Messages

1

General Discussion / Re: Using a Bump Box while biking

« on: December 09, 2019, 03:25:20 pm »

It is possible but typically not needed except for possibly parts of the Great Divide.  If you do need certain supplies, like medicine, refilled, a lot of cyclists mail it to themselves via General Delivery.

Some long-term touring cyclists (touring for 6+ months) very well may ship appropriate seasonal clothing ahead instead of carrying it with them the entire time, but stuff like tubes, tires, etc. can typically be found locally unless you have some unusual situation.  This is assuming you do carry at least some extras of the essentials with you, i.e. tubes, patch kits, food, etc.
Remember, most places you can pick up a box has something around, or at least a way to get somewhere to get what you need. 

In 40+ years, I have never needed a bump box other than for my meds, which are usually not available in smaller towns and are much cheaper to mail order.  However, when I do go on a remote and/or multi-month tour, I do have a few different sizes of the shipping boxes (USPS, Fed-Ex, etc.) at home along with a stock pile of possible items (tires, Gates belt, extra meds, etc.) that the better half can expedite to me if needed.  Obviously, if I am outside the USA, then the boxes are international boxes.  Again, never had to use it.

Hope this helps.  Tailwinds, John

I have cycled about 40,000 miles through 19 countries. There was never a time when I needed  a shipment from anywhere. A need is different from a want. You can buy and carry the bits you will need. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If something breaks, why wait for a shipment. Carry it and fix it. I do not remember anything ever breaking, and I always use lower-end components.

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General Discussion / Re: Title 23 Section 109m United States Code.

« on: December 09, 2019, 02:16:45 pm »

I have cycled interstates many times. Signs indicate where bicycles enter and exit. It's shorter and faster than the mapped bicycle routes. It has its downsides that may far outweigh any benefit you might have gained versus going mapped routes.

3

General Discussion / It's about the bike. It's about you.

« on: December 09, 2019, 02:06:59 pm »

When does your bicycle become something more for you than simply--a bicycle? The long distance touring cyclist comes to harmonize with some affinity to his bike. And why is this? Does anyone know why? Do bikes go somewhere after they die? Will we meet them again in a future life? When a woman cries and prays and laments at her  memory of a long-lost bicycle, what are we to bring away from it as a lesson to be learned?

4

General Discussion / Re: Coordinated stalking on the road

« on: November 14, 2018, 11:29:10 am »

Westinghouse, remind me to never ride with you 

LOL. I don't blame  you. After all that, I wouldn't want to ride with me either.

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General Discussion / Re: Coordinated stalking on the road

« on: November 12, 2018, 02:13:45 pm »

Everyone has an opinion. Either you did not read the articles, or you have a problem with reading comprehension, or both. Considering the content, your response is inappropriate. Same old same old for the internet.

6

General Discussion / Re: Statistics on cross country tourers

« on: October 23, 2018, 04:09:09 pm »

This is better. You are going north on the AC route. You are leaving Jupiter Island and are going west on SE Bridge Road. You go over the bridge. You turn R, north on SE Gomez Ave. Stay on Gomez until you come to a T intersection at SE Crossrip St. Take a short left, and a right to continue on Gomez. Gomez ends as a dirt road. This is a low traffic area. Before Gomez ends you will see a narrow and good sidewalk to your left. That sidewalk goes straight on to a set of posts marking the south terminus of the dedicated bike path. The path goes to the VFW at that bend in A1A where A1A crosses the RR tracks. The path continues parallel to A1A into Salerno. The entire route is east of A1A and the tracks.

There is also a sidewalk along Commerce from Salerno to Wal Mart. That would require turning left over the tracks in Salerno.

7

General Discussion / Re: Statistics on cross country tourers

« on: October 23, 2018, 03:43:19 pm »

Googling bike paths in Stuart and Martin County did not outline it. Google did one time. Go to the VFW with satellite. Get a closer look. You will see it. You can trace it north and south from there. Part of it may be hidden by trees and bushes.

