Messages

31

Routes / Re: Coos Bay Bridge Bypass Yes and No?

« on: March 29, 2017, 12:49:33 am »

I don't have access to the map details you are referencing, but on the third trip from Seattle to Santa Rosa along the coast I decided to try 101 through Coos Bay and south instead of taking the recommended route that runs on the west side of Coos Bay to Charleston and then Seven Devils Road to Bandon. That was not one of my better decisions. It was a miserable ride on 101. I do not mind traffic, but there was just too much traffic and no shoulders and I had zero fun. Future trips I continued to take the Seven Devils Road route. As to crossing McCullough Bridge, I never had an issue with that bridge (unlike crossing the Astoria Bridge where, for me, the pucker factor was on high until I reached the apex and started descending into Astoria). Also, several times I just walked the bridge on the pedestrian walkway when the winds were whipping. Perhaps they have changed 101 since the last time I did this ride was just over seven years ago, but I would counsel against using 101 through and south of Coos Bay.

Well that answers my question. Thanks.

32

Routes / Coos Bay Bridge Bypass Yes and No?

« on: March 28, 2017, 09:07:09 pm »

THe first part of the bypass is a delight; a quiet, pretty road with a bit of climbing and a great view of the bridge. However once you get to Hwy 101 (See Detail#2 Map 22)you are on a busy highway with not much to see. A rather a bore in fact although it does have an adequate shoulder until you meet up with the original ACA route north of Bandon. It seems to me a much more interesting route would be to ride across Coos Bay and rejoin the original route just south of the bridge. Am I missing something?
From Detail #1 it looks like there's a road that joins Newmarket St. that you could use.

33

General Discussion / Re: ?How easy are SPD pedals to get use too?

« on: March 14, 2017, 10:55:17 am »

They can come loose and fall out in the weeds.

Nonsense.  Lies.  Fantasy.  Whatever.  SPD cleats are attached to the shoe soles with two bolts.  Allen bolts.  They are about 1/2 inch long.  If they got loose, the cleat would wiggle and squirm for miles and miles.  Anyone would notice this.  You would immediately stop and see your bolts are maybe coming loose.  You would then get out your 3mm Allen wrench and tighten them.  When you got home you would take the bolts out and reattach them using blue Loctite.  They cannot fall out by themselves without you knowing they are going to fall out for hundreds of miles before they fall out.

https://janheine.wordpress.com/2015/03/27/8-checks-to-get-your-bike-ready-for-the-season-and-pbp/ See comment by Chris Lowe

34

General Discussion / Re: Lions and tigers and bears oh my!!!

« on: February 08, 2017, 11:24:15 am »

DEET story. Climbing up to Sequoya NP a cloud of flies (not mosquitoes) decided to dance around my head. I got rid of them with squirts of DEET on my helmet and neck. It was very effective; the flies vanished like magic and didn't come back. Later that day I noticed a sticky black stain on my jacket. I though I may have let it brush against my chain somehow. It turned out that the sticky black stuff was from the DEET dissolving my helmet!

From that I learned a) DEET works b) make sure you don't get it on your helmet. c) It says on the bottle that it's OK on cotton and wool but I'd avoid getting it on synthetics if possible. My jacket, shirt etc. seemed OK however. Probably the best way to apply it is to spray it on your hand and rub it on the bits you want to protect. Hard to do when you're grinding up a hill.

35

General Discussion / Re: ?How easy are SPD pedals to get use too?

« on: January 05, 2017, 11:10:14 am »

No need for the condescension. it hasn't happened to me but I did meet someone stuck at the side of the road who said he had that very problem. Perhaps I should have told him he was dreaming? I can see how ONE bolt can come loose and well fall out while the other one remains tight then the other one starts to work loose...

I don't doubt that there are riders who are unperceptive (condescending?) enough not to notice a loose cleat until it falls off entirely and you are correct the thread engagement depth is quite small.  However, assuming one bolt falls out first I would think that disengaging from that side would be difficult enough to notice.   The now one-bolt cleat would tend to rotate in the shoe sole rather than unclip unless the pedal's retention spring is set very loose.

That was the guys problem. He couldn't unclip because the cleat rotated. How he got out in the first place beats me, perhaps he'd fallen off and untied his shoe, he was stood at the side of the road when I met him.

36

General Discussion / Re: ?How easy are SPD pedals to get use too?

« on: January 03, 2017, 08:08:46 pm »

They can come loose and fall out in the weeds.

Nonsense.  Lies.  Fantasy.  Whatever.  SPD cleats are attached to the shoe soles with two bolts.  Allen bolts.  They are about 1/2 inch long.  If they got loose, the cleat would wiggle and squirm for miles and miles.  Anyone would notice this.  You would immediately stop and see your bolts are maybe coming loose.  You would then get out your 3mm Allen wrench and tighten them.  When you got home you would take the bolts out and reattach them using blue Loctite.  They cannot fall out by themselves without you knowing they are going to fall out for hundreds of miles before they fall out.

No need for the condescension. it hasn't happened to me but I did meet someone stuck at the side of the road who said he had that very problem. Perhaps I should have told him he was dreaming? I can see how ONE bolt can come loose and well fall out while the other one remains tight then the other one starts to work loose... And there is nowhere near half an inch of thread engagement perhaps 3mm. or so. The bolts themselves are only 8mm long and that includes the countersink part.

