Messages

1

GPS & Digital Data Discussion / Re: Go to GPS?

« on: May 31, 2019, 08:37:57 pm »

I understand you can download for offline use but does the phone's GPS work very accurately without cell towers nearby.  The GPS in the phone I had five to six years ago did not work worth crap in rural Wyoming when no cell service was available so now I'm a little bit paranoid even the newer ones don't work or work accurately enough.  That is why I am asking.

A phone made within the last few years doesn't need a data connection at all to read offline maps. My favorite mapping software for phone is OsmAnd. I've sampled all of them and keep coming back to it. A bit of a learning curve, especially with overlays and underlays, but worth investing the time.

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2

General Discussion / Re: Warm Showers Reliability

« on: May 08, 2019, 05:09:40 pm »

From April 15 through 24, I contacted 16 WS hosts to see about availability for a tour starting June 9.  To date I have heard back from 8.  I think a 50% response rate is pretty fair. 

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GPS & Digital Data Discussion / Re: Tracking route with Garmin Etrex 20x

« on: April 03, 2019, 09:42:04 am »

No problem. There is one important tip I forgot to mention. Make sure that you set your record method for tracks as "Auto" rather than a fixed interval (go to Setup page --> Tracks --> Recording Method, which is explained on page 32 of the Users Manual: http://static.garmin.com/pumac/eTrex_10-20-30_OM_EN.pdf).

While you are in the Track settings, you might also want to turn on the Auto-archive feature so that your Current tracklog is automatically archived (it is possible to fill the current tracklog, which has specific limits - probably 10,000 points on your device), even though you have lots of internal storage available. This option makes sure everything gets saved regularly.

Again, thanks.  I had already set track record method to Auto.  If ok, I have a question about archiving.  Would it be better to set it to auto or daily?  I'm assuming auto will just make one long track followed by another and another and another.  I know the daily archive nomenclature is date and time.  Is auto the same?  Lastly, I can find this out by dinking around on commutes, but I'm assuming one of the reasons the device shuts down rather slowly is that it is saving whatever is being recorded.  Is that correct?  And when I start up the next day, it's again slow start up because it picks up where it left off by adding to the existing, unarchived, track?

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GPS & Digital Data Discussion / Re: Tracking route with Garmin Etrex 20x

« on: April 03, 2019, 07:38:45 am »

I own the Garmin Etrex 20 (actually, I have 8 of them for work), and I have used them extensively on the bike, on the trail, and for field work.
 
I am guessing you have at least 1GB of free memory on your device. If so, it would take years of tracklogs to fill the device memory. You can't use it all up in days or months on the road. When Garmin handhelds autoarchive tracklogs, they reduce the size of the dataset and it is very efficient. You have nothing to worry about and you won't need an extra SD card unless you want to add a bunch of extra maps to the device.

This is precisely what I needed to know. Thanks so much!

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5

GPS & Digital Data Discussion / Re: Tracking route with Garmin Etrex 20x

« on: April 01, 2019, 11:17:02 am »

The User Manual was the first thing I looked at.  It's written by someone who has not taken freshman composition and logic.  The is the closes it comes to answering the question: "Auto Archive--selects an automatic archive method to organize your tracks.  Tracks are saved and cleared automatically based on the user setting."  That's great, but it does not refer the user to anyplace in the 60 page document that addresses saving or clearing automatically based on the user setting.  Sigh.  Earlier in the manual it kinda sorta addresses how to do that manually, but there's nothing about naming nomenclature, i.e. whether the user just hits "save" or has to name it.  Logic would imply it saves as track 1, 2, 3, etc, but it doesn't specify.  I'll just dink around with it for a few weeks during commutes.

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GPS & Digital Data Discussion / Re: Tracking route with Garmin Etrex 20x

« on: April 01, 2019, 10:53:45 am »

Thanks for the answer.  I thought that might be the case.  The question, then, would be how to close and save a track (daily?  every few days?), then start another to close and save, and do that for 50 or 60 days of riding.

