Messages

91

Routes / western express, grand canyon

« on: November 05, 2008, 07:07:51 pm »

ok....some will jump to conclusions before finishing reading these few
sentences/blurbs, but so be it...

i was thinkin of doing the western express, going eastward, and then
hoping on the grand canyon connector until i reached the southern tier
route.....BUT, will be doing it in january.  has anyone done much winter
riding/touring in this part of country, and how passable are the roads,
mainly at higher elevations...or do they just let mother nature do her
song and dance and melt the roads open come spring.

thanks.

92

Routes / Allegheny Bike Route

« on: September 08, 2008, 10:43:39 pm »

i've got a friend down there in radford area that i would just be starting out from and be able to leave car down there...seeing i live up in harrisonburg, va it's not far drive down there anyways....i'll prob be looking to do the loop sometime in the fall i reckon and haven't planned too much out yet...so big help this "reply" was eh?

93

Routes / Allegheny Bike Route

« on: August 23, 2008, 10:38:58 am »

just wondering if anyone out there has done the somewhat new Allegheny
Loop trail and/or if they used the "print at home" option or if they had
ACA print the map for them...

94

General Discussion / panniers and a trailer

« on: December 08, 2008, 08:22:13 am »

hey there robert
i have a pair of axiom panniers and they clear the axel just fine...they
are not huge, but i'm assuming since you will be totting a trailer of
sometype you won't need to be carrying tons of gear in them(?
)...they've worked great for me when I did the TransAm, blue ridge
parkway, and several smaller trips.  kept my gear dry during torrential
downpours too and the material held up great when I wiped out and
skidded across the road coming down lolo pass.  so i def recommend
checking out a pair, plus they ain't too pricey.

http://www.axiomgear.com/product/bags/pannier_bags/product.php?
id=60

good luck

michael

95

General Discussion / Touring Wired, Wireless, Etc.

« on: December 15, 2008, 10:04:21 am »

one more thought i had right after i pressed the "reply to topic" is that
we all like to take pictures while on tour, and collecting this type of
data is just another way of taking a "self portrait", physiologically
speaking, of how your body is handling the physical stress.  the more I
think about it the cooler i think it would be.  not sure if you have
access to lab equipment, but if you drew labs on yourself (if your
stomach can handle it) and had a way of analyzing the data then and
there that'd be pretty sweet to see what your blood levels are doing
with muscle breakdown, blood sugars, etc., etc.

michael

96

General Discussion / Touring Wired, Wireless, Etc.

« on: December 15, 2008, 09:59:18 am »

if you are plannin to travel with a laptop and collect data then that is
great, esp if it works for you.  i know that i used to be interested in all
that stuff and have been a "lab rat" for testing accelerade prodcuts vs
gatorade, etc and think it's neat to accumulate and graph that data.  on
a tour, i might consider doing it for a shorter tour...or maybe you
could graph the start of your tour and then the last week of your tour
and see if there's a big change in your fitness (well, since we all know
you'll get in better shape, at least HOW much of a change).  regarding
the laptop issue, a fair number of folks seem to use them....just like
some folks carry really nice cameras along on tour with them.  or, some
folks have gear that is WAY too expensive for what it's really worth (i.e.
panniers, bicycle, etc).  but check out following site.  this couple carries
along laptop and lots of camera gear with them and they talk about
how they deal with, and why, they bother carrying it all along.  in my
opinion, seeing their end results (photos, essays) it's well worth the
effort.  if you are able to incorporate a hobby or interest into a xc bike
tour i think that's great and will only make it that much more
memorable.  so i say go for it and have fun with it. that's the beauty of
bike touring, it's the same route but different experience for everyone.

http://outsideforever.com/

regards.  
michael

97

General Discussion / cookie ladie

« on: November 20, 2008, 10:38:57 am »

yeh..i had heard about that too...i was going to attend but, alas, i had to
work all that weekend...def bummed seein i live about 10 minutes from
her house too....i'm sure it was amazing though.

98

General Discussion / issues with snakes/scorpions-southern tier?

« on: August 06, 2008, 10:00:33 am »

thanks for advies ya'll...i'm up in virginia and we deal with copperheads and a few timber rattlers, and harmless black snakes...but i guess i figured it was different ball game down in the southlands of the U.S., which it sounds to be a little different.  thanks again!

michael  

99

General Discussion / issues with snakes/scorpions-southern tier?

« on: August 05, 2008, 04:25:06 am »

just wondering if anyone out there has had any run-ins with snakes and/or scorpions while treking across the southern tier route, or anywhere out in the southwest for that matter.  wasn't sure what the best way to "deal" with these critters while camping and wasn't sure what might attract them to a campsite if at all...so yeh...any advices along those lines would be dandy.