Topics

1

General Discussion / Warmshowers: What's your recent experience hosting or guesting?

« on: February 07, 2024, 06:45:40 pm »

We're about to take the plunge into Warmshowers, as both hosts and guests, and would love to hear your recent experience doing either, especially in the past year.
Until now, we've always camped or stayed at lodging recommended on the ACA maps on our cross-country tours. There seems to have been some debate about WS a few years ago, but the most recent dedicated post about WS that search finds on this forum is 3 years old.
Thanks much.

2

General Discussion / Shipping bike home from St. Augustine?

« on: November 29, 2022, 07:00:07 am »

How are y’all shipping your bikes home from St. Augustine after Southern Tier? Is there a bike shop that ACA members tend to use that can box and ship?
We’re a few days to the finish on our tandem. We could box it ourselves if need, but would be happy to pay someone. We won’t be flying directly home, so flying with it won’t be practical.
Last year at the end of the TransAm, we had Village Bicycles in Newport News box and ship the bike. They did a great job at reasonable price and it saved us time and hassle.

3

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

« on: September 05, 2022, 10:01:17 pm »

Just east of New Orleans on the revised route on the 2021 map, it appears a bridge has been out since spring on route 90 over the Pearl River area, in the section between New Orleans and Pearlington.
Here's a local article: https://www.nola.com/news/traffic/article_8d704ce0-076b-11ed-807a-5f380e9c4f61.html
The two crossings north are Interstates, requiring a 100-mile detour if biking, according to my ridewithGPS mapping (see attached).
Has anyone found a better detour? I wonder how the ACA tour this fall plans to navigate it.
Sorry if I missed mention of this in my searches, but I don't find it here nor on the updates page online.

4

Routes / Anyone done the Southern Tier Sec. 1 detour around SR78?

« on: August 02, 2022, 04:41:57 pm »

The ACA ST 1 map updates and the below forum post, "Southern Tier Sec. 1, maps 5-15 major detour Jan. 2021," suggest a major detour to avoid SR78. It involves about 45 miles of Interstate riding. Some posters in the below discussion take issue with the detour.
Has anyone ridden this detour, and how was it?
Has anyone recently ridden the original route, which is still on the paper map, and how was it?
Thanks!
-forum post: https://forums.adventurecycling.org/index.php?topic=16752.0
-map update: https://www.adventurecycling.org/routes-and-maps/adventure-cycling-route-network/map-updates-and-corrections/?routeAddendaaction=mucDisplay:main.results&id=766&mRoute=14&mSection=92#mucResults

5

Routes / Southern Tier Interstate-highway segments: your experience?

« on: September 21, 2021, 12:45:58 pm »

Hi All,
After a mighty fine Western Express + TransAm self-supported tour this summer, this old tandem team is thinking of the Southern Tier for next year, W-E, probably in the fall.
In the first 3 maps, there are quite a few segments on Interstate highways.
Anyone who's done the ST recently:
What was your experience on these Interstate sections?
Was it annoying or dangerous-feeling enough to be a big negative factor in the route?
Or no big deal?
Did you find any alternative routes to any of those segments?
Thanks!

6

Routes / Western Express: Start from SF without ferry, via new Richmond Bridge bike lane

« on: December 27, 2019, 04:40:13 pm »

   Hi all,
   The protected bike lane on the Richmond-San Rafael bridge opened last month, just north of San Francisco. My wife and I tried it this last weekend on the tandem, and it's great!
   That means:
   -You can start an overland tour like the Western Express without riding a ferry or taking an out-of-the-way route.
   -You can do the fun 3-bridge-loop day we did (SF--Golden Gate Bridge--Richmond Bridge--Bay Bridge--Treasure Island), 50-60 miles if you use the nooks and crannies of the Bay Trail.
   Until now, the first leg on a tour eastward from San Francisco was hard to do purely overland. You either took a giant detour north or south, or took the Vallejo ferry, as the Western Express route has you doing (a lovely ferry ride, btw!).
   Now, you can start by crossing the Golden Gate Bridge northward, then Sausalito, Marin bike trail, bike lane along 101, Larkspur, ride around San Quentin prison, cross the Richmond Bridge.
   Then either: Head over the Carquinez bridge to Vallejo and pick up the Western Express route; or head from Richmond east over the hills to Antioch and across the Route 160 bridge to Brannan Island State Park, which has a bike-hike campground--that would be about 70 miles from the south end of GG bridge. From there, it's a lovely ride in the Delta atop dikes on the waterways to Sacramento to rejoin Western Express, or cut eastward across the valley and rejoin the Express in the Sierra foothills.
   Please use the Richmond Bridge bike lane early and often, as some pro-auto forces are lobbying to get it closed earlier than its scheduled 4-year test and turned into a third car lane!