I'm working on this for Jenn here is what I find.  I start at SE Bridge Rd. in Hobe Sound and look along A1A and see train tracks to the west and a sidewalk on the east in satellite view.  Is it this sidewalk you're referring to?  It appears to end at Osprey St.  Then another path appears on the west side of A1A north of Osprey along Gomez Ave., which connects back to A1A north of the golf course and then ends at Cove Rd.  Is this what you are describing.  This is all that I can see in Google Maps satellite view.

Gomez goes north a short distance, a short left and then right past the golf course where line goes to AIA. This neighborhood has sidewalks and low traffic. Road eventually goes to dead end amongst trees with a narrow sidewalk to the left when going north. All this is east of A1A and the RR tracks. Sidewalk connects to a wide path, maybe 8 or 10 feet wide. It goes north to the VFW and continues parallel to A1A into Salerno where it narrows again.

8

General Discussion / Re: Statistics on cross country tourers

« on: October 22, 2018, 02:59:15 pm »

Googling bike paths in Stuart and Martin County did not outline it. Google did one time. Go to the VFW with satellite. Get a closer look. You will see it. You can trace it north and south from there. Part of it may be hidden by trees and bushes.

9

General Discussion / Re: Statistics on cross country tourers

« on: October 21, 2018, 03:59:05 pm »

I wonder if ACA knows about the excellent bike path from Hobe Sound, FL to Port Salerno just after leaving Jupiter Island on Bridge Road. We see tourists using US 1 when the bike path is 100 times nicer with zero noise and pollution.

No, we don't know about that path, would love to know more. If you have more information, most notably a map and/or a link, we can look at it the next time that map is updated.


FYI, I we don't route on US 1 through there (at least not on current maps, perhaps in the past). The Atlantic Coast route between Port Salerno and Hobe Sound is on CR A1A. [/font off

Google maps for bicycles----Jupiter, FL to Port Salerno, FL. It will show the path at a 90 degree angle off Bridge Road. It is parallel to A1A. It starts S to N in quiet neighborhoods. It goes to a wide dedicated bike path.

Thanks,
Jennifer

Provisional retraction: I google mapped it before. It showed a route on that trail. I just google mapped it again. It showed a bike route through that  neighborhood, but made a right angle turn onto A1A long before the bike path. It is there completely off-road, smooth and wide

10

General Discussion / Re: Statistics on cross country tourers

« on: October 21, 2018, 03:48:03 pm »

I wonder if ACA knows about the excellent bike path from Hobe Sound, FL to Port Salerno just after leaving Jupiter Island on Bridge Road. We see tourists using US 1 when the bike path is 100 times nicer with zero noise and pollution.

No, we don't know about that path, would love to know more. If you have more information, most notably a map and/or a link, we can look at it the next time that map is updated.


FYI, I we don't route on US 1 through there (at least not on current maps, perhaps in the past). The Atlantic Coast route between Port Salerno and Hobe Sound is on CR A1A. [/font off

Google maps for bicycles----Jupiter, FL to Port Salerno, FL. It will show the path at a 90 degree angle off Bridge Road. It is parallel to A1A. It starts S to N in quiet neighborhoods. It goes to a wide dedicated bike path.

Thanks,
Jennifer

11

General Discussion / Re: Statistics on cross country tourers

« on: October 08, 2018, 11:57:47 am »

Westinghouse,

Your observations are interesting about the lack of meeting other bike riders.  I and 3 others) just rode a short section of BR66 from Amarillo to Tulsa.  Not including the supported westbound ACA?? group (maybe 12-15 riders), we passed 11 fully loaded cyclotourists going westbound (really wrong direction due to wind!) in this short stretch over 8 days.  These were ones we actually saw but were told of 2 other westbounders.  All but 2 were international (non-North America).  From my experience hosting primarily cyclists on BR66 (I live in Tulsa), I would say that only 50%, if that, of the riders use ACA maps.  We were also told that 2 others were a day ahead of us but our paths never crossed (we are somewhat slow).

