By the Seat of Our Pants: 3 Nights in Southern New Jersey


This week's bike overnight comes from Marty Garnick, who tells us he has been a cycling enthusiast for the past 25 years, 12 of them devoted to riding recumbents. "I pride myself on riding my bikes as much as I drive my car," Marty says. (You can check out his blog at The Jerseypedaler.)

Of his maiden voyage with a full complement of gear, "By the Seat of Our Pants: 3 Nights in Southern New Jersey," Marty writes, "I have always wanted to do a self-contained tour. Not being able to take three months off for a trip across the country, I opted for a four-day, three-night excursion around southern New Jersey. I picked this area because it?s flat and I didn?t know how well I could ride with a loaded bike. I approached my 21-year-old son Justin about the idea, and he was very excited by it. We decided the last week in August would fit into both our schedules.

"We packed on Sunday and rolled out on Monday at 7:30 a.m. with my wife and in-laws taking pictures and wishing us well. Thursday we headed home, a bit sad it was over, but excited about our accomplishment -- 271 miles in four days. Great trip, great company. An experience we will cherish forever."

Be sure to read Marty's entire bike overnight at BikeOvernights.org to find out what happens and where he and Justin go between Monday and Thursday. While there, also check out the archives of bike overnights and Photos of the Week. Our recent weekly photo selection, published March 30 and featured below, comes courtesy of Heather Andersen from her post Tahoe on My Mind.

BikeOvernights.org Photo of the Week, 03.30.12.

Last but not least, be sure to check out this fun bike overnights video (Santa Barbara to Los Angeles) from our friends at America ByCycle!


Top photo by Marty Garnick.

--

BIKE OVERNIGHTS is posted every Monday by Michael McCoy, Adventure Cycling?s media specialist, and highlights content from BikeOvernights.org. Mac also compiles the organization's twice-monthly e-newsletter Bike Bits, which goes free-of-charge to more than 44,000 readers worldwide.

Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2012/04/by-seat-of-our-pants-3-nights-in.html

cycling gear uk

Sebastien Rosseler Wins Overall In De Panne

After riding pretty quietly for the first 3 stages, Team RadioShack?s Sebastien Rosseler (BEL) decided to put the hammer down and ate up the pavement in the afternoon?s individual time trail at the 3 Days of De Panne, beating the field by nearly 14 seconds on the 14.7-kilometer course with a time of 18:31.83. [...]

Source: http://www.teamradioshack.us/sebastien-rosseler-wins-overall-in-de-panne/

pro cycling magazine

10 Things You Absolutely Need for a Long Distance Bike Tour

The April issue of Adventure Cyclist delivers a detailed Cyclist Travel Guide. But since Adventure Cyclist anticipates that our readers will be keen on more information, we present the first of four blog posts by Ryan McAfee and Michelle Cassel (of America ByCycle) to appear in the month of April that will serve as the sassy supplement to our annual Cyclist Travel Guide.

It's almost time for that tour! But what should you bring? House plants? An electric generator? 6 copies of your favorite children's book, Ernie's Little Lie?

If any of the things I just listed sounded like a good idea, then you really need some help. But that's why we're here: to make sure you get the essentials before leaving for a long trip. So, without further ado, here are the 10 things that you absolutely need for your long-distance tour:

1. A Bike.This really goes without saying, but you really need a bike if you want to do a bike tour. Steel, aluminum, carbon fiber, titanium, or even bamboo are just a few of the types of frames out there. Choose whatever suits you and make friends with it, because you're going to be looking at it every day.


2. Storage.
Some people like panniers, and some people like trailers. Depending on your preference, you need something to carry your clothes, your food, and various other items. You can even just wear a backpack, if you're one of those minimalist people who hates bike-centric storage.
3. Bicycle Maintenance/Repair Tools.

Flat tires are inevitable. Chains get dry. You need to carry the tools necessary to make any repairs to your bike. And remember, you need to carry a bike pump. You can fix your tube as much as you want, but it's not going to inflate itself. Unless it's like the guy at the end of Big Trouble in Little China.

4. Water.
Duh.

5. Front and Back Bike Lights.
Bike lights are great multi-taskers. They light your route, let cars know you?re on the road, help you read at night, and aid in easing your fears when you hear noises outside the tent and get out, shine the flashlight and see that it?s only a family of foxes rustling around outside the tent, and not that big scary bear that you swore it was.

6. Toilet Paper.
Toilet paper is great for a multitude of reasons. You can use it as it's intended, as facial tissue, as a napkin while eating, to clean up your silverware, or you can use it to TP your own bike if you?re bored! Just don't overdo it.7. First Aid Kit/Duct Tape/Sun Block.
You're going to be out in the elements all day, every day. Boo-boos, owies, and whoopsy-daisies are common occurrences. Bring a small first aid kit and some sunblock to help keep you healthy. Just remember the difference between SPF 15 and SPF 50 is microscopic, so limiting the chemical intake on your body's biggest organ is always a good idea. (Coconut oil is a natural SPF 15!)

