Messages

436

General Discussion / Choosing a Bike

« on: October 26, 2004, 12:10:18 pm »

Well, to start, don't discount your MTB for touring, unless it's like a downhill rig or FS.  I use a hardtail MTB (an old '95 Marin Team (Tange Cromoly steel) for commuting and long distance touring. Kind of like the SUV of tourers since a lot of time, I am going down dirt or gravel roads so it's kind of nice every now and then. Plus with slicks, it's got a decent clip if your in shape.

Anyway, rather than rehash the wheel:

http://www.adventurecycling.org/features/howto.cfm

Scroll down and look at how to buy a touring bike for the road, etc. etc.

Certainly look for bikes with eyelets for racks and fenders for the front and rear. Look for long enough chainstays for heel clearing the rack. A longer wheelbase may make for less abrupt handling and check the rake of the fork for again, more predictable steering. MTBing usually requires a nimble steering bike, touring is not always advantageous.  

pricewise, anybody from Trek, Giant, Surly, Rivendell, Co-motion, Bruce Gordon, Specialized, Fuji. name your price range and all sorts of models can appear!

Jay

437

General Discussion / Money and Banks

« on: October 14, 2004, 11:08:04 pm »

If you were also stealth camping, it's cheaper.  

If you are planning on doing a lot of camping in campgrounds, it might be worth it for you to join AAA, which is the American Auto. Assoc.  Yeah, it sounds silly for a NZ'er to join the AAA but I don't think the membership is too much and you do get a small discount at many car camping places.   Alternatively, you can always ask for a "bike discount". When I was touring, sometimes we would meet some real friendly campsite owners who would give us discounts just because we were on a bike.  

Jay

438

General Discussion / Money and Banks

« on: October 12, 2004, 11:36:55 am »

Also, check to see what "network" your bank in NZ uses for the ATM, In the US, there are ATM (aka bank machines, money access centers, etc) where you can get US currency almost everywhere. Each of these ATMs are in a network and if your bank in NZ is part of the network, then you can use your ATM card there.  For the most part, it is good, although it's good to have a backup, like a credit card, debit card, SOMETIMEs, some ATMs might not accept it even if it is supoosedly supported. I've had friends who have had problems in foreign countries.   Anyway, I did this in France when I was watching the Tour last year, I used my ATM in any of the banks that used the same ATM network I have here.   The ATMs will typically show a sign or decal which networks it supports. For the most part now, it's not that much a problem though, ATMs are now very widespread!

Jay

439

General Discussion / Night Riding and Touring

« on: October 12, 2004, 11:38:48 am »

I've commuted at night and I definitely would not go without lights, full moon or not.  I run my lights at night mained to be seen by others so it doesn't usually matter if the moonlight is light enough to see.  Haven't actually purposefully toured at night though. I'm a morning person  

Jay

440

General Discussion / State DOT links for bike routes

« on: September 17, 2007, 02:25:39 pm »

NJ DOT just put out a cue sheet/map for the double century across the state from Cape May to High Point NJ. One could hook up these maps to go north to the catskills and also south via the Cape May-Lewes Ferry...

http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/commuter/bike/tours.shtm

Jay

441

General Discussion / State DOT links for bike routes

« on: October 04, 2004, 04:05:36 pm »

NH:
http://www.nh.gov/dot/nhbikeped/maps.htm

RI:
http://www.dot.state.ri.us/WebTran/bikeri.html

^Has been updated since the last time I downloaded the PDF file, you can submit the survey and have one emailed to you..

MA:
http://www.bikemaps.com/

^ These are not free but they are excellent maps, list ice cream shops and stuff.  Would be nice if it was on waterproof paper though.

CT:
http://www.ct.gov/dot/cwp/view.asp?a=1380&q=259662&dotPNavCtr=%7C40767%7C

NJ:
http://www.njbikemap.com/

^No statewide bikemap, just some routes, but I'll plug a one-man's effort here though.

NY:
http://www.dot.state.ny.us/pubtrans/regionbike.html

^No one real source, seems like one has to go through each region.

VT:
http://www.ncarto.com/

Surprised that I found none in my google search although these guys do a map for the Lake Champlain region. The above publishes the Lake Champlain Region bike map but I could not find it on their website, however one can email them about it.

ME:
http://www.maine.gov/mdot/opt/bike-faq.php

^The above is a FAQ about cycling in Maine, but has the person (John Balicki) that you can email to request a nice doublesided map of the entire state listing traffic densities and shoulder width.