My point is there were at least 19 loaded cyclotourists in a 375 mile stretch of BR66 NOT including ACA (they rode by in small groups and didn't stop to talk :-(  ).  Granted, this is end of prime season for BR66 so the numbers may be high but I can easily believe 200 people ride all or a major part (otherwise why be fully loaded out in the middle of the Texas panhandle) of BR66 a year.  And BR66 is not one of ACA's "Top Routes" by map sales I would guess.

Of course, on a specific bike route like 66 at high season or shoulder season, you will see others. I do not follow all of ACA's route. The 2 I did see on my last E to W on the ST were on the ACA route east of Pensacola and Fort Morgan that goes to Dauphin Island.  After Dauphin  Island I go to 90 while ACA goes father north into Louisiana. From El Paso north to Las Cruces on the ACA route I never saw anybody on three crossings. From Las Cruces west I take I-10 while ACA goes up to Silver City. I get I-10 at San Antonio and stay on interstates except where I have to get off temporarily. On 5 crossings from FL to CA, four times using interstates extensively, I did not see one long distance cyclist anywhere on any interstate. I also found out there are reasons for that. I cross into CA at Yuma, AZ. I get to 78 and through Glamis and such by going north on Ogilbie Rd. I have done that part of the ACA route 4 times--Plaster City, Ocotillo, 80, Jucumba, Pine Valley etc. I met only two others going transcontinental on that stretch. I did those tours in the dead of winter. I encountered extremes like 10 F and 7 F, but that was unusual. However, freezing and below were normal. I cycled from Stuart, FL south to Key West and back three times. Not the first cyclist did I see. I met loaded touring cyclists very frequently in the UK and Germany. I saw 4 total in Czech, Poland, Ukraine, Moldavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Italy. There were racing cyclists in Italy. On that trip from NYC to south Florida I saw nobody at all obviously loaded and touring. I used 90 east to west in north Florida three times on crossings where I met a total of 7 people touring, and they were in the same group. I may have met one other and that was all. I did 90 through TX and followed ACA to Van Horn and El Paso, and saw nobody long distance bike touring. From Van Horn to El Paso to Las Cruces I do not recall ever seeing anyone touring.  Of the several I met on the PCBR in 1993, all were north of San Francisco. From SF south I did not see any at all and I did not meet any in hostels or camp grounds. Of course, in populated areas they might be seeing sites or eating in restaurants or in motels when you go by, so not seeing them does not mean they are not there. I know I have cycled about 40,000 miles through 19 countries. Rarely do I see other long distance cyclists. I have done many shorter jaunts around south Florida and have never seen anyone else doing it. These days, however, one does occasionally see loaded cycling tourists passing through Stuart in the ACBR. I wonder if ACA knows about the excellent bike path from Hobe Sound, FL to Port Salerno just after leaving Jupiter Island on Bridge Road. We see tourists using US 1 when the bike path is 100 times nicer with zero noise and pollution. The number of touring cyclists I saw is not a lack of anything. It is simply what I saw. How what I encountered was a lacking of some kind is a mystery to me. I have been living in this densely populated city in south Florida now for 4 months. I have not seen the first loaded, long-distance bicycle tourist. I do not consider it a lack. It just is what it is.

12

General Discussion / Re: Statistics on cross country tourers

« on: October 08, 2018, 11:09:39 am »

Westinghouse,

Your observations are interesting about the lack of meeting other bike riders.  I and 3 others) just rode a short section of BR66 from Amarillo to Tulsa.  Not including the supported westbound ACA?? group (maybe 12-15 riders), we passed 11 fully loaded cyclotourists going westbound (really wrong direction due to wind!) in this short stretch over 8 days.  These were ones we actually saw but were told of 2 other westbounders.  All but 2 were international (non-North America).  From my experience hosting primarily cyclists on BR66 (I live in Tulsa), I would say that only 50%, if that, of the riders use ACA maps.  We were also told that 2 others were a day ahead of us but our paths never crossed (we are somewhat slow).

