headers
Chris Mullen | 1 Mar 2006 01:28
Picon

Cycling the Canal

Just had to chime in on the C & O.

The C & O is a treasured time capsule.  It was built in the 1830's, and
unlike any other that I know, was never updated for powered craft.  The
canal boats were towed by mules, this required a tow path.  The tow path
still exists today, and that's the riding surface.

It's very well built, for 1830's standards.  To me that's part of the
fun of riding the C & O.  It floods, it gets a little soupy in spots,
but I get a feel of what my great grandfather, dealt with when he
transited over the canal on his way west.

I traveled the length over 16 times.  Usually ten or more day trips per
year.  In my short history, I've seen floods wipe it out, four times.
It's been rebuilt and put back mostly the way it was.

There are roads nearby, on a couple of really bad days, I've switched
over to them.  I a really good day, I think hard pack makes an excellent
surface.

I've ridden parts of the Erie.  I think that is on version #3.  The old
Erie with the tow path is long abandoned.  I didn't get the feeling of
being placed back in time, as I get on the C & O.

Chris Mullen
Fairfax, VA
Permalink | Reply | 1 comment |
headers
Dante Lanzetta | 1 Mar 2006 03:01
Picon
Favicon

Re: Upper Peninsula to DC Route

A friend got an inquiry about riding from the Upper
Peninsula of Michigan to Washington DC.  Does anyone
know an already-tried route?  Assume they can get
across the Mackinac Bridge somehow, where from there? 
Thanks in advance.

Dante
Permalink | Reply | 7 comments |
headers
Arlyn @ Superior Tandems | 1 Mar 2006 04:23

RE: Upper Peninsula to DC Route

To cross the Mackinac Bridge or the Mac as many of the locales call it costs
a cyclist $2 and I believe they simply load you and your bike into a truck
and haul you across.    Bicycles aren't allowed to cross it by "riding".

http://www.mackinacbridge.org/

Arlyn Aronson  <at>  Superior Tandems (906) 370-2911
Quality tandems and accessories.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: touring-bounces@...
[mailto:touring-bounces@...] On
Behalf
> Of Dante Lanzetta
> Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 8:01 PM
> To: touring@...
> Subject: Re: Upper Peninsula to DC Route
> 
> A friend got an inquiry about riding from the Upper
> Peninsula of Michigan to Washington DC.  Does anyone
> know an already-tried route?  Assume they can get
> across the Mackinac Bridge somehow, where from there?
> Thanks in advance.
> 
> Dante
Permalink | Reply | 0 comments |
headers
Margaret Horger | 1 Mar 2006 03:32
Picon

Re: Upper Peninsula to DC Route

Dante,

See my Pittsburgh to/from St. Clair MI trip report in the archives for 
two routes (took different routes out and back) from St. Clair to 
Sharon PA.  From there, head south through Pittsburgh (I have a route 
stashed somewhere), and then the Youghiogheny River / Allegheny 
Passage/ C& O Towpath or parallel route to DC.

Margaret

On Feb 28, 2006, at 18:01, Dante Lanzetta wrote:

A friend got an inquiry about riding from the Upper
Peninsula of Michigan to Washington DC.  Does anyone
know an already-tried route?  Assume they can get
across the Mackinac Bridge somehow, where from there?
Thanks in advance.

Dante
_______________________________________________
Touring mailing list
Touring@...
Browse and search the archives: http://search.bikelist.org
Unsubscribe or list settings:
http://www.phred.org/mailman/options/touring
Permalink | Reply | 0 comments |
headers
Nancy Bradbury | 1 Mar 2006 03:46
Picon
Favicon

re: lightweight camp chair

Kelly-
   Last year I picked up a GCI Trail-Sling Ultralight Chair. I noticed they 
are on sale at Campmor for $20 right now. It weighs 30 oz. and packs up 
relatively small.
   I've read reviews that say it's a pain to assemble/disassemble. I did not 
find this to be the case. It takes a moment or two, but it's not that 
tricky.
   Sitting down and getting back up, that's the tricky part. It sits very 
low to the ground. It was especially nice to use when being fed chips and 
enjoying a beer :) -see photo on following link
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/journal/page/?o=aw&page_id=23601&v=20
   There is also a discussion in the archives under tourable chairs.
Nancy
Permalink | Reply | 0 comments |
headers
Randy | 1 Mar 2006 04:19
Favicon

XL Thorn for sale, continued.


Gentlemen, I have managed some pix, I have uploaded them at
http://stoober.blogspot.com/ 

I hope you guys can view these, in fact, would someone look and tell me that
they are viewable?

They are "medium sized", and zoomable.  I did not wash the bike, I wanted an
honest look, or maybe I was lazy..

I pointed out the worst nick on the bike, and it has a few more tiny ones.

I am sure when I remove all of the accessories there may be another nick or
two that I do not know about.

I have an offer of $400, and have just seen that a new frame like this is
$1200 plus shipping.

I have no desire to rip anyone off, but no one likes to lose money. I paid
$548 for it new.  

I could offer this to the public via eBay, and then say secret free shipping
for our phreds?

As far as parts are concerned, I could sell this as a frame and fork, or
totally built as an 8 speed LX with new/used parts, and new-ish 32 spoke
wheels; or anything in between.

