Messages

1

General Discussion / Re: How to pitch a tent in USA?

« on: August 23, 2024, 06:10:28 pm »

Hi,
out of curiosity, what tent do you use?
I've been using freestanding tents since the 80s and have never had any issues. Sometimes the stakes don't go in, but you adapt.
Lately, I've been using the excellent MSR Mutha Hubba, and yesterday I received the Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL3 Bikepack, which I’ve already seen is even better than the previous one.

2

General Discussion / Re: Most dangerous roads

« on: August 20, 2024, 08:33:41 am »

In the US, out of Savannah, GA the US-17
In the rest of the world? My Italy, car drivers are not very bike-friendly :'(

3

General Discussion / Re: Is GDMBR worth it if one has done 14K+ moutains and passes in S. America

« on: June 06, 2024, 08:45:30 am »

If you feel like passing me information, I would love to exchange with you (maybe privately that's better). I am starting the planning for San Diego - Baja California. Then I want to skip Mexico because it scares me. Guatemala to Panama. And after Colombia to Chile. If we are still alive and well (I am 64 years old...) I will fly to Beijing and back to Venice on the Silk Road.

For Equador, best to avoid for now. My wife and I met some refugees a month ago in North or South Carolina. They told us that we whites (read gringos) are easily kidnapped. They clearly told us to avoid.

Rooting for Ecuador to stabilize by next year, just so that the selfish me can ride my bike there.  I did meet some Argentinians last month that had come through Ecuador and said they didn't have problems. I couldn't reconcile how they came through with the border situation.

Seem like you are undertaking an epic trip from Beijing.  Doubt I have the tenacity and patience to put up with the Chinese control of foreigners in their country, from all the accounts I've read.  You can't even bike within X miles of their borders, must travel on bus.

Last year I met a German couple (in their early 80s) in Middlegate NV doing the Western Express. Anyone who has done the Western Express likely remembers Middlegate on Hwy 50 in NV .  So don't give up hope just yet !!

Yes epic trip, if I can make it.... For now I'm just dreaming of getting to Chile, that would be an achievement already.
For China I'm relying more on my Italian passport, traveling there with a Canadian passport doesn't really appeal to me.
In any case, dreaming costs me nothing

4

General Discussion / Re: Is GDMBR worth it if one has done 14K+ moutains and passes in S. America

« on: June 05, 2024, 03:00:46 pm »

If you feel like passing me information, I would love to exchange with you (maybe privately that's better). I am starting the planning for San Diego - Baja California. Then I want to skip Mexico because it scares me. Guatemala to Panama. And after Colombia to Chile. If we are still alive and well (I am 64 years old...) I will fly to Beijing and back to Venice on the Silk Road.

For Equador, best to avoid for now. My wife and I met some refugees a month ago in North or South Carolina. They told us that we whites (read gringos) are easily kidnapped. They clearly told us to avoid.

5

General Discussion / Re: COPA Airlines Bicycle fee $177

« on: June 05, 2024, 02:40:08 pm »

If we want to continue...

Flight Quebec-Toronto-Venice (Italy) with an Air Canada ticket. Bike 50 CAD(or 50 USD). On the return flight is Venice-Zurich-Toronto-Quebec. The Venice-Zurich flight is operated by Swiss. I arrive in Venice and have to pay for the bikes at the Swiss price they asked me something like 250 EUR. Three months of complaints, but they finally refunded me.

For me the best company is United, if they didn't lose luggage Air Canada would also be good, but they are in a pitiful condition as a company.

6

General Discussion / Re: Is GDMBR worth it if one has done 14K+ moutains and passes in S. America

« on: June 05, 2024, 02:10:55 pm »

Hi @kd_ca,
If you want to hear my opinion too, voila.

In South America I did only two days on the Peru Divide (but I want to come back next year) due to illness. I did Carretera and Tierra del Fuego. As well as a 6000 m volcano and the Salkantay Trek. In the U.S. I didn't do the GDMBR, but I visited about 45 states, rode the West Coast, the Southern Tier and the East Coast. In Utah and Colorado many passes with road bikes.

GDMBR vs. the American South? Impossible comparison, I love the West of the U.S., but it can never compare to the beauty of the Andean Cordillera, the culture and the people you meet there.

