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Messages - Pat Lamb

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1606
Routes / Re: What route to take feb-may 2011?
« on: August 30, 2010, 02:40:31 pm »
Interesting question.  If I were going to try crossing the USA in those three months, I'd go Southern Tier east to west; you've got a couple more months for the snow to melt in the passes from New Mexico west.

As an alternative, I'd suggest starting early March and heading west.  You might lose a couple of days' travel to snow and ice, but Virginia and Kentucky mountains are usually melting by March.  (It'd help if you could make sure you've got funds for a couple of nights in motels!)  I'd think you could make it into Colorado, and perhaps up to Wyoming, in two months, and there's a chance the passes would be clear (depending on the winter snowpack) by the end of April.

Getting out of Wyoming might be interesting.  Not much in the way of public transportation.

1607
General Discussion / Re: Buying the right size touring bike.
« on: August 26, 2010, 11:43:38 am »
This fitting stuff is one of the recurrent gripes I have with bike shops.  IMHO, you need to get on the bike and take a 2-5 mile test ride to see if the bike fits.  None of my local bike shops have touring bikes in stock, so...

First choice would be to go somewhere that has touring bikes in stock, and try it out.  Note this usually needs to be done around March-April, because that's when the year's allotment of touring bikes comes out (and gets sold).  That usually boils down to a web search on bike shops in an XXX mile radius, followed by an afternoon on the phone asking each shop, "Do you have a touring bike about my size in stock?"

I do think a good fitter could do a decent job.  I know (at least some) custom bike makers can do it remotely, although it helps enormously if you have a bike close to your size.  (I can't figure out why no bike maker has a list of who's ordered, say, a Trek 520 or Surly LHT so you can narrow the search down!)  You take your measurements, and measure the bike(s), send them to the maker, and schedule some time to discuss what you want to do, how you ride, what you do and don't like about your current bike, give them a credit card number, and some number of months later it shows up on your doorstep.

Third choice might be to order an LHT, then work with your LBS to get the sizing dialed in.  You may have to be very firm (NO, I DON'T WANT A FLAT BACK!!!) with the mechanic/sales people.  If you'll interview a few LBSs, assuming you have multiple LBSs near you, you can probably weed out the time trial only specialists, and find some you can work with.  If you've got the right size bike, I'd expect the only thing you might need to change out would be the stem; there's still enough adjustability in seatposts to handle that end.

And you'll probably want to budget a couple hundred bucks extra to turn the bike kit you get from the store into your bike.  In my case that entails putting on a B-17, blinkies, fenders, computer...

The good news is, Surly's LHT seems to work well.  I estimate 35-45% of the other bikes we saw on our TransAm last summer were LHTs, and I didn't hear of any major issues.

1608
Gear Talk / Re: Panniers- EZ on/off
« on: August 25, 2010, 05:51:49 pm »
95% of long distance bicycle travelers use Ortlieb Panniers.

And you get your statistics where?

Remember, studies show 78% of all statistics are made up on the spot.   ;)

1609
Gear Talk / Re: Bicycle Head Light ?
« on: August 21, 2010, 10:48:24 pm »
If what you want is a "be seen" light I'd recommend a Planet Bike Superflash 1 watt (or 2 watt, or 1/2 watt) front and a PB Superflash 1/2 watt rear. They are great lights and have an extremely bight flashing pattern. The front runs on 2 AA batteries and the rear runs on 2 AAA batteries. 

I love the Superflash, but I can't recommend touring with one.  I had one last summer.  After a couple of rains, it leaked and the contacts corroded so it stayed on (and drained the battery).  Got another when I got home, and the same thing's happened to it.

Cateye make some that aren't quite as bright, but they do know how to do waterproof.

1610
Routes / Re: US Civil War Tour
« on: August 21, 2010, 10:41:47 pm »
Whew!  That's quite a trip you've got laid out!

As for maps, I'd suggest you contact the various state highway departments and ask them for state maps to begin with.  Note that their maps typically will only show larger roads, which may not (will not) be ideal for cycling.

