Touring - What Shape is Kindness?

Hello Bikeforums.
My name is Jay, I am a student and public artist here in Providence, RI.
Right now I am working to coordinate a large project for this summer, the name of which is a question. That question being, What Shape is Kindness?

Myself and a friend will be leaving Providence on our bikes, with the intent to travel all over the country, stopping along the way at hospitals, healthcare facilities, and community centers to do short residencies with Tapeart, the name of the medium we use to create large, spontanious, and temporary murals.

because we will be leaving from and ultimately returning to Providence, the route we take will determine the shape we will have drawn on the United States. our shape of kindness.

if interested in reading more about the project. please visit http://www.tapeart.com/wsik

Right now, it looks like we have possible projects slated for Iowa and Minneapolis. Because biking out to Minn. will take a while, we are thinking we can only have a max of 4 drawing destinations, unless we shorten them to 1-2 days, as opposed to the 3 we are currently thinking.

because our destinations will be determining our route, we are thinking about heading southwest towards Iowa starting early june, and then turning north, heading up to Chicago, and then west out to Minnesota.

I have some experience with short, weekend long tours, and we will be actively training for this. I ride at least 10 miles a day, more when possible (30-50 mi rides once a week. which will be going up)
spring break we will be going on a week-long tour to prep further.

i've spent a good lot of time reading Ken Keifer's bikepages, as well as lurking here and picking up what i can. but was hoping people here could please provide the following.

1- does the current route plan. which is heading southwest early June from providence to Iowa, north to chicago, and then northwest to Minnesotta, and then possibly up into canada, and then down into the northeast back to providence, seem like a sound plan? its loose right now, i know, but there is a chance that wind currents or something would make this a poor plan.

2- we like to think we have considerered all the norms. From your experiences, what has popped up that you hadn't anticpated or expected? also. as far as a budget is concerned, we are thinking $5,600 dollars for 2 people, lasting 8 weeks. this would be cooking most our meals, and stealth camping most nights. I think this is a safe number, that would allow for a comfortable food budget, unexpected problems, and the occassional hotel/motel, my team-mate thinks its a bit much. how little have ya'll managed to spend on long tours?


3- anyone have any experiences with solar powered touring? ive checked out the powerflex (http://www.icpsolar.com/ssfamille.php3?id_rubrique=11). we are seriously considering touring with my powerbook, what experiences do ya'll have with computerized touring?

4. if anyone wishes to share their general experiences touring, that would be rad.

5. lastly, if someone here would be comfortable working with me as this project evolves, that would be totally excellent, and a huge help. I have a whole, whole lot to learn, and someone with experience touring would be invaluable. Locally we have some resources, but nothing extensive. enter internet.

a pre-emptive thank you. If you would rather reply privately. email me at jzehngeb@risd.eduNOSPAM

I think that "The shape of kindness" is an excellent name for a bicycle touring adventure.

When I look back on my touring experiences I can think of many aspects of touring that so nicely fit this theme like:

- Being invited to enjoy supper with a family in Ohio and Michigan while circling either Lake Erie or Lake Huron.
- Enjoying an impromptu bag pipe performance in Ohio by a brother and sister team.
- Giving away spare parts like an extra fiberspoke and a tire tube to other biycle tourists that I met during the journey and later finding out via email that this stuff went a long way to helping them out when a problem occurred.
- Listening to numerous people talk about the things that make their community or area unique. It was very possible to hear the pride that these people had in the place that they live.
- Viewing the history that other people had lovingly preserved so that others could learn from it later.
- And of course sharing stories out on the open road or around the fire in the campground with other people including bicycle tourists that you met while touring.

Kindness has many aspects and bicycle touring is one activity that really seems to bring out the best in people, both on and off the bike.

Good luck with your adventure! I hope that you keep an online journal so that we can all benefit from hearing about your experiences.

By the way: In my opinion the most important thing that you can take with you on tour is an open mind with a positive attitude. With that one thing almost anything is possible! :)

~Jamie N
www.bicycletouring101.com

route sounds good, money is for sure good, so long as you stealth. i spent about a grand on a two month tour, although i was pretty much desperately poor, particularly after nasty bike repairs. i think you will be AOK. you have your bases covered, you need less in the way of advice and resources then you think. there is only so much you can plan for. keep training, and hit the road.

oh, churches, man. thats what we always looked for first for camping. if there is someone there, they will let you stay, if there is not, no one will bother you. city parks are good too, particularly the ones with pavilions on a rainy night. people were so nice to us, no need to feel like an illegal vagrant. state parks usually have a booth where you pay, and the person who works there usually goes home at dark. we rode in undetected a number of times. others have used cemetaries and police stations (no joke) but we never needed to go there. we liked our churches and parks and they always worked out.

Hello Bikeforums.
My name is Jay, I am a student and public artist here in Providence, RI.
Right now I am working to coordinate a large project for this summer, the name of which is a question. That question being, What Shape is Kindness?

Trapezoidal? I seriously don't know...