Category Archives: Bicycling

Is This Blog Dead?

Short answer: pretty much, but I’ll still keep it around for the archived material, such as my bicycle trip across the USA, and my Kenmore dryer mounting hardware post which seems to be of use to many. Also a couple of posts on using Open Street Maps and using my Garmin for on-bike navigation seem to be of interest to more than me!

I’d say that I don’t have the time to post, but that’s not entirely true. It’s just that, in general, I’d rather not spend the time writing about doing something, when I could be spending more time doing it!

One other update from mid-2019: I disabled all commenting on this site. The spammers are getting more creative, and since I rarely post, the spam battle is not worth fighting.

New ElliptiGo!

In mid-December, I hurt my foot (plantar fasciitis) and decided it would be best to lay off the running for a while. I’ve heard of runners using the ElliptiGo as a cross training tool, and it just so happened that I was able to pick one up used!

Here’s some information on some tweaks I ended up doing to the ElliptiGo to make it more suited for my needs. In a future post I’ll talk more about how it is working out as an exercise/training tool. Continue reading →

Photos from Tahkenitch Dunes Trail in Oregon

On another forum, Raina mentioned her run on the Tahkenitch Lakes Trail in Oregon earlier today. What a coincidence, this was an area where Clint and I made a pit stop and did a hike during my Oregon Coast bicycle tour! I shared a few photos on my Day 4 writeup, but there’s no better time than the present to share the rest. (By the way, at the time, I was less than enthused about getting sand in my bike shoes, but the scenic detour was worth it after the fact.) Enjoy! Continue reading →

Using a Garmin Edge 810 for Navigation

TLDR version, April 1, 2018:

I don’t use my Garmin Edge 810 for navigation very often, so when I do, it seems like I have to re-learn how to do so every time. TLDR version of the steps:

  • Download route as TCX file from Ride with GPS or Strava
  • Connect the Edge 810 to the computer, and copy the TCX file to the /Garmin/New Files/ folder on the device
  • And, most important, go to that route on the Edge 810 and manually turn off Virtual Partner

And now back to the old post….

Although my Garmin Edge 810 is marketed as a bicycle GPS and does a great job recording rides, out of the box it is not the easiest to use as a navigational tool with maps. I don’t need this functionality at home, but when traveling out of town with my bike, I’ve always wanted to find someone else’s ride online, upload it to my Garmin, and then have the Garmin tell me where I need to turn without using a printed route slip. I am traveling this week and was finally successful (or should I say, finally spent the time to figure out what needed to be done) in doing this! Here’s how I did it.

Continue reading →

Day 8: Astoria OR, 53 miles

Today’s route

Once again, I got an early start. Since this was my last day, it was best to cook the last cup of noodles for breakfast and use up all my remaining stove fuel in the process. I had already used up my Bic lighter, but luckily the folks in the adjacent campsite had one. They had come out from Portland for the weekend to camp, and this was the only campground on the coast they could find a spot last minute.

Continue reading →

Day 7: Bay Center, 53 miles

Today’s route

Just after I sent out yesterday’s update, Martin returned to camp. He started in Vancouver and is headed to San Francisco. He got some advice from his Vancouver friend to take the train out as far as he could and then start riding from there. (Why didn’t my Vancouver friends tell me that? Oh yeah, I didn’t ask…) Then he crossed the border at Blaine, then took a route through Port Townsend and on the east side of the Olympic Peninsula. Meanwhile, I had used a route on the west side of the peninsula, and so our routes have merged as we both head south.

Continue reading →

Day 6: Westport, 63 miles

Today’s route

I started off the day with a short morning run along the lakeside trail. One of my friends asked me how I can still run even on a bike trip like this. I said it’s easy – the birds wake me up at 5, I finally roll out of my sleeping bag at 5:30, pack a little bit, go for a run at 6, then at 6:30 pack the rest of my stuff, and then I’m at the cafe for breakfast at 7 when it opens!

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Day 4: Hoh Rainforest, 58 miles

Today’s route

Since I’m camping, I woke up with the sun around 5:30, as is typical for me. I went for the morning run, just a couple of miles, almost all the way to the beach and back. Running in my cycling clothes isn’t bad, that’s kind of like being a triathlete I guess. The problem is that the cell phone and wallet bounce up and down like – oh, never mind. The easy solution is to just carry them in my hands, that’s good enough for such a short run.

Continue reading →