Topics

1

Routes / Route ideas for touring in my 5 northern missing states

« on: January 18, 2022, 03:22:37 am »

I haven't chimed in for quite awhile but still here following the discussions. I'm thinking about tour ideas for next summers riding season.  There are 5 remaining states in the USA that I have never been to.  North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan.  I am thinking perhaps I might  incorporate these last 5 states into a tour. 


I have ridden through a couple states making up my own route with no problems but even so I would prefer to stay on established routes where I can take advantage of the ACA maps and more often encounter other riders to visit with.  Any ideas of a nice route.


I can see having two places to start depending on how much time I decide to take.  I have a son who lives in Kennewick, WA  I could start there. It wouldn't take much arm twisting to get my wife to go visit the grandkids and deliver me and my bicycle to a starting point pretty close to the Lewis and Clark route.  I could then ride east following the route to the Dakotas.  The shorter option if I can't budget as much time would be if I could take Amtrak's Empire Builder and depart at an appropriate station closer to North Dakota.  From there what do you think might be the a great route to enjoy Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan without too much backtracking.

2

General Discussion / Question about seat height

« on: December 21, 2020, 09:27:50 pm »

Do you use the same seat on your touring bike as you do on your road bike - your regular group ride lightweight road bike if you use one? 


I sold my old touring bike a couple months ago and bought the new Trek 520 recently.  I didn't measure the seat height on the old bike before selling so I set up the 520 the same as my Trek Domane road bike (I know the touring bike is a road bike too - just not sure of the right terminology)


Anyway the 520 touring bike feels like I'm sitting too high in the air but I don't feel like that on the Domane with the same height.  I wonder if this is a thing? I'm sure I'll just do what's comfortable but was curious.

3

Gear Talk / Bottle Cage Allen screw Size

« on: December 09, 2020, 12:48:09 pm »

Just came home with the new bike y'day eve. 
First thing before riding is to install the saddle, pedals and bottle mounts but the allen screws do not fit into the frame of the new 520.  All my previous bicycles had the same size bolt so I thought I'd head over to the local hardware store for some metric allen screws.  Does anyone know what size I might need?

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Gear Talk / Tubus Tara Lowrider Front Rack Mounting Question

« on: August 30, 2020, 06:22:15 pm »

My REI touring bike is a full size to large and probably a bit dangerous to dismount safely as I get older. I rationalized buying it and toured with it because my budget was small and I was able to buy it used for amazing price. It came with a generic rear rack and I put a put a Tubus Tara Lowrider on the front.


The time has come and I’m ready to sell my over sized bike for whatever it’s worth and get a new properly fitted bike, and am planning on ordering the new funky green Surly Disc Trucker.


My question is this: can I keep the Tubus Tara and mount it on the new Surly with disc brakes or should I just add a few dollars to the selling price and sell it along with the old bike?

5

General Discussion / Pacific Coast - August & Sept, is this a really bad idea?

« on: July 25, 2020, 06:44:29 pm »

I have the time to take a tour of the Pacific Coast, rather than do it all I was considering Portland to SF. I talked to my doctor who is a recreational cyclist just to ask for his 2 cents opinion if I should do a pacific coast bike tour.  He said it is a great idea.  Probably the safest things to do during covid.  I can do all or just the Oregon coast or?  --- but if campgrounds and restaurants are going to be closed or if our culture is simply disapproving of such things then maybe not???  I read here y'day that the Oregon hiker/biker sites are not open/


I remember reading some discussion here back in March and it seemed the general consensus was to skip it this year but now that the opportunity is here  I am finding it tempting.    What do you guys think. (please be nice  )

6

Gear Talk / Cassette Question

« on: October 10, 2018, 07:22:39 pm »

Hey all,I bought an 11-34 cassette for my touring bike only to discover I purchased a 9-speed and not a 10-speed.  Rather than return it I decided to put it on my hybrid bike that is a 9-speed 11-26.  (I'm sure you can see where this is going).


I live in a VERY hilly area and enjoyed the extra gears but unfortunately the lowest gear 34 tooth locks up my chain if I happen to forget to move down to a smaller ring in the front.  I try to remember but it still seems to happen once almost every ride.


Rather than just putting back on my 11-26 cassette I thought I would order a 11-30 but see the 11-32 are the most common. [size=78%]BTW [/size][/size][size=78%][/size]The second sprocket down is a 30 tooth so I know that is ok.  [size=78%][/size][size=78%][/size][size=78%] [/size]


Ok, my question is how can I determine if a 30 or 32 tooth is the largest sprocket on the cassete I can use???


Thanks, Keith

7

Gear Talk / Waterproofing Tent Advice-Suggestions

« on: September 10, 2018, 02:09:05 am »

I have a REI Half Dome tent with 3 summers use and I'll guess it has about 100 nights of use.  I don't know the number of nights in the rain but regardless on nights I spent in the rain I was as dry as could be, I always used the outer rain cover raining or not.


