Messages

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General Discussion / Re: What "riding buddies" do you take on tour?

« on: January 21, 2022, 12:14:41 am »

I'll take "Whimsy" for 500, Alex. An odd or fanciful humor, oddly out of the ordinary. In bike touring, whimsy is allowed. 

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General Discussion / Re: Is a TransAm Ride Coast-to-Coast

« on: December 06, 2021, 04:49:53 pm »

Coast to coast means Atlantic to Pacific or the other way around. Saltwater to saltwater. Gulf of Mexico doesn't count. Whether you start or finish on a grass marsh, sandy beach or a rock cliff that falls off into the sea doesn't matter. The wheel dip is fun, but not mandatory. You have to at least see and smell the ocean.

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General Discussion / Re: Southern Tier in Winter

« on: November 25, 2021, 03:32:23 am »

I was looking at this too. Here are my concerns / questions.
1. Day length. The solstice (12/21) is the shortest day of the year and as you get away from the solstice the days get longer. Before the spring equinox (3/21) your getting less than 12 hours of daylight. So lets say you leave in Feb., you're probably looking at 10 hrs, or less of daylight. Is that enough time to get your miles in without rushing through the day?
2. Cold mornings. Even if the daytime high is in the 60's, morning lows might be in the 20's or 30's. So, it might hit 60 for only a couple of hours around the middle of the day. How uncomfortable are the early mornings and the early evenings?
3. Distance between services in the SW. I'm not interested in stealth camping at all. Camping in the desert in Feb. sounds cold. Are there enough motels close enough together in the SW where one could sleep indoors every night, or are there stretches where camping is a must? If I slept indoors every night, I wouldn't worry much about night time low temps. Those early morning (sunrise) temps. could be tough.
4. Am I crazy? You don't have to answer that. I think I already know the answer.   

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General Discussion / Re: Trans America Trail The Eastern Third (video)

« on: October 04, 2021, 08:33:32 pm »

Another great video Paul!

I cannot believe that you will actually place you camera on those steep uphills, ride past for our entertainment, and then have to go back to retrieve it. I am not sure I would have been happy about having to go down the "wrong" side of the mountain at Rockfish Gap to get a hotel in Waynesboro, only to have to climb back over the next day. I would have probably been stealth camping at the point. For starting out easy you kicked up the mileage pretty quickly.

A couple of questions:
- How much does your rig weigh? That looks like a different bike than previous videos.
- It looks like you carry a drone, which one?
- You carry a tent, do you carry a stove?
- What do you use to edit your videos?
- What do you carry to charge all your electronics?

You probably found the C&O and GAP a bit boring after all of those hills, but we love it.

Thanks again for watching. You're right, I go to some lengths, but it's not just for your entertainment. I get a lot of kicks from making and watching the video myself. Did you notice, you don't see me zooming down a hill past the camera. Stopping on a downhill to go back and get the camera is worse. About stealth camping at Rockfish, that was an option, but I had no food (no dinner, no breakfast) and the nearest place to get food was Waynesboro. It was 4 miles down into Waynesboro and 4 miles back up a relatively easy hill the next day. And back on the trail I went. Relatively painless.
I took more rest days than normal. Along with the 21 days of riding, I took about 7 rest days during the trip. It never really got easy.
I've never weighed my rig. I guess 40-50 lbs. of gear. I don't travel particularly light. I use to tour on a 1981 Miyata 1000 (burgundy). I've since acquired several other bikes. I'm now riding a 1987 Miyata 1000 (gray). But my rig is constantly evolving over time.
Drone, yes. DJI Mavic Mini. I love it. I'm studying for my part 107 drone pilot license. Soon.
I carry a very light weight stove, some fuel and a small aluminum kettle to boil water. I seldom use it but I carry it, just in case.
I started out using Adobe Premiere Elements to edit video. I've since upgraded to Adobe Premiere Pro. It's more expensive, but slicker than whale snot.
Charging cords for cameras, drone and phone are pretty lightweight. The batteries are heavy. That can be a limiting factor. More batteries means more weight. Less batteries means I have to charge up more often. I mostly stay at hotels, so charging at night is no problem. But I don't think I could go more than 2 or 3 days without a serious charge up.
The C&O and GAP were not boring at all. They were quiet, quaint and car-free. Big hills are sometimes over-rated. Nice level trails are nice.   

