Messages

91

Routes / Re: Rt. 36 out of Denver

« on: November 11, 2018, 07:09:55 pm »

I did the 36 out of Denver last year (2017) I actually left on May 7 so exactly same time frame as you are planning. 

I had ridden the TA from Oregon Coast to middle of Kansas in the summer of 2016. Getting back to the middle of Kansas to pick up where I left off the following summer (2017) was a problem though.

My solution was to  take the train from Sacramento to Denver and start riding from there. Because public transport to mid-Kansas wasn’t really do-able I just restarted my trip from Denver.  But - from that point in my planning  I was asking the same questions as you.  How do I get back to the TA in the quickest way?  While looking I stumbled upon the Easter Express Route that was being developed and ended up taking that route all the way from Denver to Washington DC.  and didn’t get back to the TA at all. 

I lost out on a bit of TA experience but in exchange I got to do the Katy trail and the GAP in Penn and the C&O in Maryland, and I got to go through  Cincinnati to see distant relatives I'd never seen.
So I decided the Eastern Express Route would let me do those things.  I'm not recommending you take the Eastern Express but I do recommend you take a look at it as an option.  I think there may even be a mapped route included on his site to get you between the two routes.

I went straight E out of Denver on hwy 36, I found the road fine all of the way.  At Phillipsburg, KS you will connect with the official easterexpress route.  I changed my mind on a whim and decided to add Nebraska to my trip and turned north on 385 heading to Wrey. ( a very nice little town.). At Wrey I turned East on 34 and I also picked up the Eastern Express route just a couple days earlier in the town of McCook. (very nice city campground there as well)  I got back to hwy 36 again at Phillipsburg and finished crossing the state mainly on that route. 

That route is well researched on the eastern express site with detailed maps and services  and campgrounds and so on.  I actually stopped mostly in city parks while crossing the state.  I found eastern Colorado and Kansas the friendliest place on my whole trip.  When you hit the Missouri border at Atchison, you will meet up with the  ACA's Lewis and Clark route and take it across the state which includes the KATY trail across most the state.  The EE also doubles the new Chicago to New York route  for the last couple of days or so before I hit the Pittsburg area.
 
If you have any specific questions about highway 36, let me know and I can go back to my notes and remind myself on some of the details.  I didn't have any dicey sections traffic wise at all (not even a little bit) but... I did have some weather dicey-ness.  I dodged a major hail storm in eastern co, and had help from a local who stopped and said you have to get off the road now and piled me and my bike in the back of his truck and rushed me to the closest motel in Anton, CO to get indoors.  I really appreciated the kindness.  A few days lated I got another hail and wind storm in the town of Oxford NB.  That night I was in my tent and spent my most frightening night of the trip. (that's a story for another post)


https://www.easternexpressroute.com

Keith
edit, I see you are leaving San Jose in May and not Boulder so you won't have the weather I did

92

Routes / Re: GAP and C&O Canal Towpath Trip Report

« on: October 22, 2018, 02:35:01 pm »

I rode this ride last summer and also enjoyed it thoroughly. I was finishing the 2nd half of a cross country W-E.   From Sacramento I took Amtrak to Denver and rode from there.   This gave me the oppertunity to ride the Katy trail as well as the C&O and the Gap.  Both trails were highlighted by riding with other riders I met along the way.   The rest of the tour I rode alone which was also fine but I really enjoyed the time riding with others I met along the way on the bike trails.

93

General Discussion / Re: Statistics on cross country tourers

« on: October 22, 2018, 01:22:20 am »

Westinghouse,
Try Ride with GPS.  Click on the  "plan your route" with the BIKE PATHS icon switched to on.  Its in the top right corner of the map space.  That will probably show your missing path, but since I don't know the area or the path you are referring to I can't say for positive.
Nyimbo

94

General Discussion / Re: Cyclists Aren't the Only Folks on the Road

« on: October 20, 2018, 05:12:38 pm »

Amazing picture, thanks for the post!

95

Routes / Re: Best route Las Vegas to Folsom....

« on: October 11, 2018, 01:39:38 am »

I was there last week on a day ride.  Have a great ride out to Calif.

96

Gear Talk / Re: Cassette Question

« on: October 11, 2018, 01:08:57 am »

Thanks Guys,


With your helpful answers I understood enough to do a bit of searcing. I looked up my bikes rear derailer specs and then got the max capacity. I have a shimano Deore LX - Maximum Cassette Cog is 34 and Total Capacity is 45.
My current is setup is exactly that 34 and 45.  So perhaps since I haven't exceeded the maximum capacity I can most easily go ahead and increase the chain length and be done.

Or as an to answer my original question I can confidently use a 11-32 cassette without problem.

Anyway, I feel like I've learned something, Thanks again.

97

Gear Talk / Cassette Question

« on: October 10, 2018, 07:22:39 pm »

Hey all,I bought an 11-34 cassette for my touring bike only to discover I purchased a 9-speed and not a 10-speed.  Rather than return it I decided to put it on my hybrid bike that is a 9-speed 11-26.  (I'm sure you can see where this is going).


I live in a VERY hilly area and enjoyed the extra gears but unfortunately the lowest gear 34 tooth locks up my chain if I happen to forget to move down to a smaller ring in the front.  I try to remember but it still seems to happen once almost every ride.


