curbtender

Morrison Hotel? Roadhouse Blues...

delicious

Looks fun!

gugie 

My experience is that you can get by on the same amount of gear that you'd take for a 3 day trip on a much longer one. I've got my kit, complete with tools, spares, etc. down to 13 lbs for a credit card tour - no sleeping bag, tent, or cooking gear. 25 lbs is quite possible if you're doing it in mild or warmer weather. For more "expedition" type trips, where you'll be on the road for a month or more, it's harder to predict the weather, so you'll need a few more pieces of gear. It seems that 40 lbs of gear is what most people end up with if they try hard not to overpack.

The old adage that you'll take as much gear as your bags will hold is true.

ryansu

I wonder how many of the lovely vintage touring bikes on this forum get used to actually tour, I will raise my hand and say I have not but would like to at least credit card tour.

Chapeau @52telecasterfor getting out there and doing it!

crandress 

Where were you in Iowa?

gugie 

So, you didn't see the Last Winter Tour of the Willamette Valley thread? Here's a glimpse of one of the bikes on that tour:



I've gone a couple of times on this one:

squirtdad

nice.... 2 thinks to remember 60's is the new 30's and I am getting blonder, not grayer

52telecaster

I tried to leave sunday and got as far as the starbucks down the street. Riding home after trying to wait it out was treacherous. I left monday morning.

52telecaster

That helps. Plus it makes the purists cringe, which i enjoy.

52telecaster

I crossed into iowa near Savannah illinois and came back at clinton.
Little town in iowa just after the bridge over Mississippi.

crandress 

Cool! Some of the pictures looked familiar, but I am a little further north.

Bad Lag

Did you make it back home yet, or wherever you were headed after the snow?

More pics and description, please.

bobmarteal

Congrats on getting out. It can be so hard to knock off the rust and snow early in the season. Keep on rollin. Too bad about the water being off in camps, a good backpacking filter might open up some opportunities.

52telecaster

Back home safely
4th day did laundry.



Met Bud the former mayor of prophetstown who taught art students to paint murals



Crossed the canal near i80.

Bad Lag

Nice theme for the mural: people used to actually appreciate what they had here in the USA. Some still do.

jonwvara 

Nice going, 52telecaster! A bike tour is a great thing no matter where you go and for how long. I should try a mid-length tour sometime--I've only done long ones or overnights.

Just out of curiosity, what's your policy on locking your bike at convenience stores and such? I usually don't bother. I operate on the not-yet-discredited (at least to me) theory that bike thieves mostly hang around on city streets and college campuses.

52telecaster

i lock with a walmart cable lock. Just enough to slow someone down a bit. No one has ever even tried. Have had plenty of questions though.

Gary Fountain

I've been sitting here in Hervey Bay Queensland for the past 5 weeks with two crushed feet and the thing I have been dreaming of is a bike ride down the east coast. Then your thread pops up. Thanks for the big smile on my face.

What a beautiful bike and what a great adventure. Thanks for letting me in on the fun.

P.S. I want that same satisfied little grin you have in that selfie.

52telecaster

Wow thankyou man. I was smiling because i was at the top of a hill. Honestly im ready to go back out.

beicster 

@52telecaster I was perusing old threads about upright handlebar conversions because drops have been causing hand and finger tingling lately. I saw your Bob Jackson had upright bars on it in that thread. When did you switch it to drops? Is it permanent or do you just move them around on occasion?