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General Discussion / Re: Amtrak Bicycle Loading presentation
« on: May 26, 2023, 09:49:27 am »
Yes
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2
General Discussion / Re: Empire State Trail to NY City
« on: May 25, 2023, 03:13:28 pm »
The logistics might not work out for your if you're staying in Poughkeepsie. I stayed at the Bear Mountain Bridge Motel - in 2014 when doing the AT - it was $88. In 2017, in my modified Northern Tier, I stayed there again for $96. It's a tiny place, but clean.
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Connecting ACA Routes / Re: Across Michigan to Pittsburgh
« on: May 24, 2023, 08:16:26 am »
My suggestion would be to take the ferry from Manitowoc to Ludington, Lake Erie connector across Michigan to Marine City (or wherever the ferry is currently ), across Southern Ontario, ferry across Lake Erie to Sandusky, pick up Northern tier to rest of Erie, Pennsylvania, Underground Railroad Pittsburgh spur south to Pittsburgh.
Once you get to Manitowoc, you're on well-curated ACA routes , the rides across Michigan and Ontario are easy, and you get a couple more ferry rides!
Once you get to Manitowoc, you're on well-curated ACA routes , the rides across Michigan and Ontario are easy, and you get a couple more ferry rides!
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General Discussion / Amtrak Bicycle Loading presentation
« on: May 23, 2023, 07:46:43 am »
Did anyone else participate in the bicycle loading presentation by Amtrak? I admire the dedication of the presenters. But a word comes to mind - Sisyphean. All the different bicycle options - eBikes, tandems, recumbents, trikes, children's, fat tire, trailers... And all the different train car and platform configurations. The best I think we can hope for is improved communication/documentation for the question "Can I get from A to B with this gear?"
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Routes / Re: Northern Tier to the Empire State Trail
« on: February 21, 2023, 07:46:02 am »
No need for camping along the Erie Canalway - enough motels, hotels, B&B's. But camping is readily available too.
It's easy to stay on roads that parallel the canal. Not as picturesque, but faster and cleaner than the gravel. The path through Rochester is paved, so no need to deal with city traffic there.
It's easy to stay on roads that parallel the canal. Not as picturesque, but faster and cleaner than the gravel. The path through Rochester is paved, so no need to deal with city traffic there.
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Routes / Cycling to Long Island
« on: February 03, 2023, 11:42:28 am »
After living in northern NJ for 45 years, I visited Montauk and eastern Long Island, albeit by car, last November. Then I got to pondering "Would it have been possible to bicycle there?". After looking around on the internet, I found a few posts about bicycling to Montauk, mostly from Manhattan or taking the ferry to Long Island. From northern NJ, it looks like the only realistic way to ride is via the George Washington Bridge and then, somehow, working one's way to Long Island. I've given up on the idea of bicycling from NJ to Montauk. Even though it might be possible, I think it would be quite dangerous due to traffic (suicidal?!). So my question is "Is Suffolk County or New York State doing or planning anything to make Long Island more accessible to bicyclists?" Canalligator, I think you were looking into this problem years ago. Did you have any luck?
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Routes / Re: camping on the Northern Tier
« on: September 12, 2022, 12:08:40 pm »
I enjoyed reading your blog. just curious why you decided to ride the older northern tier route to Wolf Point Montana from cut Bank?
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Gear Talk / Re: Bluetooth speaker
« on: August 24, 2022, 09:02:46 am »
I ended up replacing it with the same speaker. I guess I shouldn't expect more than 5 years for an inexpensive speaker.
Except for in the noisiest conditions, the speaker has been adequate in terms of volume. In addition to directions, I have RideWithGPS. give me an alert every mile, just to make sure the phone hasn't fallen asleep.
Except for in the noisiest conditions, the speaker has been adequate in terms of volume. In addition to directions, I have RideWithGPS. give me an alert every mile, just to make sure the phone hasn't fallen asleep.
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Gear Talk / Bluetooth speaker
« on: August 03, 2022, 01:34:51 pm »
Over the past 8 years, I've been using the Buckshot 2.0 speaker from Outdoor Technology. They've worked well for me when bicycling, but seemed to die after 4 to 5 years - no longer charge, no longer maintain a charge. Maybe that's the expected life for an inexpensive speaker, but I'm wondering if there's something that might work better.
