Cyclist, our own worst enemy (Why hate cyclist)

Cycling around America or riding with my local bicycle club, I’ve seen my share of the good, bad and ugly of drivers.  I’ve been yelled at, given the one finger salute, had beer cans thrown at me, ran off the road and yes even hit by a pickup truck mirror while on the road.  I could go on with stories of bad people but this is not the point of the article.  What causes this behavior from drivers?  Why are some drivers so polite and others so visibly angry at a stranger riding down the road on a bicycle?  I observe that most of this intentional reckless behavior comes from male drivers under 30 years old.  Saturdays mornings I usually ride with a local Central Florida bicycle club.  Our route is popular with other cyclist and clubs as we ride through city streets to get out in the country away from traffic.  I feel safer riding with a group.  But this also makes us a target of the local red neck in his pickup truck.  Most of the time they are driving in the opposite direction but they feel compelled to roll down the window, flip us off and spew a mouth full of foul language at us.  I could go on but you get the point.

Not all local bicycle clubs follow the rules.

Here are the usual accepted courtesy rules of road for cyclist.

1.  Always be courteous to the public.  Never respond to an angry motorist with your own anger.
2. Always ride on the right side of the road and never more than two across to allow traffic to pass safely.  In congested areas ride single file.
3. Always obey all traffic signals and stop at all stop signs.
4. Never give the public or other motorist an excuse.

The rules are ignored by some cyclist and herein is the problem.  Example–There is one group of local cyclist that pretty much break all the rules.  They are not an organized club with leadership and don’t have the discipline to follow the rules.  They ride 3-4-5 across in a peloton formation racing within the group, blowing through stop signs and taking up the entire lane as if the road belongs to them.  The public sees this behavior and then begin to paint all cyclist with the same brush.

I see myself as an ambassador for cyclist.  I hate it when I see other cyclist behaving badly.  It gives us all a bad name.  Conversation at the local coffee house usually goes something like this.  “I see you are on a bike.  You are not one of those Ass******* that think they own the road are you.”  They just met me but feel compelled to inform me of their opinion of all cyclist.

The City council of Winter Springs Florida instructed the local police to cite cyclist for running through stop signs in the neighborhoods.

The city of Oviedo Florida police sergeant recently pulled over our club of about 30 cyclist and informed us that the city has received numerous complaints of cyclist taking up the entire lane and running stop lights.  Gave us a verbal warning to stay to the right and ride not more than two across.

Clermont Florida is a mecca of cyclist wanting to practice their climbing skills.  There are several big hills in this area that attract cyclist and as a result get the attention of the locals trying to drive to or from town.  The cyclist take up the entire lane and the drivers cannot see over the hill to safely pass the group.  The result is a long line of very angry drivers following behind the riders.

As a result of bad behavior the local cycling community has a terrible reputation as being a bunch of hooligans.

According to the League of American Bicyclist Florida ranks number 24 in bicycle friendly states.  23 other states are more bicycle friendly than Florida.

Florida leads the country with the most bicycle fatalities per capita.  Florida is the most hostile state for bicyclists, with 6.56 pedalcyclist fatalities per million people in 2011, according to data from the US Department of Transportation. In my personal experiences the city of Orlando Florida and central Florida in general leads the country in dangerous streets for cyclist.  Government has made progress in the past few years to add bike lanes but most of the money spent on roads and bridges is to relieve traffic congestion for cars and trucks.  Building wider, faster roads is making it worse for bicycle traffic.

Not all US states or communities have an adversarial relationship with cyclist.  The number one best city I have experienced is Vancouver British Columbia.  Dedicated cycling lanes, drivers that yield to cyclist and local support by government to foster good will toward bicycle travel.  The number one bicycle friendly state in my experience is Oregon.  They have well established bicycle routes, tunnels with warning lights you can activate while on your bike before you enter.  Cyclist have the support of government in developing safer cycling routes and public awareness.

 

Velo Girl-Cycle to Farm Ride Black Mountain NC

Cycle Eat Repeat.  That is a winning formula for fun, health and adventure.  Cycling 63 miles with 5,300′ of elevation gains is my kind of fun. Being an Asheville North Carolina native, now living in Florida I really miss my mountains!  Needing a fix, I signed up for the Black Mountain cycle to farm ride July 19th.  The website for the event is here.  The site is well organized with all the information you need in an easy to read format.  The start and finish is at the recreation park in Black Mountain, gravel parking areas kept the mud to a minimum.

Mud?  Oh yes, there was rain before during and after the ride.  This did not deter from the event and to  me only added to the adventure.  After all, I just drove 9 hours from Florida to ride the NC mountains and no one is going to spoil my party!  Hot coffee and a big tent made waiting for the start a chance to meet other riders.  Immediately after riding out of the start area we began about a 5 mile climb to get the blood flowing to the legs.  Follow this with another long climb and I’m really starting to get into these mountain climbs.  I’m loving the moment in spite of the rain as I’m now on a familiar road, Hwy 74A west.  I’m anticipating the switch backs and hairpin curves and then all of a sudden STOP-Road Closed sign with law enforcement directing us to stop half way up the mountain.  A brief discussion informs us there is a tree and power lines down across the road ahead and all traffic must wait until they clear the road.  After 30-45 minutes of standing in the rain, we get the all clear.  Now with cold muscles we start climbing all over again.  No worries, this gives me a chance to be the king of the mountain as I started climbing fast to break away from the peloton.  Attack on the way!  I look back and the main group is way behind me, I want the polka dot jersey!  I imagine I’m in the Tour de France and just before I reach the top of the mountain a group of 5 riders passed me.  No polka dot jersey for me today as just after the top its time to stop at the 2nd SAG stop at Hickory Nut Gap Farm.  For a list of all the farms on the ride go to the Cycle to Farm website here. The remainder of the ride was just a beautiful, big mountains, long flowing valleys, challenging ascents, hairpin curves and lots of smiles from everyone I met.  I especially want to thank the volunteers for this event.  All the major intersections were attended by smiling people to guide us on the route, they did a great job and in spite of the rain everyone was cheerful and happy.  One of the highlights for me was a group of horses that saw me riding by and started running along their fence line with me.  It was if we were all in sync feeling the moment.  Here is a photo of Highlander Farm, best Lamb balls I ever ate!  (Not lambs balls but lamb balls)  Organic too!