Rather than just putting back on my 11-26 cassette I thought I would order a 11-30 but see the 11-32 are the most common. [size=78%]BTW [/size][/size][size=78%][/size]The second sprocket down is a 30 tooth so I know that is ok.  [size=78%][/size][size=78%][/size][size=78%] [/size]


Ok, my question is how can I determine if a 30 or 32 tooth is the largest sprocket on the cassete I can use???


Thanks, Keith

98

General Discussion / Re: Statistics on cross country tourers

« on: September 27, 2018, 03:39:08 pm »

jsieber: I did a cross country over the last two summers but I didn't realize there was a ride-registry on the site.  So yeah, if I'm a frequent forum and site visitor and didn't know, it makes me think it would be a little bit hard to get registry word out to all the travelers.
Regarding registering at the Missoula offices, when I was crossing w-e I hit the intersection at Lolo at about 4:30pm on a Friday and since the map set said the offices were closed on weekends I decided to turn right. I decided to skip the overnight stop at Missoula since I didn't want to wait until Monday morning for the visit to the ACA offices. 
(by the way - not complaining, I'm glad you all take weekends off) But I am mentioning you might be missing a large percent, maybe 10-20% in your reporting numbers just because of the weekend thing?

99

Gear Talk / Re: Waterproofing Tent Advice-Suggestions

« on: September 10, 2018, 01:17:03 pm »

Thanks guys, sounds like I can do a little project and get my tent back to working.   


I did say the tent otherwise in good condition but I remembered after posting that there is one spot on the elastic strings in the folding poles that looks like it is wearing more than all the other spots on the string.  It may be the next place to cause me problems.


Thanks, again

100

Gear Talk / Waterproofing Tent Advice-Suggestions

« on: September 10, 2018, 02:09:05 am »

I have a REI Half Dome tent with 3 summers use and I'll guess it has about 100 nights of use.  I don't know the number of nights in the rain but regardless on nights I spent in the rain I was as dry as could be, I always used the outer rain cover raining or not.


Until the the beginning of the last week of the last tour I had heavy-heavy rain for 2 nights and I got a a bit of water inside on the first day but after the 2nd day in the rain it was no longer waterproof. Water was covering the floor and even a bit of dripping from above.  Seemed like it happened all at once.


So the question is do I have to buy a new tent or can it be re-water-proofed effectively. Obviously I'd prefer to get a lot more use from the tent as it otherwise seems in good shape.


Thanks, Keith

101

General Discussion / Re: Entire Trans Am Route in one tour?

« on: August 31, 2018, 08:47:07 pm »

Steve,
I just looked at your link and scrolled through the last 10 days of pictures.  I'll look at the rest latter.  Its fun to see the same pictures that I took (and probably everyone else) maybe at a different angle but the same pics nonetheless.  The one that made me laugh though was the picture in Oregon where I have the same llama in front of that same corner fence in front of the mountain.  :-)

102

Gear Talk / Re: New bike for next ride

« on: August 16, 2018, 01:49:53 am »

I like the suggestions John wrote.  I wanted to add, if I were doing what you suggested, I might also add a hybrid type bike to the list of bikes you try because you said you like to ride a bit more upright.  And, I would travel with a my handlebar bag.  If you just get an extra hardware attachment kit then you can use the handlebar bag interchangeably on both your old touring bike and your new bike.

I know you can carry your stuff in a variety of bags and locations, but for me, even if I was on a road bike I would like having my iPod, and my camera and my granola bar and my tp and wallet, my sunscreen and rain slicker close at hand in my handlebar bag.

And, unless you are just a super fit cyclist ... even if you are traveling unloaded I would make sure like John said that it has a wide range of gears.

103

Routes / Re: Western Express or the Utah Cliffs

« on: July 03, 2018, 08:00:35 pm »

Is your son in great bicycle butt shape or just great shape.  If you aren't in the first you'll need a route plan that has shorter distance options on days when the butt is getting used to the miles. Sorry if this was an obvious or unnecessary comment, it was just the first thing to pop in my mind because of personal experience with a trip with my son.

104

General Discussion / Re: Pedals Recommendation

« on: June 29, 2018, 04:07:15 pm »

You can search on this site and read many good and varied opinions.  In fact I recommend you do that. 


I have the impression that most touring cyclist use the mountain bike MTB pedals.  Others use the platform pedals and quite a few use the dual-sided so they can clip-in in the day time and then just pick up the bike to ride into the closest town in the evening wearing their camp shoes.

105

Routes / Re: ACA Pacific Coast or ACA Sierra Cascades

« on: June 29, 2018, 03:57:05 pm »

Pete you mentioned Hwy 178  and Hwy 58> I have never cycled those roads but I have driven them in the car - although it has been 10 years since I have been on them.  I remember the 178 road as being quite scenic but a bit scary in the car driving down the canyon toward Bakersfield, following the river, lots of turns and no shoulder.  I'm afraid of heights so anytime I ride along a steep drop-off I am frightened.     I seem to remember that Tehachapi was a nice town and I am picturing in my mind a wider road on 58 with shoulders but quite a bit more traffic as it is the back route from Bakersfield to Southern California.


Hopefully someone has ridden there and can give much better and more current advice.