Across America with the ABC's John Shovelan

hippy wrote:

...snip....
> This is expanding on how I thought it would happen (get on
> bike, ride, pay for anything I need as I go)

Personally, I think that is your best idea. Doing a little
research first takes some of the "adventure" out of it.

...snip....

> Urgh, hate to have to use them, but i'd be taking
> knowledge of the bus/train schedules to bail me out
> if needed.

That is the idea.

 

hippy wrote:

> I'd be worried the thing blowing away, getting wet and
> then sitting in

I also found this for Ouyen. Just temperature for yankees,
no wind unfortunately. Should be others.
http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=740670

 

>Originally posted by flyingdutch
>Get yourself one of them shammy-style swimming towels which >are great for traveling. light and small and easy to dry too.

Nice one (idea), keep 'em coming

>i got a little one-man tent that packs down to about the size of >a litre of milk-carton which your welcome to borrow. Heck if I >could spare the time I'd tag along but gotta work for 'the man'!

Still not sure about camping vs. pub stops. I'm thinking for such
a newbie, the luxury of pubs, etc. would be a better idea first go.
As for working for the man.. I don't actually have time off for this 'idea' yet.. but I figure 'the man' comes after 'the bike'

>Shower-smower!

Saddle sores are much more likely to happen if I'm dirty. The
thing most likely to stop me isn't fatigue, it's more likely to be
pain from something like saddle sores, aching back etc.
( Pneumonia.. )

>you going to get sweaty shortly after riding again each morning

True, but getting into clean knicks while dirty, I may as well only
take one pair of knicks.. hey, there's an idea

>you can squeeze in a Pub-stop or un-powered caravanpark
>stop along the way to keep you going

Pub stops are sounding more and more like my kinda touring!
Assuming I'm not bashed by some trucker who doesn't like lycra-clad, long-haired cyclists, I reckon I'd quite enjoy beerin' it up nightly at some country pub...

If only I could build the road fixie before then...

hippy

 

Think this thread should re-named "Across Victoria with aus.bicycle's Hippy" Whatdoyathink?

 

>>>>> "hippy" == hippy <[email protected]> writes:

hippy> I'd be worried the thing blowing away, getting
hippy> wet and then sitting in wet gear for 4+ days..
hippy> After Swan Hill, there's no train and I'm not
hippy> sure on the bus timetable and their friendliness
hippy> to soggy riders with bikes for stowage.

One of the first things I learnt in the army; two sets of
clothes. Sleep in the dry, spend the day in the wet.

Getting out of nice dry clothes in to soggy wet ones on
waking up isn't exactly the best way to start the day but
the alternative; having no dry clothes to sleep in; is
much worse.

hippy> In August? "Melbourne experiences some of
hippy> Australia's coldest weather in winter with some
hippy> nights producing frost. Snow doesn't fall in the
hippy> city itself, but occasionally the outlying hills
hippy> receive a light snowfall" "Temperatures: From -
hippy> 1°C to 12°C, average 8°C"

A bivvy bag may do the trick. It's sort of a half way house
between a tent and a tarp ;-)
http://www.outdoorsupplies.co.nz/bivvy.htm

If you're claustrophobic though, forget it. Oh and never
underestimate the importance of a roll mat.
--
Regards Euan

 

"Terry Collins" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> hippy wrote:
>
> > Hmm.. the 'most basic' camping I've done has been in a
> > tent. I know it's possible to sleep under plastic in all
> > my clothes.. but comfortable? I want to be able to ride
> > the next day! ;-)
>
> I only mentioned the plastic as an idea for a one nighter.
> Once you start carrying tent, sleeping bag, poles, pegs,
> sleeping mat, you will also probably need stove, and two
> meals per day. As you can imagine, your weight is heading
> higher and what could be four days of 150kms/day is going
> to take much longer.
>

scuse me for butting in here but you could always pick up
one of these.

http://www.hennessyhammock.com/

i hear they are real nice. bit pricy but you'll then have
one and not need to buy tenting gear. nor would you need to
carry poles and the like. and having a tent at only 1 pound
15 oz... that's not a whole heck of a lot of weight. didn't
read up on if they ship to oz, but if your coming to the
states anyway you can have it shipped to your starting
point i'm sure.

<snip>

hope this helps cheers kat

 

"flyingdutch" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hey Hippy
>
> Get yourself one of them shammy-style swimming towels
> which are great for traveling. light and small and easy to
> dry too.
>
> i got a little one-man tent that packs down to about the
> size of a litre of milk-carton which your welcome to
> borrow. Heck if I could spare the time I'd tag along but
> gotta work for 'the man'!
>
> Shower-smower! you going to get sweaty shortly after
> riding again each morning and you can squeeze in a Pub-
> stop or un-powered caravanpark stop along the way to
> keep you going (altho the caravan park wont have beer
> on tap )
>
>
nother little tid bit of info, if your looking for showers
while on the road, in the US you'd want to hit up truck
stops. (unfortunetly they are usually on the US highways,...
not a good place for biking, not to mention illegal to non
motorized transportation. but normally there will be a side
road leading to each US highway exit.) they usually cost
about a 1.25.

