Messages

1441

General Discussion / Transcontinental touring.

« on: September 30, 2008, 01:32:27 pm »

A friend of mine and I have been talking about a transcon. So far we have hit on going diagonally across the USA from Florida to Seattle or Portland. I figure that would be 90 days or more. Another thought discussed was the pacific coast route in summer. We also thought on the southern tier from Florida to San Diego in winter.

This friend is new to touring. In fact, his only tour has been 250 miles from here to Key West, and that was with me. He screwed up so much I left him in Key West. It took us 5 1/2 days to get there with him. I got back alone in 2 1/2 days. He took the Greyhound bus.

This poor guy wanted to bring everything with him but the kitchen sink. By the time he was loaded he had more weight than I would carry on an around the world expedition. His rack broke. He messed up his wheel by jumping curbs. He left behind gear I told him to take, and took what I told him to leave behind. Then, when that gear was needed he bummed off of me leaving me at a disadvantage. He got us nearly attacked and killed by some deranged homeless man. He missed a point where we were supposed to meet. He got us off on some long wild goose chase setting us back miles. He would not listen to any advice. That was why I left him in Key West.

Now he talks like he and I will cycle across America together. If he wants to he had better be willing to listen to and follow the voice of experience, and if not, it would be much better doing it alone.

1442

General Discussion / Transcontinental touring.

« on: September 26, 2008, 12:13:34 pm »

I have cycled 34,000 miles through 19 countries, and six times across the USA. I rough camp most of the time, and use motels on occasion. I am considering another US transcon in a year or two. I might be trying to locate a cycling partner for that one some time now or in the future.

1443

General Discussion / China

« on: September 26, 2008, 01:10:49 pm »

I have done a bit of cycling in China, from Beijing south to just north of Wuhan. Main routes can be very badly polluted, much worse than anywhere in the USA. Smaller country lanes through fields of agriculture were obviously less crowded and cleaner. Major routes between big cities are not recommended, but it can be done. You begin clean in the morning. Your face, hands, and arms are black with airborn pollution at the end of the day, and you are beginning to feel the effects of carbon mnoxide poisoning. Choose your routes carefully.

1444

General Discussion / Tour Planning - Ten months out

« on: January 01, 2009, 01:41:25 pm »

I am not certain how obtainable these books still are.
"Eat To Win"  "Sports Nutrition"

I have not used the Whisperlite myself; however, I have spoken with one or two people who have, and I have read many bicycle touring journals. People are completely satisfied with it from what I am able to ascertain. I cannot imagine you would be making a mistake choosing it for your tour. In fact, it an excellent choice.

1445

General Discussion / Tour Planning - Ten months out

« on: December 28, 2008, 06:52:24 am »

You can follow highway 2 for quite a long distance on your proposed route. ACA has maps for what you want to do. I would take a look at those maps. They contain information  that may prove to be invaluable to you.

I did 2600 miles of the N-tier in  1987, west to east. I flew from Florida to Seattle, cycled to Ana Cortes, and began from there. I did so because of what I had heard about prevailing winds. I can only tell you from what I remember, which is not very much as this was not a journaled tour. Wind, as I remember it, was not that much of a concern until I had gotten out of the mountains, and down into the foothills. There in the foothills I do vividly remember very strong winds blowing from west to east. The land was rolling. It was like being on a moped or something. Much of the time I could not even get torque in my highest gear. I would not attempt to pedal against such forceful winds. That is about all I can remember about that.

This message was edited by Westinghouse on 12-28-08 @ 4:00 AM

1446

General Discussion / Tour Planning - Ten months out

« on: September 30, 2008, 01:42:41 pm »

To tell you the truth, bicycle touring the way I do it does not require long term planning. Load the panniers, grab some road maps, and you are on your way, but then I have put in a lot of miles bicycle touring around the world. For a true beginner it might seem more complicated. After you get the hang of it you just go.

If your proposed tour is a long one, I recommend you change all these components with new ones:

1. wheels
2. tires
3. tubes
4. chain
5. freewheel
6. front chainrings
7. front and rear deraileurs
8. brake pads
9. brake and deraileur cables
10. handlebar padding

I have two new Shimano deraileurs waiting for my next long tour.

1447

General Discussion / Tour Planning - Ten months out

« on: September 26, 2008, 12:44:07 pm »

It is a good idea to have some idea of what services will be available to you along various points on your route. If you do not carry sufficient food and water, there may be long distances between supplies.

I cycled through Texas hill country in summer. I checked the map and saw there was a string of small towns on my route, so I carried supplies sufficient only for getting from town to town which would lighten my load. What I found out was that these little towns as marked on the map did not eally exist. They were only names on a map. There I was on 100 degrees F, without food and water and fifty miles to the nearest actual town, and even that was only a crossroads with one piddly little store and a few houses. If not for some kind people who gave me a bag of turkey sandwiches, cookies, and bottles of water, I would have been in a fix. By the way, some days on that tour I drank three gallons of liquid per day. I cycled from Florida to Los Angeles, California. LA was an offensive, unfriendly place. I was glad to leave there.

