Mathew's bike tours.

Mathew Fy

Mathew Fy

GRU
My first tour as a recumbent rider was last year.
https://forum.cruzbike.com/threads/cycle-adirondacks’-second-annual-tour-2016.11307/

I was able to go on two bike tours this summer.

The 31st Annual Shoreline West Tour is a seven day, 386 mile ride along Lake Michigan from Montague to Mackinaw City. $500 gets you breakfast, dinner, camping, use of high school facilities, luggage transport, water & food stops, return bus, and various other services. I really enjoyed riding through this touristy part of the state.
Enjoy their Official video. George Moses who is interviewed has been on all 31 tours and plans to continue "as long as I can fog a mirror!"

Some highlights:
Cherry turnover stop.
Mac Woods dune rides at Silver Lake.
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A 1/2 mile 12% climb called "watermelon hill" because they rewarded us with watermelon slices at a scenic look-out.
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Sandy beaches, lighthouses, farms, and orchards.
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Using a ferry to cross part of Lake Charlevoix.
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Looking at "Mushroom houses"

Riding through The Tunnel of Trees
Tunnel of trees in 3.5 minutes. My speed was 18 mph. How many riders did I pass?

I entertained the usual questions about recumbent riding and shared my enjoyment of the Cruzbike Vendetta. Interestingly, I fielded more questions about my super bright tail light: "Design Shine, but they don't make it anymore. Try Gemini, Magicshine, or Gloworm."



The 47th annual DALMAC (Dick Allen Lansing to MACkinaw Bicycle Tour) is a multi-option tour. I chose the five day 370 mile route that culminates with a ride across the Mackinaw Bridge. "DALMAC originated in 1971 when former State Representative Dick Allen challenged his colleagues and constituents with a ‘ride all the way to the bridge’ to prove that bikes and cars could share Michigan roads safely." This ride is managed in a similar way as the Shoreline West Tour but is a bit less touristy. We had much cooler weather than I would have liked. One morning we woke to 38 degrees Fahrenheit and I was glad to have multiple layers and cold weather gear available.
I met up with the 84 year old Dick Allen at a stop. He still participates using a trike with an e-motor.
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Day #5 took us on a section of bad roads. I’m glad to have wide tires 38 & 42 mm to smooth things out some.

I've ridden across the Mackinaw Bridge a couple times on my df bike and the experience has been very enjoyable.

I can now say that crossing the Mackinaw Bridge feels much different on the V20. Being a little closer to the rail and my limited (15 month) experience made me a little wary. Add some wind threatening to push me into the railing and I had to continually remind myself that no rider has gone over the edge before!

Next year I may ride North Carolina's Mountains to Coast Ride.
 
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Mathew Fy

Mathew Fy

GRU
3WHELZ said:
Is that a rearview camera I see mounted on your Vendetta?
Click to expand...
I have a Rideye camera back there. (From their Kickstarter campaign.) It operates dash-cam style overwriting the oldest videos. 32GB provides about 6-8 hrs video, battery lasts about the same time. You can see the results on some of my videos like on the bridge crossing linked in the first post, or my comparison video. They seem to have had poor quality control as I've had three failures, the last one on this trip after riding in the rain. Ratz has some experience with this cam as well.
 
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ak-tux

ak-tux

Zen MBB Master
Very nice! It's always inspiring to read ride reports with lots of pictures and videos!
 
Mathew Fy

Mathew Fy

GRU
I finally checked this off my bucket list. Bicycling the Great Allegheny Passage is a pleasant, easy, and safe ride. I chose to do this out-and-back style, not having to arrange for transportation back to the start. (There are services for this and the daily Amtrak.) Riding the GAP then becomes a five day @ 60 miles/day adventure. It's quite possible go further each day. I met a group of four going out-and-back in two days, 150 miles each day. I know some of our fellow Cruzbikers like to do that kind of riding.