The end of ride party had the best pizza I ever ate, and that is really making a statement.  The Wood Fired Pizza was hand made and oven fresh on site.  Fantastic!

I normally stop to take lots of photos and short videos, but due to the weather my artistic side took a back seat to my, “Lets get out of the rain” side.  Huge kudos to the Velo Girl, Cycle to Farm organizers.  You put on a great event and I can’t wait til next year to do it again.

Riding to the finish line to the cheers of the crowd!

 

One Arm Dan Cycles Across America

This is a true story of Dan Leonard’s trek across America on a bicycle.  I was in the TV room of the Point Loma Hostel in San Diego California watching Monday night football.  I had just arrived after cycling the North Pacific Coast from Vancouver BC to San Francisco.  I was in town to meet up with a small group of other cyclist from the Adventure Cycling Association to cycle across America from San Diego to St. Augustine Florida.  This is Southern Tier Bicycle Route, a 3,300 mile 65 day trip.  Dan and I began conversing about my recent ride and he said, “Man I would love to do something like that myself”  I said, “Yeah, I just turned 60 and thought I better get out and do these adventures while I still can.”  Dan told me he turns 60 next month and as we talked I could see the spark in his eyes and hear the enthusiasm in his voice.  At the moment I felt a little sorry for him because I could see his passion for adventure, but with only his right arm there was simply no way he could make it riding self contained.  Pedaling a fully loaded bicycle up the mountains, camping every night, putting up the tent, loading and unloading the bike every day was simply too much for a guy with only one arm.  Heck, it’s a big deal for anyone in good condition much less a guy with a handicap.  Over the next few days we would get to know each other better and talk about my upcoming ride.  Dan was looking for an apartment to share with someone and had to be out of the hostel by Friday.   If he could not find a place to live he would be homeless in 3 days.  Friday comes around and a couple of the other ACA riders were starting to arrive at the hostel.  Later that afternoon I saw Dan in the courtyard and he announced, “Well, I did it”, I said “You did what”,  Dan says “I joined Adventure Cycling Association and signed up for the ride across America.”  My immediate response was “Seriously, are you crazy!  You don’t even have a bicycle, no gear, no nothing, and how are you going to pedal 3,300 miles with one arm”  Dan was a little taken back by my rant.  I could also tell he really wasn’t fazed by my lack of faith.  So now it’s 5:oopm on Friday night, Dan says “Well I guess I need you to help me go get all the stuff I’ll need for the trip.”  I said, “What do you have”, Dan says, “I’ll need everything, tent, sleeping bag and whatever else you can think of.”  We both get in his old Isuzu trooper and head off to the local sporting goods store, grocery carts in tow.  I grab a sleeping bag, tent, camping gear, then off to the bicycle shop next door for shoes, shirts, pants, and cycling gear.  The back of the Isuzu is loaded and off we go to the bicycle shop to pick up his used touring bike.  The shop sold him an old beater Fuji bicycle with dents, dings and rust, mismatched wheels, and well worn components.  The shop installed dual brakes on the right side so it applied both front and rear brakes and installed the shifters on the right side.  Bike racks and panniers installed and Dan now is the proud owner of a touring bike.  Saturday morning comes and the other riders from the ACA group are arriving, Dan and I are unpacking all the boxes and bags from our shopping trip last night.  I’m busy loading my panniers and going over my bike and gear to make sure I’m ready for the shakedown ride on Sunday morning.  Dan and I look at each other and Dan says, “Can you show me how all this crap works.”  I give him a hand, literally, and set up the tent and sleeping bag for him.  He stops me as soon as I’m done.  Dan says, “OK I got it” and takes it all apart and starts putting it all back together again by himself.  I’m impressed, heck, I can’t even tie my shoe with one hand much less put up a tent.  Within the hour Dan is folding and rolling everything up, packing his panniers, bungee cording everything on the back of his bike.  Well I’ll be, he did it! Dan actually put all that gear on his bike by himself!  Sunday morning comes and our 11 person group cycles out of the  hostel for a short shakedown ride to see if everyones rig will hold up.  The route goes up some very steep climbs, I see immediately that Dan is having problems on the first hill but eventually makes the climb and gets back to the hostel.

Day zero and Dan is excited as a grasshopper in a chicken coup, he’s ready to roll!

