Messages

1

General Discussion / Re: What are some of the steepest grades on the Trans Am?

« on: September 23, 2010, 12:56:30 pm »

I used to bike up the Myrtle St. hill in Stillwater, Mn with the 3M bicycle club in the 1970's. I never saw a woman who could bike it without walking, and there were some pretty good female bikers in the club. One is a prize-winning marathoner today. It literally separated the sexes. I have great trouble getting up that hill today but I still can do it.

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Routes / Re: Renting a van to transport bicycles

« on: September 20, 2010, 03:53:22 pm »

See this thread:

http://www.adventurecycling.org/forums/index.php?topic=7678.0

This person took Greyhound and he gives lots of info. I've taken Greyhound before, but not with a bike. It's usually not exactly a country club-like atmosphere.

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Routes / Re: Denver to Iowa City, Iowa

« on: July 20, 2010, 04:31:26 pm »

The Cowboy Trail in Nebraska might be of use, though I think a piece of it is closed right now due to flooding:

http://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/parks/guides/trails/cowboy/cowboy.asp

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Routes / Re: Strangest attractions along the TransAmerica Trail?

« on: June 04, 2010, 03:23:37 pm »

Maybe you could find something on this site:

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/

The world's largest ball of twine is in Darwin, Mn, not too far from the Northern Tier.

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General Discussion / Re: Is Cycling a good thing to help improve your distance running?

« on: May 21, 2010, 01:12:38 pm »

In my experience it doesn't hurt your running but doesn't help that much. If what you want is to improve your distance running you're best off working on a running program.

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Routes / Re: Across Wisconsin- LaCrosse to Milwaukee

« on: May 17, 2010, 10:21:23 pm »

I drove down to Hastings/Prescott to check out routes to Red Wing. I think for us 316 in Minnisota through Welch and onto the Cannon River trail will work the best. It looks like new road with a wide shoulder and not too much traffic. Google bicycle maps suggested this route. I also found a way through Hastings off of Hwy 61, which was part of a route on Google Map My Ride. So Google has been helpful.

I bought the Adventure Cycling Association map for the Northern Tier from the Twin Cities to Muscatine. We'll follow that from Red Wing to Winona. A good portion of that is off of Highway 61.

The Adventure Cycling route to Red Wing looked nice but I like 316 better.

From Winona of course we'll be mostly on trails to Milwaukee.

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Routes / Re: Across Wisconsin- LaCrosse to Milwaukee

« on: May 12, 2010, 03:19:17 pm »

I think we'll travel down to Hastings/Red Wing and give it a try. That's probably the best way.

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Routes / Re: Across Wisconsin- LaCrosse to Milwaukee

« on: April 30, 2010, 02:14:24 pm »

I live on the east side of St. Paul not far from Lower Afton and Hwy 61. We hope to ride on side streets between 61 and the river down to Hastings. I'm familiar with that area. Beyond Hastings I'm unfamiliar but Google recommended a way that intersected with the Cannon Valley Trail at Welch. I was hoping to follow the Northern Tier trail from there to Winona, hoping the traffic wouldn't be bad. But if it's on 61 the whole way we might choose a different way. We're staying in motels along the way. I'm looking to maximize time on trails and minimize exposure to traffic and hills. What if we started out in Preston, Mn and utilized the trails down there?

There's a trail on the Wisconsin side now that goes from east of Winona to LaCrosse.