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GPS & Digital Data Discussion / Tracking route with Garmin Etrex 20x

« on: April 01, 2019, 09:58:27 am »

Starting a tour in June from the Twin Cities (Minnesota) to St Louis to Santa Fe area to Yellowstone and back home.  Original plan was to use the 20x for navigation, but the route is pretty "clean", i.e. it doesn't have many tricky parts.  So I'm switching the plan.  I'm going to use OSMand on my phone when necessary to follow the route, will use the Etrex to track the route for downloading afterward for data.  My problem is there is a lot of information out there, but I'm having a hard time finding two things: how many miles it will take to hit the trackpoint limit; how to save a day or two or seven of data before starting another track.  Pretty simple questions, but I'm not finding the answers.  Can anyone answer these questions or point me to a source that does?

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Gear Talk / Re: Panniers. Waterproof or non waterproof?

« on: March 30, 2019, 03:54:10 pm »

I put a few things in inner bags, but not many. E.g., it's useful to have your toothpaste and toothbrush in the same bag because you always need them together and you don't want to spend time to find them separately. But most of my things do not go in inner bags. When I want a clean pair of socks, I just want to reach in and grab them--I don't want to have to open up some other bag to get to them.

Exactly. Toilet items go in a Zip-Loc because when I head to the bathhouse I am likely going to be using several items in that bag so they are all in one place and in something I cary carry easily in one had. But when I need a riding kit in the morning, I just reach inside my one big compartment and pull out the necessary items. It's not a game of hide and seek.

You all are dead set on "one right way for everyone," aren't you?

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9

Gear Talk / Re: Panniers. Waterproof or non waterproof?

« on: March 28, 2019, 01:36:20 pm »

I put a few things in inner bags, but not many. E.g., it's useful to have your toothpaste and toothbrush in the same bag because you always need them together and you don't want to spend time to find them separately. But most of my things do not go in inner bags. When I want a clean pair of socks, I just want to reach in and grab them--I don't want to have to open up some other bag to get to them.

For things that do go in bags, I like easily-opened clear bags like Ziploc. But note that Ziploc bags are not really waterproof. They will keep water out for a while, but I wouldn't count on them in an all-day rain. Truly waterproof bags do not open easily and quickly--they require fiddling.

Yeah, it really does come down to preference and habit. After a few thousand miles and scores of canoe trips, I'm just used to bagging everything, so that's what I continue to do. There are very few things I will need to pull out of a pannier during the day, and since I almost always know ahead of time what they will be, I make them easily accessible. Everything else is needed only in camp, so by and large my bags are just emptied and filled, meaning it doesn't take much fiddling.

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Gear Talk / Re: Panniers. Waterproof or non waterproof?

« on: March 27, 2019, 11:12:54 am »

I only buy waterproof bags. Tried water resistant bags and covers; nuisance, and never completely protected contents. Condensation only happens if you put wet things inside bag; waterproof fabric keeps outside moisture out, inside moisture in. Have little trouble finding things inside bags; everything is organized; toiletries in one small bag; kitchen utensils in another, etc.

Not nitpicking, but this is what I don't get.  If people are going to use bags to separately organize things--and most do--why not just make those bags dry bags and not worry about whether the panniers themselves are waterproof?  Please understand, this is not a "You're doing it wrong, you should do it my way" post.  I'm just trying to understand the thinking behind waterproof panniers.

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Gear Talk / Re: Panniers. Waterproof or non waterproof?

« on: March 25, 2019, 11:45:04 am »

I've had Ortliebs, had a few durability issues.  The company addressed them, but still...  I also had an Ortlieb saddle bag that lasted all of one month.  From what I read online, m experience is the outlier.

I'm presently using Jannd.  Not waterproof.  I'm fine with that.  As a long time canoeist, I have always relied on dry bags to keep stuff dry, so using stuff bags with non waterproof panniers fits me ok.  I really like Jannd's system for fastening the panniers to racks.  They use a ladder lock with velcro instead of the more common bungee cord.  They are rock solid.  It takes a little time to dial them in for first use, but after that they are trouble free.

12

Gear Talk / Re: Dumb Rack Question

« on: October 30, 2018, 05:02:55 pm »

You might check ans see if your bolts are too long.  The sensation that you describe matches what would happen if the bolt were hitting the far side of the tube before seating.