 The first 4 days of the trip is very difficult.  Just 20 miles east of San Diego you lose the nice cool ocean breeze off the pacific and the desert heat starts to bake you like a pie in the oven.  Throw in the long steep climbs and camping in the 110 degree desert and this is difficult cycling for everyone.  The group rides independently each day, we have a map meeting each night to discuss the next day and then head out whenever you want in the morning to meet up at the campground at the end of the day.  I see some of the riders each day along the route and occasionally run across Dan and then catch up on the days ride at the campground each night.  Day one and Dan’s bike has a broken spoke in the rear.  I remove the broken spoke true up the wheel as best as possible.  Two days later and another broken spoke, the next day we are going through El Centro California so Dan and I take a detour to the bike shop in town to get some repairs on his bike.  A few hours later and we catch up to the rest of the group at the campground.  Day 4 and Dan has the whole camping thing sorted out, most mornings he is actually the first to have his gear packed and ready to go.  Lots of very steep climbs the first 10 days, very difficult cycling conditions and long days in the saddle baking in the heat.  Dan is now one of the strongest riders in the group.  He beats me and almost everyone else to the top of the mountains and is usually the first in the campground every night.  I gave him the name, “Dan da Man” and it stuck for the rest of the ride.  Dan and I became good friends on the ride, we rode together many days and I found it hard to keep up with him especially on the climbs.

 Dan da Man at a rest stop

Falling off the mountain!

View from the top of the mountain

 As the ride continued through the desert and into Texas, Dan was now a seasoned cyclist.  I never heard him complain about anything, every day he got up and rode and performed all his group duties as well or better than anyone else.

Dan is missing his left arm but do not call this guy handicapped!  

Dan carrying the group cooking pot

Dan and Louise putting in the miles

Dan Leonard is a guy who can do anything he sets his mind to, cycling across America is difficult but somehow Dan makes you forget his disability.  By the time we got into Louisiana I think I heard every one arm joke imaginable!  Dan must have a thousand one arm jokes and never missed an opportunity to let them fly every time we met new people along the route.

Dan at Gila National Park in New Mexico

The Gila Cliff Dwellings Park was closed the day we arrived due to the Government shut down in Washington DC.  Apparently the government ran out of money the day we arrived.  Dan decided to at least climb over the gate and get a photo.  I should have sent this pic to the White House.

The highest mountain elevation on the Southern Tier in Emory Pass in New Mexico at almost 8,300′.

Here is the video I took of Dan celebrating on the top of the mountain.

 

Dan arrives at the beach in St. Augustine Florida!

Atlantic ocean

Dan Leonard is a heck of a man and I’m happy to call him my friend.  Dan is back in San Diego now, if you see him on the road, tell him Bill White says hey.

Logistics of Self Contained Bicycle Touring the Southern Tier

What gear do I bring, how to pack, what kind of bicycle is best, what kind of terrain and what about the weather, where to camp and on and on.  The Southern Tier is a popular bicycle route that goes from San Diego CA to St. Augustine FL.  At only 3,200 miles, and 65 days or less, this is also the shortest coast to coast route for cycling.  I completed this ride in 2013 with a group of ten others cyclist from the Adventure Cycling Association.  Their website is here if you want more information.  This article is about my personal experiences riding the Southern Tier, (ST) and not an article on touring with the Adventure Cycling Association.

Here is my packing list of items-3 pair cycling shorts, 3 dry fit shirts (not zip up cycling jerseys), 3 pair socks, 1 pair sandals, 1 pair long dry fit or nylon pants, 4 spare inner tubes, 1 spare fold up tire, 1 can of 4oz Fox Labs pepper spray, 1 sun hat with brim and drape to cover my neck, 1 Showers Pass rain jacket, rain pants, rain shoe covers, rain cover for my helmet, cycling gloves long finger, rain gloves, LED light with headband, 1 pair cycling shoes SPD cleats, 1 REI pack towel, 1 pair running shorts, 1 insulated shirt, 2 man tent from (Link- Big Agnes) , Big Agnes sleeping bag (Link–Big Agnes) tent ground cover, camp pillow, inflatable pad for sleeping bag, US Army poncho liner, plate, cup, knife, fork, spoon kit, insect repellent, sunscreen, and toiletries, and toilet paper.  In addition, I carry as many as six each .75 liter water bottles and wear a 3 liter backpack from Osprey (Link-Manta 28).  The backpack is handy for carrying wallet, cell phone, pepper spray and items you want to keep with you when you are off your bike.  The tendency is to carry way too much gear, most riders wind up shipping items back home and purchasing other items as you go along.  My average gear weighs about 65-75 pounds and add in the weight of the bike, racks and panniers of about 35 pounds I total 100 plus pounds.  For crossing the desert with all water bottles and 3 liter backpack full I am easily over 120 pounds.  This is about the average weight for this tour due to the desert conditions and remote areas.  You may go for over 50 miles with no services, no food, and no water so you must bring it with you.

