Messages

1

Temporary ACA Route Road Closures / Re: Southern Tier Section 6 Map 87 bridge out (2021 route); any recommended detour?

« on: June 01, 2024, 09:24:57 pm »

May 18th still no problem. The old decaying steel bridges from the 1930ties are a sight in itself. They didn’t even care to remove the rust and repaint them. Hilarious.

2

General Discussion / Re: US dogs

« on: May 07, 2024, 10:04:25 pm »

I rode Fl-90 today going west, between Madison and Monticello. That‘s US Bike Route 90 and Southern Tier as well. Some kind of pit bull came aggressively running after me from the other side of the road. The second I saw it, it got hit by a car. It went so fast the driver couldn’t even hit the brakes. It made a loud sound, also on the bumper. The dog flew maybe ten yards through the air and landed in the middle of the lane, being probably instantly dead. The car stopped and the one behind it also.
My first instinct reaction was to continue, because I didn’t want to meet an angry and probably stupid owner.
Some 500 feet later, out of sight of the accident I called 911, a little confused and unsure what to do next. The lady was very understanding and sent a deputy, who arrived only five minutes later. He just asked what happened, thanked me for calling it in and continued to the site of the accident.

Looking back I have some sympathy for the dog, because he apparently had an inattentive and silly owner. Also I am sorry for the car driver. Still, I am also happy about the result, because
1. The dog didn’t bite me
2. It won’t bite another cyclist or any person
3. The owner hopefully will learn his lesson.

In hindsight I would also recommend the same approach I did instinctively. Leave the site (as long as no one else got injured) and call the sheriff. Having the officer at the site of the accident also helped me to get over the idea that some angry dog owner followed me in his pickup truck pointing a gun at me yelling about his dead dog.

What do you think? Would you have done anything differently?

3

General Discussion / Re: Amtrak lounge access with a bicycle

« on: May 07, 2024, 09:44:56 pm »

Accessing the lounge in Penn Station worked out fine. They stored my bike in a separate room beside the reception. The lounge is great.

When I walked my bicycle down to the Silver Meteor to Miami, the baggage car was already closed with no personnel inside. They had clearly forgotten about it, although I had checked it in at the baggage counter. The conductor hammered on the opening mechanism like crazy to get it open. He managed it at the departure time, at least he was very concerned about on time departure.
I arrived in Florida four and a half hours late and got 200$ compensation from Amtrak the next day.

4

Routes / Re: Key West and Gulf Coast - State Parks

« on: March 08, 2024, 06:26:52 pm »

Thank you for the valuable advice. Since I am a little short on time for excursions in kayak or airboat and the Keys seem not to attractive if you won’t to avoid hotels, I will start in Savannah and cycle to Tallahassee via Cumberland Island and Okefenokee NWR and later on Bike Route 90.
Northern rural Florida seems worthwhile too. I also ended my last tour on the Blue Ridge Parkway by going down to Savannah, so starting there gives a nice sense of continuity.

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Routes / Re: Key West and Gulf Coast - State Parks

« on: March 07, 2024, 07:22:29 pm »

Thank you jcostanz. Well, it doesn’t sound very intriguing to cycle to Flamingo Campground, but I kind of feel the need to see the Everglades once in my lifetime.
I could of course cycle along Tamiami Trail as well and do Shark Valley, I guess that would count as seeing the Glades, too.

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Routes / Re: Key West and Gulf Coast - State Parks

« on: March 05, 2024, 05:52:19 pm »

Thank you. Yes, there is a official policy, it’s posted on the ACA website, still it’s probably up to the ranger on duty…
Your answer at least sounds optimistic enough to give it a try.
I’ll be in inland Florida until Grayton Beach, so Panama City won’t be a problem.
Between Mary Ester and Navarre the shoulder seems at least ok on google streetview. They also seem to have added bicycle lanes in some parts.
I’ll  stay away from Danziger Bridge. Thanks for the good advice.

One more question you might be able to answer: is a detour into the Everglades to Flamingo Campground worth it? I even got backcountry permits to hike to the beach campsite. Or is it just flat and mosquitoes and you have basically seen it when cycling to the Keys from Florida City?

7

Routes / Key West and Gulf Coast - State Parks

« on: March 05, 2024, 10:22:53 am »

Hi everyone, I planned to cycle Miami to Key West, taking Key West Express to Fort Myers and then following the Gulf Coast to New Orleans in early May.
I realized now that every Florida State Park along the Keys and the Gulf Coast is booked out for month. Naive I know, but I am from Germany and not familiar with the region.
I have little interest in searching hotel rooms, motels or RV-Sites instead and would rather choose a completely different tour.
Can someone share some experiences if you can rely on the No-Turnaway-Policy for Hikers/Cyclists, especially if you turn up already in the afternoon? I guess not, but feedback would be much appreciated.

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General Discussion / Re: Amtrak lounge access with a bicycle

« on: March 01, 2024, 12:50:04 pm »

Thank you. Having read your answers, I will give it a try in Penn Station and let you know how it worked out.
Sleeper tickets are expensive, so I certainly want to enjoy the lounge I paid for.

