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Topics - daikaregi

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Routes / Wilmington NC to Richmond VA
« on: March 22, 2010, 07:03:33 pm »
Hi fellow cyclists
I am still on my big roundtrip , heading back now to philadelphia. want to go back from wilmington nc up to richmond va in as a straight shot as possible. consider going up the 301 next to the i95. advantages - beeline, more service stations (motels) en route.   taking the aca route atlantic coast would take more time and miles. has anyone done the 301 between wilmington and richmond and can tell me anything about conditions compared to the aca route. is it more hilly there - as i have heard i had to go through the foothills there?  thanks so much for suggestions.

www.on-bike.net

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General Discussion / Cycling in thunderstorms
« on: July 25, 2009, 11:19:19 am »
Hi there

I am just going accross Michigan, the Lake Erie Connector from east to west.
Have already survived some thunderstorms in my tent during nights. 2 days ago I got into really  bad weather. In the middle of nowhere I was caught in a really bad thunderstorm , heavy rain for hours. Could find shelter at a store.
Just imagine you are on the road, open fields, no trees, villages, farms or any shelter. how do you behave when a thunderstorm is coming, which security measures do you take? It is rather unsafe staying on the bike, could get struck by lightening.
I watch weatherforecasts closely, but if you dont go, stay on the campground when thunderstorms are forecast,think you just get nowhere at all these days.
Would very much appreciate if you could tell me about your experiences.

greetings
Regina

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General Discussion / Cycling and camping in bear country ? !
« on: June 19, 2009, 11:06:36 pm »
Hello dear fellow cyclists.

I am a girl of advanced age (54) and fell for cycling several years ago.
Made some 3 to 4 weeks trips across parts of germany (where i come from) and the netherlands. nature, people you meet on the trail and the physical effects on my body made me wishing for more. so in 2008 i made a 6 months trip across the northern part of europe (germany, netherlands, denmark, sweden, norway - north cape - finnland and back to my hometown). on the way up north i met a swedish woman on the road, my age and also heading north. we rode together for 6 weeks and became close friends. she taught me how to camp wild and survive in rain and ice.

this trip got me hooked. so now i am here in the land of the free and the brave.
started my tour 2 weeks ago and want to go around as far as i get in 1 years visa time. my son, who lives in philadelphia, has warned me - much bigger distances than in europe between towns, big wilderniss in between. camping in bear country? mom, that is toooooo dangereous!  well, as moms are, they dont listen.
started in philli and went along delaware river. it was at the delaware river water gap national forest that i arrived at a private campground in the forest - too early in the season, no people there during the week. campowner told me to pitch my tent wherever i want, but i would be alone during the night. - well i am not all alone, i got my little jack-russel-terrier with me, big friend, loved companion and a real watchdog.  i was looking around for the best spot for my tent when i saw the black bear, a year old cub, sniffing around the garbage bins.  thought - where there is a baby bear, there might be his siblings too, not to think of his mom and dad. Now the campground became too crowded for my taste and a left immediately. one hour left until it got dark and my gps said i had to go another 10 miles to the next motel - uphill all the time, nothing but forest around me and at the last of my strength. was already dark when i arrived there. people at the motel laughed at me: they are no thread to people,  black bears are shy and run away when they see humans.
Well, well, born and bread in densely urbanized europe, i really dont know. i made an internet research and what i learned was, that black bears can be dangereous in certain situations. the most incidents however, with human injuries or deaths happened on campgrounds, where people were attacked in the tent. there are of course those areas in canada and alaska, but also yellowstone and mount clacier nat. parks had casualties in the past.

so, please dear bikefriends, help an urban greenhorn to get this into perspective. since this incident on the campground i prefer to stay in cosy little motels und feel unwell on the trail. rest only on hilltops in open clearings to be able to see and go downhill into retreat if necessary.  Of course i do what i can helping the american economic situation improve, but on the long run i cannot afford to stay in the motels all the time.
did anyone of you have already had some experiences during biketours and camping with those bears? how dangereous is it, to be out there?
have pepperspray and a loud whistle with me and learned how to behave if i see a bear coming - in theory -but...

thanks for your replies

daikaregi   www.on-bike.net





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