Here is my loaded rig in the desert:

Camping on the Southern Tier- Campgrounds in the western part of the route are mostly fair to acceptable with showers, flat ground for camping, and a few actually have grass and trees.  Others are hard packed baked dirt to sand with sand spurs and goat heads that stick to your shoes and tires.  Goat head spurs are dangerous as they can puncture bicycle tires and will easily injure you if you step on them with bare feet.  There were only about 3 camping areas where there were no showers but these did have running water available.  Washing clothes and hygiene are very important on any tour.  By the end of the day I’m sweaty, tired and dirty and cleaning up was the highlight of the day, even if it was just sticking my head under a water faucet.  I washed clothes daily by stripping off my socks, shorts and shirt and laying them on the floor of the shower and walking on them as I showered.  I bring a pair of running shorts and sandals to wear from the shower and walking around the camp.  Clothes dry quickly in the southwest by hanging them on a fence, or a tree limb.  15 minutes and everything is nice and dry.  Some campgrounds have electricity for charging electronics, air conditioned common areas, soda machines, BBQ grills and a few even have wifi if they are close to a city.  On the other end of the scale is remote camping areas with no electricity, no cell service, no wifi and only an outdoor water faucet.  McDonalds restaurants are a welcome site along the route as they have cold filtered water to fill water bottles and wifi.  I stopped at almost every McDonalds just to check email and refill water bottles.  I put my panniers in my tent most nights.  For me a 2 man tent is required as I like to have my panniers on one side and I sleep on the other.  I lay out the next days socks, pants, and shirt in one corner of the tent, my iPhone serves as my alarm clock, and keep my small led light with headband close by in case I have to get up in the night.  My Casio watch also has an alarm feature and a light that comes in handy.  I do not carry insect spray to kill mosquitos, but I do use insect repellent in small pump spray bottle with 100% DEET.  Search for Repel 100, it is light weight plastic bottle and not an aerosol can.  Works great.  I have also used it to spray around the outside of my tent where there are ants and also works to keep other crawling bugs out of your tent.  Here is a photo of the route and a thermometer in the shade at our day 1 campground at around 6PM at night it is 110 degrees in the shade in the desert east of San Diego CA.

 Touring Bicycles- Almost any bicycle can be used to cross the Southern Tier.  However just like there are cars such as SUV’s that are better suited for carrying lots of gear, there are bicycles that are designed to tour with full loads of gear.  The single biggest problem I see on the road touring is with tires and wheels.  Riders with a hybrid bike made for commuting around town with light loads such as rider and backpacks are comfortable for a few hours and hold up well for their designed purpose.  Hybrids do not make good self contained touring bikes, they are simply not designed for this.  Touring bikes are designed from the frame up to withstand the rigors of carrying heavy loads over long distances with brakes, shifters, and gear train to handle the stress.  Touring bikes have longer chain stays so your heels don’t hit your rear panniers, beefier forks, a more upright riding position, a frame made of steel and heavy duty wheels with 36 spokes.  Steel frames provide a sturdy framework that can flex slightly for comfort, 36 spoke wheels can handle the stress of carrying heavy loads without breaking spokes.  A triple crankset with 26-36-48 gears and a 9 speed rear cassette of 11-32 will get you over any of the mountains.  If you run out of gears or run out of the energy to climb over the mountain simply stop and take a break or push the bike over the climb.  That’s right folks, I said it is OK to push your bike over a steep hill.  Touring for me is not a race, it’s an adventure.  There is a lot of information on touring bikes, one of the most popular touring bikes on the road is the Surly Long Haul Trucker.  You can read more about this bike on my blog.  Complete specs on this bike is here, Surly Long Haul Trucker

Surly Long Haul Trucker

Road hazards- This route is over 3,200 miles and for the most part is safe for cyclist.  Just like any other route there are road hazards, extreme temperatures, dogs, traffic, not so nice drivers, tunnels, bad roads and even Interstate highways to traverse.  Add all these together, and they are simply just part of the adventure.  What kind of tires for the ST?  I only use Schwalbe touring tires as do most of the other experienced touring cyclist.  I use the Marathon Supreme HS382 foldable tire.  You can see the full line of Schwalbe tires here.  I carry one spare tire in my pannier in case I damage a tire on the tour.  I changed out the rear tire at about 3,000 miles and it would probably go another 1,000 miles if needed.  I experienced about 5 flats on the rear tire in that 3,000 miles.  Most of the flats were due to ghost wires.  Ghost wires are the small wires used to manufacture the steel bands in big truck tires.  When the truck tire gets low on pressure it heats up and at highway speeds the tire will eventually disintegrate and tear the wire bands apart, spewing small pieces of the wire all over the road where they end up on the shoulder like a minefield for cyclist.  The Schwalbe front tire still looked good after 4,000 miles.  I carry 4 inner tubes and a patch kit with me on all my tours.  Dogs? I find that 90% of dogs that chase after me do not want to attack or bite me.  They bark, chase, run along side for the length of their property and go back to their yard.  Usually I can yell STOP at them and this works, others I can point my can of pepper spray at them and this works, some dogs seem to recognize the spray can and immediately stop.  However there are dogs that do not respond to commands and appear very aggressive.  No matter what your feelings are toward aggressive animals, Pepper spray works.  You generally do not have to spray the dog in the face, just the smell of the mist from the air will immediately stop the aggressive dog.  I always carry a can of Fox Labs 4oz aerosol spray while on tour.  Lights and mirrors  I use a rear red flashing light on the back of my gear and I use a handlebar mirror to watch traffic coming up behind me.  I would not tour with these two safety items.  I also have a helmet light set that has a bright LED front light and a red LED for the rear.  I only use this for tunnels or fog or rain.  Here is a photo of the rear of my Surly showing the lights and mirror.

Recommendation- I highly recommend anyone wanting to tour the (ST), Southern Tier, to first sign up for a shorter tour with the Adventure Cycling Association.  You can learn the ABC’s of self contained touring and this provides you some real world experience before you set out on an epic 2 month long adventure.  I do not recommend touring the ST alone.  This is not a beginners tour to tackle by yourself due to the extreme conditions of the desert, long steep climbs over 8,000′ mountains and remote areas where no one should be on the road by himself.

