Machka 

We're hoping to be cycling in those areas again soon.

DropBarFan

Really short tour with surprising "wildlife": did afternoon ride on new route thru north McLean Virginia & was surprised to see a pasture with longhorn cattle, llamas & a bison. Had never heard of this place even though it's quite close. Some cool things aren't publicized, there's also a big country estate in Waterford about 40 km's away with beautiful gardens that's open to the public--nice area for cycling though I first discovered the gardens on a casual country drive.

Cyclist0094

Rode an overnighter from Sparta NC to Galax Va in April and then followed the New River Trail to Pulaski Va 78 miles one way. First tour in 3 years. I had been busy moving from NY to NC and building my house here. Rode the route with an acquaintance from the long gone touring@phred listserv. Except for a couple of pretty good hills on the 21 mile road portion between Sparta and Galax it was all rail-trail and a nice sunny Tuesday with temps in the 70's. We camped in Pulaski and ate dinner just off the trail at Tex-Mex called "Compadres". Wednesday morning we woke up to a steady rain around 5am. We stayed in our tents until about 8:30 and decided we couldn't wait it out. We packed up the wet tents and headed back towards Galax. The trail is mostly stone dust over the old ballast, little mud to deal with but the surface was pretty soft. I had mounted up a pair of 2.3 Kenda Conniptions and Greg was riding Continental Country 1.95. That setup gave us enough flotation to maintain a good pace. Rain finally let up about 3 hours later and was just overcast and damp afterwards. The roads had dried out by the time we hit the pavement for the 21 mile final leg. It was a nice ride, I hope to do it again in the fall with my wife on our tandem

indyfabz

Bike is on its way to Missoula. Flying out there on the 17th. Weather was unseasonably warm recently, but it looks like it's back to normal. Plowing of GTS is going well. Crews are closing in on Logan Pass from the west side. Absent something freakish, I am confident the west side will be open on June 28th, when I plan to ride it.

Leebo

Planning on doing some of the XVT this summer. It is a 95% off road bikepacking route the length of Vermont. Stashing the car at my brother in laws near Greenfield MA. 50 miles of dirt road/pave gets me into the Green Mt Nat. Forest, bikes are allowed on the forest service roads there. 2 more days get me up to Wallingford. Some remote stuff, will hang bear bag away from camp and use some kind of water fliter/purifier. Need to plan out food supply form the general stores in the area. 4-5 days total. Sort of running out of stuff closest to Boston. ME next year I think.

hueyhoolihan

not too many can finish off a ride, including a bear encounter, with a refreshing Starbucks.

jefnvk

Getting a 70ish mile S24O setup for two weekend's time, for my two long tour buddies to shakedown their setups. Unfortunately it'll be on one of the most beautiful paved rail trails that probably exist in the country, and not a more hilly rough road that will better simulate the tour, but should be a good time anyhow!

Ty0604

We're leaving on the 16th for a ~month long ~800 mile tour from Missoula to West Yellowstone and then looping through Yellowstone NP & Grand Teton NP before ending back in West Yellowstone via the Idaho side of the Tetons.

It'll be my first tour since my accident in February.

DropBarFan

Hey Ty, great to hear you're in biking shape again.

In re other Short Tour posters, I'm a bit surprised how popular "gravel" touring is but OTOH off-road short tours have a lot of pluses like better scenery, no cars, perhaps free camping etc. Back in the 70's medium-long distance rural bike trails were very rare, now they're all over the place. I'm planning to do the GAP--just now I read that GAP was only completed in 2013!

jefnvk

That's a short tour???

Just kidding of course, have a good ride!

Ty0604

Hey thanks! I appreciate it. We want to do the GAP as well. We are thinking next year though.

haha Comparative, yes! Thank you!

Happy Feet

I'm leaving in a week and a half for a mixed paved/gravel trip through the Rockies from Calgary to Jasper. Initially I planned to continue the ride from Jasper back down to Vancouver but found a cheap one way train ticket from Jasper to home so I have a lot of time to explore some off the beaten path places I haven't seen before. It's also my first "sort of" bikepacking trip so kinda keen to see how that all works. Some off pavement areas include the Smith Dorrien trail, the Lake O'Hara road and the Lake Kinney trail below Mt Robson.