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General Discussion / Re: Trans America Trail The Eastern Third (video)

« on: October 03, 2021, 08:23:50 pm »

staephj1 - I read the kinds of questions that people ask on forums like this and maybe try to address them indirectly in the video. Like weather, dogs, hills, etc. That was the second time I rode that section of Kentucky and Virginia, there has to be an easier way!  Thanks again for watching.

John - Its one of those self-closers. Or, the wife slept in when I was leaving and closed it later. Movie magic isn't always pertfect. Thanks for watching!! Closely! Also, I was told, the Kentucky Derby is in Louisville, not Lexington. Oops.   

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General Discussion / Trans America Trail The Eastern Third (video)

« on: October 02, 2021, 08:34:23 pm »

Despite the pandemic, I was able to get some touring in this summer. Just wanted to share it with y'all through video. If you have nothing better to do, check it out and let me know what you think. Thanks.   
https://youtu.be/R3H-z6Uoty0

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General Discussion / Re: How do you deal with back pain and shoulders pain Sleeping on a Sleeping pad on

« on: April 01, 2021, 12:19:51 am »

I have shoulder, neck and upper back pain sometimes. My situation is probably totally different from yours, but here goes. I have a disc issue in my lower neck, an old sports injury. It puts pressure on a nerve that effects my left arm and shoulder. It became so painful, I almost had to stop riding. I went to a chiropractor and he said I needed to change my riding position. When the head is out in front of the shoulders it puts stress on the neck. A normal healthy neck, no problem, but my neck is a problem. I adopted a more upright riding position. I ride with my head over my shoulders. This puts less strain on the neck muscles. Therefore less pain in my arm and shoulder. In addition, I was riding with very bad position. I'm not a trained cyclist. I had my hands wide apart, arms straight with shoulders shrugged. I found out this causes my arms, shoulders and neck to act as a shock absorber, transferring every bump directly to my spine. I now ride with narrow hands, arms bent and low shoulders. This puts almost no weight on my hands and I'm not a human shock absorber any more. I also have no more hand pain or numbness. BTW, numbness in the hands can sometimes be from a problem in the neck, not the hands. Of course the upright riding position is less efficient and I probably ride slower, but I'm old and I was never built for speed anyway. The added benefit of a more upright position is that I can see my surroundings better. For years I rode all hunched over and mostly saw the road 3 feet in front of my wheel.

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General Discussion / Re: Southern Illinois Gravel Ride (video)

« on: February 18, 2021, 10:00:08 pm »

Paul -

Thanks for posting another great video. My wife and I have watched many of your YouTube videos of rides and those videos have helped get her onboard with a TransAm ride. Your calm, sensible approach to touring has given her confidence that you do not need to be a 30 something and turn out back-to-back centuries to ride across the US.

Thank you!

Thanks for watching! I love bike touring, but I think it's because there might be something wrong with me. Just kidding, but maybe not? Anyways, I find bike touring to be hard and uncomfortable at times, it's not all sunshine and tailwinds . But there are ways to make it less painful and there's no reason to make it more painful. Make sure both bike and rider are in good condition before setting out. I ride slow and take lots of breaks. I don't mind big hills, but I don't race up them, I take my time. But I was never built for speed anyways. These days, my biggest concern when out touring is probably the heat. I try to get started as early as possible, ride in the cool part of the day, drink lots of water, take my time and don't burn out my legs early in the day. When I was younger, I almost never took rest days. I couldn't stay in one spot for 2 days in a row. Now that I'm older and I don't recover as quickly as I used to, I usually take a day off after 4 or 5 days of riding. Sometimes more, sometimes less, no hard fast rule, just gotta read your own body. Sometimes instead of a day off, I'll take 2 short days in a row.  Even though bike touring is hard, it is very rewarding for me. After a tour, my body feels like superman... for about a week, and then it's back to plain old Clark Kent. Thanks again, enjoy! If you ride through Carbondale, look me up.

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General Discussion / Re: Southern Illinois Gravel Ride (video)

« on: February 17, 2021, 10:55:29 pm »

Thank you for posting your video.  I very much enjoyed watching it.  As I was watching, I kept thinking, "How did he get that shot?"  "He must have spent a lot of time prepping the shots...".  I fear you're raising the bar too high!!