 

Movie of Emory Pass New Mexico 8,295′ highest elevation but not the most difficult climb on the ST.

 

 

Cycling the North Pacific Coast, Vancouver BC to San Francisco (Complete Garmin Map Data)

The Pacific Coast Highway is probably the most popular cycling tour in the USA and for good reason.  The weather is mild, scenery is absolutely beautiful and there are convenient services for food and lodging all along the route.  There are books, blogs, cycling forums for reference or just ask around and you will probably find someone who has cycled the route.  This article focuses on my personal experience, how to get there, shipping the bike and gear, navigation, logistics, safety and security and where to find the best coffee. Logistics- How do you get your bike and gear from Orlando Florida to Vancouver?  I used Bike Flights to ship my bike from Orlando to Vancouver.  Their website is here.  Bike Flights has a great website and does save you money on bicycle shipping.  They also offer a 10% discount to Adventure Cycling Association members.  To save even more money I picked up a bike box from my local bike shop and packed the bike myself.  I took the box to a local FedEx store and shipped directly to a FedEx store in Vancouver.  It is cheaper to ship business to business instead of having the box picked up at a residence.  Note-FedEx ships coast to coast by air so when you are using the Bike Flights shipping calculator do not check the airmail box.  Just pay for ground freight as it will ship by air anyway.  Be sure to check the international shipping rates as your situation may be different depending on what cities you are shipping from and to.  It is usually much cheaper to ship to a US city like Seattle and take the bike on a train with you to Vancouver.  For international shipping you will need to submit additional documents that Bike Flights can assist with.  Here is where it gets sticky!  Amtrak has a limit of 60 pounds for bike boxes.  My box weighed more than 60 pounds as I packed some of my gear around the bike.  FedEx does not have a 60 pound limit on boxes.  Assembled bikes to walk on the train have limited spaces and sell out quickly for popular routes like Seattle to Vancouver.  By the time I added up the costs and the hassle of using Amtrak I found it much easier to ship directly to Vancouver, pick up the bike, reassemble it and start my tour.  I used an old worn out suitcase to carry the remainder my gear that would not fit inside the bike box and then just gave away the suitcase when I loaded the gear on my bike.

Side story-I have a very common name (William White) and I always come up on the TSA watch list whenever I fly into the USA.  I’m used to explaining this to the airline ticket agent and used to having a supervisor OK my boarding pass.  The train arrived in Vancouver and everyone goes through security and a quick check of the passport.  As usual my passport comes up with flashing lights so I am escorted to a small room where I am immediately interrogated by a supervisor.  Why do you have a one way ticket to Vancouver?  “I come here to get my bicycle so I can ride it back to Florida.”  Supervisor thinks I’m either crazy or being a smart ass.  After 10 minutes of this he finally lets me in Canada.

Lessons learned-I would not have started in Vancouver.  I would begin in Bellingham Washington and save the hassle and added cost to start in Vancouver.  Vancouver is beautiful and absolutely the most bicycle friendly city I have ever visited, and is the official start of the Pacific Coast bicycle route.  However there are additional costs and hassles to start your trip from there.  Here is the official start of the Pacific Coast bicycle route in Vancouver.

Start pedaling-I took one day to tour around Vancouver for a shakedown ride of my bike and gear.  There are lots of quality bike shops in Vancouver and tons of great cycling routes.  Stanley Park is probably the most scenic and with one way traffic around the island and lanes for walkers and bikers it is also very safe for everyone.  I started my tour on August 1st so the weather was beautiful, cool nights and warm sunny days.  Here are a few of photos of cycling around Vancouver.

Heading out of town and following the Adventure Cycling Association maps was mostly uneventful except for a few wrong turns trying to find the correct path over the main bridge going out of town.  This bridge has a bike lane on one side and the path to get to the bridge was difficult for me to find.  It is actually a dirt path and easy to miss, at least for me.  Here is the map data from day 1 with a few wrong turns.   Let me clarify, I do not make wrong turns, I just find it more interesting to take little mini-adventures from the designated route.  Day two, after 72 miles the previous day, today was a shakedown of my panniers.  Shipped a few things home, passport and extra items in an attempt to lighten the load.  (I always bring too much stuff)  Started out the morning cycling out of town and I was hit with a mirror on a pickup truck with a camper trying to pass me on my left.  Traffic was moving at about 10 mph and the truck wanted to pass me to make a right turn onto the highway right in front of me.  Really stupid move on his part!  Lucky I kept the bike upright, this could have ended my tour and this reminded me of the priorities of cycling.  SAFETY always wins, nothing else matters if you are injured or worse.  Here is the map data day 2   

Here is a photo crossing back into the US.

Feels good to be back in the US!  I started out using the cycling maps and then detoured to cut across Washington and pick up the Pacific Coast Highway.  The Adventure Cycling route takes you south pretty much following Highway 5 and then you go west along the Columbia River to Astoria Oregon.  The route I used cuts diagonally across Washington and comes into Astoria from the north across the long bridge crossing the Columbia River Gorge.  The book, Cycling the Pacific Coast Highway shows many different day rides and side routes to the San Juan Islands.  You could spend a week just trying all the side routes and island hopping but my focus was on staying on route and schedule as I was meeting a group in San Diego CA on September 14th to ride the Southern Tier route from San Diego CA back to Florida.  The coast of Washington was cool to cold at night and very wet.  Not really raining but fog and mist made for very little sightseeing.  Here is the map data day 3.

