Introductions - Hello folks

Hi folks, I'm just starting to prep for what I hope will be a cross country (US) tour this coming Summer which I'll be making with my cousin and fiancee. I'm currently riding a 19" Gary Fisher Marlin which I'm going to adapt for touring. I'll be looking around quite a bit I reckon, we're trying to get a lot of time on the saddle before Summer comes. I'll probably be asking for advice for adapting it, right now I'm just working on basic things, getting some drop-emulating barends, might go clipless for the trip, panniers on the rear and a bar-bag for the front. I'm still looking for tires that will work, I might get some armadillo slicks in 26". Right now I'm riding on Bontrager Comforts which are alright and help a little bit for road over the standard knobbies.

Helo Paramemetic, good luck with your touring plans! What's the projected route? Should be plenty of helpful advice in the Touring forum :) .

Welcome to BF!

East Hill

Planning to set out from Virginia and head East until Montana, where we'll shoot up North over the Rockies and wind up in Seattle or Portland. Hoping to go beach-to-beach.

What will your cousin and fiancee be riding?

Wow, that is one heck of a trip. Good luck and welcome to the forum.

Planning to set out from Virginia and head East until Montana, where we'll shoot up North over the Rockies and wind up in Seattle or Portland. Hoping to go beach-to-beach.

If you head to Seattle, let us know in the regional forum! We'll see if we can't get up a welcoming committee :) . By the way, pretty much the only beach in Seattle is to be found at Alki...that's in West Seattle.

East Hill

What will your cousin and fiancee be riding?

My cousin is currently planning to ride his Giant OCR Limited Composite. I think he's nuts, I'm not sure that light frame will hold up to touring loads and the little road wheels won't help with stability or anything like that.

As for my fiancee, we're not sure what she's riding right now. She's not an avid cycler yet (neither am I, to be fair - my deciding to do this has greatly improved how much I cycle, I've mainly been a utility cyclist until now), so she hasn't a nice bike. We're looking at a Trek 520 or another proper touring bike for her. Any recommendations?

I'll try to remember to let you all know if we're ending up in Seattle. We'll be in that PNW area anyhow, so I'll try to let you all know.

Yeah, it is quite a trip - I'm graduating and won't have a job yet, and so I want to do this before I get a career because once I'm in a career, I can't just go "ok guys I'm taking 3 months off for a bike trip later!" It's the right time to do it, basically.

By the way, pretty much the only beach in Seattle is to be found at Alki...that's in West Seattle.

East Hill

Not true. There are short stretches of sandy beach in Elliot Bay Park, just north of Downtown. Nice bike trail too. Also, a great beach at Golden Gardens Park in Ballard.

Not true. There are short stretches of sandy beach in Elliot Bay Park, just north of Downtown. Nice bike trail too. Also, a great beach at Golden Gardens Park in Ballard.

There was a qualifier ['pretty much'] in there...I'd forgotten about the beach at Golden Gardens--whenever I head that way I'm usually there to take relatives to the locks :p . The salmon ladder seems to be much more interesting than the beach to the kids :) .

East Hill