Machka 

We might be somewhere in that area in about a week and a half too.

BigAura

3xs1

saddlesores

if you're wanting to do some gravel, and if you're boxing your bike to
fly to a starting point anyways, i'd recommend a cheap flight to asia.

super awesome gravel roads in cambodia and laos, with minimal to
at times non-existent vehicle traffic. free camping? hah! small towns
are close enough that you can ride with minimal gear on remote
dirt roads and still stay in a guesthouse (often with ac!) every night
if you choose, usually for only $5-10 per night.

these photos are from an 85-km section of dirt/sand/pea gravel
in cambodia near the border with laos. doable in a day if you
start early.

be prepared, though. on this section, only two tiny villages, so
no resupply. no through roads. the trails are not on the maps
(if you can find any) and there are no signs. google maps either
doesn't show the trails, or misplaces them. in short....fun.

Happy Feet

Hah!

I'm departing Calgary June 20 and should be moving west/northwest from there. I plan to do a few hub and spoke day trips from towns like Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper. I'll check BF and if we are in the same area should meet up for a coffee to say hello. I'd like to me you and Rowan .

Happy Feet

Great photos!

saddlesores

as to short tours....i'm finishing up my contract here in a month, then have a couple
weeks left until my residence permit expires.

decided not to ride to thighland this time, too much stuff. mail a few boxes and they
fly. think i'll do a circuit of hainan island before leaving....

DropBarFan

Sounds pretty interesting, I guess some mountain scenery in Cambodia/Laos too. At local DC China visa office I met a guy who had road-toured SE China & was going back. He noted the easy & cheap accommodations, pretty good roads & surprisingly knowing basically no Chinese language was not a major hindrance.

Machka 

We might be just ahead of you ... we'll be in Jasper on the 17th and 18th, I think, and then heading back into the Vancouver area. We're driving but bringing the bicycles with us to ride as much as we can.

BikeliciousBabe

Our last big tour for awhile we hope

rdrummond

Follow up post since doing the ride:

My trip was a two day out-and-back from Front Royal, VA to the Big Meadows
Lodge in the middle of Shenandoah National Park. 52 miles one-way. I hope
some information in here might help someone else planning a similar trip.

Trip dates: June 18-19.

Weather: The weather on the mountain is generally not the same as that forecasted
for the towns on the valley floor. For example, in the valley towns it can be
90 deg F and humid with forecasted rain, and on the ridge 75 deg F, dry, bright
and breezy. The latter was the weather I was lucky enough to enjoy for the whole
trip. However: weather changes can come quickly, particuarly as you change elevation.
Bring rain gear, if nothing else you'll have peace of mind in bringing it. Man made
shelters on Skyline are far apart. The assumption is that you're in a car.
Keep that in mind.

Elevation gain for first day: 6700-6900 ft (depending on the mapping service you use).
I chose not to GPS the ride itself just to save battery on my phone. And I wasn't
about to set any speed records on the climbs! The profile and gradients are attached.
You can expect 3-5% grade for most of the ascents. There are small stretches of 6-8%
grade, particularly at the "gaps" (such as the entrance at Front Royal, or Thornton
gap at route 211, where the road has to climb at a greater rate to get up onto the
ridge. The ridgeline hovers around 3300-3500 ft for the most part.

My bike was my self-built Surly Straggler, a 1x with 48T in the front and 11-32
in the back. Tires were Panaracer Protek 35's. The disc brakes worked well to control
speed on the descents & curves. On that score, Skyline drive is extremely clean
pavement, at least where I rode it in the northen 50 miles. I built the Surly for
touring and commuting, with butterfly bar and is set up best for seated climbing.
Also, the Panaracers are sticky but they are great in the rain and there was the
possibility of rain on the trip. I had considered using my road bike, which is a
much better climbing machine, but I took the Surly because (a) there was some prediction
of bad weather and my Surly is better built for that, and (b) I could make use of my rear
rack and panniers for gear and clothes, as I was doing an overnight. In the end I was glad
to have the touring bike as opposed to the road machine.