Every day in Washington was uneventful, lots of forest and logging trucks and just looking forward to getting into Oregon and riding the coast for a change in scenery and maybe the sun will shine through the gray skies. Here are the Garmin Connect maps for each days ride ending in San Francisco. Map data day 4 Map data day 5 Map data day 6 Map data day 7 Map data day 8 Map data day 10 Map data day 11 Map data day 13 Map data day 14 Map data day 15 Map data day 16 Map data day 17  Map data day 18 Map data day 19 Map data day 20 Map data day 21 Map data day 23 Map data day 24  (WOW)  Open up the map and view in satellite view.  This day was breath taking! Cycling along the coast, extreme descents, extreme climbs, inches from the edge of the road with no guardrails, sheer cliffs just hanging onto the side of the mountains.  I have never felt so alive in my life as I did on this portion of the PCH. Map data day 25 Map data day 26 The Oregon coast is beautiful, big tree covered mountains to my left and rocky coast line to my right.  The weather was fantastic, nice cool nights for camping and warm days for cycling.  Traffic was good considering this is a very popular route for tourist.  Most of the route has a nice shoulder on the southbound side which really makes it comfortable for cyclist.  In general Oregon is a very cycle friendly state.  Most of the small towns even have the Pacific Coast Bike Route marked.

 There are several tunnels along the route in Oregon and all have warning signals for cyclist.  There is a post at the entrance of each tunnel with a button cyclist can push which controls flashing lights to warn vehicles that cyclist are in the tunnel.  Very nice Oregon, thank you!

A very welcome milestone along my way to San Francisco.  Not much change in scenery as the coast looks much the same as Oregon at this point.  The biggest change is the prices in California are higher for everything!  What’s up California with all the taxes, love your state but could never afford to live there.  Politics aside, California is the most beautiful state and is the largest and with most diverse scenery on the route.  Check out map data day 23, I found this really neat little cafe in Mendocino California with organic coffee, baked goods and sandwiches.  The Good Life Cafe is on Lansing Street and was a great way to spend an hour getting my caffeine fix and a warm fresh organic muffin. Leaving the coast and entering the redwood forest was an OMG moment for me.  Camping in the redwoods, waking up and watching the sun come up over the trees was simply awe inspiring!  Early in the morning before the traffic begins was the most serene place I have ever cycled, it was so quiet, so beautiful and very calming to cruise through the area on a bicycle.  Here are some photos of the area.

Moving on south, camping at the hiker-biker sites at state parks, meeting other cyclist and the excitement of cycling across the Golden Gate Bridge was all making big smiles for me.  I rode into Sausalito and had lunch with several other cyclist on our way to San Francisco.  I stopped and took the required photos before crossing the Golden Gate Bridge and then realized how uneventful crossing the bridge is.  Actually is was kind of a let down, dodging the walkers and the tourist on the rental bikes made for an event I don’t really care to repeat.  It is one of those things you have to do once in life but now that I’ve been there done that, I don’t care to do it again.  Here are the photos going into San Francisco with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

Golden Gate Bridge

Summary-The Northern Pacific Coast Highway lives up to its reputation as one of the most beautiful and exciting cycle routes in the US.  You could ride the route in 14 days on a short vacation or take 30 days with lay over days to see local attractions.  There are lots of campgrounds, motels, cafes and small towns to explore along the way.  It is also a route I recommend for families with children, european tourist, or groups of organized riders.  I began on August 1st from Vancouver, however I recommend you start after the Labor Day holiday due to the traffic.  Begin around September 15th and most RVs are off the road and the kids are back in school.

Cautions- Safety and security are number one on any adventure.  Crashing sucks and having your bike stolen along the way is a big time bummer to say the least.  I would be remiss if I didn’t at least discuss it here.  There are dangerous areas on any bike route, it goes with saying to pay attention to traffic and watch out for hazards on the route.  If you have been cycling for any time at all you understand what to look out for.  There are sections on this route that you are riding in traffic with no bike lane.  Pay attention, have rear flashing lights and use common sense and you will be fine.

Security-If you leave your bicycle and gear unattended in any of the cities, especially Seattle and San Francisco it will be stolen. Period.

These areas have professional bike thieves that steal bikes for a living.  Cable locks, don’t waste your time.  Thieves carry 12′ bolt cutters in a backpack that cut the cable and gone in less than 10 seconds.  Lock your bike to a fixed object with a U-Bolt lock around the frame and a cable running through both wheels and onto the U-bolt lock.  I would even throw the chain off to the inside of your front sprocket so if they cut the locks they cannot ride it off.

Never leave your bike out of your sight in large cities.  

If you have a Brooks saddle, remove it and take it with you, thieves will steal it.  I have a special passion for bike thieves, but do not let this discourage you from your tour.  Thieves are everywhere in every country, use common sense and enjoy your adventure.  See my blog post on “Wonderful Wanderers”  The world is full of nice people and you will meet many Wonderful Wanderers on the Pacific Coast, don’t let the occasional asshole mess up your mojo.

