Topics

1

General Discussion / Touring issues with Fibromyalgia?

« on: June 05, 2015, 11:44:26 pm »

Dealing with fibromyalgia for 2 years now and I'm not willing to give the issue of touring yet, not by a long shot.

Is there anyone else out there dealing with a chronic pain issue and finding ways to tour anyhow?

My Doc's all say getting out and exercising is good so I'm working my butt off (feels like it as well) to get back into riding shape. In a few months my wife will have her new touring bike and I want to be ready to ride what she's used to her bike.

2

Gear Talk / Wife looking to get new bike LHT/Disc or 520

« on: June 03, 2015, 05:58:20 am »

My wife is looking at a new bike and has narrowed it down to ether a Trek 520 or a Surly LHT. Disc brakes seem high on her list as she really likes my Disc Trucker.

I really like my Surly and would buy it again if I had to so I'm not to worried about the OoB build from Surly but I have no clue about the Modern Trek 520. Does the modern Trek stand up to the vintage 520's reputation?

She will be getting one or the other new in box and built at the local shop. Anything critically wrong with current out of box builds?

3

Gear Talk / Ice Recumbent Trike

« on: May 14, 2015, 06:31:16 pm »

After reading through ( http://forums.adventurecycling.org/index.php?topic=12732.0 ) the previous Trike post I figured I'd start a new one.

I have Fibromyalgia and a "healing" pinched nerve in my lower back and an energy/endurance issue that crashed on me a couple years ago. Untill I crashed I had set up my Surly Disc Trucker completely with touring gear. Now days I don't have the long term stability to tour on two wheels (yet...). I've been looking at the Ice Adventurer HD (I'm 6'1") with the larger rear tire. However I'm not able to navigate hills like I used to and have been looking at the electric assist motor to help out. Untill I collapsed I would have NEVER thought about a powered assist but after 2 years of not getting any better I have had to look at the reality of it, thus if I can't do it on 2 wheels I'll frigging get it done on 3 :p

I thought I saw a tadpole style trike with a commonly seen (around here) rear wheel hub motor set up to assist on hills and that's when it hit me that I needed to really look into this. I may yet be able to tour again with a trike

Any help figuring out the plausibility of this project would be great

Anyone using electric assist?

Has anyone had en electric assist added to a bike after market?

How is the reliability of electric assist motors?

Been a member for a good number of years (6-8 years I forget) and I'm not giving up, not by a long shot...

4

General Discussion / Moving back to Santa Barbara, CA. ugh

« on: June 04, 2013, 05:29:46 pm »

On the up side I will be leaving the central valley very soon I want to move north but SB is better than Fresno

I've been away from Santa Barbara sense '86 and only visited a few times sense then, I know I'm in for a shock... I'd love to hear from others that live and ride/tour in the area. I "live" on my bike having given up on driving the car just over a year ago and would be just as happy to not have to use it again

Having rediscovered cycling this late in life I'm trying to catch up on lost time LOL I rode my bike everywhere when I lived in SB the last time. All I know now is that the hills are going to be a challenge. It's flat out here in the central valley with few hills in my path.

Commuting and touring are my main focus, off road doesn't do anything for me. I'd like to see some of the old mountain roads I used to drive around in my youth, well I'm not that old but the millage this body has racked up... I feel it LOL

5

California / Redding to Eurika Hwy 299?

« on: May 22, 2011, 05:39:49 pm »

Planning our summer trip and would like some on the ground info about the route from Redding to Eurika on Hwy 299, Camping, Sites, Road conditions the works.  We are planning on taking a week long through the area. Also if there is an alternate route other than 299 that would be better suited to bike touring

I wish it could be longer trip but we are working on a negative budget :p so we are trying to avoid hotels...

Any help from thos that have been there would be great.

6

Routes / Level of ability vs routes

« on: November 04, 2010, 05:34:12 pm »

For the past couple months I have been planning a tour over parts of the Seirra Cascades route, Map #4 to be exact. After talking to a few people that have been on these roads, be it road bike or touring, have mentioned that these are not "novice" routes. While I believe I can handle them, I'm not so sure my wife and daughter will. I have the drive to do it and make this work, but they are only interested in getting out on their bikes for a stroll, any hard work may invoke a mutiny :p

I have voiced my concerns to the family and I'm getting mixed replies. So I started looking at alternat maped routes that would be best suited for novice levels in reasonable fitness (my daughter is not much for activity...) as I fear Monitor Pass would end the trip...

I'm looking at a few maps that could be interesting I have the #4 map in the Pacific route but my wife is not crazy about a bike on Hwy 1 :p We plan to drive out there and drive parts to see the road.

Our plan is to rent a van to get to the start point, so anything more than a day's drive from Fresno is not an option.

Any help would be great, the trip is planned for summer break, wife and daughter will both be out of school

7

California / Cascades route map #4 2011

« on: October 04, 2010, 05:26:31 am »

 Next summer my wife and I will be taking our first long tour (not counting the over nighters  ) by getting a ride up to Truckee and riding the fourth Map route from the cascades route I'm sure I need to get some serious hill time in on my bike HAHA but I have driven all over this area but never took the time to do it on a bike While we are sad to not be able to make the Hawaii trip for our 20th anniversory, this is something we are not to sad about as a compromise Heck the map section swings right near our home so all we need to get is a ride out to Truckee :p Lucky for me I know LOTS of people that travel the area   So our costs are going to be greatly reduced and that makes my wife very happy

Has anyone done this route durring the summer season? You know when all the schools are out?? I know Yosemite is going to be a pain (it always is) but how about the rest of it?? I don't have the map in hand yet (it's on it's way ) so I haven't seen what roads it takes, I'm sure I've been on them at least once in my life lol... Going to camp as much as posable but will probably stay at a few inns allong the way.

At the moment I'm thinking 2 weeks for this ride. I'll see what comments I get and what the true route is when I get the map and really get a sence of what I'm getting myself into :p

8

Alaska/Hawaii / 2011 Hawaii

« on: August 03, 2010, 05:56:26 pm »

Back again Next year is my wife and I 20 anyversory and we want to ride around one of the islands of Hawaii. I remember bringing it up last year and think Maui was placed high on the list. We have started training and getting out equipment set up, really at the begining of the equipment issue :p We still don't know if we will beable to bring our bikes yet or not, think SUPER tight budget, so shipping the bikes vs renting a few is something still to be researched.

Anyone have comments on panniers good for the Hawaii weather? Personally I don't mind spending the money on quality items but my wife gets kind of funny when the $$ start racking up, so best bang for the bucks would be a good place to start.

I haven't choosen an island yet but plan on getting the topo maps of any routes we like. What maps of the islands would be good to get once we choose the island?

I'm sure more questions will pop up as the time passes and I'll be posting here with all the developments

9

Routes / Hawaii trip in the works

« on: May 10, 2009, 11:49:11 pm »

My wife and I will be going to Hawaii for our 20th aniversory. It will also be our first real bike tour trip. However I seem to have lost a link to a place in Hawaii that did tours and rentals.

I would love to hear from someone that has toured any of the islands on a bike. Any experiences would be great