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Routes / Re: Across Wisconsin- LaCrosse to Milwaukee

« on: April 28, 2010, 10:01:15 pm »

Thanks for the info. I'm slowly laying out the trip. I think we'll go from St. Paul to Milw via LaCrosse. There's more than enough time to do it in one week at 60 mi per day. We'll probably stay overnight in Red Wing, Winona, Reedsburg, Madison, and a couple of days in Milw, returning by train. We'll probably follow more or less the Northern Tier from the Twin Cities to Winona, buying the map from Adventure Cycle, though it looks like there's a nice route south from St. Paul to Red Wing, intersecting the Cannon Valley Trail at Welch Village. The Google Map tool has helped, though it doesn't recognize that you can use the ferry at Merrimac, Wi to cross the Wisconsin River. In Milwaukee we'll take the Interurban trail north to Port Washington and Cedarburg for a day trip. We have one extra day. I'm thinking we should do something different that day or save it in case of rain. I'm not sure when to schedule it--early or late in the trip. I'd like to take an extra day in Milwaukee and look up some old friends or relatives.

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Routes / Re: Across Wisconsin- LaCrosse to Milwaukee

« on: April 11, 2010, 08:24:50 pm »

Thanks.

We'll probably stay in motels along the way. I did some of this in the '70's when there were only 60 or so miles of trails. I went to college in Madison and grew up in Milwaukee so I'm familiar with the area. The part I'm a little worried about is Reedsburg to Cottage Grove just east of Madison. We'll have to take mostly roads through that part but it should be OK. We can go through Sauk City or across the Merrimac Ferry and through Devils Lake State Park, which could be fun. I know it's hilly around there, though.

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Routes / Across Wisconsin- LaCrosse to Milwaukee

« on: April 11, 2010, 05:29:44 pm »

I'm hoping to bike from LaCrosse, Wi (or Winona, mn) to Milwaukee the week of the 4th of July. Is it possible to do it entirely on bicycle trails? What's the best way? Are the trails OK for road bikes? What are the names of the trails to go on?

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Routes / Re: Help planning from WI to Yellowstone

« on: February 27, 2010, 02:17:07 pm »

Check out this site:

http://www.yellowstonetrail.org/

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Routes / Re: Help planning from WI to Yellowstone

« on: February 27, 2010, 02:11:49 pm »

Check out this page: http://shop.volumeone.org/item.php?item_id=145

Apparently the Yellowstone Trail (from Minneapolis) was established for cars in 1914. I suspect that US Hwy 212 is follows this route and for much of the way might be satisfactory for bicycling. You'd have to check out traffic levels and shoulders. There might be some cool historical places you could visit along the way.

Out west they allow you to bike on the shoulders of the expressways. That might help.

With research you probably can find a good way accross Minneapolis-St. Paul. You could also take city buses. All have bicycle racks nowadays.

There is a good Wisconsin bicycle map that could guide you from Chippewa Falls to the Twin Cities area, which would be the most direct route. Of the four available maps you'd want the Mississippi River section. You can order them from Wheel and Sprocket bike shop in Hales Corners, Wi. I don't have the phone number, though. You'd want to cross the Mississippi at Stillwater, Mn; Hudson, Wi (there is a bike bridge on Interstate 94); Prescott, Wi; Or Red Wing, Mn. From Red Wing there's a very nice Bicycle trail to Cannon Falls. There's also a nice one from Faribault, Mn to Mankato.

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Routes / Re: Help planning from WI to Yellowstone

« on: February 20, 2010, 01:20:38 pm »

It would help to know approximately where your cousins' dairy (farm?) is.

Wisconsin, though, is pretty good for biking. Local roads are usually asphalt and there are lots of rails-to-trails for bikes (http://www.railstotrails.org/index.html). I believe the Wisconsin State Dept of Tourism has info as well (http://www.travelwisconsin.com/maps_guides.aspx?refresh=true). Minnesota is similar but there aren't as many asphalt-covered local roads and it's more spread out, and this trend continues as you head west.

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General Discussion / Re: Bike recommendations for heavy people

« on: February 20, 2010, 12:55:19 pm »

If you're looking for a custom-built wheel, try this site:

http://epicwheelworks.com/index.html

She's located in Portland but is from Chicago. I heard a podcast interview with her and she sounded interesting. She does 60% racing wheels but makes road-bike, commuter, etc as well.