If you're on the backside of 40 like me, going up the first 4-1/2 miles from
Front Royal to Dickey Ridge at 6 AM is not easy on the legs. The initial grades here
push over the 3-5% I had mentally expected, and so at first 50 miles of this seemed
daunting. But, at the first switchback, the grade backed down, I warmed up, and after
that all was well. As an aside, I'd recommend making use of the numerous "overlooks"
that are every 2-3 miles or so, (a) to stop and smell the roses, and (b) to recharge
your legs, take water and some food. Mentally it is better to accept that you will
always be climbing, and not in a mindset to "get to the top" of the hill as one might
when doing normal training rides.

On food and amenities on Skyline: I was able to cover one day of riding pretty well
with two bottle cages, and a couple (big) energy bars, plus the following supports:

(a) Elkwallow Wayside (mile 25). Elkwallow is a small cabin convenience-store setup
with restrooms. They have all kinds of food and drink on offer, reasonable prices,
including pre-packaged sandwiches that you can trust. Of course you can fill your
bottles too. Also, there are alot of bees who will great interest in your sweaty bike.
If you like bees. If you don't, like me, then be prepared to jump on your bike and
get away fast. :-) Not very crowded, more cyclists than car travelers here. I gathered
that regional cyclists use Front Royal to Elkwallow as a training route.

(b) Skyland (mile 40): Skyland is a rest area with taproom/restaurant seating, a nice
outdoor overlook with seating. Restrooms, snacks, you name it. It's like a typical vehicle
rest stop on an US interstate. As opposed to Elkwallow, alot of car travelers here. Also,
as you will find elsewhere on Skyline, alot of Appalachian Trail hikers, who will ask you
"what day is this?" I saw one AT guy, licking food out of can. I kid you not.
Fill your bottles !

On sharing the road with vehicles: I didn't find this a problem at all. I rode on a Sunday from
6 AM - 1:30 PM, and Monday from 5:30 AM to 11 AM. I did encounter a road crew who was paving (see
above comments on excellent road quality on Monday, but that was minor.) I didn't get any
problems from drivers and found a few to even be supportive. The road is popular with
motorcycles, but they are even less of an issue than cars. The road tends to be busiest with
vehicle traffic at the "gaps" as this is where Skyline intersects with the normal highway system.
but as there are no lights or other intersections on Skyline, the cars pass easily and traffic
stretches out quite a bit. I had numerous spans of time where I had the road totally to myself.

On gear: as with any ride, be able to fix a flat and do typical adjustments to brakes or gears.
This ride is more self-supported than perhaps other rides are, there are not bike shops (or
anything really) around and in some places cell coverage is poor or non-existent. Extra tip:
Bring a little bike grease with you, because if you have a squeaking pedal clip it will drive
you crazy as you grind up the climbs. Speaking from experience. The waysides and lodges do
not offer cycling stuff, so BYO.

On bears: I saw two bears on Skyline, one that crossed the road 30 yards ahead of me, and one
on the roadside maybe 10 yards from me (it was walking away at the time). Not much else to say..
they are gone as soon as you see them. However, after seeing one, I would loudly shout nonsense
to no one for a bit, trying to implement the bear safety protocols I had read. Thinking I was
scaring away great numbers of bears lurking in the woods. Guess I'll never know.

I must admit, as Zen as I tried to be with the climbing, by the time I reached Big Meadows
at mile 50 I was scaring bears via stream of obscenities. But that was was fatigue and
crashing blood sugar. The punchline is that the final run-up to Big Meadows goes up to about 7%
which feels awful by then, and then...after you turn off Skyline, the lodge is..wait for..at the
top of a hill. I laugh now. I didn't then.

Big Meadows is a large campground and lodge facility. I stayed in a lodge room, which I'd
describe as a cross between a cabin and a conventional hotel room. My room was pretty good
and better than I expected to be honest for a park facility. I had a really good meal there
and a great night's sleep for the next day.

Day 2 was almost gravy, another hard morning start on tired legs, but 6700 feet of descent.
Enough said. Due to fatigue, the flats and relatively minor climbs on this day felt difficult,
especially at the start of the day...mid ride I found my legs again.

