Just one month ago, a blizzard wiped out our March Roundtable meeting. This next week, we’re looking at 80F! We will meet for Roundtable on Tuesday April 11th 7:30-8:30pm (with crackerbarrel to follow) at East Granby Congregational Church.
The program feature to discuss this month is Cycling. We are fortunate to have a local cycling enthusiast who will visit our Roundtable meeting to share with us some of his experience and knowledge. Below is a detailed outline (more than we’ll be able to cover on Tuesday) of topics related to cycling. We’ll focus on:
- Brief introduction on the types of bike touring.
- Resources and how to go about planning a tour–including safety.
- Some bike tour experiences.
Here are some informational handouts to go along with the outline below.
- Youth Instructor Manual
- LAB ABC Quick Check & Need to Know
- Bike_Touring_Packing_List (Trans Am 2016)
Bike Touring Presentation outline
Types of bike touring
- Self supported (solo vs. group)
- Credit card touring
- Sagged tours
- Fully supported tours
- Self-guided tours
- Bike packing for off road tours
- S24O’s (Sub 24-hour Overnights)
Types of bikes for touring
- Metal (steel, titanium, aluminum) best if carrying gear.
- Carbon fiber only OK if gear being sagged
- Touring specific bikes. Lots of choices out there now
- Longer frame, bigger tires, braze-ons for racks and fenders.
- Trek 520, Surly Long Haul Trucker, etc.
Panniers for carrying gear
- Front and rear panniers
- Racks
- Bike packing without racks
- Weight distribution
Packing lists
- Varies depending on tour type and possible weather conditions
- Sample packing lists provided in handout
- Shipping resupply packages ahead.
- Cooking gear?
Safety on the road
Types of accommodations
- Campgrounds. Always room for a cyclist (mostly true)
- Hiker/Biker sites at campgrounds
- WarmShowers. Website and smartphone app.
- Hotels, motels, AirBnB, etc.
- Churches
- Commando camping. Not recommended.
Touring routes and maps
- For USA, Adventure Cycling maps are best
- Show sample map
- GPS waypoint routes available too
- For Europe, Euro Velo routes – EuroVelo.com
- Bike tour company itineraries for ideas and routes
- Ride with GPS
- Google maps bicycle mode
- Design your own route requires lots of research ahead of time
- State highway or bicycle maps (supplemental). AAA or state DOT
- Route Verte for Quebec province – www.routeverte.com/e/
- Erie Canal – eriecanalway.org
- East Coast Greenway – greenway.org
Transporting your bike
- Loop tour reduce bike transport needs
- Amtrak roll-on bike service
- Pacific Coast
- Washington D. C. – Chicago
- Washington D. C. – St. Albans, Vermont
- Metro North roll-on bike service
- Roll-on bike service in Europe
- One way car/van rental (airport to airport rentals cheaper for one way)
- Shipping bike options
- Hard bike case
- Soft case bike cases
- Disposable Airline and Amtrak bike boxes (just remove pedals and turn handlebar)
- Have bike shop pack and ship bike (better at end of tour than for start of tour)
Websites for touring companies
- AdventureCycling.org
- BikeOvernights.org
- BikeTours.com – liaison to 100+ bike tour operators in 70+ countries
- CycleCanada.com & TourDuCanada.com
- Netherlands – www.fietsrelax.nl
- Switzerland – www.swisstrails.ch/swisstrails_engl
- Germany – Bike-Touring.de
- England, Ireland, etc. End to End supported tours – www.actcyclingtours.co.uk/
High tech devices – optional
- GPS
- Smart phone
- Power for above
- Batteries
- Outlets at destinations and stopping points along the way
- Dynamo hub and USB port on bike
- Solar charger
Journals, blogs and photo sharing
- CrazyGuyOnABike website
- TrackMyTour app (iPhone only)
Adventure Cycling website
- Touring info
- Online forums
- Cyclosource online store
- Bike tours. Sagged, self supported, van supported, Inn to Inn. 1 week to 3 months.
National Bike Travel Weekend – June 3-5
Bike Your Park Day – September 24
https://www.adventurecycling.org/about-us/40th-anniversary/bike-your-park-day/