I had some thought of taking many pictures & videos and creating a cool summary video to share, but then sometimes just enjoying the trip becomes the priority. There are so many YouTube vids already, along with travel logs like these:
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=1mr&page_id=558679&v=5Y
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=1mr&page_id=323467&v=Ol
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=1mr&page_id=340377&v=4g

You are obligated to start or end with with a photo at the fountain where the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers join to become the Ohio River. (This spot was under water a week after I visited.)
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The GAP trail should be complete through Pittsburgh when the ramp is completed. Until then (and during floods) cyclists ride on downtown streets.

In Pittsburgh I rode both sides of the Monongahela River. The southern Three Rivers Heritage Trail is dotted with signs and memorabilia (mostly steel making equipment). The Cruzbike Vendetta rides well on the GAP. The only time I wished for a different bike was near Kennywood where tree roots made the asphalt very bumpy. It’s not until near Boston, PA that the trail becomes an easy and consistent rail-trail.
28 mm tires would be adequate along the vast majority of the trail, even in heavy rain, and smoother than most roads in the area. An exception was a section were the crushed limestone surface was thinned enough to expose the stone base. I hit a rock that had pulled up onto the trail causing a front sidewall cut, spewing Orange sealant. After heaving that rock into the river, a spare tube allowed me to go on my way without further trouble.

My favorite day was from Meyersdale to Cumberland and back. The 2% grade from the continental divide is a 23 mile easy ride. At first I was lightly pedaling along at 25 mph, but the trail got a little sketchy with loose surface, so I comfortably coasted the rest of the way at about 14 mph.
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The eastern terminus is in Cumberland, MD.
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Here the Western Maryland Railroad https://www.wmsr.com operates a tourist train that takes people up to Frostburg and back. For $5 ($10 for tandems & ‘bents) you wheel your bike into the designated rail car. I was okay not pedaling that 15 mile climb.
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I had planned to do one more day of out-&-back riding to complete the trail, but the weather turned sour. Raining and much colder than I had prepared for, so I bailed. (Remember when I wrote that the area in the first photo surrounding the fountain was submerged.)
Overall, I had a very enjoyable four days on the GAP.
 
Doug Kline

Doug Kline

Guru
Mathew Fy said:
Next year I may ride North Carolina's Mountains to Coast Ride.
Click to expand...

Hope to see you in NC. I'd really like to do both these rides. I grew up in Michigan and would love to do the shoreline, but haven't done much cycling there. Actually, my V sat on my trainer for 6 months until I took it up to my Mom's house in pancake flat Saginaw. It was pretty easy to learn to ride it there, but I sure struggled with learning to ride it in in the hilly part of North Carolina.

I've done the C&O on my MTB years ago before the GAP was open and would love to do Pit to DC one of these years. It's on our bucket list.
 
velocio

velocio

Austrian roadside steckerlfisch (fish on a stick)
Doug Kline said:
Hope to see you in NC. I'd really like to do both these rides. I grew up in Michigan and would love to do the shoreline, but haven't done much cycling there. Actually, my V sat on my trainer for 6 months until I took it up to my Mom's house in pancake flat Saginaw. It was pretty easy to learn to ride it there, but I sure struggled with learning to ride it in in the hilly part of North Carolina.
Click to expand...

Hey, I grew up in MI and now live in NC as well. I've done both the MI Shoreline West tour (route) and the NC Mountains to Coast. As you might expect both were glorious, but quite different. At this stage in my life and recumbent career I wouldn't be able to manage the mountains part of the NC Mountains to Coast, but if you can it's a week very well spent. Or, skip the mountains and ride from the middle of the state to the coast, which I think was an option. I would love to do the Shoreline route again, but on my own or with a small group. I'm kind of burned out on giant organized tours. Actually, when I rode the Shoreline tour I did it a week after the organized tour on the same route they followed using maps from the previous year and carrying my camping gear. Same great route, but no long lines at rest stops.

-Jack K.
Raleigh, NC
 
Mathew Fy

Mathew Fy

GRU
I had posted somewhere in the forum about last year’s CNC, but can’t find it now. Here’s a video of the last day.
 

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