Messages

91

General Discussion / Re: Stealth Camping? Sleep Site!

« on: January 01, 2024, 07:39:51 pm »

I am the first to admit that I am not too proud to stay in a motel if the weather is lousy miserable or the camping is just too sketchy.  In practice what that has meant is that on most of my trips I can expect to sleep indoors about one night out of four.

Also, campgrounds with good hiker/biker sites are usually reasonably priced and often worth the stay.  Although there are plenty of really awful ones out there that make up for it.

I know the ACA maps and guides have some information about good camping and lodging options for cyclists, but it would be nice if there were a "tripadvisor for cyclists" or some such that would provide that information anywhere, including in the many areas where there are not official ACA routes.

One thing that is super important in wild camping is having the "eye" for choosing a well-drained campsite.  You don't want dished-in ground that will become a giant puddle and you don't want a hard-packed surface that won't drain at all.  And you certainly don't want to pitch your shelter right in someplace that will become a stream when the rain comes.

On the other hand, if I am confident of the weather and water levels, sometimes you can find fantastic camp sites on river bars.

Most of the time, all other things being equal, you won't want to camp on vegetation.  Aside from the impact to potentially fragile fauna, the vegetation is much more likely to poke through your tent floor.  A grassy campsite is okay sometimes, but expect a lot more condensation over everything in the morning.

Good campsites are discovered, not engineered.  A certain amount of preening is necessary, mainly picking up pine cones, sticks, and rocks.  But if you really feel the need to do some excavation or move around large pieces of scenery then you should move on to a better site.  A good rule of thumb is anything that would take two hands to move is probably too much.  On your way out take a few seconds to scatter the sticks and rocks on your tent platform.

At least in the Pacific Northwest, dispersed camping on USFS land is still pretty lightly used and there are plenty of places to park your bike for the night.

All that is certain. Pitch in the wrong place and a deluge could flood you. Higher ground drains water away. Low ground holds it like a basin. I hate preening. Only when necessary and no options. I stealth camped hundreds of nights. Mostly it was a tarp strung between two trees with edges staked down, a small poly tarp on the ground, a closed-cell foam pad on that, and a sleeping bag. Clothing balled up in a stuff sack made a good pillow.

92

General Discussion / Re: C 2 C

« on: December 30, 2023, 02:55:58 pm »

You should be able to search for "Coast to Coast Florida" on ridewithgps and find several versions.  There are gaps which users fill in, so versions vary slightly.   If you Google it generally, there are a number of official govt and unofficial private organizations with info.   

Here is one: https://www.100floridatrails.com/coast-to-coast.htm

There is a Facebook group as well with info, as you may have guessed.   

Florida roads and drivers are both a bit dangerous, imo, so the trail is welcome, but I have not ridden it.

My wife and I are riding it this February February, taking the train with our bikes to Tampa, riding to New Smyrna Beach instead of Titusville, and then back to DeLand to catch the train home.

Your post is most informative. The map at street level told all that was needed.  By following the lines on the map, it was easy to speech-to-text roads, intersections, turns and directions along the entire route. It is now on email. The next step is revision, copy, print in large font, and follow directions.  In case some might not know, following google-map written directions could put you on the wrong way.  Comparing their directions with lines on maps, I  found quite a few wrong directions.  Thank you for this information.

93

General Discussion / Re: Stealth Camping? Sleep Site!

« on: December 29, 2023, 06:02:55 pm »

I read the article. That's an awful lot of words for such a little bit of information. I could have said the same thing in one short paragraph. But he's right. He has the experience. So do I.

94

General Discussion / Re: Stealth Camping? Sleep Site!

« on: December 29, 2023, 06:00:48 pm »

Yeah.

This blog post gives some good hints on the topic:

https://tomsbiketrip.com/how-to-camp-anywhere-and-not-get-busted/

Oh, and this app, OnX Backcountry, shows the ownership status of land on its maps.  Which can give you a great hint about whether it will be legal to camp there.  Recommended.

https://www.onxmaps.com/backcountry/app

Some hints I've worked out over the years:

• You'll have better luck finding good spots if you do so during daylight and not in the dark.
• Cook and eat some distance from where you sleep.  That might be anywhere from five to thirty minutes of riding.
• Lights (and similarly, reflective patches on your gear) can be seen at astonishing distances, sometimes literally miles.  Keep that in mind when you are trying to hide.
• Vertical separation helps more than horizontal separation.  And it is easier to look up from a moving vehicle than look down.

Yes I'm planning to cycle a considerable distance along rail trails. Some of these trails go through very densely populated areas. I'll have to find a way around those areas and I'll have to get off the trail.

95

General Discussion / Stealth Camping? Sleep Site!

« on: December 29, 2023, 03:15:06 pm »

You can save a  ton of money stealth-camping. Stealth and camping need articulation to define and clarify. Stealth (to steal away) is perfectly acceptable. It does not suggest illegal wrongful behavior. All the great many times I free-camped, stealth was only a means of security. I was alone, asleep, vulnerable to anyone with bad intentions. I positioned my sleep-sites to minimize the possibility that anyone might know where I was. Often I waited till traffic cleared before getting off the road and into the woods, reducing the number of people who saw where I exited the road. It was self preservation and caution.  Concealing was for one purpose, personal protection. Way too many bad actors walking the streets these days. They are in the news every day of the week around here.


