Messages

1

Routes / Re: Southern Tier 2017 Thread

« on: April 10, 2017, 09:38:59 pm »

Ty,  thanks so much for the update - sounds like a nasty one but glad to hear you are at least looking towards riding again this summer.
For us (fingers crossed) the Southern Tier has so far been pretty much perfect - I can only remember 2 or 3 drivers that I would criticise in over 2000 miles from San Diego.   I'm from the UK and am totally enjoying USA cycling, and general hospitality.
Ian

2

Routes / Re: Southern Tier 2017 Thread

« on: March 03, 2017, 10:38:48 pm »

We set out today, 3 March,from Dog Beach, San Diego.  Luckily the flood waters had receded so a nice ride up into the hills.  We've already met two other Southern Tier groups going our way.  Look out for us with our blue tandem and yellow trailer bag.

Ian and Jeannine.

3

Gear Talk / Re: Ultra light sleeping bag, tent and pad?

« on: February 10, 2017, 01:42:29 am »

John,
He did not carry much - a couple of sheets packed up around his tent.  It's not a recommendation of mine - nor probably of his!   It was pretty funny at the time and basis of a running joke on our two week tour with him.

Anyway, I digress.

Ian

4

Gear Talk / Re: Ultra light sleeping bag, tent and pad?

« on: February 09, 2017, 09:46:15 am »

We had a friend who cycle-camped using 2 or 3 layers of bubble wrap for a pad.  How we laughed.  It was uncomfortable and cheap.   He reckoned he could have made a 5ft thick mattress of bubble wrap for the cost of our Neo-Air.

Ian

Didn't the "popping" every time he turned over keep all the others awake?

One of the MANY disadvantages.  I suspect he became progressively less comfortable as the trip went on...  though he'd probably argue he could simply visit the local Mailbox Etc to replenish!

5

Gear Talk / Re: Ultra light sleeping bag, tent and pad?

« on: February 09, 2017, 05:52:03 am »

We had a friend who cycle-camped using 2 or 3 layers of bubble wrap for a pad.  How we laughed.  It was uncomfortable and cheap.   He reckoned he could have made a 5ft thick mattress of bubble wrap for the cost of our Neo-Air.

Ian

6

General Discussion / Re: What about travel other country to cycling?

« on: February 09, 2017, 05:17:49 am »

Marti - you can see from this thread a wide range of options - and budgets!!   Can you give us some idea of the type of tour you're thinking of?  The fully inclusive short trips can be very expensive - nice hotels and full backup and support but you do pay for it.   We did one recently in a less developed country and loved it but generally cannot afford this kind of tour.   Check out Skedaddle - I've not used them but they do a great range of tours in Europe and are reasonably priced too.   (Our ride across France was based on one of their routes and was fabulous).

On the other hand self-organised touring using local Gites, hotels / hostels would be cheaper but you need to do more planning and/ or be prepared for some uncertainty.

Camping - what we usually do - is much cheaper: we can go for months on little more money than we'd spend by staying at home.  But you do need a decent bike and equipment and there's a learning curve.  Check out Breton Bikes for the lowdown on cycle camping:  Great guys based own Brittany, France who do camping and 'bed and breakfast' tours.

Ian

7

General Discussion / Re: What about travel other country to cycling?

« on: February 09, 2017, 04:26:24 am »

Marti - you can see from this thread a wide range of options - and budgets!!   Can you give us some idea of the type of tour you're thinking of?  The fully inclusive short trips can be very expensive - nice hotels and full backup and support but you do pay for it.   We did one recently and loved it.   Check out Skedaddle - I've not used them but they do a great range of tours in Europe and are reasonably priced too.   (Our ride across France was based on one of their routes and was fabulous).

On the other hand self-organised touring using local hotels / hostels would be cheaper but you need to do more planning and/ or be prepared for some uncertainty.

Camping - what we usually do - is much cheaper: we can go for months on little more than we'd spend by staying at home.

Ian

8

General Discussion / Re: Bike security - Southern Tour camping trip

« on: February 09, 2017, 04:03:16 am »

Thanks guys - some great suggestions.  For me it's partly about peace of mind..  If we don't lock the bike I lie awake in the tent imagining someone walking off with it.  We will check out lighter alternatives to our big D lock and thick cable, but it sounds like we are a little more risk averse than some.  Good point about wheels / saddles we do have nice wheels and I have become a bit lazy about locking through them.   Plus as you say it's not just the value but the impact on the trip as we could be miles from anywhere.  The other problem we sometimes have is finding something immovable to lock it to.

On the other hand we've toured / camped with a company in France who hire out dozens of bikes (good quality tourers) for over two decades with no locks, and I don't think they've ever had a theft.  But we still lock our tandem in France!

Thanks,
Ian

9

Gear Talk / Re: Should have learnt the easy way.. some advice guys

« on: February 06, 2017, 12:31:50 pm »

Hi Danny,

Some great advice so far.

I had almost the same accident as you about 35 years ago - pretty difficult to defend against.  I nearly had a repeat experience with a bus last month - more of that later...

...  in the intervening period I had intense road safety training that you need in the UK to get your full motorbike license.  Basically it was all about 'riding safe' - assuming EVERYTHING can go wrong (eg drivers not seeing you), double check and and defend yourself against all (well, almost all) eventualities.  I use this all the time for cycling and that training has made me much safer I believe.  Not completely foolproof - I worry about the really unpredictable such as animals crossing and that was partly why I sold the motorbike.

