Rowan and I are on a short hub-and-spoke tour of the Fleurieu Peninsula south of Adelaide in South Australia. It is the first time we've been in this part of the world so we are having some fun exploring.

We drove all night and arrived early in the morning on Good Friday and spent the morning driving around and checking things out.

On Saturday we picked a nice, relatively quiet loop to ride away from the beaches etc. I wanted to have a look at that area because it is the mouth of Murray River.

On Sunday we drove into Adelaide and cycled around the city centre area. I enjoyed that, and fortunately it was very quiet there ... everyone must have been out of town.

We're still here for today and Tuesday, and then we go back on Wednesday ... so we're still exploring. :)

I'm planning my first tour of any kind this summer after school lets out. I'm going to bike from my house in Waterford, NY to my friend's house in Southampton, Mass. It's about 90 miles down Route 2 and some back roads. I picked up a rack, I'm getting some panniers, and I am going to get there and camp in her yard(sort of a trial-run for all my new gear).

The best part? The bike is my trusty 1981 Schwinn Le Tour with a period correct Schwinn rack! 20+ year old drivetrain components off my old Bianchi, new brake components, dura-ace bar-ends... My mishmash will take me anywhere I want to go. I love that bike.

Heh, the Le Tour is one of them fancy modern bysickles! ;^) Just kidding, back then Schwinn made some great bikes & they didn't hop onto the low-weight bandwagon. I had a 3-speed Schwinn which I picked up for a song back in the 70's. The bike writers picked at the supposedly deficient welded forks, steel rims etc but those bikes were bullet-proof & had nice features like Sturmey-Archer hubs, Weinman brakes etc. Years later I worked at a bike shop with a great old-school mechanic who could rebuild SA hubs etc & he stoutly defended steel rims & such outmoded stuff. I'm scheduled to buy some dura-ace bar-ends.

Out and Back Number One
 

Got out (finally) for an out and back. Fifty miles out, overnight, fifty miles back! Great ride...I got rained on, but that just served to show me my rain preparations are good. The bike was fully loaded for longer tours, but that's just good training.

Took an overnight ride down parts of the Lake Wobegon trail in Minnesota. 40 miles first day, 15 the second. It rained, snowed, blew and froze. The final 15 miles where some of the most brutal cycling I've ever done, with 45mph gusts of head/side wind and a temperature of 31F. Also had a nasty stomach bug.

More good than bad came of it, though. Had one peaceful night camping in a still-closed state forest campground(Birch Lake) I had to myself. I know my cold weather gear keeps me warm enough, my rain set holds out the wind and water, and that I can handle the cold much better than I could a few years ago. Go, confidence!

I rode the Pine Creek Trail with a friend last year - read the blog here: http://www.biketoledo.net/pages/pinecreekblog.html

My wife and I rode the Four Trails combination in central Wisconsin last year, too. Blog here: http://www.biketoledo.net/pages/4trailsblog.html

Both were very nice and not too challenging rides, each taking 4 days on the bike (plus time to and from the trailheads).

I've written up the story of our 6-day Easter Hub-and-Spoke tour in South Australia on my website ... complete with pictures and links to more pictures :)

http://www.machka.net/2011/Miscellan...rings_2011.htm

Briefly continuing the above story ... Monday we rode the local steam train, then drove all over the peninsula exploring and then spent about an hour walking along the beach and in the ocean

Tuesday we rode the coastline, mostly following the local cycle route, with mixed results.

And then on Wednesday we drove home.

The story on my website goes into a lot more detail. :)


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Are you going anywhere in May?

We're off on a short tour-ish sort of thing this weekend in the Bendigo area. :)

Can't believe I never noticed this thread before but I think it's a great idea. Maybe it could be stickied?

With a wife in poor health and a job that requires me to work (durnit), a week-long tour is a long one for me. I just bought my bike last year and didn't log as many trips as I had hoped. And because of the way the weather-doGs have been behaving this year (I swear this winter is never going to end) am way behind my target mileage for this point of 2011.

However, I have a free weekend coming up so I plan to take the Friday off and do a Thursday evening to Sunday night trip close to home. Weather be damned.

