Messages

16

General Discussion / Re: Great Divide: Bears & Blogs

« on: August 08, 2014, 12:58:33 pm »

Our group never saw a bear until we hit a rest day in Jackson WY when we were in the town of Jackson Hole and not on our bikes...  We did see a young moose in the field though, quite safely away from the road and not bothering anybody...

We all did carry bear spray though..

Jay

17

New England / Re: trailhead for adirondack loop?

« on: June 12, 2014, 11:20:21 am »

Where are you starting the loop? Doesn't the official loop start around Albany, NY and ride north towards the loop itself?

When in doubt, you can generally call the local police and ask. I did that when I did the Lake Champlain Bikeways loop around Lake Champlain.  They referred me to the local Amtrak station which is where we left my car.

You can generally assume people go away for a few days and leave cars at places like that.  If it's a private establishment like a hotel or so, you certainly should ask the owners.   

Jay

18

Routes / Cross VT Trail

« on: June 04, 2014, 05:58:08 pm »

Has anybody here cycled the ~90 mile cross vermont trail from Burlington to Ryegate/Woodsville NH??

Looking at general route/profile information so I can try to do some planning...Any campsites on the way or are we relegated to finding VT State Parks to camp at?

Jay

19

General Discussion / Re: Riding from Portsmouth NH to Bar Harbor Me.

« on: October 18, 2013, 12:32:32 pm »

Good that you choose September, parts of the ACA's atlantic coastal route through southern ME can be quite crowded with traffic, tourists, RVs, etc.   Don't be afraid to venture inland, away from the traffic.  Part of Rt 1 are off limits to bikes, but the ACA route does reroute you anyway so no worries there.   

My only thing about lodging is that campsites in Wells, ME seem to be really popular and crowded.  My friend and I opted to stay in a hotel the night in Wells because the campsite looked insanely crowded without much privacy from the other campers...  YMMV.  I would think a lot of campsites that are coastal and in the southern portions might be very popular, might consider reservations if you happen to be by there on a weekend.

jay

20

GPS & Digital Data Discussion / Re: My Garmin Edge 810 crashes when navigating. Does yours do this too?

« on: October 14, 2013, 07:55:04 pm »

What do you mean by crash, would it reboot or would it freeze or display some error?

I have an old Garmin Nuvi somethingorother. It's a car GPS system and it would occasionally simply reboot itself out of nowhere which is basically a software crash and was fixed with later firmwares so yes, mine used to crash when it was new and it still does occasionally, but now with a lot less frequency...

Not sure if this helps you, but just my two cents..


Jay

21

General Discussion / Re: Day Jobs?

« on: October 09, 2013, 09:40:08 am »

I can bank up to 10 weeks of paid vacation. Can take a LOA as mentioned too but I tend to go awhile before taking vacation other than the occasional day or two.  If you are smart about using paid vacation, you can bank enough to go on this longer trips.... 

Jay

22

Gear Talk / Re: Uncoventional bike conversions?

« on: October 03, 2013, 07:17:32 am »

I have toured on  a bunch of bikes, not one an LHT or a 520!

Jay

23

General Discussion / Re: shipping bikes

« on: October 01, 2013, 09:27:52 am »

Some bikeshops do this also, not just REI, I shipped my bike back from Silverthorne, CO from Mountain Sports Outlet..

Jay

24

Classifieds / Re: Wanted: Old Man Mountain racks

« on: September 26, 2013, 07:39:08 am »

I might have a OMM Sherpa with the QR front mount that I used to use on a 26" hardtail that I no longer have...

I'll have to look tonight. It's in good shape cause it was my front rack when I had a bike without eyelets. I now own a Salsa Vaya with eyelets so I use the Salsa low rider fork. I probably don't envision using the Sherpa anymore...   

I'll have to get back to you... this is for a 26" wheeled bike so if you're looking for a 29er one, you'd either have to get an adaptor or look elsewhere....

Jay

25

Classifieds / Re: FS: Surly LHT 46 frame

« on: September 20, 2013, 07:14:44 am »

Sounds like you're selling the whole bike, not just the frame... 

Jay

26

General Discussion / Re: hydration options in desert

« on: September 16, 2013, 07:57:25 am »

What kind of tour, off road, road?  You going with rack and panniers or framebag, bikepacking, etc? 

MSR makes dromedary bags which are expensive but very durable, more so than the clear platypus bags. Both should last you a bunch of trips but the MSRs will typically last longer than the hard plastic type bags.   You can try to lash the MSRs to the tops and outsides of bags if you're trying to avoid a camelback.

If it's a road tour, you can try using trek bat cages with hose clamps to the front fork legs (if you're not using a front rack) and something to tie the waterbottle down, string, bungee, etc.    This isn't failsafe but does work.  Cages fail, bumps, etc..  You can also get away with hose clamps and mounting water bottles under the downtube, better if you have fenders to keep the muck off..

Jay

27

General Discussion / Re: 2 or 4 panniers

« on: September 12, 2013, 07:08:52 am »

20lba is not heavy at all. Sometimes I have that weight in groceries when I bike to the grocery store...  The reason some folks use 2 front panniers as opposed to 2 rear ones is that the bike is already heavily weighted towards the rear without any racks and panniers so putting the panniers (and rack) in the front balances the bike better.    There are other reasons for and against both schemes and a ton of folks simply ignore the balance and happily ride with all the weight on the back  so it's really hard for anybody here to tell you what you prefer.

Jay

28

Temporary ACA Route Road Closures / Great Divide Map 1 (Bannack State Park reopens)

« on: September 11, 2013, 12:51:18 pm »

Bannack State Park which is a 1 mile detour off the Great Divide and a camping spot reopens after flooding on July 17th.  We could not camp there on our Great Divide ride but apparently, the park has reopened at least for visitors:

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/bannack-is-back-after-devastating-flash-flood/article_d0d05dd3-dde5-5469-a2b1-b8c698179648.html

Not sure if this means it is open for camping, your best bet is to contact the park directly...

Jay

29

General Discussion / Re: Scenic America

« on: September 10, 2013, 07:27:56 am »

I would certainly hit up yellowstone and the grand tetons in Wyoming..  The Transamerica route and the Great Divide go through it for sure...  (probably other routes (Great Parks north??) as well)
 
Jay

30

General Discussion / Re: mountain bike

« on: September 09, 2013, 10:47:46 am »

8spd, it's starting to get harder to find 8spd stuff but shouldn't be hard and your 4500 isn't that old...

What is your intended use for it? Touring?

Jay