Requirements:
Waterproof
Bluetooth
Rechargeable
$30 or less
On uninteresting rides around home, I use it for listening to Pandora. When touring, I use it for turn by turn directions from Ride with GPS. My Android phones speaker is just not adequate if there's much road noise / wind noise.
Recommendations?
Requirements:
Waterproof
Bluetooth
Rechargeable
$30 or less
On uninteresting rides around home, I use it for listening to Pandora. When touring, I use it for turn by turn directions from Ride with GPS. My Android phones speaker is just not adequate if there's much road noise / wind noise.
Recommendations?
11
General Discussion / Re: Northern Tier East to West June - August 2022
« on: May 19, 2022, 02:19:07 pm »
I'm sorry I won't be able to join you for a stretch of your ride. We just adopted a new doggie. Wife wouldn't be pleased if I were to take off for a week!
Will you be posting a journal someplace? CrazyGuyOnABike?
Will you be posting a journal someplace? CrazyGuyOnABike?
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GPS & Digital Data Discussion / Re: GPS or ACA app, or both?
« on: April 22, 2022, 05:27:38 pm »
For my modified Northern Tier, I purchased ACA maps and manually inputted the route into RideWithGPS. I did this so I could use RideWithGPS's turn-by-turn directions - sometimes helpful, but mostly not needed. And by entering the route into RWGPS, I became more familiar with the route and was aware of congested areas where I'd need to pay better attention. I do not have a Garmin so I don't know if it would be beneficial, but I managed quite nicely with my Android phone. I've not used OSMaps but imagine it can be used for navigation similar to RWGPS. I also had ACA's Bicycle Navigator app but mostly did not use it. I found the paper maps and RWGPS to be very adequate.
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General Discussion / Re: TAT and mental health
« on: January 25, 2022, 08:46:48 am »
And doing the trip solo would raise additional issues.
- No one to bounce ideas off. "Should I take this shortcut?" "Is the weather going to get worse?" Should I stop for the day or ride another 15 miles and hope to get to the campsite before it gets dark?"
- No one to monitor how you are doing, physically and mentally.
I used to hike solo, but not so much anymore. Having a hiking buddy is good for the conversation and camaraderie, but more important, it (usually) prevents me from doing something stupid!
- No one to bounce ideas off. "Should I take this shortcut?" "Is the weather going to get worse?" Should I stop for the day or ride another 15 miles and hope to get to the campsite before it gets dark?"
- No one to monitor how you are doing, physically and mentally.
I used to hike solo, but not so much anymore. Having a hiking buddy is good for the conversation and camaraderie, but more important, it (usually) prevents me from doing something stupid!
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General Discussion / Re: TAT and mental health
« on: January 25, 2022, 08:34:04 am »
Regardless of your medical condition, many factors are present that could make insomnia worse.
- Travelling in a foreign country.
- Being on an epic physically and mentally demanding adventure.
- Expectations from the local charity.
- Having a fixed time-table to complete your trip
- Crazy times (socially and politically) in the U.S.
- Doing this in the time of a pandemic!!!
I don't have bipolar. I'm not usually prone to insomnia. There were not infrequent nights I'd be tossing and turning in my sleep, thinking about the upcoming day(s), how ill-prepared I am, and on, and on....
- Travelling in a foreign country.
- Being on an epic physically and mentally demanding adventure.
- Expectations from the local charity.
- Having a fixed time-table to complete your trip
- Crazy times (socially and politically) in the U.S.
- Doing this in the time of a pandemic!!!
I don't have bipolar. I'm not usually prone to insomnia. There were not infrequent nights I'd be tossing and turning in my sleep, thinking about the upcoming day(s), how ill-prepared I am, and on, and on....
15
Routes / Re: The Thompson River Backcountry Drive - NT Alternative
« on: October 18, 2021, 03:58:15 pm »
I cannot comment on the route you're considering. In my opinion, the entire Northern Tier from Glacier to Newhalem was amazing! I had never been to that part of Washington State (and Montana and Idaho) and was awed by the beauty of the region. Have you been to this area before?