Next, I'd suggest you buy a copy of something like DeLorme Topo to look up the smaller roads.  Note getting it onto a netbook, if you decide to use one on tour, will require you to copy the DVD onto USB thumbdrives.

From Shiloh to Chattanooga, I'd suggest looking at U.S. 64.  It's a major highway across southern Tennessee, so use Topo to look for parallel county and state roads.  When you get to the top of Monteagle Mountain, jump onto U.S. 41 down to Jasper, and on into Chattanooga.  Getting through Chattanooga to the east could be tough, but you'll want to try to hit Chickamauga battlefield.  There are some ways to get out of town going north, but the last 30 years have seen a lot of development to the east of Chattanooga.  You might try crossing the Tennessee River around Dayton or Spring City, and going over towards Madisonville.

If I were going to try this, I'd want to get out toward U.S. 411 up through eastern Tennessee, and maybe try going up 321 from Townsend/Pigeon Forge.  (Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg are heavily trafficed by tourists, though.)  Once you get to Elizabethton, go up through Shady Valley to Damascus, Virginia.  I'd suggest taking the last 1.5 Adventure Cycling Trans America maps toward Roanoke and up toward the Shenandoah Valley.  Personally, I'd go up the Shenandoah to Antietam and Gettysburg, and then probably back-track down to about Waynesboro, and cut over toward Richmond on the TransAm.  Manassas has grown too much in population, and not in road infrastructure, for my personal taste.

1611
Gear Talk / Re: Lower gearing: change cassette, chainrings or both?
« on: August 19, 2010, 02:19:56 pm »
Our Cannondales came with 30-42-52 cranksets, and  11-32 cassettes.
I've never understood why any touring bike would come with an 11T cog and a road triple crank.  No touring rider has any need for a 127" high gear and the 30T granny doesn't provide a low enough low gear with any reasonable big cog. 

Looking at Sheldon Brown's gear calculator the other day, I noticed that Shimano supposedly makes (has made?) a 9-speed cassette with 12-34 cogs (the ap).  Wonder why nobody apparently stocks it?  I'll occasionally touch a 12 in back, but the 11 only gets used to persuade myself that I'd be better off coasting.

1612
Routes / Re: Northern Tier motels
« on: August 18, 2010, 11:56:29 am »
We ran into a couple on a tandem last summer who were doing just that (west to east, motels only).  I think you have a slight advantage in that, with only a minimal load, you can pull longer distances each day than if you were hauling camping (and cooking) gear.

They used the AC maps, and had spent a fair bit of time getting the reservations lined up.  Started in mid-July, IIRC, so reservations were particularly critical for the weekends in the northwest.  They had both trained to make the long rides possible. 

I envied them, because they were making such good time.  I was horrified at the idea of planning ALL the days, and ALL the days off, and HAVING to stick to those plans!

1613
Well, the TransAm route to Alexander is all paved roads (although the expansion joints in eastern Colorado may stretch the definition of "paved"!).  Unless you're getting off onto the county roads, meaning you have lots of very fine maps, I'd expect you'd be riding mostly U.S. or state roads north from Alexander -- no problem.

The farm access roads in southern Kansas are pretty good for dirt roads.  I drove one afternoon to pick up our host from his haying job, and my Appalachian roots had me gritting my teeth as I drove up to 40 or 45 mph on the dirt roads.  He had me drive home, and told me I could really be driving 60.  I just couldn't do it -- they're DIRT roads, after all!

Two things I'd be cautious of: first, is there a creek or river that disrupts the back road / county road network.  Second, Alexander, KS is only a town on AC maps.  Don't count on anything but water there!

1614
Gear Talk / Re: Heavy Duty Handle Bar Bag
« on: August 11, 2010, 05:24:53 pm »
I used the Ortlieb.  Pretty good, but not perfect, IMHO.  Waterproof?  YES!  Stable on the bar?  Yes.  Easy to remove or replace when going into a store or restaurant?  Yes.