My point is there were at least 19 loaded cyclotourists in a 375 mile stretch of BR66 NOT including ACA (they rode by in small groups and didn't stop to talk :-(  ).  Granted, this is end of prime season for BR66 so the numbers may be high but I can easily believe 200 people ride all or a major part (otherwise why be fully loaded out in the middle of the Texas panhandle) of BR66 a year.  And BR66 is not one of ACA's "Top Routes" by map sales I would guess.

Of course, on a specific bike route like 66 at high season or shoulder season, you will see others. I do not follow all of ACA's route. The 2 I did see on my last E to W on the ST were on the ACA route east of Pensacola and Fort Morgan that goes to Dauphin Island.  After Dauphin  Island I go to 90 while ACA goes father north into Louisiana. From El Paso north to Las Cruces on the ACA route I never saw anybody on three crossings. From Las Cruces west I take I-10 while ACA goes up to Silver City. I get I-10 at San Antonio and stay on interstates except where I have to get off temporarily. On 5 crossings from FL to CA, four times using interstates extensively, I did not see one long distance cyclist anywhere on any interstate. I also found out there are reasons for that. I cross into CA at Yuma, AZ. I get to 78 and through Glamis and such by going north on Ogilbie Rd. I have done that part of the ACA route 4 times--Plaster City, Ocotillo, 80, Jucumba, Pine Valley etc. I met only two others going transcontinental on that stretch. I did those tours in the dead of winter. I encountered extremes like 10 F and 7 F, but that was unusual. However, freezing and below were normal. I cycled from Stuart, FL south to Key West and back three times. Not the first cyclist did I see. I met loaded touring cyclists very frequently in the UK and Germany. I saw 4 total in Czech, Poland, Ukraine, Moldavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Italy. There were racing cyclists in Italy. On that trip from NYC to south Florida I saw nobody at all obviously loaded and touring. I used 90 east to west in north Florida three times on crossings where I met a total of 7 people touring, and they were in the same group. I may have met one other and that was all. I did 90 through TX and followed ACA to Van Horn and El Paso, and saw nobody long distance bike touring. From Van Horn to El Paso to Las Cruces I do not recall ever seeing anyone touring.  Of the several I met on the PCBR in 1993, all were north of San Francisco. From SF south I did not see any at all and I did not meet any in hostels or camp grounds. Of course, in populated areas they might be seeing sites or eating in restaurants or in motels when you go by, so not seeing them does not mean they are not there. I know I have cycled about 40,000 miles through 19 countries. Rarely do I see other long distance cyclists. I have done many shorter jaunts around south Florida and have never seen anyone else doing it. These days, however, one does occasionally see loaded cycling tourists passing through Stuart in the ACBR. I wonder if ACA knows about the excellent bike path from Hobe Sound, FL to Port Salerno just after leaving Jupiter Island on Bridge Road. We see tourists using US 1 when the bike path is 100 times nicer with zero noise and pollution.

13

General Discussion / Re: Statistics on cross country tourers

« on: October 07, 2018, 10:19:09 am »

It is a simple question of how many people cross the US by bicycle each year.

A really, really worthy question Westinghouse & Hikerjer.
I have long wondered, as well as, long decided
that if ACA can't conservatively accurately estimate this figure then,
probably (? :-), no one can?
I'd love to see it estimated in some of these subsets:
1.  Atlantic - Pacific (either direction).
2.  Canada - Gulf or Mexico (either direction).
3.  End to end in one trip, aka non-stop.
4.  End to end via more than one trip (i.e., not non-stop).
5.  Has to be by year completed, or else the calculation could never arrive at your above 'each year.'
[/quote]

Perhaps the best that can be achieved are accurate numbers from bicycle touring organizations. They know how many start and how many finish. There would still be those who do it and take no interest in registering it. But the question remains. How many? I did the PCBR Ana Cortes to San Diego. I saw maybe 20 others obviously loaded for long distance touring. From talking to others, I was the only one going the distance. Of course, there might have been others taking the day off or in coffee shops of buying food when I went by. I did the Atlantic coast 4 times. I did not see anybody else at all loaded and touring. I have done random tours such as just taking off with no destination and just looking around. I saw nobody else obviously loaded and touring. In the UK bicycles were everywhere and many were used for touring. The tourist I spoke to were mostly on weekend jaunts and that sort of thing. I am of the opinion at this time that the authentic transcontinental bicycle tourist is a rare and not easily quantifiable subject.

