Messages

1396

Routes / southern tier weather

« on: November 22, 2008, 05:04:16 pm »

I was gearing up to the the S-tier myself this winter. However, a job opportunity I had been waiting to see about has come through, and I will be going half way around the world to do it. I will be traveling by jet, and not by bike. That's the way it goes sometimes.

1397

Routes / southern tier weather

« on: November 17, 2008, 04:31:15 pm »

I can give you general information for the eastern part of the route. In March and April it will be cool to warm. April is still warm in Florida, in the eighties and seventies, and you do not get into the nineties (usually)until July, possibly June.

You can trace the weather at different points by googling for weather and temperatures in various states at different times of the year. For example, if you google for past weather and temperatures in March in Arizona, you may get March weather information for  the past twenty years or so. That can give you a better idea of what you can expect to encounter.

1398

Routes / baja

« on: November 17, 2008, 04:32:34 pm »

Not me. I have never been to Baja.

1399

Routes / Cycling Around Lake Erie

« on: November 07, 2008, 10:40:01 am »

I do not know the area, but there is a canal tow path that has been converted into a bike path which runs along the Erie canal.

1400

Routes / Northern Tier next summer

« on: November 07, 2008, 11:05:44 am »

I did 2600 miles west to east on ACA's N-tier. I started around June if my memory is correct. In July there was no falling snow at all on that route in the Rockies, but of course it was cold at the higher elevations. There were still chunks of ice as big as  cars alongside the road at places, but weatherwise it was all right.

1401

Routes / western express, grand canyon

« on: November 08, 2008, 10:43:04 am »

I have only read about the western express route. I have read in summmer it is remote and desolate for cycling in places but can be done. I have lived most all my life in the flatlands. I am not sure about the elevations on the western express. It is only my guess, but I would imagine the mountain roads in January would be impassable.

1402

Routes / Europe North to South

« on: November 05, 2008, 04:41:07 pm »

On that tour in 1994 I cycled 660 miles from Brindisi, Italy to Milano along the east coast of Italy, and the west bank of the Adriatic sea.  Coastal Italy was very nice. It certainly was several rungs up the ladder of civilization than the former Soviet republics, Romania, and Bulgaria.

1403

Routes / Europe North to South

« on: November 03, 2008, 07:46:44 pm »

I did a tour similar to the one you mention, except that I started south nearer Calais. I went through France, Belgium, Germany to Munich, and then over the Alps by way of the Brenner pass, and down into Venice.
After that I trained to Lancashire, England from Venice. Then I (we) cycled to the English lake district, and over to Stranraer, Scotland. We got the ferry to Larne in northern Ireland. Then we cycled the coast and Antrim and around to Londonderry, northern Ireland. After several days in Derry we trained back to the ferry, took ship back to Stanraer, and cycled back to Preston, Lancashire. From there it was the train on to London, and a flight back to Florida in the United States.

Traffic was particularly heavy in Belgium. All in all it was a good trip. I crossed the Alps on a Schwinn Le Tour bike with only two chain rings on the front. In those days I was not aware they made triple chain sets. I wish I could remember more details about it, but that was one trip on which my notes were sparse.

I do have a detailed bicycle touring journal of over 108,000 words, most of which happened in Europe. One afternoon in Poland I got pinned down by artillery fire, hand grenades, automatic weapons, and exploding mines about 6 miles west of Bojanow. Strange but true. This was August 31, 1994 when the wars of ethnic extermination were being carried out in the former Yugoslavia, very near to where I was cycling. That particular bike trip was the singular example of a very bad set of experiences, but realities at that time, not long after the fall of communism, were just all wrong. However, it is the  tour on which I have the most exhaustive description of day to day life on the road by bicycle. I am a writer, not a professional writer, but a writer.

1404

Routes / Florida in February

« on: November 13, 2008, 01:36:17 pm »

I was just reading some directions that said to take highway 27. All I can say is that judging from my experiences with 27, it is one of the worst roads for cycling in the nation. The directions also said 27 has wide shoulders. It has in some places, but my experience taught me that the shoulders were so heaped and cluttered with debris as to make them useless for a bicycle. 27 may not be as I described it every inch of the way 24 and 7, but it was definitely the way I described it for a long distance until I could find a way off it. It could have sretches that are ok, and stretches that are pure hell and fury. I guess one might choose to take the bad with the good, but I will never cycle on 27 ever again.

1405

Routes / Florida in February

« on: November 05, 2008, 04:33:27 pm »

Here is some good advice. Stay off highway 27, also known as 27/19/98. It runs northwest out of south Florida in the middle of the state. Saying that 27 and the drivers who use it in winter are not particularly bicycle friendly is a gross understatement. Side lanes are cluttered with rocks, gravel, sticks, broken glass, car parts, mufflers, pieces of metal things. You have to use the motor traffic lanes because of all the junk in the side lanes. The traffic is incredibly fast and furious with a constant annoying din, and large, very noisy trucks bearing down on you from behind all day. It is hell. Avoid it.

1406

Routes / Florida in February

« on: November 03, 2008, 01:03:48 pm »

East coastal Florida in winter will have maximum traffic. Cycle the barrier islands as much as possible. Highway US 1 should be avoided when possible. The wind will be either warm, cool, or possibly below freezing. There are still north winds sweeping south that time of year; they begin around October.

The S-tier (not necessarily the one mapped out by ACA) from Jacksonville runs along highway 90. Ninety's terrain can be rolling, hilly, and relatively flat. It has nice wide sidelanes that are smooth. Trees and forests on both sides of the road can block off northwinds. There are many good places for stealth camping.

They are paving over an old railroad right of way to make a dedicated trail from Palatka to Lake City, roughly parallel with highway 100. It is still in the works, so forget about using it.

Stay off highway 27, also 27/19/98. In winter these roads are corridors of hell for a cyclist.

This message was edited by Westinghouse on 11-7-08 @ 7:50 AM

1407

Routes / Florida in February

« on: November 03, 2008, 01:03:47 pm »

East coastal Florida in winter will have maxinmum traffic. Cycle the barrier islands as much as possible. Highway US 1 should be avoided when possible. The wind will be either warm, cool, or possibly below freezing. There are still north winds sweeping south that time of year; they begin around October.

1408

Routes / Grand Canyon/Western Express

« on: November 03, 2008, 01:05:08 pm »

I am not familiar with that area for cycling.

1409

Routes / Out in the sticks

« on: October 27, 2008, 02:35:35 pm »

I don't know anything about it.

1410

Routes / Norfolk to San Antonio

« on: October 22, 2008, 12:11:52 pm »

Your chosen route may be very good. Because I am not familiar with the roads and terrain you mention, I will have to pass on saying anything at all about them. The Atlantic route to 90W in Jacksonville is the best I can come up with at the moment.

This message was edited by Westinghouse on 10-22-08 @ 9:12 AM