Topics

16

General Discussion / Clean bike shorts with ethanol?

« on: March 07, 2023, 04:44:12 pm »

Hi,

Has anyone experimented with this:

If cleaning the synthetic bike shorts (including their chamois) is impossible due to logistics, has anyone tried spraying the chamois with ethanol in the evening to kill the germs? The main idea is to have germ free bike shorts each morning to avoid red pimples on ones behind.

A small spray bottle is lightweight and ethanol can be obtained everywhere.

Lucas

17

Gear Talk / Can arm sleeves really cool in the summer?

« on: December 20, 2022, 05:42:23 pm »

Hi,

One of the things I don't like about touring is putting on tons of sun screen every day during summer. So I've been looking for alternatives.

First of all, my body reacts to heat like this (lets say temp is more than 100 degF)

1. I wear padded synthetic cycling shorts
2. I wear a short sleeved cotton t-shirt. No synthetic jersey.
3. When resting at +100 degF it feels warm/hot especially especially if there is no wind.
4. As soon as I start cycling I feel much more comfortable. The wind cools my skin, I have a wind chill effect going on directly on my skin. My cotton t-shirt picks up the sweat/moisture and the damp fabric cools even more which is perfect. As the wind pushes through the fabric the evaporation process (latent heat) cools even more. Moreover, since the t shirt is a normal loose fit, wind pushes directly through the sleeve openings, cools my upper arm/chest area while agitating my t shirt like a flag in heavy wind further establishing a cooling, pumping effect around the upper torso.
5. My cotton t shirts don't stink due to their loose fit and I can cycle the for several days with 1 shirt. They go to the laundromat for 1 reason: The cotton starts to feels "greasy" probably also with all the salts diluted into it.
6. The concept is ideal, except the sun UV protection against my skin on exposed lower arms. I tried merino wool shirts and synthetic jersey and nothing comes close to the cotton feeling.

For many years I read about arm sleeves that claim to have a cooling effect during the summer. Here is one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lFiJMesByk&ab_channel=ColumbiaSportswear

For me it's hard to comprehend how a tight fitting synthetic material can create a cooling effect in +100 degF when you sweat a lot. Does anyone have practical experience with such summer sleeves?

I could argue: If it is SO good, why aren't Tour de France riders using arm sleeves or long sleeved jerseys during hot days in France?

Lucas

18

General Discussion / US and Canada: Opening borders for unvaxxed people?

« on: March 26, 2022, 04:04:30 am »

Hi,

In most European countries you can now travel again without being covid vaxxed. And most restrictions are lifted.

Does anyone know about some specific dates where a) USA and b) Canada will reconsider and allow for international travelers again who are not vaxxed?

Lucas

19

Food Talk / Recovery time when cycling across USA?

« on: August 15, 2020, 05:36:25 pm »

Hi,

Does anyone have some in-depth knowledge/information on recovery principles when doing sports such as biking across USA?

The theory on recovery time states that the body needs to rest between each physical exercise otherwise strength cannot be built and the opposite happens - the body becomes weaker. Recovery time can have a duration from one nights sleep to several days.

Among touring cyclists an anticipated method is often to increase milage=strength=stamina during the trip day-by-day thus starting out as a weak cyclist and then become stronger and stronger. This is often used as an argument when biking across USA: Bike east-to-west - then you will have the rockies towards the end and you have built sufficient strength to fight them.

Now lets assume 2 cyclists, A and B:

Both plan on biking across USA as fast as possible however always observing their physical capabilities. None of them plan on rest days - they will both bicycle each and every day. It is not a race with a support van - still normal biking with a tent, sleeping bag etc.

A: Has done no long distance touring exercise on a bike previously and starts as a happy cyclist from day 1 and plans on building his strength as he is biking across USA.

B: Has done a lot of training approaching the departure date observing the recovery principle and thus building his strength prior to the departure date. One could say that he has a good head start compared to A.

Assumption:
B will have a higher milage from day 1 and will finish faster than A.

