different strokes
Sat Feb 7 22:29:03 EST 2015
One tradition of transcontinental tours is dipping the bike's wheels in the ocean at each end. This usually requires getting the bike across a sandy beach. Most bikes are not rideable in deep, dry sand. If the sand is wet it can stick to the bike and greatly accelerate wear to the drive train and the brakes and rims. Intentionally getting the tires wet is going to insure that you pick up some sand.Re: Advice for Northern Europe By Christopher Meyer on Tue 19 Jan 2010
Last summer I cycled up the west coast of Denmark along the North Sea Cycle Route. I didn't expect much, but it ended up being the highlight of my trip! My favourite part was near Hvorup Klit. The route went 15 kilometers on a sandy beach with the sea splashing on my tires. Unbelievable!
9 miles in saltwater and sand is not something I would want to do to my bike.
Probably the next bike tour I do will be the C&O Canal Towpath. It's 184.5 miles, and people tend to take 3 days. Again, the tradition is to touch/stand on/photograph both endpoints of a trail. Coming from my house, I would probably cross the Potomac on Chain Bridge, which puts me on the Towpath about 4 miles (6.4km) from the origin in Georgetown. I don't think I would bother riding in (on the towpath or taking a different route into town) just for the zero milepost. So I couldn't actually say I'd done the whole thing. I'd be skipping the 4 (or 8, since getting there is going the wrong direction) flattest, smoothest, and most congested miles of the trail. I could add on the miles from my house to the towpath.
Sunday 00:45
Crazy Guy on a Bike (CGOAB) has forums where people ask questions and offer advice. Frequently someone will post:I am shopping for X. My criteria are a, b, c, d, .... I am considering products 1, 2, 3, .... I'd like to hear from people who have experience with or knowledge of these products, or recommendations of other similar products.
And they'll usually get responses about the products they're asking about, and perhaps recommendations of products they weren't aware of. But there's often responses about someone's favorite X-like, even though it doesn't satisfy the original poster's criteria.
I guess it bugs me when people can't (or won't) follow directions.
Sunday 01:35
Abbreviations: Just read a forum comment with the abbreviation "OT", probably meaning "off-topic". That's what I infer from the context. I hope she didn't mean "on-topic". (Or "overtime", or "Old Testament".) Pretty useless abbreviation, eh?
Monday 01:59
This one's priceless - the wonders of modern communications and navigation:Left my helmet in north Florida stealth campsite... help me get it back! By Jeff Kruys on Sat 13 Mar 2010
Stealth camping is generally camping in the woods some ways off the road and out of sight. This guy's morning routine was disrupted and he managed to forget his helmet. He posted on CGOAB, giving GPS coordinates, and a couple of weeks later:Bruce Pitner on Sat 27 Mar 2010
Jeff, We're down here on the Suwanee. Your helmet was right where you said it was. Where should I forward it to?
You can send packages USPS to "General Delivery" in a city, and the recipient (with sufficient ID) can pick it up. So you can get things to people on tours. (The recipient can, from any post office, also request forwarding from one city to another, in case plans change.)
It was like geocaching for a real purpose. Adding to the humor, Jeff had also forgotten a helmet in Chile, and he had the coordinates for that too. But he wasn't as interested in getting that one back. There was a reply, though, from someone who could potentially be in the area. In some ways the world is getting a lot smaller....
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/724178.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]
One tradition of transcontinental tours is dipping the bike's wheels in the ocean at each end. This usually requires getting the bike across a sandy beach. Most bikes are not rideable in deep, dry sand. If the sand is wet it can stick to the bike and greatly accelerate wear to the drive train and the brakes and rims. Intentionally getting the tires wet is going to insure that you pick up some sand.Re: Advice for Northern Europe By Christopher Meyer on Tue 19 Jan 2010
Last summer I cycled up the west coast of Denmark along the North Sea Cycle Route. I didn't expect much, but it ended up being the highlight of my trip! My favourite part was near Hvorup Klit. The route went 15 kilometers on a sandy beach with the sea splashing on my tires. Unbelievable!
9 miles in saltwater and sand is not something I would want to do to my bike.
Probably the next bike tour I do will be the C&O Canal Towpath. It's 184.5 miles, and people tend to take 3 days. Again, the tradition is to touch/stand on/photograph both endpoints of a trail. Coming from my house, I would probably cross the Potomac on Chain Bridge, which puts me on the Towpath about 4 miles (6.4km) from the origin in Georgetown. I don't think I would bother riding in (on the towpath or taking a different route into town) just for the zero milepost. So I couldn't actually say I'd done the whole thing. I'd be skipping the 4 (or 8, since getting there is going the wrong direction) flattest, smoothest, and most congested miles of the trail. I could add on the miles from my house to the towpath.
Sunday 00:45
Crazy Guy on a Bike (CGOAB) has forums where people ask questions and offer advice. Frequently someone will post:I am shopping for X. My criteria are a, b, c, d, .... I am considering products 1, 2, 3, .... I'd like to hear from people who have experience with or knowledge of these products, or recommendations of other similar products.
And they'll usually get responses about the products they're asking about, and perhaps recommendations of products they weren't aware of. But there's often responses about someone's favorite X-like, even though it doesn't satisfy the original poster's criteria.
I guess it bugs me when people can't (or won't) follow directions.
Sunday 01:35
Abbreviations: Just read a forum comment with the abbreviation "OT", probably meaning "off-topic". That's what I infer from the context. I hope she didn't mean "on-topic". (Or "overtime", or "Old Testament".) Pretty useless abbreviation, eh?
Monday 01:59
This one's priceless - the wonders of modern communications and navigation:Left my helmet in north Florida stealth campsite... help me get it back! By Jeff Kruys on Sat 13 Mar 2010
Stealth camping is generally camping in the woods some ways off the road and out of sight. This guy's morning routine was disrupted and he managed to forget his helmet. He posted on CGOAB, giving GPS coordinates, and a couple of weeks later:Bruce Pitner on Sat 27 Mar 2010
Jeff, We're down here on the Suwanee. Your helmet was right where you said it was. Where should I forward it to?
You can send packages USPS to "General Delivery" in a city, and the recipient (with sufficient ID) can pick it up. So you can get things to people on tours. (The recipient can, from any post office, also request forwarding from one city to another, in case plans change.)
It was like geocaching for a real purpose. Adding to the humor, Jeff had also forgotten a helmet in Chile, and he had the coordinates for that too. But he wasn't as interested in getting that one back. There was a reply, though, from someone who could potentially be in the area. In some ways the world is getting a lot smaller....
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/724178.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]