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Messages - Dan

Pages: 1 [2]
16
Routes / NW U.S. to Alaska
« on: November 13, 2006, 01:07:56 am »
Starting to plan a self supported ride from Spokane, WA area up to Faribanks, Alaska for this summer.  Any route recommendations would be appreciated.  Would like to go off-road but this may not be as easily done as in the US on the Great Divide so will settle for pavement.  There looks to be a few different road options leading up to and then after Prince George.  Any suggestins which would be better.  

Miles between services/towns?

Also, any recommendations on side trips, sweet singletrack riding, off road portions, must see attractions, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

And one more thing...any possible suggestions on getting back to the Seattle/Spokane area after trip...fly ($$$), cruise ($$), hitchike, freighter??

Thanks in advance!


17
Routes / North Dakota during the summer?
« on: April 15, 2006, 12:54:01 am »
I hope your riding west to east through ND.  When I past through in 2002 I cut down off the official route from Minot to Fargo along hwy 52.  Extreme heat (111 degrees in Bismark) and a bad storm that evening left me with my first hotel in New Rockford.  The next day there was about a 40 m/h wind heading straight east.  I rode 160 miles from New Rockford to Moorhead, MN in about 8 hours riding time.  I figured with that wind at my back I might as well take advantage of it.  Those 160 miles were easier (and more fun) than other days I only covered 40 or 50 miles into a heavy wind.  


18
Routes / GDMBR starting in May?
« on: December 15, 2005, 03:03:23 pm »
We rode the great divide south to north leaving on  
May 28th, 2003.  It depends on the weather and if
there were any late snowstorms but it wil be cooler
throughout NM.  We only encountered one pass
with some snow drifts that we were able to ride
over or ride partway across before dismounting
and pushing the bike another 10 feet.  I think you
will be fine leaving around May 15th.


19
Routes / Arizona Trail Maps
« on: December 15, 2005, 03:06:40 pm »
Have you looked at the book by Andrea Lankford
titled biking the AZ trail?  

It's helpful but I'd like to see a set of adventure
cycling maps for the AZ trail too.



20
Routes / great divide
« on: January 28, 2005, 06:15:42 pm »
I would also consider riding S to N.  A great
description about the road conditions is posted
under the "General" category by Larry Diskin. It
really varies so much that it isn't mainly anything.  I
wouldn't say that many of the roads are maintained
to greatly but then again, they aren't  that bad to ride
on.  There was very little truck, ATV, morticycle,  etc.,
trafic on the entire dirt portion of the route.  Every
once in a while we might see someone but not
often at all.  



21
Routes / great divide
« on: October 01, 2004, 07:21:17 pm »
Two of us rode the Great Divide Route south to
north in June-July 2004.  Our total mileage (getting
lost, riding in towns to services, sightseeing, etc.)
was 2727 to the Canadian border.  That took us 43
days that includes 1 non-riding day.  That is about
63-64 miles per day on average but we very rarely
rode 63-64 miles in a day.   We were usually 10-30
miles less or 10-30 miles more than that average.  
We had several half days of riding in which we
would not start riding until after 5pm or be finished
riding before 2pm and usually put in around 30
miles on those half days.  Some days with this
mileage were long and tiresome while others were
not.  To answer your question, Yes, you will  
definately see some beautiful scenery and meet
really cool people.  It all depends on your time
frame away from work, how long you want to be
out, if you want to set up camp for a few days in
several of the cool towns you come across to ride
single track and how many rest days you want.  We
appreciated the country, beauty, and lack of people
nearly everyday.  Good Luck!



22
Routes / north rim grand canyon
« on: May 24, 2004, 10:57:04 pm »
Check out the inernet on the Rainbow Rim Trail.  It
is located at the north rim of the grand canyon but
is in the national forest and just outside the
national parks boundaries.  It's 18 miles point to
point and has 5 points that overlook the canyon.  
Each of the 5 points require a 20+ mile long trip
down a dirt forest road and free primitive camping
is available at each of the points.  It's a great trail!
Not too steep or technical but hilly, twisty
singletrack.  Enjoy!



23
General Discussion / Right bike for mtn biking and one TransAm trip?
« on: April 15, 2006, 12:38:49 am »
I'm also too cheap to buy a dedicated touring bike and have used my 2000 trek 8000 for a northern tier and great divide tour.  The northen tier I used the stock wheels (rolf satellite paired spokes) with a 1.0 slick in front and a 1.5 slick in back with two rear panniers.  For the divide I got a beefier set of wheels with 32 spokes and used 2.0 tires with 2 panniers in front and 2 panniers in the rear.  I'd recommend rack/panniers over trailer due to bike handling, organization, ease of travel (car/plane/taxi/train/etc) Cost seems about equal with a good quality rack/pannier vs. trailer.  Then after a tour I put on the lightweight tires/wheels and take off the racks and I'm good for the local singletrack.  When getting a newer mt. bike make sure it has brake bosses on the fork and rear seat stays(for OMM rack attachment. Many newer mt. bikes don't have the brake bosses since they use disk brakes.  Good Luck!


24
General Discussion / Off-The-Road Campgrounds
« on: March 16, 2006, 12:22:55 am »
I find the east coast is harder to find remote free off the road places to make camp do to too many people.  On the great divide trip it was no problem as most everything was forrest service, BLM, or ranch land.  Northern tier from Washington through the U.P. of Michigan was also easy to find sites.  If in a town the smaller the better. Most have a park or ballfields where you can find a hose used for watering that you can use to rinse off the days sweat and grime before retiring for the night.  But in "stealth" camping always make sure to get far enough off the road to not be noticed.  Some of the best campsites/camping experiences have been sites like this. Some of mine include a H.S. football stadium in WA, behind a McDonalds in the woods in CT, 50 feet off of Hwy 2 in MT (behind a hill as to not be seen by passing cars), in the woods off the Hwy in MI.  Basically anyplace you can get off the road a bit and not be seen by anyone.


25
General Discussion / Tire Inflation Pressures
« on: January 26, 2006, 12:28:50 am »
Another thing to keep in mind is the psi rating on the rim.  While riding the GDMBR a few years back I started out using Mavic 517 rims(fairly narrow)with Specialized Armadillo Crossroads tires (max psi rating of 85).  About 2000 miles north of the Mexican border (riding north) I had a buldge on my rear rim.  I rode 80 miles to Kalispell,MT with the rear break released and it turns out the rim had a microcrack in the inside center the whole way around.  The bike mechanic in Kalispell said most rims have a psi rating and that the mavic 517's are only rated for 55psi.  I bought a sun Rhynolite and had the hub re-spoked with the new rim while I ate lunch across the street and was on my way in a few hours.  The front rim was still fine so I lowered the psi on the front tire and had no problemes the rest of the ride up to Jasper.  The Sun Rhynolite is much wider than the 517's and can handle the greater psi.  I feel the Rynolites are bette suited for off-road touring than the 517's which are more for XC mountain biking.


26
Ritchey makes a one inch wide tire called the tom slick that is for 26 inch mountain bike wheels and this weighs around 300g.  They are 26 X 1.0 and run about $20


27
General Discussion / Alaska!
« on: December 10, 2004, 06:36:24 pm »
What is the "Milepost" that you have mentioned?  A
web site?  A map?



28
General Discussion / Summer Plans
« on: May 24, 2004, 10:50:09 pm »
Starting at Antilope Wells on May 30th for a south to
north self-contained tour on the GDMBR.  Just me
and a good friend from college.  After a year of
planning, talking, and thinking about it, it's finally
going to happen!



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