Messages

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General Discussion / Re: What book would you recommend to read?

« on: January 30, 2009, 02:46:13 pm »

One of my favorite travel books of any kind is "Over the Hills: A Midlife Escape Across America by Bicycle" by David Lamb. It was published in the mid-90s and is out of print now, but copies can be had at some libraries and on Amazon. Lamb was a journalist in his mid-50s who had never done a bike tour (or much other cycling for that matter), but he decided to bike alone across the United States from his home in Alexandria, Virginia, to Santa Monica, California. His book about that trip is wonderful. It's engagingly written and interweaves the story of his trip with the history of bicycling in America. I've reread it numerous times. It was what inspired me to get involved in bicycle touring and take my own first big trip, a tour down the Pacific Coast. I corresponded with Lamb by e-mail during that trip and got to meet him and compare notes on our trips when I returned--a real thrill for me!

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Routes / Jacksonville, FL to Amelia Island

« on: January 30, 2009, 02:29:03 pm »

I hope to bike all or part of the east coast of Florida in late April to early May. I plan to take a train to Jacksonville then bike to Fernandina Beach to start. Does anyone have any advice on routes from the Amtrak station to Amelia Island? The obvious (but not shortest) route seems to be northwest on US 1 to A1A at Callahan, then east. But I’d like to know if there are other routes that are shorter and preferable. I’d like to approach Amelia Island from the west (rather than the south), if possible, to minimize covering that same section of the coast twice. Thank you!

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Connecting ACA Routes / Getting to Amela Island FL from Jacksonville

« on: July 10, 2007, 10:50:17 am »

I previously posted this in the "Routes" forum and got no replies, so I thought I'd try here.

I plan to bike the east coast of Florida next spring (late April to early May). I will take a train or plane to Jacksonville and bike to Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island to start. Does anyone have any advice on routes from the Amtrak station or airport to Amelia Island? From Amtrak, the logical (but not shortest) route seems to be northwest on US 1 to A1A at Callahan, then east. From the airport, US 17 north to AIA. But I'd like to know if there are other non-main roads that are safe and don't traverse bad areas.
Thanks.

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Routes / Jacksonville, FL to Amelia Island

« on: June 12, 2007, 11:00:44 am »

I plan to bike the east coast of Florida next spring (late April to early May). I will take a train or plane to Jacksonville and bike to Fernandina Beach to start. Does anyone have any advice on routes from the Amtrak station or airport to Amelia Island? From Amtrak, the logical (but not shortest) route seems to be northwest on US 1 to A1A at Callahan, then east. From the airport, US 17 north to AIA. But Id like to know if there are other non-main roads that are safe and dont traverse bad areas.

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Routes / Pacific Coast advice!!

« on: July 10, 2007, 11:04:36 am »

One thing that I noticed while on the Adventure Cycling trip down the coast last September was that the elevation profile on the Northern California map seemed to be slightly out of synch with reality in at least one critical area. I don't have the map in front of me, but I recall that the locations of  Leggett and Rockport were incorrectly marked on the elevation profile. This led us to believe that we were just about "over the hill" when we reached Standish-Hickey State Park, when in fact we hadn't even reached Leggett Hill yet, the highest hill on the trip. This can be verified in the "Bicycling the Pacific Coast" book that others have mentioned. If you read the description of that part of the route in the book, it all makes sense. One of my few regrets about my trip was that I didn't bring that book with me.