Oh and for anyone that wants to join, @Scott Kuhlke and I are doing this ride again over the coming weekend

I'm headed (if my knee stops being lame) my epic journey to the northern border of Vermont this weekend.

Is it paranoid to bring bear spray? y/n? 

They don't have grizzlies in VT

I know, but how insane is that story? 

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/sports/2015/09/14/vermont-officials-wary-bear-population-grows/72281568/

Just hang you food up in a tree at night if you're in the northern part of the state. If you are below Montpelier you're very unlikely to meetup with bears.

You may want to invest in a bear vault, since they seem to work better at deterring bears than just about anything else you can use.

https://www.rei.com/c/bear-resistant-food-containers?r=c&ir=category:bear-resistant-food-containers&page=1

I would recommend hanging your food anywhere. Bears are one issue but raccoons and mice will just as surely chew holes through your tent or bag to get your goodies.

Welp. Went for a hard ride tonight and found my knee (still after two weeks of rest) isn't ready yet. Gosh dang it all 

BenFinoRadin said:

Welp. Went for a hard ride tonight and found my knee (still after two weeks of rest) isn't ready yet. Gosh dang it all 

There's no "i feel you, man" button.  Bummer dude.  

@Ben Glad to hear you're sitting it out. I did a solo road bike tour in NZ a few years back. Day one was a rolling 200 miles. Day two, after 50 miles into a cool gale-force headwind with driving rain (welcome to NZ), my knee was buggered. Next town was 80 miles so I pulled the wheels off and thumbed a ride there. Holed up a day and remainder of expedition was fine, buuuut then the rest of road season I experienced this recurring knee pain. I should have packed it in. Ask any veteran roady and they'll tell you if the pain's bad enough to keep you from pedaling, lay off it for a minimum of three weeks.

jim_nelson said:

I would recommend hanging your food anywhere. Bears are one issue but raccoons and mice will just as surely chew holes through your tent or bag to get your goodies.

Am I the only one who noticed that we have a park called "Bear Mountain" 50 miles away?  Bears are all over NJ, and they're getting more numerous. It's not like they'll get to the NY state line and fear crossing over. 

Here's the official word: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/bearfacts.htm

There were over 1600 bear sightings in NJ during the first nine months of this year.  

Hey all - FYI I am planning two big rides for summer/fall 2017:

October: the aforementioned Vermont journey ~500ish miles in seven days
November: the legendary Arizona Trail ~740ish miles in twenty one days (or so they say)

For anyone who is interested in getting into bikepacking, I'll definitely be doing some short weekend trips this summer. 

BenFinoRadin said:

November: the legendary Arizona Trail ~740ish miles in twenty one days (or so they say)

I'm down for 7 days worth !

this idea is in the most preliminary of stages, but is there any chance anyone would be interested in biking to toronto this june/july?  i have a wedding to attend and i'm not sure hannah can make it, so if i'm going to go solo i might as well do something interesting

google maps with no route editing says 574 miles

edit: also considering starting from in-laws in cazenovia, ny. distance only 283 miles

Brendan Rigby said:

this idea is in the most preliminary of stages, but is there any chance anyone would be interested in biking to toronto this june/july?  i have a wedding to attend and i'm not sure hannah can make it, so if i'm going to go solo i might as well do something interesting

google maps with no route editing says 574 miles

edit: also considering starting from in-laws in cazenovia, ny. distance only 283 miles

Reach out to the Morning Glory Cycling Club. It's a huge (500+) club and many of them travel a lot. I'm guessing you might have some Torontonians willing to accompany you.

Brendan Rigby said:

would be interested in biking to toronto this june/july? 

My family is in Rochester, and I've always wanted to ride up there, I'm game.

awesome!

so I reexamined the timetable. turns out i have a weekend wedding 7/1, a work shift 7/2, and then the toronto wedding 7/8.   

how uncomfortable would it be to cover that distance (either Cazenovia to Toronto or Rochester to Toronto) in ~4 days? leave 7/3, be in toronto showered and wearing a suit on 7/8?  i will try to get out of the 7/2 work shift

OH AND i've never camped before...hannah is really not feeling this decision of mine

What could possibly go wrong?

@Brendan I did this in a day. Last 40 miles were memorable.
-> Steel Road bike/rear panier/microlight tent/micro sleeping bag/change of clothes.

@JohnMalcolmson if you rode it in a day, what was the sleeping bag for? Did you take a little nap after the first 150km??  

@Brendan Rigby hmmm average 146 mi/day for four days straight is pretty intense, BUT it's super flat and most of it is on the Eerie canal trail, so it'll be super chill. Your call, but I'm game!

I'm still planning on doing the AZT in Nov, and maybe the Oregon Timber Trail at some point too in the fall.

I'll def organize some shorter overnighters during the summer for those who want to dip their toe into bikepacking.

Hi, I'll go to a conference in Long Island next week and thought about going there by bike.
My plan is to go till Jamaica with the F train, heading north and just following the 25A till Port Jefferson. Since I don't have a garmin I'm looking for an uncomplicated route.
Is is okay like this? Otherwise I would be open for any advice!?

UlrikeGlaser said:

Hi, I'll go to a conference in Long Island next week and thought about going there by bike.
My plan is to go till Jamaica with the F train, heading north and just following the 25A till Port Jefferson. Since I don't have a garmin I'm looking for an uncomplicated route.
Is is okay like this? Otherwise I would be open for any advice!?

I would take a look at the Strava heat map. The LIE access road seems to be the best E/W route across the island. 

I remember 25a to be busy from cross island parkway to about shelter rock road. Not sure if there is a shoulder on the segment either. The rest of the way east, there is a shoulder and you should be fine taking that route. Rolling hills will greet you. I have not gone past Cold Spring Harbour heading East though.

As Dan said most people ride on LIE service road East/West until about Woodbury Road (just south of Syosset). 

 https://www.strava.com/activities/963281557

I rode from Cold Spring Harbor to Greenport a couple summers ago, a lot of it on 25A. The nice part is that there is signage so you don't have to keep checking your directions. In some parts it was pretty heavily trafficked - there was a decent shoulder but noise and exhaust were companions. We took other parallel roads where they were available. It's a nice ride but not necessarily bucolic until you get pretty far out on the island.

Riding gravel since before it was cool   

Skinwalls. Very fashionable.

Will be leisurely running the Brooklyn Half this Saturday at a blistering 10min/mile pace. if anyone is interested in joining in the run or a beer in Coney afterwards hit me up 646-920-1697

Going to do this ride July 22nd-25th if anyone wants to join: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/21682414

Route is very much a work in progress - trying to get as much dirt and gravel in as possible.