37

General Discussion / Re: ?How easy are SPD pedals to get use too?

« on: January 03, 2017, 01:29:27 pm »

Another tip--when you change your cleats, keep the old ones and carry one in your bag of tricks.  I've had a partner lose one on a ride and was able to replace it right there.  it would have been a total ride-wrecker had we not had a spare.  They can come loose and fall out in the weeds.

+1 And if only one screw falls out you'll wish they were lying in the weeds. On a positive note you'll be delighted with how much extra power you get particularly when out of the seat and pulling up on the back pedal.

38

General Discussion / Re: ?How easy are SPD pedals to get use too?

« on: January 02, 2017, 06:52:10 pm »

The experience of stopping at a light and being unable to take your feet of the pedals is not to be missed.
Having said that, I can't/wont ride without them these days.
i bought a pair of Shimano SPD boots for winter and found out the hard way that there are two kinds of clips. For some reason the place I bought the boots at installed the kind that unclip when you pull up. When I got out of the saddle for a short hill one foot would come out of the clip. I thought it was something wrong with the pedal, eventually I learned it was the thing on the boot that was wrong. I changed that and now they are perfect.
TIP make sure you grease the screws that go into the shoe sole - I changed out some worn cleats and had to grind the screw heads off.

39

General Discussion / Re: Lions and tigers and bears oh my!!!

« on: December 26, 2016, 05:47:56 pm »

If you decide to hang your nosh in a tree when you camp don't forget to take it with you in the morning! Done that.

40

General Discussion / Re: Planet Bike Air Kiss CO2 Bicycle Inflator woes

« on: December 26, 2016, 03:56:31 pm »

Planet Bike sent me a replacement for free. It works and this time I won't remove the cylinder until I'm sure it's empty.

41

General Discussion / Re: Pacific Coast Central (Eugene, OR to San Francisco, CA)

« on: December 26, 2016, 03:54:06 pm »

June should be a good time to do it. I made the mistake of going in October this year and got headwinds and heavy rain for a lot of it. the last 120 miles or so to SFO is very scenic, has lousy shoulders and heavy traffic, so be careful. The descent from the Legget climb is a blast.

42

General Discussion / Re: Lions and tigers and bears oh my!!!

« on: December 26, 2016, 03:45:34 pm »

Lots of good advice above. On the Transam I met a guy who had had a boxing match with a racoon inside his tent, it had torn through the wall, but saw nothing myself besides dogs in KY. They can be a pest. I carry Halt spray available in bike shops over here and the couple of times I've used it it worked. At Grand Teton  I was urged to put anything with a scent including toothpaste in a bear box.

As others have said the biggest danger is traffic especially those trailer things that fit on pickups. They are often driven by an ancient who only takes it out once a year and has no idea how wide it is.  In general huge trucks are considerate of cyclists often going completely to the wrong side of the road to overtake you. They are driven by professionals with little interest in the hassle of hitting a cyclist is my opinion.

43

General Discussion / Re: How to transport bike box?

« on: December 25, 2016, 11:05:57 am »

My advice is the same as before. Don't bring your Trico.

I have a destination at the end of my journey and staying with family in San Francisco. Is there a possibility of fed-ex'ing the box from Dulles?

I'm with John on this. Pack your bike in a cardboard box from a bike shop and toss it when you arrive. It should take 5 minutes of phoning in SFO to find a shop that will give you a box for free.There's no shortage of places there that will box up your bike if you don't want to do it yourself, I'd budget $100 for a shop to do the boxing, last one I had a bike shop do was in Tulsa OK and it cost me $80. San Fran is more expensive than most places.  I've flown from Seattle to Europe four times using cardboard boxes for my bike.

44

General Discussion / Re: Planet Bike Air Kiss CO2 Bicycle Inflator woes

« on: December 22, 2016, 07:04:57 pm »

That's odd.  The instructions for my "Red Zeppelin" inflators say nothing about not removing a cylinder with remaining gas and even so I can't see why that would damage the piercing pin.  I can see how the remaining pressure could be a hazard to the  user but not to the inflator.

This is what I found on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Planet-Bike-Kiss-Tire-Inflator/product-reviews/B000IQEAMA To save you looking here's what the reviewer says

7) When you are through inflating the tire, do not just spin off the cartridge, if it is still pressurized unless you fully expel all of the gas you can get a nasty surprise (like a pop and losing the internal gasket and hollow puncture tip - into who knows what). (explaining why it only works once for some people) As the instructions say, slide the cartridge body down to release all of the CO2 (even into the air) before removing the cartridge from the inflator head. (be careful where you point it I would think)

You can the instructions here http://www.planetbike.com/page/support/manuals/. They say to make sure there is no CO2 left in the cylinder but nothing about potential damage.

45

General Discussion / Re: Planet Bike Air Kiss CO2 Bicycle Inflator woes

« on: December 22, 2016, 04:38:35 pm »

It seems the mistake I made was taking out a non-empty cylinder out some time before. According to a review I found on Amazon this causes the inflator pin to get lost. I contacted Planet Bike and they are sending me a replacement. The instructions do say to not remove a cylinder with gas still in it but don't tell you what the consequences might be. All this is why I wouldn't dream of taking them on tour.