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General Discussion / Re: Coordinated stalking on the road

« on: October 06, 2018, 08:57:16 am »

Regardless of their motives, or whatever highly encrypted communications they use to coordinate their nefarious activities, the solution is simple: more bicycles.  To perform the scissors requires two motorists for every bicycle.  Each additional cyclist needs two additional motorists.  It is simple math, we can bury them.

I dare say they choose single cyclists. That means no witnesses around for one thing. They choose areas where there is not much traffic. The next time I tour I will keep a video recorder mounted. I reported this to  state attorney generals in every state from FL to CA and the FBI. The Feds said to contact local law enforcement where it happens. I pointed out they are all part of a group whose activities are illegal and cross state lines, thus making the offenses federal. They did not want to do anything about it. The attorney general of FL referred to it as "alleged" stalking and gave the same advice---contact local authorities where it happens. That means I would have to call county sheriff departments in myriad counties all the way across the southern tier. This country is really getting to be no good. It has fallen behind many others in various standards. It is getting worse. I would not contact local authorities. They are little better than gangs themselves, and might be complicit to begin with. 

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General Discussion / Re: Coordinated stalking on the road

« on: October 06, 2018, 08:45:48 am »

I just worked as a SAG on a ride across Nevada on Hwy 50 which is part of the western express.  There were several times during the ride where I was both approaching a rider and an oncoming car.  If I hadn't slowed down to allow the other car to pass a "scissors" would have occurred.  In my opinion in almost all cases this was the result of drivers not slowing down to ensure they could pass the bicyclist with the law required 3 feet.  It is unfortunate that many drivers are unaware of the law and many still consider the road only for motor vehicles and not a place for bicycles.  I don't consider it stalking unless I see the same identifiable car doing it again/repeatably.   There was one case where a truck driver appeared to deliberately change lanes to force one of the riders off the road but that was the exception.  (Unfortunately we were not able to get enough identifying information to report the truck.)  I also saw many instances where vehicles slowed down and waited for a safe place to pass cyclists with the law required 3 feet. 

Just as a side note Hwy 50 across has changed since I first rode it in 2002.  Traffic has picked up significantly and much of the road is now chip seal (awful stuff).  There isn't much of a shoulder and Nevada DOT has put a rumble strip on what little shoulder there is so riders have to ride to the left of the white line.  I've found most of the drivers to be considerate of bicyclists but as with anything there are exceptions.

What you are writing about is a very different matter from what I posted. What you encountered was random traffic. What I encountered was most definitely not random. The exact same patterns forcing the same results at the beginning of every bridge across the continent and every small thing laid across the side lane is not random, and definitely not mere chance when there is almost no traffic for extended periods. As for your mention of the same vehicles over and over, that was what happened near the end of the stalking on one ST crossing. I was near and on highway 78 going west toward Glamis and beyond. There were these two tractor trailer trucks. They looked different from most others. They seemed a bit narrower and perhaps a little shorter than most. The windows were heavily tinted. They had sun visors on the outside that angled downwards over the tops of their windshields. First, the two came abreast of each other precisely where I was, crowding on a narrow almost shoulderless road. A while later the same two trucks and the same exactly coordinated move abreast of each other and me. A while later the same two trucks again, and later again, and again, and later again. It was obvious as hell. They coordinated it and did it. They went ahead, turned around somewhere, did it again, turned around and did it again, and so on. Believe me, I know more about this than I reveal outright. There is no way I would come on this forum and make these statements unless I know for absolute certainty what I am saying. That is felony stalking.