Question:
Will A over the course of the trip slowly build the same strength=stamina=milage as B towards the end and thus be as powerful after lets say 30-60 days of cycling? Or will he keep struggling with his strength=stamina=milage due to the fact that his body simply needs more recovery than just 1 nights sleep? Or even worse: Will his milage drop?

Lucas

20

General Discussion / Which non greasy sunscreen?

« on: August 13, 2020, 05:24:13 pm »

Hi,

In 2012 I asked a similar question but recently I have been struggling again with finding a proper sunscreen. I am looking for a sunscreen that:

1. Leaves a non-greasy (dry) coating on the skin.
2. Does not leave a sticky feeling on the skin.
3. Will not leave residues on clothing (socks and t-shirt). A zinc rich sunscreen will typically leave white residues on socks and t-shirt sleeve ends. It looks horrible/dirty right away.
4. Comes in a rather large bottle (preferable 16 fl oz or in that size range).
5. Price of no importance.
6. Available in Walmart, Walgreens or similar.

Anyone with some good recommendations?

Lucas

21

General Discussion / Summer nights: Why does it never get cold in the deserts of the Southwest?

« on: July 19, 2017, 02:03:58 am »

Hi,

This is regarding at least the Sonoran desert which is located in the Western Part of Arizona. I biked in that area before during summer time and will likely do it again this year. It is common knowledge that the Sahara desert (Africa) gets ice cold each night, but why does it never cool down in the Sonoran desert? Probably the same in the Mojave desert. It can easily stay at 90 to 95 degF during the night which is really annoying when camping out. Can anyone link to some scientific explanation? :-)

Lucas

22

Gear Talk / Rigidity of S&S Couplers?

« on: July 11, 2017, 04:45:04 pm »

Hi,

Does anyone have practical, hands on experience with a loaded touring bike featuring the S&S Couplers? Is it as rigid, wobblefree and solid as a non-S&S coupler bike?

Lucas

23

General Discussion / 2017 General weather forecast: North America?

« on: June 29, 2017, 05:55:41 am »

Hi,

In 3 weeks I plan on biking across Canada (East to West) and then down towards Mexico following the Sierra Cascades route. I was wondering if there are some general weather forecasts for the summer of 2017. Extreme heat, El nino, etc etc. Anyone with info?

Lucas

24

Routes / Canada highway maps for download

« on: June 08, 2017, 01:24:39 am »

Hi,

Based on my previous post, things are getting more serious: https://forums.adventurecycling.org/index.php?topic=14456.msg75706#msg75706

Is there a resource for downloading somewhat detailed highway maps of Canada (preferable as PDF documents)? I am not very pleased with printing google maps.

Lucas

25

General Discussion / Canada+USA: Biggest accepted bill?

« on: May 29, 2017, 02:27:04 am »

Hi,

I need to change money in advance for my next trip to Canada and USA and I would like to carry the biggest bills possible in order to reduce volume. So, in terms of small grocery stores and rural gas stations, what are the biggest bills being accepted in:

a) Canada
b) USA

Lucas

26

Routes / Passable: Biking along I-8 in southern CA and AZ?

« on: May 25, 2017, 03:32:26 am »

Hi,

I am looking for an alternate route between San Diego, CA and Phoenix, AZ, than that proposed by Adventure Cycling. I have been googling a lot of info on the I-8 going in the southern part of CA and AZ. So far I have the following information:

1. There are many paved frontage roads and also the old Highway 80 so basically you only need to stay on the I-8 for small sections.
2. It seems that you can bicycle on the I-8 everywhere in AZ. When using google maps satellite I cannot see any "cyclists prohibited" on the signs entering the ramps.
3. It seems that you cannot bicycle on the I-8 everywhere in CA. When using google maps satellite I see "cyclists prohibited" on the signs entering all the ramps. There seems to be 1 exeption: The small stretch from Jacumba Hotsprings to Ocotillo is used by Adventure cycling and it does not have the signs on the interstate ramps.

