Messages

16

Gear Talk / Re: light tour bike

« on: February 29, 2020, 12:12:45 am »

i think you are right about the 1100. as i recall it was glued. anyway, it would need lots of updates after all this time. i'm leaning toward something like a merlin i saw advertised. my size for $1,100. thoughts?

17

Gear Talk / Re: light tour bike

« on: February 28, 2020, 04:25:23 pm »

ha ha. my 70-year-old brain is overhelmed with the choices. danno has suggested salsa, which i have heard good things about. i have been a trekkie for years because the small town i lived in had one bike shop and their better bikes were treks. broke the mold with the surly, which will stay with me in case i get into gravel and/or unsupported. new question: i just found a merlin in my size for $1,200. too good to be true?

18

Gear Talk / Re: light tour bike

« on: February 27, 2020, 05:37:15 pm »

you are right, danno, she is a saint. she has full internet and as a professor she can work with her post-grad students in brazil and chat with her may cousins there. as a physical geographer, she also sees lots of things she has read about and studied. back to bikes. yes, the 1100 has downtube shifters, which i would likely move.  but those who say it is not worth upgrading are probably right. for starters i will try to look at some lightly used road bikes like a madone. if i find nothing, think about a new mid-price to lower and roadie. thanks again everybody.

19

Gear Talk / Re: light tour bike

« on: February 26, 2020, 10:17:45 pm »

throwing a wrench in the works: i had a beautiful trek 1100 aluminum road bike more than 30 years ago. many miles in many states. after moving to florida, switched mostly to MTB. sold the 1100 to a friend who sadly did not ride it.  he might sell it back. i also have a trek fx 7.3 alum about 12 years old. since i understand aluminum  has a shorter life expectancy, would it be crazy to retrofit either of them? i guess at this point i'm leaning toward  a used road bike if i can find one, or a new mid-range one.

20

Gear Talk / Re: light tour bike

« on: February 26, 2020, 09:46:43 pm »

thanks again

21

Gear Talk / Re: light tour bike

« on: February 26, 2020, 01:30:10 am »

thanks everybody.  great food for thought. which prompts this question: what is the best new or used titanium frame that could be paired with some mountain gears and a lighter wheel set? and what titanium could take he other components from the surly straggler? maybe i sell the surly frame.

22

Gear Talk / Re: light tour bike

« on: February 24, 2020, 11:31:46 pm »

thanks, everybody. pat is right. i ride supported on the transam. drink, small snack, rain jacket. my wife drives 10 miles ahead in a van and waits for me. we go again. camp for the evening. so the main weight issues are my fat 220 pound ass. i have a surly straggler frame, built by LBS to be bombproof so i have chucker velocity wheels with schwalbe marathon plus tires with heavy tubes. my first attempt at the transam in 2018 involved a lot of pain. walked up to afton and other climbs in the appalachians before mixing it up with a groundhog in loretto, kentucky and breaking some bones (mine) 800 miles in. went home in a cast and a boot and after feeling better went back to my LBS and got a lot more gears. resumed same spot in 2019 and made about 2,000 miles to missoula. still suffered the hills in the ozarks and portions of the rockies. still seems harder than it should. so looking for help before resuming is missoula in june. i think i will start with the advice of looking into  lighter wheels and tubes. have had normal tubes since a 1970s-era peugeot 10-speed with sew-ups. never tried a modern tubeless. i should add that i had a heart attack a few years ago, and am diagnosed with congestive heart disease (i prefer that to "congestive heart failure.") so my blood flow is compromised. i have to do more with less. may be, as someone said above, i just have to keep my head down and keep plugging. good news is that i have a lot of time. and last year i lost 30 pounds on the transam.

23

Gear Talk / light tour bike

« on: February 23, 2020, 10:26:23 pm »

i tour supported, and a few years ago i bought a surly frame and worked with my LBS on the build. it is a great bike, but after two partial summers making my way from yorktown to missoula, i'm training to reseume the transam to astoria. the surly is comfortable, but i really felt the weight in the mountains. does anyone have a recommendation for a lighter bike that would still be comfortable for a 220-pound man? thanks

24

Temporary ACA Route Road Closures / Mississippi River Chester bridge closure - June 2019

« on: June 10, 2019, 03:16:24 am »

as noted by another here, the bridge over the mississippi at chester, ill, is closed.  the mississippi levee alternative is under 15 feet of water in places. luckily, stopped at the sheriff's office and PD in murphysboro before heading to chester. also luckily i am riding supported, so put the bike on the back and started looking for a way around. very hard with the flooding. finally just went south and crossod the mississippi at cape girardeau, mo. plotting a course to farmington tomorrow and try to backtrack from there. adventure cycling have any ideas?

25

General Discussion / hack hack

« on: June 01, 2019, 02:00:02 am »

anybody having breathing/severe allergy issues on the transam in western kentucky? i had red eyes, scratchy throat after resuming my tour this year. coughed all night, breathing not right on the climbs, etc. went to an urgent care in owensboro and was diagnosed with severe upper respiratory infection, given an antibiotic and a steroid and told not to ride for two days. the doctor says it is "going around" and a fried with a business 100 miles away says many of his employees have had it. anyone ride with one of those neck/face covers or with a medical mask?

26

General Discussion / Re: fordstown, ky

« on: June 01, 2019, 01:37:14 am »

we had tried to make contact with the fire chief, and were waiting for a call. went to look at the county park. kept hearing the theme from "deiverance." and there were piles of brush along the camp area. there is a nasty venemous snake in kentucky called a copperhead. that loves bush piles.
 kind of sealed it for me.

27

General Discussion / Re: fordstown, ky

« on: May 29, 2019, 08:44:44 pm »

must have been a little tired last night. it is fordsVILLE, and is about one-third inside ACA map 121 westbound. the weather was fine last night but got very black this morning and opened up about the time i had planned to leave. big light show and torrents for several hours finally. rolled on to glenville.

28

General Discussion / fordstown, ky

« on: May 29, 2019, 12:58:06 am »

after resuming my crash-stalled transam from last year, found some gems in the first couple of days. spending the night at the fire station. could not have been nicer, and hot water, laundry, etc. also in this town: "the diner" no other name. excellent, cheap food.

29

Routes / Re: Help me choose my trip : pacific coast or transamerica :) and wich part ?

« on: May 04, 2019, 03:55:55 am »

well, so many great ideas. i'll throw a wrench in the works: there are several reasons to start the transamerica trail at the eastern terminus in yorktown, virginia. number one for you may be the relative ease of getting to the start -- east coast train service is mostly better than the rest of the country. and if you flew into washington, d.c., you've got a head start. you mention that you want light traffic. you won't get that around glacier and yellowstone, although the scenery is he best. the adventure cycling association maps will keep you out of the traffic in the east. if you want to experience real america, virginia, kentucky and as far as you might get after that, could not be more real. people are friendly and many places like fire stations and city parks welcome cyclists for camping. it will be hot, but having lived in those western states i can tell you it can be just as bad.  by august, the mosquitoes will be lighter than spring or summer. as for getting home: the transam is reasonably close to lexington and louisville, kentucky, and nashville, tenn. if you got farther west, there is springfield and st. louis, missouri for air service. there is also limited train service in those states.  bon chance.

30

General Discussion / Re: Electrical outlets at campgrounds on the TransAm

« on: April 07, 2019, 01:58:15 am »

unfortunately, a campsite with power is also going to cost you a lot more. often, if you pay for power you will also get water and a camper/sewer hookup. and you may be in among the winnebgoes. might end up pretty close to the cost of a cheap motel.