again cheers kat

 

"hippy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> >Originally posted by flyingdutch Get yourself one of them
> >shammy-style swimming towels which >are great for
> >traveling. light and small and easy to dry too.
>
> Nice one (idea), keep 'em coming
>
<snip>
>
> Saddle sores are much more likely to happen if I'm dirty.
> The thing most likely to stop me isn't fatigue, it's more
> likely to be pain from something like saddle sores, aching
> back etc. ( Pneumonia.. )
>
> >you going to get sweaty shortly after riding again each
> >morning
>
> True, but getting into clean knicks while dirty, I
> may as well only take one pair of knicks.. hey,
> there's an idea
>
<snip>

should have just postied this all in one posty... please
excuse for the excess posties.

easy fix for that. make sure all your clothing is man made
materials. they seem to dry very quickly, even in colder
weather. take a change of three's. one clean, one dirty, one
wearing. the dirty's you stop in at any resteraunt and go
into the bathroom, wash your grubs in the sink (shampoo
works just fine for this) and then bungy the wets off the
tail end of the bike or hang on the tent over night. if it's
man made stuff it should be dry in about a half hour. or at
worst the next morning. then you've always got a clean pare
of clothes in the morning and a spare set if you end up
getting cold/wet during the day.

and on a side note.... don't ever stick man made stuff in
the drier but line dry. it will hold oders if it's exposed
to drier heat for some odd ball reason. *shrug*

and just so i don't have to postie another tidbit i'll throw
this one in... don't get aluminum cooking utencles... it
heats one spot in the pan but leaves the rest cold or will
burn one area while not cooking other areas. also things
stick like no tomorrow and w/ limited amouts of water on the
trail... making clean up much more difficult. i've heard
titanum is good but have not tried it. more expence than i'm
willing to put into it. i ususally go w/ copper cooking
gear. bit heavier but you can get by w/ one big mug, for
soups/coffee/tea, one plate w/ handle that will stand up as
a frying pan and utencils/fabric coffee filter/etc.... mind
you this is a kitchen for one i'm discussing, if more than
one will be traveling with you i'd go for a small kitchen
setup. which i would pack as one kettle/deaper cooking pan
and a frying pan. both of which i'd personally prefer having
a copper bottom. but again that's a personal choice.

on stoves, coleman has some pretty good set ups these days
that are very nice and light weight. local camping/sporting
shop can help you on those.

on sleep wear, man made is getting pretty good these days so
i'd stick w/ that material for the sleeping bag as well as
the clothing. it dries faster than most other substances and
if it does get wet you can tarp it over your supply bags and
bungy it down like i mentioned doing w/ washed clothing. if
it's not raining while your on the road it should get dry by
the time your ready to stop for the night.

hope all this helps..

cheers kat

 

Vixen2yall wrote:

> easy fix for that. make sure all your clothing is man made
> materials. they seem to dry very quickly, even in colder
> weather. take a change of three's.

Good advice. But different materials have their advantages.
polypropelene thermals, nylon outer pants/jacket (hard
wearing), polyester fleece (e.g. polartec). microfibre
underpants, ... A "polar" fleece is dry enough to wear after
a spin dry.

> and on a side note.... don't ever stick man made stuff in
> the drier but line dry. it will hold oders if it's exposed
> to drier heat for some odd ball

I never heard that, but I do follow the labels re tumble
dry. Anyway, at worst you can put synthetic clothes on after
a spin dry, any they will dry out soon enough. Don't try
that with cotton

> don't get aluminum cooking utencles... it heats one spot
> in the pan but leaves the rest cold or will burn one area
> while not cooking other areas.

Thats a problem with any lightweight cooking pots. You can't
get better heat conduction per gram than aluminium. I use a
trangia metho stove, which produces heat over a broad area.

> also things stick like no tomorrow

Get non-stick coated aluminium pots, or better yet, the
Trangia ones with a thin layer of stainless steel bonded on
the inside.

> i've heard titanum is good but have not tried it.

A gimmick to save a few gramms. Like all uses for Ti

 

"Mike" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Vixen2yall wrote:
>
> > easy fix for that. make sure all your clothing is man
> > made materials.
they
> > seem to dry very quickly, even in colder weather. take a
> > change of
three's.
>
> Good advice. But different materials have their
> advantages. polypropelene thermals, nylon outer
> pants/jacket (hard wearing), polyester fleece (e.g.
> polartec). microfibre underpants, ... A "polar" fleece is
> dry enough to wear after a spin dry.
>
> > and on a side note.... don't ever stick man made stuff
> > in the drier but
line
> > dry. it will hold oders if it's exposed to drier heat
> > for some odd ball
>
> I never heard that, but I do follow the labels re tumble
> dry. Anyway, at worst you can put synthetic clothes on
> after a spin dry, any they will dry out soon enough. Don't
> try that with cotton
>

yes, that's true but for some reason if you put synthetics
in the drier they retain smells for some reason. hence the
line dry. if they line dry they don't smell. but yes they do
hold up in the drier, i've just heard enough people complain
about synthetics retaining odor that it's nice to let people
know WHY they are doing that.