Until the the beginning of the last week of the last tour I had heavy-heavy rain for 2 nights and I got a a bit of water inside on the first day but after the 2nd day in the rain it was no longer waterproof. Water was covering the floor and even a bit of dripping from above.  Seemed like it happened all at once.


So the question is do I have to buy a new tent or can it be re-water-proofed effectively. Obviously I'd prefer to get a lot more use from the tent as it otherwise seems in good shape.


Thanks, Keith

8

General Discussion / Arriving by Amtrak

« on: May 05, 2017, 05:45:37 pm »

I left this morning for the 2nd half of my cross country ride.  I am taking Amtrak to Denver where ill begin. I boarded the California Zephyr in Sacramento  with my bike. I checked the bike and duffel (with the panniers stuffed inside) at the checkin counter. They gave me a baggage tags to attach to the bag and the handlebars. Then i had to take the bike to the baggage car at the front of the train. I lifted the bike up to the man working the baggage car - I stuck my head in the car and looked around. I didnt see any other bikes. He stood the bike up in the rack and said i should return to the baggage car when i arrive to collect my bike. Pretty easy I guess. Im not sure where i will find my duffle since they took it from me when i checked in. BTW $20 for the bike.  Just crossed the Donner pass - lots of snow here. 

9

Gear Talk / How to know tire size

« on: February 15, 2017, 02:23:16 pm »

My Vitorria Randonneur touring tires have 3000miles on them now. I think I would like to start my summer trip with new tires even though I'm sure I could do a rotation and get more out of the ones on thernow.  My bike is the REI Navara Randonee.

The bike came with 700x32. (BTW I'd like any answer but as well  I'd love  to know how to determine the answer for future knowledge sake) what size tires can I put on the wheels.

If I want to add some bike trails (such as the Katy Trail) on my route this summer a wider tire might be of some benefit for comfort.

Randonee:  http://www.adventurecycling.org/default/assets/resources/201202_RoadTest_Pelkey.pdf

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General Discussion / Does anyone know what this sign reading [133.60] means?

« on: February 08, 2017, 09:01:28 am »

Here is a Transamerica trivia question.

I took this pic of a road sign along highway 12 travelling east in Idaho last summer. I googled it and also asked friends on my Facebook page. But no one so far has known what it means - anyone knowing person here?


https://www.dropbox.com/s/sbmaez25ovnim5y/IMG_0169.jpg?dl=0

Also trying to figure out how to post pictures on the forums.  I'll see if one of these works. These are the two places where I have my pics currently saved on dropbox and Flickr?

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General Discussion / Finishing my TransAm ride - Where to Start

« on: January 05, 2017, 08:17:58 pm »

I am asking for ideas & suggestions from you all and especially anyone who did the route in 2 parts.

Last year I was going to start my TransAmerica ride the first week of May and ride E-W.  Unfortunately I got sick and had to delay almost a month.  I ended up leaving the first of June from the Oregon Coast and rode as far as I could until my time available was up.  I ended up getting half way plus a day or two.  I went off route the last 2 or three days so I could end near the train in Kansas - anyway I finished my ride in Garden City, KS.

So this year I would like to finish the ride and do part 2.  I am trying to decide if I would like to fly to the East Coast ( I am in CA) and ride E-W and finish the ride in the middle of the country again.  Or, it might be nice to get the train back to Kansas and just carry on riding W-E where I left off. 

I like the idea of starting with others travelers leaving Yorktown in May but also like the the idea of just carrying on and finishing the route as I left it and end on the East Coast.  Any ideas?  My departure dates are flexible.

12

Routes / Going off course around Yellowstone or not thoughts

« on: July 01, 2016, 09:36:56 pm »

I'm on Transam W-E should be at Yellowstone in two days time. For two reasons I'm wondering about bypassing the park. First I'm doing Yellowstone later in the summer with family and second I'm hitting the park on 4th of July weekend.

Should i just stay on route or would bypassing through Island Park down to Jackson be safer and quicker than fighting the holiday traffic?  I think the road were 20 and 32 and 33.

13

General Discussion / How to figure average miles per day

« on: May 23, 2016, 03:06:29 am »

Quick question here.  Tentative plan is to do one rest day ever 7 to 10 days.

When people ask how far I travel each day, I am wondering if the common practice is to divide total miles travelled by the total days of the tour or divide by the total - on the bike - riding days?

Thanks 

14

Gear Talk / What did you forget to pack that you needed?

« on: March 25, 2016, 03:13:03 pm »

I've read many posts and paragraphs in journals etc that discuss the items folks take on their tours and end up sending - shipping home or giving away.  I have sorted out everything on my list and tried to reduce as much as seemed possible or prudent. 

I was also curious about the opposite and wondered what you forgot that you wish you would have taken or didn't know you needed and tried to buy along the way?

15

Routes / Century day along the TransAm route

« on: March 17, 2016, 03:55:46 pm »

I'd like to do a century on one day on the TransAm, perhaps silly but just something I'd like to do. Anyone have a section of the route that they might recommend as a good section traveling E-W without a huge amount of climb or wind.
Starting mid-May in Yorktown and planning average of 50 per day - that should put me around the middle of the country second half of June.