That's about it for me. So far, all my little trips have been north and east of my homestate of NJ.

Jay

442

General Discussion / State DOT links for bike routes

« on: September 27, 2004, 03:20:12 pm »

Saw Brad's post about routes through NC, do you all realize that many states have DOT that publish free bike-suitability maps for cyclists?  NH, RI, CT, ME, MA (not free),  all have maps that I have... I checked ACA's yellow pages and although I'm sure one could find them via the links there, I didn't see a direct link to the websites where one can request them be sent via snail mail or that can be downloaded. RI and NH have PDF maps that you can download or you can request the snail mail maps. NH, in particular have great printed bike maps of each region and Maine has a nice dual sided map of the whole state.  

Would ACA be interested in say adding these to each state?  Or perhaps the users here can create a informal directory with a "sticky" on this forum, probably in the "routes" section of this board..

I can list most of the links in the NE which is where I typically roam.

Jay

443

General Discussion / Trinp Length

« on: September 27, 2004, 12:13:20 pm »

This year I took a 2 week vacation (3 weekends though) to bike to Maine from NJ. However, it wasn't like a complete biking vacation as my friend has a cabin up in "the County" by the border with New Brunswick so we spend 8 biking days to get there and then spend about 4 days relaxing and canoeing/kayaking on the lake there.  I can't really take those super long vacations due to work right now though so now cross country plans in the works yet.  Although if I wanted to do it in sections, I've already gone from NJ to the Atlantic Ocean and also Maine/Canada.

Jay

444

General Discussion / camp grounds

« on: September 07, 2004, 01:30:30 pm »

Oh yeah, forgot about Woodhalls and AAA. Campmor should have the Woodhall books.  AAA does campgrounds in regions , I have the one for the NE.  Of course, I've gotten some "bike discounts" from private campground owners. Most of them are very nice and if they see you on a bike and know that you are going far, they may just give you the discount whether you're a AAA member or not...

Jay

445

General Discussion / camp grounds

« on: September 05, 2004, 08:08:18 pm »

www.reserveamerica.com  does a lot of *state* run campsites in the NY area, not sure if they list private campgrounds but they seem to be nationwide.

Of course, if you're using ACA maps, the flip side has a small portion of campsites in each particular zone.

Jay

446

General Discussion / Door-Zone Bike Lanes

« on: August 23, 2004, 07:20:59 pm »

I just read that article.

Where I live, I don't have that problem. We have no bike lanes near me that are next to parallel parking.  In either case, bike lane or not, I would bike where I feel it is safe, the problem is with cyclists who think they have to bike in the bike lane and drivers who think that they have to, also.  

Personally, the times I have ridden in some urban environments, I feel safer just cycling with the flow of traffic. I don't feel the need for bike lanes, unless we're talking about the shoulder width.  Ever see the bike lanes in belgium?

Jay

447

General Discussion / Bicycle Security

« on: August 16, 2004, 05:38:34 pm »

Train?  

I guess that should be CAN. as in Canada.

Jay

448

General Discussion / Bicycle Security

« on: August 15, 2004, 04:02:25 pm »

Just finishing a 850 mile trip from NJ to New Brunswick, CA and although I did bring a cable lock, I never used it. I don't feel unsafe in anywhere but the major cities and as mentioned before, who wants to lug away a 70lb touring bike?  Just leave it in the big ring and any average joe is going to ignore it.  

Jay

449

General Discussion / knee pain

« on: July 26, 2004, 01:27:18 pm »

Perhaps have it looked at by a sports physician. They could take an x-ray or MRI kind of tool and see if you either have a torn meniscus or perhaps torn/bruised tendons in there.  Try the suggestions here but if adjust the bike doesn't help, you might want to consider getting professional help here.

Jay

450

General Discussion / HELP! Being Harrased by Police!

« on: July 13, 2004, 06:20:13 pm »

I would actually ask the local cops if you plan on camping in a park or side of the road.. Ask them where you can perhaps set up a tent, out of way, they can certainly point you in the right direction and most of them aren't unfriendly if they realize you are just passing through and a bike tourer, not a vagrant.  Churches might also be a good location too.

In other words, try to avoid just setting up a tent in plain view, if possible try to ask before and it'll avoid a lot of conflicts..  If that is not possible, set up camp after dark in again in a place as far away from plain view as possible.

Jay