Machka 

Short tours are great for those of us who can only spare a few days from our busy schedules to spend on a cycling tour ... or for those of us who want to do a quick exploration of the area where we live or an area we want to learn more about ... and for those who want to test equipment, bicycle setup, etc.

When you go on a short hub-and-spoke tour, overnight tour, weekend tour, long weekend tour, maybe even a week-long tour, or something similar ... tell us about it here throughout 2018.

Where did you go? What did you see along the way? Would you recommend the area? What sort of accommodation did you use? What kind of bicycle did you ride? Did you learn anything new?

What short tours do you have planned for 2018?



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Past tours ...

2017 short tours:
2017 - Your Short Tours

2016 short tours:
https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/10...ort-tours.html

2015 short tours:
https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/98...ort-tours.html

2014 short tours:
https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/92...ort-tours.html

2013 short tours:
2013 - Your Short Tours

2012 short tours:
https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/79...ort-tours.html

2011 short tours:
https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/72...ort-tours.html

2007 short tours:
https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/25...ort-tours.html



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Some attempt at definitions ...

Short tours can include quite a variety of different sorts of touring including, but not limited to ...

-- day tours (usually taking up most of the day and including scenic or tourist destinations)
-- hub-and-spoke tours (cycling or driving out to a destination which becomes the "headquarters" or "hub", and then doing day tours off in various directions from the "hub")
-- overnight tours (cycling out to a neighbouring town, campground, national park, etc, staying overnight in a campground, hotel, B&B, or whatever other choice of accommodation is available)
-- weekend or long weekend tours or several days or week long tours (similar to the overnight tour, but longer)

These tours can be credit card tours where no camping gear is carried and the cyclist stays in accommodations such as hotels, B&Bs hostels, etc., and eats in restaurants, cafes, etc., or they can be camping tours, or some combination of the two.

They can have a variety of purposes ... travel and exploration, a desire to get away from it all for a weekend, visiting family and friends, or in combination with work, school, or other events.

Lots of options!



Longer tours/all tours of 2018: 2018 - Your Touring Plans = Where Are You Going?

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mbusky

A mid to late April combo trip of the C and O Trail and the GAP trail, if the Paw Paw tunnel is opened, from DC to Pittsburgh on my 2008 Trek 3700 hardtail with single wheel trailer is in the mix. I will be camping along the way. I usually backpack the AT in spring but want to take this trip as a dry run for a west coast to east coast transit with route yet to be determined.

indyfabz

Make sure you stay at Husky Haven Campground along the trail in Rockwood.

PedalingWalrus

Is this some inside joke? I'm asking because I will be going Pitt-DC in May

mbusky

I'm from Steamtown USA... we love trains in fact John Oliver (HBO) just gave us a new one, plus I'v got earplugs. I never camp without without earplugs.

ricrunner

I have a short tour of 4 nights locally here in the New England skirting around the Gwydir river taking my little dog Molly with me. She sits in an dedicated dog carrier on top of tent on rear rack. It will also be a fishing trip. That will be in March. In late May, will be going on an 2 month trip up to Carnarvon Gorge in QLD the over to Longreach, down to Birdsville, Innamincka then home with my larger dog Milo in a doggy trailer. I use to travel on my own way back when, but find I need the company now. It is great fun having one of my dogs with me.

indyfabz

No. I shot that while camping at Husky Haven. Did you watch the entire thing? It's the Amtrak train heading north some time after 10 p.m. There are several grade crossings across the river in town. By federal law, the engineer must sound the horn. The traffic died down in the middle of the night. Got up at 5 the next morning. By 5:45 three trains had already come through.

It is a nice spot though. Well shaded, and all the firewood you can burn for free. You just have to make the short trip into town for water and a shower. There are gallon jugs you can fill and bring back to the campground. The owner collects them after you leave. The way things are looking right now I may ride the GAP again as part of a PA tour.

BTW...The shelters in Connellsville were nice. Just check for used condoms before picking one.

PedalingWalrus

aah, you know I did not notice the video ... actually it might not have rendered on my phone because I wasn't logged in and so I only noted your comment and wasn't sure if this was a warning or an endorsement of the campsite :-)

If You were going Pitt to DC for 6 days where would you camp for those days ?

indyfabz

You need to watch it with the volume up to get the realistic effect.