Is it worth doing the GDMBR? If you don't know where to go anymore, if you want to have a top-notch sports performance, if you want to see among the most beautiful views in North America, the answer is yes.

And with my answer I hope I am not too insulted....

7

General Discussion / Re: Best weather app for GDMBR ?

« on: June 04, 2024, 04:31:51 pm »

An engineer-mountaineer-sailor friend who lives between Colorado and Florida had suggested Windy, then I went to look up what the best models are(https://windy.app/blog/what-is-ecmwf-weather-forecast-model.html#:~:text=The%20ECMWF%20(European%20Centre%20for,reliable%20model%20currently%20in%20existence.).

Let's say that out of jingoism (I am of European descent ) when I read that the European model was accurate, I stopped the search...

8

General Discussion / Re: Best weather app for GDMBR ?

« on: June 04, 2024, 02:59:53 pm »

Hi,
After three years and 21,000 km, for me the best app is Windy flanked by Meteo Blue. I recommend using the European weather model(ECMWF), which is much more reliable than the American one (94%).

9

Routes / Re: From Cap May, NJ to NYC

« on: May 07, 2024, 09:44:41 pm »

Thank you, We actually followed roads and bike paths near US-9 to Toms River, then to the coast with the 37 and to the ferry with the 35

10

Routes / From Cap May, NJ to NYC

« on: May 04, 2024, 06:17:35 pm »

Hi,
In the next few days I will arrive in Cap May, NJ from Florida and would like to get to NYC to take the Empire State Trail back to Canada.
Could you suggest the best route to get into Manhattan alive?

11

Routes / Re: Сredit card touring in Europe

« on: March 25, 2024, 04:38:38 pm »

Hi,
If you like Italy, you could go near Venice ciclovia ville venete (https://www.venetoinside.com/it/news-e-curiosita/le-ville-venete-in-bici-i-piu-suggestivi-itinerari-cicloturistici), beautiful also the Treviso-Ostiglia (https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pista_ciclabile_Treviso-Ostiglia), if you could get to Tonale Pass you could do the ciclovia dell'Oglio, in 2019 the most beautiful in Italy. You start from 1884 m and go down to 100 m, only one strong hill of 1 km MAGNIFICENT!!! Fantastic views.

12

General Discussion / Re: Hotel/motel vs camping

« on: March 21, 2024, 08:58:24 am »

Coastal pacific western states have the right idea about the camping, and where else in the contiguous USA will you find similar to that? Nowhere I know.

Exactly!!! The only such place was in Italy on the Via Francigena where Catholic church sites offer lodging for 20-25 Euros for a bed and a shower... And in Italy we eat even better than in North America 

13

General Discussion / Re: Hotel/motel vs camping

« on: March 20, 2024, 06:06:00 pm »

Hi,
My wife and I have done the Southern Tier on two different occasions during 2022 and 2023 and have slept in hotels approximately 30 times and camped about 20 times.
Is camping cheaper? It depends. In Navarra, we had to pay $85 for a despicable spot, near Tonto Basin they offered us to pitch our tent near the chemical toilets or go near a stream where a guy came out of a trailer with a gun at his side; in another RV Park, the tent spot was where dogs were walked. Another case, in the desert, the tent spot at a campsite was in tall grass, and we don't like rattlesnakes.
On the other hand, some hotel rooms have bedbugs.
So, budget aside, I would say you should evaluate each day where to sleep.
If you want to write to me privately, I can give you the addresses of the tour.
If it were the Pacific Coast, I would tell you immediately that camping spots are very inexpensive!

PS for @fcoulter: Sanderson, TX - Comstock, TX 90 miles without hotel...

14

General Discussion / Re: Health + Accident Insurance

« on: March 20, 2024, 05:57:00 pm »

Hi,
I don't know if this website, https://www.protrip-world.com/, is only for EU citizens, but you can try submitting..

15

Routes / Re: From Virginia Beach to New York

« on: March 08, 2024, 11:49:55 am »

Thank you John,

Yesterday we got our ticket to FLL. The airline lobby strikes again. A week ago Air Transat direct flight 380 CAD and Air Canada 333 CAD. Yesterday Air Transat 680 CAD and Air Canada 323 unfortunately stopover in Montreal, hoping the bikes don't have problems.
Anyway, off we go!