This would not be the issue, as the OP is talking about eyelets in the dropouts (or maybe the little braze ons on the seat stays), not mounting holes in a tube.

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GPS & Digital Data Discussion / Re: GPS Advice

« on: October 30, 2018, 04:57:09 pm »

Another rec for the Etrex.  20x.  The 30x gives you a compass and altitude.  You get the same with the etrex, but the compass works off gps and you have to be moving.  Altitude information with the 20x comes not from the unit, but from your map.  Aside from those two things and $80-$100, they are the same.

14

Routes / Re: Twin Cities to Santa Fe to Yellowstone to Twin Cities

« on: August 20, 2018, 09:59:05 am »

Very unlikely. The mountain passes in Colorado are almost always open by June.

No.

The major passes may be open - -
But if the OP wants to ride back roads, those are likely to still be closed.
Especially if the coming winter is a heavy snow winter.

I did a closed Schofield Pass in late June back a few years ago.
I had to chop my way thru multiple avalanche chutes.
Exhausting, scary, and not very smart.

<<<>>>

Not sure what the OP's time frame is -
But I would suspect needing 3 weeks for MSP-SFE, 2 1/2 weeks for SFE-YEL, and 2 1/2 weeks back to MSP.
Add a week in Santa Fe and another week in Yellowstone and that is 10 weeks.

So, either direction it will be late June for the Colorado Mountains.
Clockwise, it will be mid July for Yellowstone - - and very busy.
OP should expect some killer headwinds in western Kansas, Okla, and eastern NM.
Windwise - - probably better to ride counter-clockwise.

(Predicting winds is imprecise at best, crazymaking if you are counting on tailwinds.)

Thanks to everyone for your input.

10 weeks is precisely what we’re looking at, including one week stopovers in Santa Fe and Yellowstone.  My wife’s calendar is such that Santa Fe needs to be the first layover, so we will be going clockwise.  I’m from Missouri, and I went to school in Central Kansas, so I understand that heat, humidity and wind just are what they are.  I’ve learned that trying to outsmart the weather usually leads to disappointment and frustration, and those two combined are often more exhausting than the actual conditions.  So we’ve picked our direction and we’ll just ride into whatever comes.

Also, because of what I’ve been reading, we are rethinking Route 66.  We are less into nostalgia than safety and scenery, and it seems R 66 is built around the former.  So, we’re looking again at Katy Trail east to west to Clinton, MO, then the Flint Hills through Kansas and on to Santa Fe.  Would be grateful for more tips for a safe and scenic route from that A to B.  Jamawani was kindly supplied us with a great route from Taos, NM, to Jackson, WY (and I’m assuming the only way to Yellowstone is to continue north on 191, but if anyone wishes to correct that assumption with a better alternative…).  Getting from Santa Fe to Taos is still a puzzle.  Getting from Yellowstone back home is pretty cut and dried.

Again, thanks so much for all your help!

15

Routes / Re: Twin Cities to Santa Fe to Yellowstone to Twin Cities

« on: August 14, 2018, 03:03:52 pm »

As your trip is quite a ways off, can I suggest swapping destinations a bit?  Stay as far north in the summer for as long as possible: go west (for example, along the ACA Northern Tier and Lewis and Clark) to Livingston, MT, then go into Yellowstone.  From there you could head south to Santa Fe, missing the worst of Missouri and Kansas summer while staying in the mountains as much as possible.

Of course, this may not work depending on other commitments and goals (family reunion in Santa Fe, perhaps?).

Good suggestions, but we're putting the trip together in part around my wife's time off, which is already on the books for next summer.  Santa Fe is one of her favorite places (we've been there twice during our 24 years, including for anniversary #10), and she wants to see Yellowstone because she's never been there (my wife and Bill's wife will be flying out to Santa Fe and then to Yellowstone to join us for a week or so at each place).  Adding to that, we need to be back home by late August, so we're pretty locked into a clockwise route.  Lastly, leaving late May to early June (which is a must) and going counterclockwise, we could be hitting snowed in mountain passes.  Going clockwise, the passes should be clear by the time we get into Colorado.  I'm a bit confused too about how we would miss the summer heat of Missouri and Kansas, as the route you're suggesting would just put us there deeper into the summer.