I only did the GAP, not the C&O. Stayed in Connellsville the first night (There really was a used condom in one of the shelters. A trail volunteer who came by at night told me local kids sometimes have sex in them.) and Husky Haven the second night. Finished the trail the third day and then headed up to Bedford, PA. I would stay at both places again if doing the trail in three days. The camping/shelter area in Connellsville is right near the grocery store, which is handy. As noted, Husky Haven is a bit outside the town itself but easy to access from the trail. There are porta-potties at the site. The bathhouse the owners have in town is nice. There is a rec room in the bunkhouse with a pool table that you are allowed to use. There is also a bike washing station. Google Maps has the location of the campground wrong. It shows it in town. That's where the bathhouse, etc., is. The entrance to the actual camping area is off the trail. When I arrived in September there was a manned information booth along the trail at the road that crosses the river into Rockwood. The volunteers there can answer your questions.


Note that there is not much to the town. If you plan to cook, the only grocery source was a dollar store when I was there in 2012. If you head east on PA 653 there is the Rock City café with beer that looked decent.

mstateglfr 

- RAGBRAI for the week. Route announcement in less than 4 weeks!

- a couple 100mi 3 day camping local tour rides with my oldest kid.

- fingers crossed on riding the Mickelson trail as part of a 200mi western SD short tour in the late summer.

mstateglfr 

Ha, that was a funny recurring topic thru last season.

Machka 

As the thoughts start to turn to spring in the northern hemisphere ... got any early season short tour plans?

WNCGoater

I intended to do an overnight ride/campout this past weekend, even had things partially packed. Heavy rain and flooding this weekend, along with being diagnosed with the Flu kinda nixed those plans. Hopefully try again in a couple weeks.

PedalingWalrus

Two weeks ago I did a thru of Baxter State Park. Baxter State Park is a remote spot in Northern Maine. Its gates are closed in the winter but a few spots in the park are open for reservations with the accompanying permit. The permit process involves answering questions about prior experience and general gear knowledge. BSP is remote and unforgiving. The only road going through the park is a 15mph dirt road and this road is not plowed in the winter. You are at the mercy of observing weather reports and hoping that a ranger's snowmobile packs the snow down somewhat.

I initially planned it to be 2 nights. The first night after 19 miles at Nesowadnehunk Bunkhouse and the second night after 20 miles at the Trout Brook bunkhouse. When I received a phone call from the park staffer I was told the Trout Brook bunkhouse wasn't available. I told then it's ok - I would bring a tent with me in case of emergency and do my best to ride it out of the park (that was additional 5+ miles to Mattagammon bridge.

My backup plan was to ski it in case of high snow ... actually my initial plan was to ski it and I changed my mind after I saw no new snow for at least a week. Everything was hard and icy. I figured a fat bike would do a better job.

I arrived in Millinocket on Thursday night, did last minute re-packing, cleaned my bike and slept until 5am. Friday morning I peeked outside the window and saw 4+ inches of snow on the ground! What! ? - the forecast called for 1 inch dusting! I did not bring my skis. I decided to go anyway.

I arrived at Abol Bridge (southern entrance to BSP) and it was still snowing. I attached all the bags to the bike and set off.



The going wasn't easy. Freshly fallen snow on top of ice is hopeless. It is too thick for the studs to help and slick enough for the whole tire to slide underneath. Any incline would cause my front tire to spin out, or a rear tire to spin out or the whole bike to give up... I made it half a mile to a kiosk where I penciled in my arrival



At this point I thought I should take a photo when I realized my camera was missing. I have dropped it about 200 yards back during a pee break. So I walked back - didn't even want to ride it . During the walk I noticed some blood on the trail and then a hole in the ice with blood. Probably a coyote kill, I think it might have been a small deer based on the fur tufts I observed.



I found the camera and took photos of the blood on my walk back to the bike. I continued via a gentle uphill trail through the woods until I reached the park road. At this point I knew the uphill would get steeper before I reached Abol Campground. It was slippery, basically 40% riding and 60% hike-a-bike. Somewhere around the top of the hill I heard a snowmobile. I moved to the side to leave space for the machine to pass. It was the park ranger. He asked me a few questions and checked my SOLO permit. Then he asked if he could take my photo , saying they don't get a lot of bikes during the winter months. I asked him if he would also take a photo with my phone.



I kept going and going while it kept on snowing and snowing and the trail got more slippery. I wiped out often on the uphill, on the downhill, on the straightaways...



Then the snowing stopped and it almost appeared as if the sun was going to shine. I snapped a photo of Doubletop Mountain in front of me and kept on going. I knew I was getting close to the bunkhouse, maybe 3-4 miles.



