Messages

421

Gear Talk / Re: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?

« on: October 16, 2015, 03:35:29 pm »

Or at least post the link to my blog on the above website.

Be careful how you do that.  Creating an essentially empty journal that is just a link to one elsewhere is against their rules and definitely frowned on.  Posting about your trip on their forum and including a link is probably fine.

Thanks for the information. I'll just copy and paste what I post on my main blog to the above blog as to not break any of their rules.

422

Gear Talk / Re: Recommended Temperature Rating for Sleeping Bag on TransAm

« on: October 16, 2015, 12:33:05 am »

I find it odd that, for of a bunch of weight considerate touring cyclists,  None of you mention hammocks at all ...plus: sleep on the ground?  Never again for this cyclist. My days of waking up all stiff are over. 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

I hammock camp using a 40 degree bag even during the winter months when temps are well below freezing. Whomever said "how cold do you sleep?" hit it exactly right. I grew up in a very cold region so it doesn't bother me much. I was zipped up in the bag anything less than 40 degrees but anything over I was still "in" it but it was unzipped. I don't use a sleeping pad either. Your rain fly can be used as a windbreaker on those windy nights. I'm leaving in early April for a ride from Portland, OR to Portland, ME and am at about 30lbs including the weight of the bike. I'm also taking 80 days and going my own route so what you find necessary I may not. Just to touch bases on the weight as the above poster mentioned. 

423

Gear Talk / Re: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?

« on: October 15, 2015, 11:17:05 pm »

Thanks for the link but the organization I'm doing my ride for (StandUp2Cancer) has a blog directly on the page where people will be going to make their donations. I might, however, use the above link and do two of them. Easy enough to copy and paste! Or at least post the link to my blog on the above website.

Much appreciated

424

Gear Talk / Re: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?

« on: October 14, 2015, 04:06:52 pm »

Good for you. Good luck on your ride. Let us know how it turns out.

Thanks, will do! I leave in mid April. Spent a few days roughly planning on my route. I decided against using any of the route maps on here and wanted the adventure of planning my own route based on a few books I've read. I say "roughly" because I've pinpointed cities along the way in terms of being 60-100 miles apart where I can stop if I'm tired or keep riding to the next city if I'm feeling fine. The route covers 4,249.9 miles and travels through at least 22 states. Not all of which I have to pass through but am taking some detours along the way. i.e. I'll be within a 100 miles of Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons so heading south to Wyoming there and also have friends in several "out of the way" places that I've purposely routed my trip through to stay with them.

I'll have a blog for my ride and when it's set up I'll post the link on here so any of you who'd like can follow me along the ride. I'll be updating it as service allows me to do so!

425

Gear Talk / Re: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?

« on: October 14, 2015, 04:01:13 pm »

Your Shimano Venzo mountain bike shoes and Wellgo SPD pedals for $75 on Amazon with free shipping.  Shoes are probably good although not quite as comfortable as Shimano sandals.  Hopefully the Wellgo pedals will make it through your trip without too many problems.  Then you can replace them with Shimano pedals.

I ordered from Ebay, not Amazon, and they came with Shimano pedals, not Wellgo. Haven't heard of that brand. Those are the same shoes though.

426

Gear Talk / Re: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?

« on: October 13, 2015, 05:11:35 pm »

As for shoes and pedals to use on a cross country ride, get some SPD sandals.  Shimano makes good sandals.  And some cheap SPD pedals.  Shimano makes some cheap models for about $30 from Nashbar.com  You're all set.

The cheapest ones I saw were around $80 for the shoes alone on Nashbar.

I ended up purchasing some Venzo Shimano shoes with the pedals etc on Ebay for $75 + free shipping. Good reviews across several websites. 

427

Gear Talk / Re: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?

« on: October 09, 2015, 11:43:06 am »

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and the history! I'll take a look when I get back on Sunday from a camping trip I'm about to leave on. I'm 23 and fairly new to road biking but I do have experience with long distance biking including a Seattle to San Diego run a few years ago, on a hybrid bike with regular plastic pedals but I was 18 and didn't know better. All I remember is the ball of my foot throbbing nonstop about the time I hit the Washington/Oregon border.

428

Gear Talk / Re: Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?

« on: October 08, 2015, 06:43:33 pm »

Sorry I guess I don't know the terminology. Why are they considered "clipless" when they clip into the pedals? That seems confusing. I'll take a look at the shoes you mentioned, thanks!

429

Gear Talk / Shoes/pedals for a cross country ride?

« on: October 08, 2015, 05:55:38 pm »

Interested in information regarding shoes/pedals for a cross country ride

Right now I have cages on my pedals. I've never used clips before. I've thought about keeping the cages and buying a comfortable pair of shoes. The only friend I know who has done a coast-to-coast trip had clips and said he'd rather had cages.

My budget is already fairly tight with everything else I've needed to purchase but can still spend no more than $200

I've looked at a bunch of options but would like first hand experiences please!

Thank you!

430

Routes / Re: which route in usa

« on: October 02, 2015, 02:27:54 am »

Maybe we'll cross paths Preston! I'll be doing the TransAm starting in Oregon in early April (first or second week at the latest).