There is only 1 single problematic stretch of 8.7 miles between in the easternmost part in CA just before Yuma:
https://www.google.dk/maps/dir/32.710168,-114.9573326/32.7630676,-114.8367779/@32.735414,-114.9332959,15157m/am=t/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1 On this stretch there is a slight chance of passing on some dusty sand roads but you need to cross the river 2 times and that is only possible on the I-8 itself - unless you swim across. Furthermore I am not sure how happy US border control is when you try to force your way across only feets away from the border.

Question:

There is an option to bypass that strech by entering Mexico at the Calexico/Mexicali border, stay on paved roads in Mexico for about 50 miles and then enter US again just west of Yuma. It would look something like this: https://www.google.dk/maps/dir/32.6929969,-115.3791608/32.7430173,-114.7170467/@32.6786304,-115.1936543,11z/am=t/data=!3m1!4b1!4m9!4m8!1m5!3m4!1m2!1d-115.0412616!2d32.6146707!3s0x80d70775997b5077:0x37b78882e93bc65f!1m0!3e0

Can anyone comment on this route suggestion?

Lucas

27

General Discussion / Canada: Bug seasons

« on: April 04, 2017, 03:25:33 am »

As for preparing a bike trip across Canada and dealing with bugs. So far I identified the following bugs incl their respective seasons:
 
1. Mosquitos: Spring+early summer until end june
2. Black flies: Spring+early summer  until end june
3. Horse flies: Summer, start end june
4. Deer flies: Summer, start end june
5. Sand flies/No see ums: I have no idea

In terms of annoyance for cyclists, what would be the least annoying months for cyclists to cross Canada, especially through the boreal forests in the East. For me it seems there are two seasons: A season with black flies and mosquitos and a season with horse/deer flies (the ones circling your head while biking - even at high speed).

Lucas

28

General Discussion / Bears in Canada?

« on: March 25, 2017, 08:00:50 am »

Hi,

Can anyone comment on the black bear situation in Canada following this route:

https://www.google.dk/maps/dir/Sept-Iles,+QC,+Canada/Sumas,+WA,+United+States/@49.3542572,-118.8304381,6z/data=!4m49!4m48!1m40!1m1!1s0x4c91de48efd48999:0xe842563acc1952b6!2m2!1d-66.3757921!2d50.2132968!3m4!1m2!1d-78.4990146!2d48.2231229!3s0x4d20ce0aa321fcd1:0xb3fd113fce4d32d0!3m4!1m2!1d-79.8470063!2d48.1326101!3s0x4d240fc7526a1493:0xc865a52cccd867ae!3m4!1m2!1d-83.4887401!2d47.7759306!3s0x4d39af9d31324df3:0x92086c1c66b179c2!3m4!1m2!1d-92.8686293!2d48.7283225!3s0x52bcabaef967993d:0xac2282b175aa6531!3m4!1m2!1d-97.6401702!2d49.3550371!3s0x52c2240651ee6e95:0x6b62855955e52533!3m4!1m2!1d-105.2449675!2d49.5374784!3s0x5318fadbc77c3f59:0x71dd08ff7fb5c774!3m4!1m2!1d-117.3101726!2d49.1905691!3s0x53633a5b961d4633:0x3e844f3095825916!1m5!1m1!1s0x54844b2fd487d249:0x5255e06f07cf7db!2m2!1d-122.2648752!2d49.0001217!3e0?hl=en

I am especially interested in the remote parts of Quebec where the route tries to stay clear of the TransCanada Highway as much as possible also avoiding big cities.

Lucas

29

Routes / Transcanada trail mapped?

« on: March 15, 2017, 02:25:07 am »

Hi,

Does anyone know if there exists a paper mapped trail/path across Canada suitable for cyclists? If not, is there some sort of directory indicating all camp sites, service stations ... some of those things highly valuable on the Adventure cycling maps?

Lucas

30

Routes / Chicago to New York City Route?

« on: March 09, 2017, 05:14:59 pm »

Hi,

On the PDF overview map I found a new route called the Chicago New York City route. But I cannot find any maps. Does anyone have some more information?

Lucas