Anyway... back to the bus ....  it turned out the driver hadn't seen us (It was daylight with great visibility so maybe 1:1000 chance?) but I ALWAYS figure this might happen - and had already changed course assuming to brake / swerve and avoided it.  Could have been very nasty.  Wife on the tandem was pretty relieved.

A lot of my cycling is piloting a tandem - that certainly focusses the mind as I know any accident would be a mess, or worse...

Ride safe, defend against everything, always try to get eye contact (boy do I HATE black tinted windows) and generally wear a helmet and 'be seen' clothing.

Ian

10

General Discussion / Bike security - Southern Tour camping trip

« on: February 06, 2017, 12:04:36 pm »

Hi all,

We're from the UK and planning to bring our nice Co-Motion tandem to cycle camp the Southern Tier starting early March.  In Europe we always end up taking a good D lock and cable - these weigh a ton and it always pains us to carry them but gives us peace of mind and I'm sure we will again.....

But as this Forum is full of wise and experienced tourers...  we're interested in what do you do for bike security on cycle camping tours in the USA?    And Is this route more or less average in terms of risk (compared to say Europe, or other parts of the USA?).

Thanks,

Ian

11

Temporary ACA Route Road Closures / Re: Southern Tier 6, map 91 (Florida) - biting dog reroute - Oct 2016

« on: February 06, 2017, 02:23:31 am »

Much appreciated!  I'm not so much bothered by traffic but concerned by dogs so I will note this well!

Thanks Jennifer,

Ian

12

Routes / Re: Southern Tier 2017 Thread

« on: February 04, 2017, 04:33:35 am »

Jim - we fly in to San Diego on 28 Feb (pm) so maybe could meet you at the beach to see you off, assuming you still plan to start on the 1st.   We'll be starting our ride a few days after you and doubt we'll catch you up!

We'll have a USA phone a few days before we reach San Diego so will be in touch with our cell number.   Not long now... gulp...!

Cheers,

Ian and Jeannine

   

13

Gear Talk / Re: Ultra light sleeping bag, tent and pad?

« on: January 25, 2017, 01:26:59 pm »

+1 for NeoAir:  really comfortable and warm, light and packs small.  We had a problem with one (slow leak after 5 years) and ThermaRest replaced it really quickly with no questions.  Impressed.  You do have to set aside a few minutes blowing-up time each day if you're moving on.    If comfort is not an issue ...  we used to camp without any pad at all.   And my daughter camped in Iceland last year using this weight-saving method contrary to Dad's advice!

We slide NeoAir into a Big Agnes double sleeping bag (down) which has pockets designed for the purpose so you never slide off the pad.  It's very elegant system.  Not sure how light their solo bags are.

Ian

14

General Discussion / Re: Trangia Stove / Meths

« on: January 25, 2017, 11:59:20 am »

Thanks John and others - this is really useful as there are obviously different ways of buying the alcohol between countries.  I've just checked and the stuff we are using here (UK) is bio-ethanol - now sold in place of methylated spirits.  It is certainly cleaner than meths which is nice.

We're coming to do the Southern Tier this spring so if we bring our 'meths' Trangia burner this spring (as well as our propane / butane head) it sounds like we'd best look out for Yellow HEET.

Cheers,
Ian

15

Gear Talk / Re: Touring tandem: experience with different makes

« on: January 25, 2017, 09:56:27 am »

Hi Dullboot and good to see tandem talk on the Adventure Cycling forum!

We have a Co-Motion 'Colorado' Supremo bought about 4 years ago.  We originally borrowed one from friend to try, and our old Dawes Galaxy tandem felt like a noodle in comparison.

Ours has S&S couplings (objects of beauty in themselves!), 700 wheels, disc brakes and carbon fork.   We fly with it regularly which does mean about 90 minutes (or less if we work together) at each end to pack / unpack and finding somewhere (usually a hotel) to store the cases.

The wheels fit in the cases, no problem.  Depending on the airline and what else we're carrying this often falls within our baggage allowance but sometimes we'll pay for an extra bag.  So far no problems flying.  We pack the cases with clothing etc up to the weight allowance.

To load it in the car we take of the front only which is a 3 minute job.  It's got a Gates belt drive for timing - this is fabulously clean compared with a chain and never needs adjusting and gives a very direct link between driver and passenger (I should not have said that...) .  The rings began to wear after 8000 miles so we've replaced them.

For touring we use a trailer and two rear panniers.  We've cycle camped across France and done many major climbs in Europe and USA.  But the our Co-Motion excels at all kinds of road riding and this is what we like about it - it's light, fast enough and handles well for shorter day rides and climbing, but we can also load it up and tour long distances.  And it feels totally secure and predictable at speed - a lovely smooth flow never any wobbles or jitters.  We've done some reasonably fast descents on a wide variety of surfaces.  We rarely ride off-road, and when we do we take it slowly on our relatively narrow tyres.

We have absolutely no regrets - yes, expensive to buy, with some maintenance costs, but compared to the riding enjoyment but well worth it.  A classy machine.

In terms of fit we are similar heights so was fairly straightforward.  I set mine up similar to my road bike (using the three contact points) as a starting point.  Jeannine has a telescopic stem with loads of length adjustment (I think these are standard).  Our dealer was excellent and making sure we both had a good fit.   After while she did switch to drop handlebars instead of the standard 'bullhorns' - just her preference.

We could not imagine finding the right bike for us second-hand - we wanted the right bike, without compromises, which will hopefully last us many years.  It was a bit of an eye-watering sum at the time but well worth it 4 years on.

Ian