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Messages - PeteJack

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46
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.

47
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.

48
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.

49
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.

50
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.

51
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.

52
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.

53
General Discussion / Re: How to transport bike box?
« on: December 19, 2016, 07:14:38 pm »
For this particular trip I would suggest taking Amtrak back to Eugene.   Take the ferry over to Oakland.  The train leaves very late in the day and you will be in Eugene the next day.
+1 You don't even have to box your bike up these days, they hang the bikes in the baggage car, no removing pedals or turning bars just remove "anything that might fall off" It's all of a minute's ride from the ferry to Oakland station, I was a senior but I believe the regular ferry fare is <$10 and bikes are no problem. Caveat: don't arrive too early for the train, there is absolutely nothing to do around Oakland station.

54
General Discussion / Planet Bike Air Kiss CO2 Bicycle Inflator woes
« on: December 19, 2016, 06:51:49 pm »
It was light and just the thing for my road bike until I got a flat. When I came to use said inflator and screwed in the CO2 cartridge it wouldn't pierce the membrane on top of the cartridge. I thought it may have been my wimpy grip so I went into a nearby machine shop and tried putting the head in a vise and using pliers to turn the cylinder - still membrane intacta.  I ended up having the missis rescue me.

Am I doing something wrong with this infernal device? or have I just got a bad 'un?  Should I switch to some other brand?

55
General Discussion / Re: Trans am route, map or gpx Garmin.
« on: December 06, 2016, 04:36:01 pm »
Nothing wrong with getting lost as long as you find somewhere for the night. You can end up in some interesting places. Physically you'll be OK outside of big cities, we're not talking about Kazakhstan here. Be careful asking locals for directions, unless they are cyclists they can be remarkably clueless about where they live. If  getting lost is so scary, ACA maps plus cell phone will cover most areas. Use a good cell provider, I used TMobile and couldn't get a signal for 500 miles of the Sierra Cascades; people using other providers had no trouble.

56
Routes / Re: Pacific Coast Route
« on: November 15, 2016, 06:07:50 pm »
 I wouldn't recommend it in the fall. I've just rode from Seattle to San Fransisco this Sept/October. The weather was a challenge, headwinds and rain much of the way in Oregon and California. I got as far as Gualala and caught a buses to SFO rather than battle more rain and headwinds on narrow shoulderless roads.

57
General Discussion / Re: Trangia Stove / Meths
« on: November 09, 2016, 02:14:19 pm »
And if you get a chance try Indian fry bread. It's nothing like fried bread in the UK and is delicious.

58
No matter what kind of shoes/sandals you get make sure you have overshoes. I did the N Cal Pacific coast this October and it was very wet. My experience is that no overshoe will keep your feet dry in heavy rain i don't care how much you spend on them, after all if you have clipless pedals they have to have a hole in the bottom and water will eventually wick in. What you do need overshoes for is to keep your feet warm. To that end wool socks are big help.

59
General Discussion / Re: Which bike should I travel the U.S. with?
« on: November 09, 2016, 07:03:11 am »
Basically the Pugsley is incorrect for almost all riding.  Unless you plan to ride the beaches from Seattle to San Diego.  Or maybe ride the Rocky Mountain trail in the middle of winter and need some flotation for the snow.
That seems a bit harsh Russ. Never tried one myself but I've read where some people prefer them to regular bikes for single track and e.g. gravel logging roads. But I agree they don't appear to be very good for the ACA sort of touring on roads.

60
General Discussion / Re: Trangia Stove / Meths
« on: November 09, 2016, 06:39:34 am »
Well Lucy you've had answers to 1 & 2 I'll give 3 a go. I don't know any websites but that doesn't mean there aren't any, try googling Indian tribe names (or google  'Indian tribe names' if you don't know any) I know, you've done that already BUT while you're on tour you will almost certainly go through Indian reservations as they tend to be off major highways and many of them have museums - the one at the Nez Perce* reservation in Idaho is superb. If there is no museum there will probably be a casino. Go to the casino (they sometimes have a small museum) and ask how you can learn more about their tribe. My experience has been that Native Americans really like someone taking an interest in their culture.
Casinos often have cheap food that's better than burger chains. You don't have to gamble to avail yourself of it in all the casinos I've visited.
Yes, they do refer to themselves as 'Indians', the Indians you get in the UK are East Indian if you need to distinguish.

* Nez Perce as you probably know is French. The name is not pronounced Nay Persay but Nezz Purse, including by the Nez Perce themselves. Your next challenge: pronounce Puyallup - a tribe in Washington state.

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