Messages

16

Urban Cycling / Re: Walmart Electric Bicycle Affordable To The Masses

« on: February 06, 2010, 09:09:28 pm »

Good article in the New York Times last week on electric bicycles:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/business/global/01ebike.html?scp=1&sq=electric%20bicycle&st=cse

17

Routes / Re: Jasper to Banff Alberta Canada

« on: February 06, 2010, 08:43:58 pm »

I rode this route in about 1980. The hostels are nice but though they are only a couple of miles off the main road it is a steep climb after a day's ride. The hostels were fun. I met British Army people, hitch-hiking Brit couples, geologists, and other interesting people. The downside of the trip was lack of facilities along the way such as restaurants, etc. If you break down you might be in trouble. There was a good amount of traffic as well. There was snow at high elevations even in August. Some of the Canadians were hostile towards Americans at that time. Overall I recommend it.

18

General Discussion / Re: Bike recommendations for heavy people

« on: February 06, 2010, 08:32:27 pm »

If you don't mind spending a little more I'd recommend buying custom-made bikes. If you live near a big city you might be able to find somebody local to accomodate you. I'd do some searching on the internet and exchange a few emails. Some of the more popular manufacturers such as Trek might be able to help you out, as well as websites such as Nashbar and Performance.

I don't think custom-made bikes would cost a fortune. You have an advantage in this regard because you need two bikes. I suspect there are bicycle engineering types who would like to do something for you. Also, perhaps it's been done before. If nothing else they might be able to steer you to commercially available bikes.

Maybe a tandem would work as well, so maybe you don't need two bikes. That would be some tandem.

Good luck.

19

Routes / Re: Suggestions For Our Next Trip

« on: October 21, 2009, 10:39:04 pm »

If you like lots of company RAGGBRAI, a yearly ride across Iowa, might be good for you. It's an organized ride done by several thousand people. Iowa is not flat, on-road, and I believe they camp.

20

General Discussion / Re: boredom on cross-country?

« on: October 21, 2009, 10:33:18 pm »

I've never done a cross-country trip but a friend tried to basically do the Northern Tier with a group of friends many years ago. They got bored in Montana and opted for Amtrack. He said they'd work like dogs all day, often into the wind, and look at a map of Montana in the evening and it didn't hardly look that they moved at all.

21

Routes / Re: Niagra falls te NY

« on: October 21, 2009, 10:23:00 pm »

Couldn't you take a train to NYC from Albany? That might be a good way to go.

22

General Discussion / Re: Cycling in Snow

« on: October 21, 2009, 10:19:32 pm »

I commuted and rode in winter in Minnesota for several years. I also recommend the studded snow tires. I have IRC Blizzard tires, made in Japan, and they worked well for me. It's pleasant above 10 degrees and if you dress for it. I wouldn't ride in heavy traffic. Frozen lakes are fun. Lots of snow isn't. I bought a new Trek mountain bike for the commuting but I would recommend getting a winter beater since the snow and salt are hard on the bike. Fenders are nice to have. About 10 miles is my limit in winter.

23

Routes / Re: Minneapolis

« on: March 20, 2009, 11:34:55 pm »

You might get some ideas from this link:

http://www.biketcbc.org/

The League of American Wheelmen is also active here.

24

Routes / Re: Minneapolis

« on: March 20, 2009, 11:28:13 pm »

I've lived in St. Paul for 35 years and I have a few suggestions:

1. There are easily 250-300 miles of excellent bicycling you could do within the Twin Cities metro area.
2. You could take Amtrack from St. Paul to North Dakota and bike back from there on the Northern Tier.
3. You could bike to Milwaukee, LaCrosse, or Columbus (near Madison) and take Amtrack back from there.
4. Twin Cities to Duluth and back would be about 300 miles. I believe you can do most if not all on bicycle path.
5. Wisconsin is great for bicycling because there are a lot of small towns and facilities along the way. I did LaCrosse to Milwaukee years ago and it was very nice.
6. There are a lot of converted rail beds (http://www.railstotrails.org/index.html) all over the place, particularly in the Sparta-Elroy area of Wisconsin but also throughout Minnesota. I believe there are reasonable Amtrack connections to these areas.
7. I've bicycled across the northern part of the state (state highway 1) and found it quite enjoyable. Little traffic but not as many small towns, hotels, restaurants, etc.
8. There are a lot of nice trails in the Milwaukee and Madison areas.
9. You might get lucky and be here when they have RAGGBRAI, an organized ride across Iowa with thousands of participants. I believe there is also a smaller version of this in Minnesota.

25

Connecting ACA Routes / Pueblo CO to Minneapolis, MI

« on: May 05, 2007, 10:41:23 pm »

I see that the ACA routes don't really help you very much. One way to start to get a route is to use Microsoft Streets and Trips or some other software that will give you routes and choose the "shortest route" option. Much of that area is pretty sparsely populated.

There is a long rails to trails trail in Nebraska that might be of use: http://www.ngpc.state.ne.us/parks/guides/trails/cowboy/cowboy.asp

This rails to trails website might be of help:

http://www.railtrails.org/index.html

26

Connecting ACA Routes / California to Maine Bike Trip

« on: January 24, 2007, 09:01:47 pm »

A good way across Missouri is the Katy Trail, which goes from KC to St. Louis.

http://www.bikekatytrail.com/

27

Connecting ACA Routes / can you help me get from pittsburgh to ILL?

« on: May 15, 2006, 02:18:42 pm »

You might ask this same question in the Underground Railroad forum on this site. It looks like the Underground Railroad Trail, soon to be inaugurated by this site, will accomplish what you want (connecting from Pittsburgh to the Transamerica Trail), but you'd have to go by way of Cleveland. There might be a way around this.

28

Connecting ACA Routes / Transamerica/Northern Tier link

« on: February 23, 2006, 03:04:29 pm »

It looks like you could use parts of the proposed Underground Railroad Route that is being developed by Adventure Cycling to connect the two. It looks like you'd pick it up in Kentucky and go north through Ohio. Here's a link to the URR page:

http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/undergroundrailroad.cfm

29

Connecting ACA Routes / Ino on off ACA route from Milwaukee to Chadron Neb

« on: January 06, 2006, 02:06:27 pm »

Here's a link to Ragbrai:

http://www.ragbrai.org/

Look at the History page. I saw there's at least one that ended in Dubuque.

30

Connecting ACA Routes / Ino on off ACA route from Milwaukee to Chadron Neb

« on: January 06, 2006, 01:48:58 pm »

Wisconsin has a bicyle guide:

http://travelwisconsin.mobular.net/wisconsin/74/3/10/

The Sugar River Trail might be of use.

The Wisconsin DOT has a link for bicycle maps:

http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/travel/bike-foot/bikemaps.htm

Wisconsin used to have the Wisconsin Bikeway, which ran from Kenosha to LaCrosse. I rode it many years ago. I couldn't find a link to it, though.

Iowa has a bicycling link:

http://www.iowabikes.com/#Transportation%20Map%20for%20Bicyclists

Iowa has a famous annual cross-state ride every year, RAGGBRAI, sponsored by the Des Moines Register newspaper. It wouldn't surprise me if they had a ride starting in Dubuque sometime in the past.

You can find rails to trails info here:

http://www.traillink.com/

I don't know anything about Nebraska.