1448

General Discussion / Favorite book

« on: September 26, 2008, 01:13:38 pm »

Miles from Nowhere by Barbara Savage. I have read it cover to cover six times. As a matter of fact, in a few steps I could reach over a grab it right now.

1449

General Discussion / Meeting People on Tour

« on: October 15, 2008, 11:09:46 am »

I had some unusual chance meetings of the same person on the PCBR. First, I went to camp at the Elk Prairie campground. The HB section held about six people that night. One was a younger fellow who brewed up Cappuccino coffee in a special little, light-weight coffee maker. The following morning I packed and left. I rode south and came to a small town with rows of small  shops and stores. I went into one of the restaurants to get a cup of coffee, and there was that same person who was at the campground. Two or three days later and farther south I came to a town with various stores. I went into one of the stores, and saw that same person again. Days later I saw that same person again somewhere else farther south.

It was no big deal, but I thought I would mention it.

This message was edited by Westinghouse on 10-15-08 @ 8:10 AM

1450

General Discussion / Meeting People on Tour

« on: October 08, 2008, 03:33:05 pm »

If you cycle tour in places where you can expect to meet other cyclists, such as specially mapped, long-distance bicycle routes, you are more likely to meet other cyclists, and then have something to socialize about. I have gone across the US six times by bicycle. Rarely if ever did I see anyone else doing what I was doing. Sometimes I saw nobody else doing what I was going. Even on well established routes like the northern tier and southern tier I met only a few who were supposedly going the full distance.

Traveling cross country by bicycle can be good for some conversation almost anywhere you go.

1451

General Discussion / Meeting People on Tour

« on: September 30, 2008, 01:55:10 pm »

I cycled the pacific coast route. Some people seemed friendly. Others definitely were not friendly. Some seemed hostile. It was a fantastic tour despite some of the people I met along the way.

Crossing the USA east to west did not bring me into contact with any really great social situations either. Sure, the loaded touring cyclist draws attention when he pulls into towns, but he gets exactly the same questions every time, and has to repeat hundreds of times across America. I do not exactly consider that a social life. Here are the questions---How far have you come on that bicycle? Where did you start your trip? How far is that? When did you begin? Where are you going? How long do you think it will take? How many miles do you do in a day?
Have you had many flat tires? You've got a long road ahead of you.

It is the same thing over and over, almost like a broken record with a few variations.

To me, bicycle touring is a personal matter, not a big get to know you across the country. Some of the people I have met along the way were not particularly nice at all.

1452

General Discussion / Pacific Coast Route Advice

« on: November 06, 2008, 10:47:53 am »

I do remember the great scenery on the PCBR. Stunning, majestic, and magnificent are three words that come to mind. It was the best or second best tour I had ever been on to that point, and it remains that today. Traffic picks up south of San Francisco. Some cyclists told me they would cycle only as far south as San Francisco because of the many traffic incidents between cyclists and motor vehicles south of the big city. I got through unscathed, but there was definitely an incident between me and people driving truck-mobile home combinations south of San Francisco. Other than that one incident, nothing else very dangerous happened.

1453

General Discussion / Pacific Coast Route Advice

« on: November 05, 2008, 04:16:43 pm »

I don't remember.

1454

General Discussion / Where to camp

« on: September 30, 2008, 12:50:02 pm »

The northern tier of the ACA route has plenty of forest and open space where you can find great campsites near clean-water streams. It can be very difficult finding an area to free camp in the northeast USA from coastal Virginia to well north of NYC, but there it is possible to find hostels. South Florida offers an interesting variety of stealth camp sites, even down south in the Keys, but be careful in the everglades. They have fifteen foot alligators that travel considerable distances across dry land looking for something to eat.

I cycled till four in the a.m. one time because all the land was fenced off right up to the roadway, and there was no way to get off the road and into the woods. That was in Texas. I had the same problem in Arizona where fences cut me off everywhere from wooded areas.

Stealth camping can present its problems and limitations, but that is the way I do most all of my overnight sleeping, with breaks of from two to four days occasionally in motels. It is a great deal less expensive than all motel (credit card) touring, and less expensive than renting sites at KOAs. The big downside of stealth camping is sometimes not getting a shower for five to seven days at a time. Stealthing it makes you tougher. It gives you a rough edge that you need. It feels good. There is too much softness and that---let's do it the easiest way---attitude. Stealthing it is more in line with that old pioneer spirit that pushed human populations from the eastern seaboard, across the Appalachians, into the midwest, and across to California, Oregon, and Washington.

1455

General Discussion / Where to camp

« on: September 29, 2008, 12:24:11 pm »

Going through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona I would sometimes cycle late into the night because there were no places to pull over and sleep at all anywhere. Fences were everywhere. There is no way I climb a fence to camp. There just were not many really nice places to free camp. You have to sleep.

Coastal California has plenty of nice places to camp. So do Oregon and Washington. Highway 90 in north Florida has quite a good selection too.