> > don't get aluminum cooking utencles... it heats one spot
> > in the pan but leaves the rest cold or will burn one
> > area while not cooking other
areas.
>
> Thats a problem with any lightweight cooking pots. You
> can't get better heat conduction per gram than aluminium.
> I use a trangia metho stove, which produces heat over a
> broad area.
>
i've seen those before. they look rather cool. i'll have to
pick one up and test it out sometime.

> > also things stick like no tomorrow
>
> Get non-stick coated aluminium pots, or better yet, the
> Trangia ones with a thin layer of stainless steel bonded
> on the inside.
>

don't like the non-sticks because if you accidentally
scratch it you either get non-stick peppered eggs or you get
to throw em out. i'd rather deal w/ the extra weight and
just have good pans. i use copper bottomed pans in my own
kitchen and when i go out just throw one or two in the bag.
they seem to hold up to my abuses... even when i forget i'm
cooking something and get whatever i was cooking welded to
the bottoms. (head injuries are NOT our friend)

> > i've heard titanum is good but have not tried it.
>
> A gimmick to save a few gramms. Like all uses for Ti
>
that's probably why i haven't tried them yet. i like my
copper pans... heh

cheers kat

 

"Vixen2yall" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]

[...]

> don't like the non-sticks because if you accidentally
> scratch it you either get non-stick peppered eggs or you
> get to throw em out.

That's not true for the better ones like the better Tefal.
You can use supposedly metal implements on their non-stick
pans although I still use plastic ones as a matter of
principle.

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"DRS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Vixen2yall" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]
>
> [...]
>
> > don't like the non-sticks because if you accidentally
> > scratch it you either get non-stick peppered eggs or you
> > get to throw em out.
>
> That's not true for the better ones like the better Tefal.
> You can use supposedly metal implements on their non-stick
> pans although I still use plastic ones as a matter of
> principle.
>

heh heh can't blame ya there, but i still don't trust non-
stick... you have to remember in my instance i'm not allowed
to cook w/o supervision. i've started a few kitchen fires
because i forget i'm cooking something. (head injury due to
a pick up smacking me from behind at 70 mph, which is what
120 kmph.) and w/ non-stick i'm sure the messes i create
would come off so much faster, but i am also sure that the
scraping i end up having to do w/ my pans would tear even
the sturdeous tefal off in no time. but then this is me, not
anyone else.

if you like tefal and you don't have my issues then go for
it. just keep in mind that's it's worth paying a little more
for good stuff than having to replace cheap buys.

cheers kat

> --
>
> A: Top-posters.
> Q: What is the most annoying thing on Usenet?

 

Does anyone know where I can get a course profile type map of roads out of Melbourne? Um, a topographic map(?) that has the
height of hills and shows how steep they are with the spaced lines...?

A map that covered the whole trip from Melb -> Mildura would
be nifty. I''ll try and find an RACV store soon but if their maps are
geared for cars, they're not gonna have topographical notes are they?

Need to be able to bring the bike and I back too.. will call VLine.

hippy
- I think I would fail an orienteering course right now..

 

I would hate to get all technical but if you see plenty of squiggly lines on your map, there'd be hills!

What bike and setup are you going to use for the trip Hippy?

 

"gescom" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I would hate to get all technical but if you see plenty of
> squiggly
lines on your map, there'd be hills!

Yeah, but I want the map that shows me the squiggles that
indicates the hills that I must avoid

> What bike and setup are you going to use for the
> trip Hippy?

I'm thinking of taking the GTSS. I think it's silly enough
me doing this ride in the first place, let alone in winter,
so I may as well do it on a singlespeed as well.. unless the
road fixie is built by then...

I think I'll take the GTSS out this weekend and try for a
100k Beach Rd. ride on Sat and see if I can back it up with
a 150k ride on Sunday... if I can do that each weekend until
August I might actually make it!

I've got some cheap panniers/rack at home that I'll fit to
carry my gear. I'll either be doing the "tarp-tent trip" or
a credit card/pub stop adventure. They both have their
benefits..

I called VLine and it appears that they take bikes on trains
but for the bus leg (thanks Kennett for removing the train
to Mildura...) I'd have to box it all up and put it
underneath.

What sort of spares should I be carrying on a trip like
this? I seem to remember the aussie audax site having some
cool tips.. I'll have a look over there..

hippy

 

michelin make some great maps with topographical information. We have a shop in perth called the map centre that stocks them, so im sure there would be a shop in the big smoke.

 

"hippy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]
> Does anyone know where I can get a course profile type map
> of roads out of Melbourne? Um, a topographic map(?) that
> has the height of hills and shows how steep they are with
> the spaced lines...?

When all else fails look for Army survey maps. They're
top quality.

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