Author Topic: Suggestion for New Forum Topic  (Read 5996 times)

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Offline zzzz

Suggestion for New Forum Topic
« on: October 26, 2013, 10:18:43 pm »
I'm relatively new to this having only been on two bike tours, one each in the last two years. I used the ACA maps both times, Western Express to TransAmerica in 2012 & Great Parks from Jasper down to Missoula then Trans Am to Wyoming this last September. My maps arrived yesterday for next years trip (Sierra Cascades) and I started the time consuming task of looking up the hotels listed on the maps in Trip Advisor and what the alternates were in the towns on route and I thought that this is something the ACA forum could add that would be really useful to it’s members.

What I am proposing is that a forum be added just for member reviews of hotels, campgrounds, restaurants, services, etc on ACA routes and that they be sorted by route/panel # for easy look up.

This would helpful in a several ways:

1)The maps themselves are already filled to the brim and several hotels/campsites/restaurants don’t make the cut. And the ones that are listed don't always seem like the best choice once you get to your destination for the evening. This would make for a fuller picture of what’s available.

2) There are things specific to the bicycling traveler that aren’t necessarily as high on other travelers concerns. For instance, is there any group of people more interested in convenient laundry facilities?

3) By increasing internal recommendations between ACA members it would concentrate our touring cyclists dollars to those business’s that go out of their way to help riders out.

I’m sure this would be a fair amount of work for the ACA staff to set up the frame work for so if other members think this is a good idea, please let your opinion be known.

Pete

Offline John Nelson

Re: Suggestion for New Forum Topic
« Reply #1 on: October 26, 2013, 11:04:42 pm »
I like the idea, a lot. I made a similar suggestion a couple of years ago. I don't think the existing "forum" framework would work for this, so I agree with you that there would be a "fair amount of work" to set this up. I also suggested that each entry have a spot for what price the reviewer paid so I can include that information in my decisions. E.g., if I could see that the campground was almost as expensive as the motel, I could opt for the motel.

Offline PeteJack

Re: Suggestion for New Forum Topic
« Reply #2 on: October 27, 2013, 03:40:06 pm »
Excellent idea. I've spent hours looking for laundromats (it seems). I was going to suggest a foaming tub symbol for places with laundromats on the paper maps. It's probably not necessary to spell out the location if you know there is one in a town they should be easy to find

Offline wbst31

Re: Suggestion for New Forum Topic
« Reply #3 on: October 27, 2013, 07:30:57 pm »
Pete,

How about a forum section for each map page on the web site that would have the additional information listed. This format would have the ability to be continually updated for accuracy in its content.

William Becker
Fort Myers, FL