Although I am considering riding the northern route and doing a Portland to Portland run and then down the Atlantic Coast Route since Portland to Portland is only 3300 miles and would want to make up the 1100 miles I'd not be doing on the TransAm by riding south on the ACR.

Happy riding!

431

Routes / Re: Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway (Oregon)

« on: September 23, 2015, 07:55:00 pm »

Thanks, I appreciate the information

432

Routes / Re: Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway (Oregon)

« on: September 23, 2015, 03:08:41 pm »

Thanks for letting us know about the broken link. I have just corrected the link that takes you to our membership join page. While you do have an account for our website, it  is different than being an actual member of the organization. The "Companions Wanted" listing are a benefit for our members, so placing a listing does require a current membership. More information about being a member of the Adventure Cycling Association can be found here: http://www.adventurecycling.org/membership/

Hope this helps!
[/quote]

Thanks for the information and I'm glad the link is fixed. Unfortunately I don't have $40/year to spend for the sole purpose of finding someone to ride with. Is there a forum for this or could you direct me to another website that may? Thank you for your time and assistance.

433

Routes / Re: Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway (Oregon)

« on: September 23, 2015, 11:53:07 am »

Thank you! I just recently found this website

However, I'm having issues with the link. I click on it and takes me to the page where I click on "Create New Listing" and it then takes me to a page that says "... to join Adventure Cycling, click here." I'm already a member but I click there and I get what you see below, even though I'm logged in.

Page Not Found

Hmm, the page you're looking for can't be found.
You may have clicked a bad link or mistyped the web address.

Return home
Go back to the previous page
Or, try one of the links below:

434

Routes / Re: which route in usa

« on: September 22, 2015, 11:28:43 pm »

That is a hell of a choice you have to make. 1 would be great, and so would 2. Personally, I think you could do the PCBR from Ana Cortes in Washington to San Diego in CA, and south to Mexico. The Transam is probably the greatest of all ways to bike. 2 would take in perhaps the best of both worlds. The Transam will run into some major time and money.

I'm not sure about "major" money. My friend did it for a little under $500. He never stayed a hotel though or ate out once and I could see most people doing that and spending a bunch of money. He also didn't run into any bike issues along the way.

435

Routes / Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway (Oregon)

« on: September 22, 2015, 08:32:23 pm »

Well, second time trying to post this.

Rode the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway from Beaverton to Eugene over the weekend. The route actually starts at Champoeg State Park outside Newberg but started from my house. There's a connecting route from Portland as well. Spent 3 nights/4 days doing the ride over 214 miles. Averaged about 12 mph and hit a top speed of 37.2 mph. Took my time and did a lot of sightseeing. Had about 20lbs in my panniers on my 2011 Fuji Newest 3.0 road bike. Thought I'd give everyone a short day-by-day log of the ride. Feel free to ask questions etc!

Day 1: Beaverton to Champoeg - 27.95 miles. Great biker camp. $5/night. Connected to the main campground and includes lockers with built in outlets and additional outlets outside of the lockers. Picnic tables, bike stands, fire pits, restrooms and showers included. Route takes you along a busy highway with speeds of 70 mph. Passes through tow of Newberg, last chance for food etc before you hit the last 10 miles to the campground. Plenty of trees for you hammock campers like me.

Day 2: Champoeg to Independence - 55.10 miles. Riverview Park. $10/night. Self service bike repair station. Located near downtown of the small farming town with grocery stores and food within walking distance. Picnic tables, bike stands, one central fire pit, restrooms, one cold outdoor shower, no outlets (but the camp host let me use the one on the RV). Slim pickings for trees but enough to use the hammock. Ride takes you through Oregon's State Capital of Salem, the last big town to get supplies. Ride has you riding against traffic on a busy highway for several miles.

Day 3: Independence to Brownsville - 71.92 miles. Pioneer Park. $10/night (Memorial Day to Labor Day), Free (After Labor Day to Memorial Day). Located near downtown of this even smaller-than-Independence town. One grocery store across the bridge about a mile from the park. Picnic tables, no fire pits, no bike stands, rest rooms, no showers, outlets located in the restrooms and outside the building. Plenty of trees BUT most are too big to use a hammock on. Ride takes you through Albany, the last town to get supplies before you leave civilization. There's a small store in Jefferson that you might want to refuel at before you hit Scravel Hill, a series of three daunting hills before you drop back into the valley.

Day 4: Browsville to Eugene - 59.04 miles. Armitage County Park. The bikeway ends here and sadly there is NO biker campground. Tent sites are $30/night. Because of this I declined to stay and left after browsing Eugene a bit. Picnic tables, fire pits, no bike stands, rest rooms, no showers. Beware of riding in Eugene. Whomever planned the bike paths thought it would be cool to have them going against traffic in most places and then darting in and out of traffic in others. Terrible city to bike in. You can ride an additional 35-miles south to Cottage Grove where there is a biker campground but I do not have any information on it.

UPDATE: Apparently Armitage County Park DOES have a hiker/biker camp. $20/night. Picnic tables, fire pits, rest rooms, showers, laundry, unsure of bike stands. Not listed on the sign but found this out after emailing the park.

Questions, comments?

Also, where is the right place to post a wanted ad? In terms of looking for someone to do a long distance ride with you?