Thanks for watching, I appreciate it! I've been touring since the early '80's and in my early tours, I didn't even bring a camera. Video is a relatively new hobby for me. During the pandemic, instead of touring, I spent most of my time (and money) on my new video hobby (semi-addiction). So I poured a whole  summers worth of pent up energy that would normally go toward long distance bike touring into a 3 day video.  Since the route is so close to home (due to the pandemic) I know the roads very well. I knew what to look for and I was able to pre-plan some things. And, yes, my wife did help out with some of the drone shots, probably many of the ones where you were thinking, "how did he get that shot?"  On a tour in an area that I have never been and pass by once quickly, it's easy to miss stuff. On this trip, I tried to showcase all of the coolest stuff that I knew of along the way.
Thanks again!!

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General Discussion / Re: Southern Illinois Gravel Ride (video)

« on: February 17, 2021, 10:35:38 pm »

Paul, nice video.  Make you want to do gravel, maybe  .  Sure is a lot prettier than I found southern Illinois to be.  Just shows gravel has some definitely pluses.

Tailwinds, John

John, if you are ever riding through southern Illinois again, look me up. I will take you to some of the best places on the forest. I know the Shawnee forest pretty well and in my video I tried to showcase the coolest places along the way. True, I tried to shy away from the less interesting stuff.  It's not vast and spectacular like the Rockies or the Cascades (not even close) so sometimes the charm of the area is overlooked. But for Illinois, this is our Rocky mts. .  The ACA route across so. Ill. takes you past some cool places, but not through them, if you know what I mean. And there are some very boring routes, too. I read a journal on crazy guy about a guy than saved a lot of time riding across so. Ill. by taking Rt. 13, a straight, level modern highway across the entire state. I thought, "he missed everything cool about so. Ill.". My gravel route is slow, gritty, and hilly for no reason. Only someone looking to get way off the beaten path and punish themselves would take this route.  .
My wife and I have both done some research in the forest and she once worked for the Forest Service. It's a little known secret that there are a few "sacrificial" areas in the forest where everyone goes, and these places get trampled by the crowds. But then there are dozens of other out of the way places that most people don't even know about. That's where the locals go. And most of the time, you have the place to yourself. That's what I meant when I said in the video that the Shawnee forest is the best kept secret in Illinois.  Thanks for watching my video and taking the time to comment. I appreciate it.
Happy trails my friend, and tailwinds to you as well.

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General Discussion / Southern Illinois Gravel Ride (video)

« on: February 15, 2021, 03:27:47 pm »

This was my only "long" bike ride in 2020, 3 days. I rode from Grand Tower, Illinois on the Mississippi River to Cave in Rock, Illinois on the Ohio River. I tried to stay socially distant from everyone by staying on mostly gravel roads.  I hope to get out and ride this summer, but for now this is all I've got.


https://youtu.be/WsEhcYNPcrU

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General Discussion / Re: What are the top 3 things we like about touring?

« on: December 17, 2020, 01:31:43 pm »

The top 3 things I like about bike touring? Easy....
Freedom.....Freedom.....Freedom!!!!!!

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General Discussion / Re: TransAmerica Trail Bike Tour, The Dreaded Middle Third

« on: March 31, 2020, 02:33:44 pm »

I'll add that the people in Kansas were amazingly hospitable.

+1 I agree. One of the highlights of the plains are the people. Worth riding for that reason alone.

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General Discussion / Re: TransAmerica Trail Bike Tour, The Dreaded Middle Third

« on: March 30, 2020, 08:58:56 pm »

Did you know of the ferry that crosses Lake Michigan from Manitowoc, Wi to Ludington, Mi ? If you didn't want to go through the Upper Peninsula (U.P. , eh) because it's to far north and avoid the mess called Chicago (I used to live there) at the south end of the Lake, the ferry is not a bad option. I've taken it twice on bicycle and once on motorcycle.

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General Discussion / Re: TransAmerica Trail Bike Tour, The Dreaded Middle Third

« on: March 25, 2020, 11:46:16 pm »

Nebraska & Iowa are just so much better for crossing the Great Plains.

Pic - Nebraska Sandhills

I crossed Nebraska twice, I love the Sandhills. BTW, Iowa is not flat. Constant rolling hills.