Topics

1

Gear Talk / Packing a DSLR?

« on: July 15, 2014, 01:57:20 pm »

While I do have a nice "rugged" camera, the DSLR just naturally takes better pictures. Is there a decent way to pack it on the bike w/o having to worry about it?

2

General Discussion / Fighting off boredom?

« on: June 23, 2014, 11:09:10 pm »

So I am in the makings of planning my first cross country trip here "soon" (in the next year or 2, maybe 3 depending on the job). While at home, I can normally occupy my time with the great and almight internets; however, on the road, with little to no access to electronic equipment, how do you guys fight off the boredom?

I am a solo traveler, and during my weekend trips, its not a huge deal, as I can usually just "watch the fire" and listen to the sounds of nature; however, I have a feeling that 6+ months of camping out will get fairly boring at some point.

Now that I am typing this, I am thinking perhaps that taking a tablet with a metric !@#% ton of books might do the trick. What do you fine folks think, or what are your experiences with the psychology of riding cross country solo?

3

Gear Talk / FYI: Axiom GrandTour Modular Bags (Warning?) (Solved(ish))

« on: May 23, 2014, 10:19:38 pm »

So just picked up my set of axiom bags

Grand Tour 60 - http://www.axiomgear.com/products/gear/bags/modular-grandtour-series/modular-grandtour-60/
Grand Tour 30 - http://www.axiomgear.com/products/gear/bags/modular-grandtour-series/modular-grandtour-30/
Grand Tour Tent Pocket: http://www.axiomgear.com/products/gear/bags/modular-grandtour-series/modular-grandtour-tent-pocket/

The tent pocket molex snaps are the small variety, the connectors on the GT60 are the large ones, therefore, the tent pocket will not connect to the GT60. Not sure why it was designed this way tbh.

Just fyi for anyone looking at the bags.

4

General Discussion / A look back at 2013

« on: April 08, 2014, 08:46:16 am »

So.. last year I mentioned that I would post pics of a self-made tour I went on last year for vacation.. and umm.. better late than never? Did a quick AE/Pr job, nothing too extravagant to make them a bit more entertaining I suppose. 

Sadly, I planned the tour when I first started biking, so I assumed the distance was actually something that would be pretty hard... mmm, yea, I was very wrong on that part, but it was a good, relaxing ride (only had to ride 15 miles a day), good for a stress free vacation, if it didn't rain most of the time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSZXjFiHMdA

5

Gear Talk / Disc Trucker + Schwalbe Marathon Deluxe.. rim?

« on: March 29, 2014, 07:09:43 pm »

Just a quick question before I start building my touring bike. I was looking at going with the Surly Disc Trucker, 700c. On the stock bike, they include 700c x 37mm Continental Tour RIDE tires. I was looking at upgrading(?) those with a set of Schwalbe Marathon Deluxe HS420's.

Judging by the schwalbe site, they offer tires in the 700c x 35mm and the 700c x 38mm ranges.

So, from experience, which would be the better tire size for fully loaded touring (weekend trips atm, aspiring to do trans-continental one of these years)? Also, would the stock rim handle the tire size(s)? I have to admit, I could find almost no rim reviews / education online yet :\

6

Great Lakes / Touring within Ohio, State Park campground policy

« on: May 30, 2013, 12:50:52 pm »

Good afternoon all, as a long time stalker of both the ACA website and forums, I have finally decided to create a forum account 

Last weekend, I decided to do a short tour from the Dayton, OH area down to the southern part of the state. It wasn't a huge multi-century run or anything, as I am still building up, both physically, mentally, and financially for those, but I ran across an issue when I attempted to crash for the night at one of the state parks.

Granted, this was during a holiday weekend, thus it was to be expected (and planned for), but I didn't take this into account in the planning stage of this trip. The issue is that Ohio does not have a "No bicyclist turned away" policy that I have read about. In light of this, I would like to submit a proposal to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to get something into effect that so this would not happen to other individuals who may tour across the state.

I have attached the proposal to this thread, and hopefully, I can get a few suggestions on the next steps.

Thank you,

RandomGuyOnABike

edit: I have corrected the name of the deparment from Ohio Department of National Resources to the correct, Ohio Department of Natural Resources. I love MS Word's autocorrect feature!