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General Discussion / Amtrak lounge access with a bicycle

« on: February 29, 2024, 05:55:21 pm »

Hi everyone. I have a sleeper ticket for Amtraks Silver Meteor from Penn Station to Miami. That means I am going to check my to big panniers, but I will have to walk my bicycle to the baggage car myself when boarding starts.

A sleeper ticket grants access to Amtraks Metropolitan Lounge, which looks worthwhile visiting in Moniyan Train Hall.

Does anybody have experiences about entering one of these lounges in big stations with a bicycle?

10

Routes / Re: Tucson to Grand Canyon

« on: January 30, 2024, 07:12:56 pm »

Thank you, Pat lamp, your experience with traffic along the highway to Globe certainly helped. It’s going to be that route then.

In Tucson I’ll start with the loop through Saguaro National Park West and then take the cycle path along Cañada del Oro up to Catalina State Park, which should avoid most urban traffic and lights.

11

Routes / Re: Сredit card touring in Europe

« on: January 29, 2024, 05:40:45 pm »

Supermanism, it sounds to me like one of the many river cycle routes would be the right thing for you. Plenty of infrastructure, good bike paths and signage and a lot of culture and cuisine. Depending on the river it can be very scenic, too.
Do you have any further preferences which countries you want to see? Loire, Rhine, Elbe, Danube are all great starters for bike touring in Central Europe.

12

Routes / Tucson to Grand Canyon

« on: January 26, 2024, 11:14:05 pm »

Hello everyone, I already got mighty input last year for our tour this spring / summer from Tucson to Canada.
For the part from Tucson to Grand Canyon, I have two alternatives.

#1 via Apache Junction
#2 via Globe


I lean towards #1, since Picacho State Park and Casa Grande NM seam worth visiting as well as doing a hike in the Superstition Mountains. Also there seam to be nice shoulders every part of the way. But surely a lot more suburban environment.
#2 is surely a bit more remote and maybe more scenic? But there seem to be stretches without shoulders, but steady traffic and inclines at the same time.
I would be grateful for some input. (The route planer I use doesn’t work very well on mobiles. You would have to turn your phone sideways and then close the statistics)

13

Routes / Re: Cycling the Parkways from Washington DC to New Orleans

« on: January 26, 2024, 10:28:34 pm »

Maybe it’s of interest to some here: We did the tour in September, but ending in Savannah instead of New Orleans.
Leaving DC on the C&O Canal until Harpers Ferry and then connecting to Skyline Drive was great. In between is Sky Meadows State Park, beautiful and only (!) walk-to campsites.
Traffic on the Parkway in September was low, temperatures perfect, drivers almost every time respectful.
Many small groceries that were mentioned in the last edition before Covid of “Cycling the Blue Ridge” don’t exist anymore. Some nice camp hosts helped as out with food at one point.
We went until Great Smoky Mountains National Park and then turned southeast to Savannah.
Georgia State Parks are nicely spread out from 60 to 80 miles, well maintained, beautifully located and have nice staff.
We chose very remote routes through Georgia, but itself it was rather boring.
Savannah again is a great place to end. US Bike Route 1 leads into the city, but was neither signed nor adequate. The DOT and the city clearly don’t care at all.
Taking Amtrak back was nice, although it hurt to see how the old station in the city center is no more used by trains.

14

Routes / Re: Cycling the Parkways from Washington DC to New Orleans

« on: May 13, 2023, 05:23:09 am »

Thank you. The ride from Lebanon into Downtown doesn't seem to bad.

It's of no more importance to you, HobbesOnTour, but I might have found good advice to other cyclists that want to go from Downtown Nashville to Natchez Trace Parkway:
The local buses from WeGo Public Transit transport up to two bikes. One can take Line 3 from Nashville Central (right in front of the Municipal auditorium), direction West End. Or even visit the Centennial Park with the Parthenon before and boarding the same bus on West End Ave & 27th Ave S WB.
Getting off at Todd Preist Dr & Sawyer Brown Rd WB, the rest is an easy ride on neighborhood streets and cycle lanes to the start of the NTP.

From the bus stop it's a 40mi/64km ride to Tennessee Highway 50 Bike Campground: https://classic-maps.openrouteservice.org/directions?n1=35.896273&n2=-87.102909&n3=11&a=36.071033,-86.946863,36.064364,-86.949406,36.058467,-86.949041,36.049498,-86.961594,35.721932,-87.262162&b=1a&c=0&k1=en-US&k2=mi
Stronger riders can do 62mi/100km to Meriwether Lewis Campground.

15

Routes / Re: Cycling the Parkways from Washington DC to New Orleans

« on: May 11, 2023, 05:19:44 am »

Nice, that reassures me that we will go to Nashville and that we will take the commuter train from Lebanon into Downtown to avoid that nasty traffic. Well and going to NTP seems at elast doable. Thank you! I will check other parts of your journey as well.