Couple of issues come to mind, though.  First, if you're using STI brifters, you may run into an issue with the bag interfering with the derailer cables, as it's rather wide.  Second, the map case is great unless you ride (or have a wind) over 10 mph or so.  I ended up duct taping the front edge of the map case to the bag top, then clamping the back down with a not-quite-tight headlight on an extender bar.

1615
General Discussion / Re: B17 makes me numb, why?
« on: August 04, 2010, 05:18:28 pm »
First off, I don't know why the B-17 doesn't work for you.  Saddles are highly personal; my B-17s work fine for me!

Have you had a saddle that fit you before, on which you could ride comfortably for long rides with no problems?  (If so, why did you change?)

Having said all that, bike fit is often given as a critical issue for Brooks.  Have you had a really good bike fitter check you out?  He might suggest adjusting the saddle height, setback, stem length, stem height, or saddle tilt.  You can play with all of these, but by the time you buy a new 2-bolt seatpost, a couple of new stems, and play with all the possible adjustments, paying a fitter might be a good deal.

Alternately, you might need a different saddle.  Remember all butts are different!

1616
Are you looking for bragging rights or locations?

I think Kentucky has the steepest parts.  One's about 10-20 miles east of Virgie -- that one's long and steep.  I would guess that's close to 20%.  The there are the gouges in the earth east of Irvine -- 3 or 4 U-shaped things, each less than half a mile long, and each will get you over 35 mph on the downhill, then stop you on the uphill.  Those are darn steep %.

Center of Missouri has some nasty stuff too, but I think those two areas in Kentucky are the steepest.

1617
Gear Talk / Re: Trek 520
« on: July 22, 2010, 09:03:44 pm »
Why not a 520?  Only a few reasons:

(3) You'll have to get used to the barcon shifters.  It's a new way of shifting.  You'll adapt, but changing from another bike to barcons will force you to think for 5 minutes each ride.

(2) It's overgeared for loads in the mountains.  Minor annoyance, but you'll probably want to change out the small chain ring for something smaller.

(1) You can't find one to buy.  Most places, the few that carry them, sell out by the middle of June.  If you want one, you may have to wait until next March when they come off the truck.

1618
Gear Talk / Re: bIKE COMPUTER
« on: July 22, 2010, 08:59:42 pm »
Add one recommendation for a Cateye.  I've had other computers, but the Cateye is the best I've found.  Waterproof (OK, smear some Chapstick on the contacts to make sure).  Wired, in my case, because I only want to worry about one battery and flashing headlights don't turn it off. 

And get one with cadence.  It's far more entertaining, rolling across Kansas into a quartering headwind, to watch your cadence and mileage, than to be depressed at how slow you're going.  It'll also help keep your cadence up, and knee problems down, when it comes to the mountains.

1619
Gear Talk / Re: which bike to buy?
« on: July 22, 2010, 08:54:07 pm »
Just an observation from last year's TransAm/NT ride.  I'd guess 40% of the other cyclists we encountered were on LHTs.  25% (still guessing) were on Novara Randonees, sadly now discontinued by REI.  About 10-15% had some vintage of a Trek 520.  I remember a few Cannondales, a few Jamis, and nothing else in such abundance that I noted it.

I'm still sticking to 50-60% of the saddles were Brooks, too!

As for what will work for you?  Pick one and ride it!


1620
Routes / Re: whats hwy 1 like out of santa barbara?
« on: July 21, 2010, 12:46:12 pm »
Only driven it, not biked it.  There's a fair few narrow bridges where you'll have to merge into traffic lanes; most of the rest you can stay on the shoulders.  There's a tunnel -- I think you have to walk through it on a raised sidewalk -- just before the split with 101.  From there over to Lompoc doesn't look too bad, unless you've got gusty crosswinds.  I have biked the last few miles into Lompoc without any problems (except for wind!).

I guess you could ride over the ridge on 154, but there isn't really another route through there.  154 is a pretty steep climb, IIRC.  Much less traffic except for rush hour (wait unil 9:00 to leave town!).  Solvang through Buellton to Lompoc is a nice ride, although the southerly route is even better with hardly any traffic, although the pavement is rougher.

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