Haight Ashbury

Bicycle Panniers-Ortlieb vs Arkel

If you are going to tour on a bicycle you must have panniers or some means to carry your gear.   In this article I review what I consider the two best bicycle pannier companies on the market today.  I used Arkel GT54’s on the rear and GT18’s on the front of my Surly Long Haul Trucker for the past 5 years.  Information and specs on these panniers are here.  The GT54 bags are perfect for overnighters or round the world tours.  I like the pockets on the top and outside of the bags so you don’t have to open the bag and dig around inside for small items that you want easy access to.  (Think snacks, sunscreen, toothbrush.)  Arkel has an inside waterproof liner that rolls up inside the panniers out of the way.  The paniers themselves are not waterproof.  You have to unroll the yellow liner inside and put your gear inside the zip up liners.  Arkel also provides for separate purchase, waterproof covers that fit over the outside of the panniers with built in adjustable bungee cords and have a mesh elastic pouch on the outside.  Very handy so you don’t have to remove the cover to get to something on the inside.  The top zip pocket of each pannier provides storage of the waterproof covers.  Arkel panniers are well built, heavy duty nylon zippers and velcro fasteners secure all the pockets.  The GT54’s also come with a long pouch suitable for a bedroll that fastens on the rear of the right side pannier via heavy velcro.  I carried large bulky items in the rear panniers and smaller heavy items in the front to balance the load properly.  I typically carry about 60-70 pounds of gear including my food and water for normal tours.  I was loaded to over 100 pounds on the Southern Tier riding across the desert east of San Diego due to carrying 8 litres of water.  I carry about 55% on the rear and 45% on the front.  I found this works best.   Be careful to balance the load between the left and right side especially on the front or you will induce wobble in the front forks.  I used the Surly front and rear racks and the Arkel panniers worked perfectly with this setup.  Arkel panniers fasten to the bicycle rack with sturdy brackets that easily lift off with a simple pull of the release handle.  These panniers are heavier than Ortliebs due to the all the pockets, the heavy duty brackets and the overall design of the bag.  Here is a pic showing the bags on my Surly during rain in the Texas Hill Country.

I’m now using the Ortlieb Back-Roller Plus panniers in the rear and Front-Roller Plus in the front.  You can review the Ortlieb website here for complete specs.  During some recent tours I rode with numerous cyclist using the Ortlieb setup along with the Tubus racks and I’m convinced this setup is better for me.  The Tubus racks are much lighter than the Surly racks but very strong, and the Ortlieb panniers are much lighter than the Arkel.  The difference in the rack is the Surly front rack has a large flat platform for gear and the Tubus does not.  I have never heard of either the Surly or Tubus racks cracking or breaking and I have seen many of these fully loaded setups on the road.  Ortlieb uses a very sturdy waterproof fabric with roll top closure and no outside pockets.  The roll top design completely seals the bag from water, many other waterproof bags on the market use this same design for kayaking, camping gear or boating.  With the Arkel panniers I always had to stop and put on the yellow outside covers to keep my gear in the outside pockets dry.  No need with the Ortliebs, they are always waterproof.  The Ortliebs remove quickly with the carry handle and come with a shoulder strap.  They also have a reflective triangle on the rear of each bag.

Both the Arkel and the Ortlieb are great panniers that will serve you well no matter how you choose to tour.  I personally favor the lightweight waterproof design of the Ortliebs.  Weight is not the main consideration in selecting the best panniers for touring.  Saving a few ounces on a 100 pound fully loaded touring bike is simply not that important.  What is important is that your panniers work as designed with no problems.  The Arkel and the Ortlieb are the best available in my opinion and you cannot go wrong with either.  Here are some photos or the Ortliebs on my Co-Motion Divide.

 

Surly Long Haul Trucker

The Surly LHT is in my opinion the worlds best touring bicycle for the money.  You can spend more money on custom bikes with better components, but for the average person wanting to tour, you simply can’t get more bang for your money.  Surly is owned by QBP, Quality Bike Products, which is one of the leading bicycle distributors in the world.  QBP also owns Salsa Cycles and Salsa makes a very similar bike in this category.  I use the Brooks B17 saddle, a set of SKS Longboard fenders, Arkel front and rear panniers and large handlebar bag.  I used this setup for my shakedown tour to Key West in 2011.  This was an 11 day tour beginning in Hollywood Florida, riding down the coast to Key West, taking a ferry to Fort Myers Beach Florida then cycling back from the Gulf to the Atlantic coast to Hollywood.  Since 2011 I have toured around Florida, toured the Pacific coast from Vancouver BC to San Francisco and cycled coast to coast from San Diego to St. Augustine Florida.  After 9,000 miles on my Surly I have great respect for the bike.

The frame is perfect for touring with longer chainstays for clearance between your feet and the rear panniers.  The components that come with the stock bike are well suited for touring and of good quality.  I purchase the 60cm frame and in hindsight should have bought the 58cm.  I am 6′ 1″, weigh 182 pounds and I always felt the bike was too stretched out for me.  I changed the seat post to a zero offset, changed the stem, replaced the stock handlebars with Shimano shallow drop alloy bars all in an effort to make the bike fit me better and more comfort on long days in the saddle.  The stock cantilever brakes were noisy when dry and ineffective in the rain, especially when loaded for touring.  I changed out the stock canti brakes for a set of TRP V-brakes.  V brakes install easily and due to their design effectively double the braking power.  The TRPs fit perfectly over the fenders and under the racks.  I understand why Surly uses cantilever brakes, for clearance to fit around fenders and works well with racks, however I found they simply did not have the stopping power for loaded touring, especially on the west coast with big descents and in wet weather.  Surly now has a Disc Trucker model now that will solve the problems I had with the stock brakes.  The wheels were great, I have yet to adjust the spokes and have never bent or broken any spokes.  The 36 spoke heavy duty wheels are built specifically for touring.  The single biggest problem I see on the road is wheels and spokes.  People trying to tour on hybrid bikes with 32 spokes or even 36 spoke wheels that are made for daily riding but not self contained touring.  Every day on the road touring is challenging, and the last thing you need to worry about is mechanical problems with your bike.  I use Schwalbe 700-35 touring tires and Schwalbe is the only brand I would ever use for touring.  It is my opinion and the opinion of most other touring cyclist that Schwalbe is the best choice for bicycle touring.  During the Southern Tier ride from San Diego to St. Augustine I carried 4 spare tubes and 2 extra fold up tires as there are long stretches on this ride with no bike shops.  Carrying 100 pounds or more of bike and gear is hard on tires and wheels.