Camping may be the wrong word. I call it a sleep-site. I mean, you haul the velocipede into the bush. You string up a tarp or erect a tent. You sleep a few hours. And you are gone in the morning. Somehow, that seems not to qualify as camping. If the sleep site were used as a base camp for two or three days, if it were used for cooking or had a camp fire, that would be more like camping. It is hard to define lying down on a few square feet of ground for a few hours as camping.  You need a safe secure location to sleep. Need for safety and security (stealth).  Essential small space for 6-8 hours sleep(camping). There are campsites for money. They often have the facilities for camping, such as restrooms, electricity, running water, grills. These places are set up for long term stays. Very different than a small sliver of sand in the Pines.

96

General Discussion / Re: C 2 C

« on: December 21, 2023, 11:02:42 am »

There are maps online. I think it's on GPS. Google Florida bike trails. It's easy to follow. With something like this I usually Google close down to road level. I talked the directions into email. Then I make copies for myself large font copies. It's easy enough to do. It's about 250 MI. 88% is completely finished and off-road so far. I don't know anything about GPx.

97

General Discussion / C 2 C

« on: December 19, 2023, 01:40:16 pm »

Anyone finishing the Southern tier in St Augustine Florida or thereabouts might want to consider adding the C2C route at the end. It is a dedicated bike path, approximately 245 miles, about 88% completed, from Titusville Florida to St Petersburg Florida. You can read the journals on crazy guy on a bike and elsewhere. People like it. Plenty of places for free and paid camping. Restaurants and food stores abound. Safe cycling all the way. Just an idea I would throw out there. I'm going to do this route after the beginning of the new year. Actually it will be a huge loop around South Florida beginning and ending in fort Lauderdale.

98

General Discussion / Re: US dogs

« on: December 17, 2023, 11:48:09 am »

Cycling cross country as in transcontinental, you will encounter dogs along the way. That is a given. As far as I know, there is not much to worry about. It is not that free-ranging dogs have not killed people in the United States. They have. In all my cross country tours I always ran into dogs somewhere down the line. They were not a big problem as far as real danger is concerned. They were just out for a romp. It was the thrill of the chase, I suppose. That doesn't mean they cannot be dangerous. They can be. It's a matter of odds.

99

General Discussion / Re: Cycling Ukraine September 10, 1994.

« on: November 27, 2023, 03:22:29 pm »

This place, Ukraine, was either bad, worse or worst. Somebody once told me such countries often regress rather than progress.

100

General Discussion / Re: Traditional Trans America group tour

« on: November 16, 2023, 12:26:26 am »

Certainly, there have been thoughts about doing the Trans Am. Thinking is as far as I will go. That does not mean anything is lost. I bicycle-camped five tours from Florida to coastal California. Did that twice from FL to El Paso, TX. Add 2600 miles of the northern tier, west to east. How about the Atlantic coast four times. The Pacific coast route 1 1/2. Many other places internationally. When it comes to routes, you have your maps and electronics. You might do just as well googling for a bike route as you go along.

101

General Discussion / Re: Advice for Newbies about the Weather.

« on: October 24, 2023, 07:06:15 am »

You can be sure, if it is Westinghouse.

I love it. That's a good one with which to date yourself.

Should we also take a poll to see how many newbiesrecognize that slogan or how many have even heard of the  Westinghouse Electric Supply Company?

It is an oldie for sure. I remember as a little boy hearing that from advertisements on TV. Most likely, younger people have not heard of it, but maybe stumbled across it on you tube.

102

General Discussion / Re: Achilles Problems

« on: October 24, 2023, 06:56:56 am »

Westinghouse post offered a cure that worked, but really didn't address the underlying cause.  I concur with Iowagriz's posting. Achillles tendonitis is caused by having your seat/saddle too high which keep the foot flexed in a toe pointed down position which, in turn, causes constant contraction of the calf muscles and load on the tendon which leads to tendonitis. Lowering your saddle (and check to make sure your cleats aren't pushed all the way forward if using cleats) will help to even out the muscles you're using to pedal.

That being the case, it should have developed in both tendons. In any case, if saddle height is the problem, then the underlying cause is ignorance. There are not many solutions to that except learn before you go.

103

General Discussion / Re: Must have spare parts/tools

« on: October 22, 2023, 06:00:20 am »

What are five words you will never hear a redneck say? Answer. Duct tape can't fix it.

104

General Discussion / Re: Neck injury/pain issue

« on: October 11, 2023, 06:26:25 pm »

The post may be old but the condition is current with anybody doing long-distance bicycle touring. There was also an older post on here about staying ahead of the weather and paying attention to weather forecasts. The original post is an old one but staying ahead of weather forecasts is more important now than it ever was before.

105

General Discussion / Re: Neck injury/pain issue

« on: October 10, 2023, 03:43:32 am »

Hands, arms and shoulders become conditioned to the pressure of the front leaning rest on a long tour. Bent forward with the head tilted up for a wide enough field of vision puts strain and stress on the neck. Maybe you can get used to it. Not too sure there is a remedy for that.