Overall, I think this was a great ride experience and really glad that I did it, and I would
highly recommend it!

On training: I can only tell you what I typically do in a week, and this was enough for me
to do the ride and enjoy the effort. 60-90 miles/week total volume, approx 30 miles/ride.
Typical elev gains I do per ride range anywhere from 500 feet (commuting) to 3000 feet
(weekend ride) and all in between. Typical ride avg speed 15-16 mph. I did focus on hill
training in the months leading up to the ride, nothing structured, just climb anything I
could get my wheels on. If you have access to long hills that's best, as opposed to steep.
A great training hill for this ride would be about 1 mile long, at 3-5% grade.

Machka 

A little weekend short tour.

Saturday -- Rowan and I cycled what was probably the most difficult / challenging 200 km randonnee (long distance cycling event ) I've ever done. 210 km with 2700 metres of climbing in a heat we haven't experienced since we were in Queensland at Easter in 2016.

We made a guest appearance with the BC Randonneurs and did the 200K event of the Peace to Parliament "hell week". Some riders also did only the 200K, but some did the whole set of four rides from Fort St. John all the way down to Victoria.
Peace to Parliament - 4 brevets from Fort St John to Victoria in June 2017

Rowan was all right in the heat. He is usually the one who struggles with hot temperatures. But this time it was me. By about the half way point I knew I was battling heat exhaustion. I think May's surgery put a dent in my fitness level.

Nevertheless we finished the ride in Victoria within the time limit ... with 30 min to spare! Our total time was 13 hours.

And then went for a 2-3 km walk to find dinner!


Distance: 212.1km (including the ride up to our B&B)
Elevation: 2,729m
Moving Time: 11:39:32
Elapsed Time: 13:36:03
Speed: Avg: 18.2km/h | Max: 50.4km/h


Sunday -- After a deep 8 hours of sleep, we were up for a delicious breakfast at our B&B, and then off again.

We needed to cycle back to Duncan to complete the circle. Today's ride gave us a chance to ride some of the cycling trails in Victoria and that was a really pleasant part of the ride. Then up and over a hill to the ferry to take us across to the second half of the journey. That second half of the journey was a little bit more difficult with a few more climbs ... and heat. The official "in the shade" temp reached 32C, but our on-bike computers showed as high as 40C while we were cycling.

We finally stopped for lunch where we ate salty food and had quite a lot to drink to rehydrate.

From there, we only had about 10 km to go, and were into our destination in no time to complete a challenging little short tour loop (a randonnee + recovery ride) on a hot, hot weekend!

Distance: 51.6km
Elevation: 422m
Moving Time: 3:24:10
Elapsed Time: 5:52:08
Speed: Avg: 15.2km/h | Max: 47.9km/h

DropBarFan

Surprising how much the temps can change, I've only rode in fall when temps are more constant but more chance of riding thru fog or rain. Even in summer the higher elevations can get rain while lower elevations stay dry.

[QUOTE[On bears: I saw two bears on Skyline[/QUOTE]

Wow, I've never seen bears on Skyline, maybe they're more active in the spring; once at Front Royal entrance I saw a bunch of buzzards ominously hanging around the parking area, .

Yes, interesting how quickly the training effect starts even when legs are pretty tired. Would be nice to live near Skyline/BRP, ideal for mountain tour training.

indiana_jane

Last summer, I did Jasper to Banff. It was an amazing ride --- you'll love it.

This year I don't have any big trips planned...just a two day ride from Olympia to Seattle in a couple weeks. I was going to do it in one day, but I fractured my elbow a couple weeks ago and, while the arm, I think, will be ok. I have, though, lost some fitness and haven't really been on the bike since. The doc said to wait for his 'ok' which, hopefully, I'll get next week. I did a sneaky ride around the block today and it felt good, but I feel a bit safer with the two day plan. Mostly it gives me the chance to stop Tacoma and decide on the day to go via Vashon Island (the original plan) with more hills, or the flat route via the interurban trail.

If its two days and I'm carrying my stuff, that counts as a "tour" right?