Touring bikes take a beating on the road.  Leaning the bike against trees, walls, constantly loading and unloading your gear, rain, road grime and at least once daily the bike falling over from whatever you have it leaned up against.  At the end of 9,000 miles my Surly had its share of beauty marks that added to the character of the bike.  My only issue with my bike is the quality of the paint.  In the first year I had rust coming through the paint where the seat tube is welded to the bottom bracket.  It appeared that the prep work on the raw frame or primer was not applied correctly.  Corrosion where the front derailleur clamps onto the seat tube was so bad I had to remove the derailleur bracket and buff off the rust where it had pitted the steel tube then primer and repaint that area.  Other Surly owners I met have echoed the same comments about the paint quality.

If you want a comfortable do it all bicycle, daily commuter, fun family hybrid bike, trailer towing, all round bike the Surly Long Haul Trucker is my recommendation.

Here are a few photos of my Surly loaded and on tour.

 

 

Wonderful Wanderers

A wonderful wanderer is a term I came up with during my bicycle tour from Vancouver BC to San Francisco.  The people I met along the way, the other cyclist and hikers I camped with at night are all wonderful wanderers.  I met a German family in norther California riding on two tandem bicycles, mother and daughter were on one bike and the father and son on the other.  They were using their summer vacation to tour California.  Camping each night and with no specific destination every day.  Just using a paper map and plotting each day as they went along.  I camped with a group one night just north of Leggett California.  We arrived at the campground about the same time so we decided to walk down the road to get some dinner.  Sitting at a picnic table we began to go around the table and give a quick, “what’s your story”.  The young lady went first, she was about 24 years old, and as she says, “I never had a “real” job”.   She explains that she has a PHD and continues to receive research money from her university.  So effectively she has never felt the need to seek outside employment.  She was developing a computer program to study the fallout from volcanic eruptions to forecast where the ash and debris will fall.  She and her boyfriend were cycling about 100 miles each day, WOW!  Amazing person and great accomplishments at such a young age.  At 24 I was in the army working on my military career.

The next guy was Matt, he is about 30 years old, Gulf war veteran and was cycling the circumference of the USA to raise awareness for veterans suicide. He had completed the Transam bicycle route from Virginia to Oregon and was working his way down the pacific coast.  We later met up again as we both stayed at the same youth hostel in San Francisco.  Here is a photo of Matt as we rode together going south from Leggett CA and Matt in front of the hostel.

                                              

The other young lady was about 25 and just published her first book so she was riding the pacific coast to celebrate.  By now I’m completely in awe of the other cyclist and their achievements.  The next day everyone packed our tents and gear and headed south.  Each day brought a new adventure and more wonderful wanderers.  The next day I stopped as I saw a lady on her recumbent on the side of the road.  Cyclist usually stop when we see another rider stopped on the road to make sure everything is OK.  We chatted for a minute, then at the same time we both said, “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”  We quickly ran through where we have cycled lately then I saw a Georgia sticker on the side of her bike.  I asked if she was from Georgia or had done any cycling in Florida.  We both immediately recognized that we met two years earlier cycling the Florida Lost Coast Tour sponsored by Bike Florida.  The reason we remember is that we were the only two cyclist on the tour riding self contained.  Explanation-This tour has large trucks to transfer your tent, gear, and baggage from camp to camp each day so you don’t need to carry anything on your bike.  Self contained is you carry all your gear on your bike.  So here is Barbara, two years later and we both just happen to be cycling the pacific coast in California and run into each other again.  What are the odds?  Three weeks later I’m cycling at Dog Beach in San Diego and I hear someone shouting my name, I look up and it’s Barbara!  Holy cow!  She was just getting into San Diego and was preparing to head east to Georgia on the southern tier bicycle route.  Barbara and I stayed at the same campground several nights on our way through California.  She was up every day at 5:00am and on the road by 6:00.  She also stopped to pick up coins on the road along the way.  She had a sack of hundreds of coins that must have weighed 5 pounds!  Barbara is queen of the wonderful wanderers.                                                                    

This is Barbara and myself at Dog Beach in San Diego.

Then there was the young girl on her way from Seattle to the tip of South America by herself, and the two young men I met that just completed the Trans Canada ride from Quebec to Vancouver and now heading down the coast of California.  Each day the list of wonderful wanderers grew longer.  I cannot think of a better way to meet fantastic people, to expand your horizons, and enjoy the best of what life has to offer.  The world truly is full of wonderful people, (and maybe a few assholes just to keep things interesting.

My personal assistant