Details to follow.

I have ridden the entire length of the Pine Creek trail to start off the tour a couple of years ago. The trail is a rails 2 trails trail that is well kept up with a good option of camping each day out.

I'm looking forward to doing a two night camping trip on the Kitsap Peninsula. First night from Bremerton Ferry to green mountain horse camp, second night to tewanoh state park, then back to the ferry the third day.
something like this: http://tinyurl.com/3jmp28n

I'm teaching English in Guangzhou, China this year and took a 3 1/2 day tour with a friend during Spring Festival back in February. It's in the south near Hong Kong, and the weather was pleasant and warm that week despite it being February.

Here is the route more or less, about 350 kilometers
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I bought a low-end Giant bike here for about $150 including a rack and fenders, and it's been a good bike for everyday use.

Besides this tour, I do cycling almost everyday here, and on many weekends I like to ride up north into the countryside - it helps that my home is already outside the city center.

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4 day tour in Vermont starting tomorrow - 1st tour in approx 20 yrs! :thumb: My son (17) and friend are going, 1st time for both of them. Unfortunately rain and thunderstorms, "severe at times":eek: , are predicted. On the good side, I have reserved a lean-to for each night (VT state parks). so at least we will not be holed up in a tent. Packing has been a much bigger challenge than anticipated. Due to the rain, I am bringing more clothes and camp shoes (water shoes-LOL) than I normally would. My panniers are also pretty small. Ditched the fleece jacket (and wool socks) for 2 thermal shirts since the predicted temps keep rising. On the fence ditching the rain pants, since I am unlikely to ride in them.

I expected pretty cool temps at night, so I had packed long underwear (I sleep cold - no matter what bag), light gloves and hat. On the fence ditching the rain pants, since I am unlikely to ride in them and I packed nylon pants/shorts.

Now do I dig into all the rainproofed bags tomorrow morning, delaying our departure and increasing our possiblity of riding in the wet predicted for late afternoon, to jetison a few more items before hitting the road?

transporterjr - how did your tour go?


And did any Canadians go on a tour over the Victoria Day long weekend or Americans go on a tour over the Memorial Day long weekend?

Supposed to be in the 70s and sunny this weekend, a rarity. Going to take the train a bit north and bike into the mountains, 60 miles each way. First (short) tour of 2011, yay!

Bitter sweet at best. The first day we took a gravel bike trail through a state park, the ranger said you will have to push your bikes up the switchbacks near the dam, but it isn;t far. Well the dam was something like 265' tall, and prior to the switchbacks, the trail turned into a rocky hiking trail. We got through that, but on the 1st big down hill, my son, who was towing a BOB trailer for the 1st time experienced fishtailing that eventually got the best of him and a large crash resulted. The bike shop "dude" just down the hill was no help, my son was bleeding from his elbow and ankle and back. His shirt looked like he was attacked by a bear. I caught a ride from the kayak place across the street. 5 hour at the local small hospital had him bandaged up. Mom drove up 3 hours because she did not want to cancel the tour for my friend, and me as well. His ankle is still swollen and he is on crutches. I feel responsible, because I had read that light riders can experience this (he weights 125lbs).

So I fetched all the bikes and my friend and we returned to the starting campground and spent the night. Now we were a day short, so we peddled to the night 2 Camp, only now 55 miles, as opposed to 42. The worst part, was that a backroad I suggested was crazy, crazy steep. I have biked across country, New Zealand, New Hampshire. Nothing ever came close, except a 17% hill in Ohio. I figure this was at least 15%, because later we drove down a marked 15% hill and it did not seem as steep. After getting through this, we hit East Hill Rd - almost as steep. We hit a downhill which delivered 47 mph braking no less. Then we had a big climb to the campground outside Killington ski area. Checked in and the ranger said, stay left and clinb the big hill to your site - A grueling day for sure.