I would rather not part with my 9 speed group, but will certainly include
the BB, headset, seat post, some brakes if you like, etc, and more etc'
(Continue reading)

Permalink | Reply | 0 comments |
headers
boyd | 1 Mar 2006 04:54
Favicon

Re: Upper Peninsula to DC Route

On Tue, 28 Feb 2006, Dante Lanzetta wrote:

> A friend got an inquiry about riding from the Upper
> Peninsula of Michigan to Washington DC.  Does anyone
> know an already-tried route?  Assume they can get
> across the Mackinac Bridge somehow, where from there?
> Thanks in advance.

There is a truck to take bicyclists over the bridge. Then head south ;-}
See http://www.cs.unca.edu/~boyd/touring/tour01/day45/day45.htm to day47
for a route down to Indiana. If you head east at US 30, it is 20 miles to
Fort Wayne. On the other side of Fort Wayne, you can join ACA Northern
route at Payne, Ohio and ride it through Bowling Green to near Cleveland.
Nice riding. See http://www.cs.unca.edu/~boyd/touring/tour96/day36.html
and day37. Then the riding gets more challenging.

Heading southeast towards DC mean riding through some of the hilliest
country in the US. Pretty, but with a LOT of steep climbing.
See http://www.cs.unca.edu/~boyd/touring/tour96/day38.html through day40.
Then, at Winchester, VA, head east through Berryville to Purcellville
where you can take the W+OD trail into DC.
http://www.cs.unca.edu/~boyd/touring/tour95/day7.html has most of that
route - Berryville to Arlington.

I just cobbled this together out of parts of routes I have ridden, but it
is a pretty good way to get from Mackinac to DC. I might go farther south
in Ohio, say to Columbus, and the follow Alt 40 - The national Pike - over
to join my 95 route at Washington, PA and on to Cumberland, MD where you
could continue on my route or take the C+O canal route into DC.
(Continue reading)

Permalink | Reply | 2 comments |
headers
Douglas Coulter | 1 Mar 2006 06:03
Picon

cheap touring abroad

I've cycled toured in Amsterdam a little and all over Southern
Japan on very little money. The draw back was being on a package
tour, I awoke to a bosuns whistle in my "state room" aboard the
gray fleet's finest LST #37 around Europe. I was stationed in 
Iwakuni Japan for 1 1/2 years enjoying many bike, train tours
all over the place. Its where I really learned long distance
touring as a Marine with out an automobile. Most Americans can't
imagine living without a car nowdays but a single in the military
really doesn't need one.

--

-- 
_______________________________________________

Search for businesses by name, location, or phone number.  -Lycos Yellow Pa
ges

http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.as
p?SRC=lycos10
Permalink | Reply | 0 comments |
headers
sujay | 1 Mar 2006 06:10
Picon

Re: expensive Europe..

My comments are inline.

On 2/28/06, Peter Saint James <peterstj <at> earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> On 21 Feb 2006, at 1:47 AM, sujay wrote:
>
> > (e.g. a litre of milk costs Rs 20 in India, which is about $0.45,
> > while I remember buying milk for about $2.70/gallon which comes out to
> > about $0.71 per litre, so milk costs almost 1.6 times more in US than
> > in India)
[sujay] by taking this example what I want to say is, even if the
currency conversion rate is 1 to 45 milk costs at a rate 1 to 1.6
only. so I think just looking at currency conversion rate would not
give a clear idea.

>         I had heard that Latin American costs were so much cheaper than
> most other places.  It depends on what you're buying.  I found that a
> litre of milk fairly consistently costs about US$1 in most places

[sujay] It would be good to know what kind of ratio we get if we
consider the costs of typical touring related items, such as camping
fees, ferry charges, fruit, milk, occasional bicycle spares,
inexpensive lodging, etc.

>         All of this leads me to not believe any reports of how costly or
> cheap someplace is.  Knowing how to find the best prices is the key
> to it all.
sure. I'd definitely like to know more about it. I am dreaming of a
tour along the Camino de Santiago trail sometime in next two years.
(Continue reading)

Permalink | Reply | 3 comments |
headers
jnoble123 | 1 Mar 2006 06:27
Picon
Favicon

re: Never toured before...

(snip)
> I can't stop thinking about this.  I want to get on the road today, but I
> know that I have a lot of planning to do.  I would really appreciate any
> help.
>
(end snip)

Welcome to what could very much be a life long obsession! I am still several 
months away from circling the largest of the great lakes, my fourth one, 
Lake Superior and I can't seem to take my mind away from it!

I like to think of bicycle touring as an adventure. So many people take 
vacations where the focus is a particular destination. When we get away from 
it all we go on a journey instead!

(snip)
 Welcome to bicycle touring. I think about it a lot too :>}.
It doesn't seem that long ago that Jamie Noble joined the list with a
developing interest in touring:
http://search.bikelist.org/?SearchString=jamie%20noble&SortBy=MsgDate%5Ba%5D
&Scope=touring
(end snip)

That seems so long ago but it really wasn't. The difference between then and 
now is the realization that there really is so much more to learn about 
bicycle touring. Where before I focused largely on the mechanics of getting 
started now my personal focus and interest is largely on what makes touring 
such a great experience!

(snip)
(Continue reading)

Permalink | Reply | 0 comments |

Gmane