods are available are irresistable to energy-hungry bicycle tourists.  Going your way gives freedom to chart a course where real nutrition is available

Using unknown roads could get you into a jam, e.g., extreme noise, pollution, fast and furious insane traffic, grueling long climbs, crumbling deteriorated road-surfaces, unanticipated complications. The ACA mapped routes are very well known. Those problems are solved for you before you spin your first revolution.

Using mapped bike routes, you are just another cyclist passing through. Same old, different day. Adventuring your way could take you to places where cyclists never travel, and here you are the talk-of-the-town. I cycled through a foreign country that showed on television secretly-recorded videos of me cycling there. I have no idea how they got those pictures. I had no idea until I cycled into these villages. People approached me in the streets. "American, American. You are on TV television."

Five times for me from Florida to California. Twice from FL to El Paso, Texas. Mostly I free-camped. Quite a few motels. Van Horn was my favorite. Used designated campgrounds only a few times. I took many routes not on the ACA maps. I took many that are on the maps. On a broad scale of equalities, I say using the mapped routes is the best way to go. But not always because of variables.