Messages

1

General Discussion / What's your strategy to stay dry?

« on: May 27, 2022, 09:16:24 pm »

Depends. On the temperature: really warm or hot- no rain jacket or pants. Cooler- a jacket. Colder - both. It’s all on your preferences. Sometimes you have to experiment to find your way.

I would rather be wet but warm.

2

Routes / Re: Delmarva

« on: February 15, 2022, 08:55:06 am »

I did speak with a Delaware State Park superintendent. He seemed to not know anything about Delmarva so I sent him copies of the maps.

Delaware currently has a two night minimum on all sites on the weekends for advance reservations.

He said he would look into it and see about making accommodations for cyclist at the parks listed on the maps.

Thank you! I am looking to ride some of the route in Delaware to Chincoteague this summer where my daughter rented a house. The two night minimum for cyclists is frustrating.


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3

Temporary ACA Route Road Closures / Re: Atlantic Coast, Section 2, Lambertville, NJ

« on: October 08, 2021, 03:26:07 pm »

Thanks for the update. That area always gets hit hard from hurricanes and the flooding. Takes years for the Delaware Canal State Park Pa. to repair it.


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4

Temporary ACA Route Road Closures / Re: Atlantic Coast #2, map 23. Road construction. July 2021

« on: August 11, 2021, 04:30:16 pm »

County has swept up a lot of the gravel but there’s still a lot on the sides of the road. Be careful if you ride River Rd.


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5

General Discussion / C&O trail

« on: July 30, 2021, 11:05:41 pm »

The Paw Paw tunnel had rock slide damage and NPS has been out fixing it. The detour was a nice change of scenery for me and not difficult.

Storms did a lot of repeated damage to the trail in past years in spots they already fixed. It’s a lot of work to repair the 150+ miles.

NPS even started doing crushed stone paving like the G.A.P.

The C&O is better than my ‘home trail: Delaware Canal State in PA.

6

General Discussion / Re: Laundry

« on: July 30, 2021, 10:59:31 pm »

I have used a dry bag when wild camping. Poured in water and a couple of drops of detergent. Rolled it around for an while. Not on the bike though. Too heavy.


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7

Temporary ACA Route Road Closures / Atlantic Coast #2, map 23. Road construction. July 2021

« on: July 21, 2021, 12:11:55 pm »

River Rd. in Phillipsburg NJ is being tar & gravel paved. The thick gravel is for approximately 3 miles starting at the Memorial Parkway going north. Signage is poorly marked.

Alternate bypass is Belvidere Road (County Route 646 which changes to County Route 519). Less scenic, less hilly but faster.


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8

General Discussion / Hosting Travelers

« on: June 19, 2021, 06:05:17 pm »

We hosted our first cycle travelers last week. They were on the Atlantic Coast route and were slowed down by rain. They didn’t get as far as they needed and turned into my development. Luckily a neighbor was going out and directed them to a “a guy who bicycles a lot”. We opened our home to them.

The next morning I rode with them up 20 miles up to a difficult spot on Rte 46 @ Rte 80. To show them where you go the wrong way on a one way instead of a suicidal run on the highway.

I have seen cyclists on the Atlantic Coast route before.  It’s a 1/2 mile from my house.  I’m on a road parallel to River rd. Which is faster & less hilly but not scenic.   If you haven’t hosted cyclists before it’s a great experience.


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9

General Discussion / Re: Backpacking vs Bike Touring

« on: June 12, 2021, 08:48:43 am »

I use 2 panniers and a bar bag. I strap things on top of the rear rack. If it doesn’t fit then I don’t need it. 30 lbs without water.


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10

Routes / Re: UK rider planning Transamerica, West to East, starting August.

« on: May 14, 2021, 09:36:16 pm »

The US is so different than the UK. Very very long distances, very very high mountains (not little bumps), huge expanses without services, unrelenting winds, pouring rain for days,more extreme weather patterns. Just to name a few.  I’ve have friends come over from the UK and not realize this. Early exit strategy is also harder here.
  I was biking in Scotland when they had a ‘heatwave’ of 70f. People were going nuts from the heat.
Good luck and be very prepared.


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11

Gear Talk / Re: A must item

« on: July 14, 2020, 11:42:02 am »

Nail clippers!


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12

General Discussion / Finding a place to sleep

« on: December 24, 2019, 10:29:32 pm »

I like knowing places along my route where I can camp ahead of time. Like staeph I can decide how far I want to go by how I feel or other conditions like the weather. I once boxed myself into going too far one day and regretted it for days. But if I come across a great spot that I didn’t know about I will take advantage of it. 

13

Routes / TABR route

« on: March 03, 2019, 08:08:36 am »

I drove through the Sand Hills area a few years ago. I kept saying to myself that It would be a great area to bike. The low volume of traffic and the hilly scenery was very nice.

14

General Discussion / Re: border crossing

« on: March 01, 2018, 10:19:02 pm »

I can see that everyone on forums treats everyone with respect and in a professional manner. And some people never see themselves as the ones disrespecting uniformed personnel first.

15

Urban Cycling / Re: commuting by bike

« on: October 02, 2017, 01:35:33 pm »

I've been commuting into work as well as riding at work this semester. I'm in a newly refurbished bldg.  Now we have a shower in the locker room. That really made my mind up to commute to work. Feeling refreshed after biking in really helped to motivate me to commute. Only 3.1 miles each way.