I lost count on how many times I had to remount the bike but I knew it was bad when I actually felt I was getting a cramp in my whole right side. I never get cramps.

Luckily soon I arrived to a sign that pointed to the location of the bunkhouse



I pushed the bike to get there ...



I was glad. This was hard. I feared tomorrow's 25+ miles. But at this moment I was just happy to be done. I made fire in the woodstove and took a stroll to nearby bridge over the river to collect water

PedalingWalrus

part 2:
The next morning I cleaned up the bunkhouse, made oatmeal a thermoss of hot tea with lemon and honey and headed out. I pushed the bike back to the road and hopped on and felt apprehensive relief that it appeared the fresh snow of yesterday froze to the icy base and the biking was good. It was very cold (I only had one thin layer under my jacket) but it was good to be biking without falling.



I tried to put another layer on ... my jacket froze to my base layer ... I pumped more air into my tires because the base was solid and it would help me go faster.



I covered the miles well and arrived at Trout Brook Bunkhouse before 2PM. It was empty. I wondered if the people who reserved it bailed out because it was superbowl sunday and the local team was in the final. I briefly considered sleeping there but then I felt ok to keep going and I did not want to get on the wrong side of the rangers...after all I had another trip planned a few weeks from now.



I arrived at the north gate at 2:30pm ... it was still a few miles to Mattagammon bridge but at this point I was out safe. Had to walk the bike for a while due to snow drifts off the lake but I was done. BSP through was in the bag. Great time! Cheers.

essiemyra

That looks like an amazing time PedalingWalrus. The pictures are great, and make me want to ride there.

joestrong826

great photos!

DropBarFan

Neat report, I'm a bit surprised it could be that slippery with the fat tires.

PedalingWalrus

Yeah, if You have just ice then the studs dig in. If You have an inch of snow on top then the tire flattens the snow and the studs still dig in "allright" but at some point the thickness of the snow is too thick for the studs or the tire thread to penetrate and all you have left is the tire centrifugal force pushing on the snow and the snow slides on the ice underneath it and nothing will help until the snow settles and bonds with the ice underneath - that usually takes several hours.

Bassmanbob

2018 Short Tour to be announced when my wife tells me what weekend she's going away with her sisters and cousins. With my busy schedule, I can't justify more time away from my wife while she's home. Either way, it will be a fairly local tour that I can drive to within 5 hours. Then I can get the bike loaded up, hitch the dog trailer and we can be on our way for a couple of days.


2017 I did a two day tour of the Withlacoochee Trail in west central Florida with my 70 pound dog.
What I learned:
1. The dog may have enjoyed the trip more than I did. He loves sleeping in a tent.
2. I needed a smaller/ travel c-Pap machine that's battery operated-- I was limited to camp sites with electricity available. I just got it for bike touring and other travel.
3. It takes a lot of time to pack up gear when camping.
4. I'm glad I purchased the handlebar bag.
5. I enjoyed being by myself (but with my dog) for the two days. Although I'd love it if my wife got interested in bike touring too.
That's it. It was only a two day tour, but it was fun.
6.
3.

Hondo Gravel

2017 early June, The Katy Trail (Missouri) late June The GAP (not the clothing store) connecting with the C@O that took me through parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Washington DC. Late July The Mickleson Trail (South Dakota Black Hills) so for 2018 I don’t know yet. I would like to fly from San Antonio to DFW hop on Quantas 8 A380 and fly to Sydney Australia and explore Australia on bike. That is on my bucket list. This thread has my head spinning with new bike adventures

Machka 

I've done quite a bit of that ... in fact, we're doing some more of it now.

indyfabz

I was planning to do a loop in ID starting mid-June and ending early July, but it appears there is a family reunion that will interfere with that. So now it looks like I may be taking the train to St. Albans, VT in early June, riding south to my 35th high school reunion in western MA and then continuing on home to Philadelphia.

JerrySTL

I'll be doing this Katy Trail ride in June for the 7th time. If you want a supported tour, it's hard to beat.

https://mostateparks.com/2018ktride

Hondo Gravel

Last summer I took a pit stop at the Sedalia train depot the bike mechanic said a large group was coming from St. Charles in the next week and would be camping in the park across the way I believe it was this annual tour. I rode from Clinton to Booneville day1 and stay at the casino. I did Katy in 3 days which was too fast so next time I’m slowing it down to 5 days. I start rolling on the bike and don’t want to stop. Next time I will take more breaks and lessen the daily mileage. I had a blast on the Katy and will try to do it again this summer.