The next day the backroad on the map was dirt - no problem, but then we hit more climbs, and more climbs. I could barely make it, if I stood up, I would spin the rear tire, but I could barley pull it off. We would up off track due to lack of signs and finally saw a house. He said "You guys look beat , do you want a ride?" Well since he explained we had 4 more miles of climbing and then we would still be off our route by several miles, we said yes. With our bikes sticking out of his SUV, I thought we were only going up to the top of the hill, but he kept driving, really fast and brought us to where we would have popped out on the tar road - refusing any money.

We now kept out mileage the same, but we had a driving break so to speak. After tis we had about a 2 mile climb, but by now 6 to 8% climbs were really no big deal. Then we hit a 5 mile down hill! Yeah haw! Some more climbs, but this time we were in camp by 2:30 as opposed to 6:30 the day before. Our dinner was steak, potatoes and green beans, all cooked in a wood fire. I dropped my gear and ran out for two big Long Trail Ales (brewed in VT).

Slept soundly for sure. The next day was hot and some climbs but we were on a road in the morning that I can only describe as magical.

Despite all this on my 1st tour in 20 years - I can't wait to go again. I want to get low rider racks for my son's bike and set him up with panniers. Right now touring isn't sounding that great to him, but I'm hoping to pull off a nice tour in New Hampshire, or Western MA, or even VT again.

John

Two short tours for me so far.

The first was 4 days between home in Montreal to a little park called Plaisance, near the town of Plaisance in the Ottawa river valley. It's becoming a staple spring tour for getting in shape. The riding is nice, easy and mostly quiet.

The second was 7 days from Toronto to Montreal. Another easy ride, although not as quiet. Traffic is never far. I had a few storms at night and one full rainy day. The Waterfront trail was nice for the most part. A few Ontario parks were nice too, although camping is way expensive. One RV park in Prescott had a cyclist's special at 10$. There's a small community on one of the Toronto islands that looks like a carless utopia.

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I'm looking at another short 4-5 days starting in Ottawa, up north to Maniwaki on the Gatineau valley bike trail and back to Montreal on Le P'tit Train du Nord trail. I'd go this sunday but I think my right knee prefers waiting next month.

Erik,

Nice photos. Sorry about the sharks.

Sounds like quite an experience!! And a very hilly choice for a first tour! Were you riding mtn bikes?

I live across the road from Chain O' Lakes. It's a nice park to ride in and camp in, and would be a nice short tour from the City. Just make sure that if you want to do an overnight there on a holiday weekend that you register in advance for a campsite. The park is mobbed on the long holiday weekends.

My son and I had moutain bikes, my friend had a cargo bike. He's switching to a (very nice) hybrid next time to drop 10lbs. I might then use my 84 Fuji touring bike, but I liked the fat tires more than I thought. Wish I still had my 85 Trek 850 Mtn Bike- 19" long chian stays - no problem with heel clearance on that!

I have a 1985 Trek 870 frame for free. Think I'll take it and try to find a craig's list bike for the components.

Late in the summer, I going to ride to Cape Cod. I have a 55 mile day planned and it's flat. Should be a piece of cake for us now - LOL!
But only after Labor Day.

Any June tours?

We've done a couple long day rides in areas outside our immediate local area, so far this month.

Last weekend we spent the weekend in Melbourne. Saturday we shopped and spent time in the city, then went to an Audax Australia ball. Sunday we did a challenging 100 km ride on the MUPs around Melbourne with two other riders who turned it into a bit of a guided tour.

The weekend before we drove to a spot about 45 minutes away, and rode a 100 mile loop from there. We've cycled in that area a few times before but this particular loop included a bit we hadn't cycled before so that was nice.

I was hoping for a 3-4 day in Maine but work schedules postpones it. But the training continues, did 46 miles in the White Mountains of New Hampshire with 2,700' of elevation gain. Grades to 12% - still sore - LOL!

My daughter and I took a short five day tour last summer, her first. A couple of weeks ago she said she wanted to go out again.

The purpose last summer in my mind was to introduce her to touring and I did all I could do to make it enjoyable. So, no doubt you all can see the pride in my typing.

She and I are thinking of a short tour up the north shore of lake Superior. We will start a bit north of Duluth and ride for a day or two.