8. Rain Gear and Bike Shorts.
The only reason you should have some sort of waterproof gear is because you don?t want to be caught riding your bike in a storm WITHOUT waterproof gear. The only reason you should bring bike shorts is because you don?t want to be caught riding your bike WITHOUT bike shorts.9. Eating Utensils.
Unless you're accustomed to eating with your hands, then you will undoubtedly have a need for some utensils.


10. Mental Fortitude.
The MOST IMPORTANT thing you can bring with you on tour is BY FAR mental toughness. Breakdowns will happen. Storms will happen. Headwinds will happen. Your physical toughness will sustain all of these. If you can?t tell yourself to keep going and keep pushing forward, then you will not make it. Stay focused and eventually you?ll make it to your destination and celebrate!
Black and White Portrait by Adventure Cycling Association's Greg Siple. All other photos by America ByCycle.


--


MICHELLE CASSEL & RYAN McAFEE are Los Angeles-based journalists who recently biked across the country on the TransAmerica Trail. They continue to ride their bikes on tours and share their stories of the road through videos and blogs, and can be found at AmericaByCycle.com.

Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2012/04/10-things-you-absolutely-need-for-long.html

womens cycling clothes

Super Foods for Cycling

In the past few decades, some clever marketeers decided to call some types of foods ‘super-foods’. It appeals to that part of us, which thinks we can make ourself wonderfully healthy and faster cyclists, simply by eating some Peruvian waterbeans grown in moss-covered peat. Of course, it’s not as simply as that, but a good [...]

Source: http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/4467/nutrition/super-foods-for-cycling/

cycling plus

Team RadioShack?s Sophomore Season: Plenty of Reason for Excitement in 2011

The racing?s well underway in the 2011 ProTour season, and it?s clear that Team RadioShack (TRS) means to make its mark during its sophomore campaign. With the team?s well-known founder, Lance Armstrong, announcing his retirement after this year, and already concluding participation in international races for the season, there?s plenty of opportunity for the [...]

Source: http://www.teamradioshack.us/team-radioshack%e2%80%99s-sophomore-season-plenty-of-reason-for-excitement-in-2011/

team cycling jerseys

Mirza Ghasemi (Iranian Aubergine Dip) - Eating London A to Z

Mirza Ghasemi (Iranian Aubergine Dip) Here is a recipe from Mohsen Iranian restaurant. Aubergines are considered a staple in Iran, not dissimilar to our potato. They are used in numerous recipes an this simple recipe is for a tasty dip...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/thehungrycyclist/~3/wMFJr7OlPPo/mirza-ghasemi-iranian-aubergine-dip-eating-london-a-to-z.html

cycling training

Poll: Team Radioshack Riders in Tour de France 2011

We are only a couple of weeks away from the biggest cycling event of the year. This year’s Tour de France starts Saturday July 2nd and ends Sunday July 24th 2011. This year the team will have to do without Lance Armstrong, but the team still has great podium potential. Which 9 riders do you think should [...]

Source: http://www.teamradioshack.us/poll-team-radioshack-riders-in-tour-de-france-2011/

pro cycling magazine

You've Got Mail!

Have you ever in your bike touring experience asked yourself this question: How am I going to get my mail?

If you began bike touring within the last ten years, your answer will revolve around internet access and wi-fi availability.

But if you have been doing this for a long time, you'll remember trying to plan out your mail stops. Post offices along your route, where you asked (sometimes pleaded with) friends to send you physical missives. You informed them to send those letters to a post office with your name and a note, "Please hold for traveling cyclist."

Then you hoped and prayed that the employees at that small town post office would do just that. Hold your mail. So that at some unforeseen date you could physically hold your mail. Caress it even. For it was treasure. Handwritten news from home. Maybe a photo or two. Or a newspaper clipping about an event where you were missed.

I miss those days. But I'm being nostalgic. And nostalgia has selective memory.

It forgets the time you arrived at a post office on a Friday afternoon and stared at the "closed" sign and realized you'd have to wait until Monday morning. And there certainly wasn't a guarantee that you'd have mail waiting for you.

Nostalgia forgets physical mail has heft, and because it is precious, impossible to throw away. Six pounds and growing in your back pannier.

It forgets how often you wanted to change your route, only to realize you'd miss a mail stop, so you trudged on as planned ... only to have nothing waiting for you behind the counter.

But nostalgia always remembers the chocolate chip cookies. Wrapped with care and boxed and mailed. True love.

Communicating while on the road has never been easier. But you still can't send cookies over the internet. At least not the kind you'd want to eat.

Photos: Portugal, Oregon by Willie Weir

--

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS appears on Friday afternoons. Willie Weir is a columnist for Adventure Cyclist magazine. His latest book Travels with Willie: Adventure Cyclist will inspire you to hit the road and just might change the way you approach bicycle travel. He lives in Seattle with his wife Kat. You can read about their local adventures and life without a car at http://YellowTentAdventures.com/.

Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2012/04/youve-got-mail.html

cycling plus