many water bottles, no maps
The order of bike stuff finally arrived. Anti-climactic for sure. A box of water bottles, brakes and a wireless computer. Now the wireless computer makes a lot of sense. It seems that every computer wire gets mangled and much jiggling and cajoling takes place to get the computer functioning.
I want to document the ride so am considering getting a gps. I have no clue how to use one and am not sure that it will do what I want. I need something that we mark the route and then print it out when I get home. It should be able to show what we encountered along the way and list things like rest areas, water stops and services. Am I expecting too much from one piece of equipment? Is there something better that would serve the same purpose?
I definitely have to do something to increase the excitement of the arrival of new equipment and gear. I think that the first step just happens to involve ordering something more exotic than water bottles. They weren’t even fancy water bottles, just the plain old Nashbar model that we have been using for years.
The next order is a bit more exciting. Shoes, shorts, another computer, a new helmet, sunglasses….. Now those are exciting things to get. Now we have something to look forward to for next week.
The maps on the other hand seem to have some difficulty finding their way to us. The guy in the office promised that I would get them and wouldn’t fall through the cracks this time. Is somebody else in the village planning the same trip? Is the map being delivered by a x-country cyclist? We aren’t too far from one of the AC routes, or at least I don’t think we are.
Planning progresses little by little everyday. I only need to figure out getting out of Minn-St. Paul and into Wisconsin. From there everything seems so much more familiar to me. The terrain and town names don’t seem so strange. The roads seem straighter than they are in Minnesota. Even the distance seems easier. 70 miles in Michigan seems so much more doable than 70 miles in Montana.
Back to finish Minnesota.
October 27th, 2006 at 6:21 pm
Just a note of caution about a wireless computer. I’ve had 2 fail on tour, the most recent a VDO C3DS wireless. Wireless is certainly nice without any wires. The primary downside of wireless is first it requires another battery to power the transmitter. It is best if the transmitter and main unit use the same type of battery, such as a CR2032. The bigger issue is that if something goes wrong it may not be easy to determine whether it is the transmitter or the main unit. I just had that problem on my recent tour. I was sure it was the main unit but now I suspect it really was the transmitter.
Also, I’m not sure that 70 miles in Michigan is necessarily easier than 70 miles in Montana. It’s true that you may have some more challenging hills/mountains in Montana and services will generally be more frequent in Michigan. On the other hand, routing is generally going to be easier in Montana. Usually there aren’t a lot of options to get from point A to point B so you often just get on a road and travel a long ways before having to turn off on to another road.
October 28th, 2006 at 11:28 am
Denis,
You are absolutely right that 70 miles in Michigan isn’t necessarily easier that 70 in Montana. It’s just that I am very familiar with Michigan, so I know the terrain and there isn’t much foreign about it. Montana on the other hand isn’t totally foreign to me, but I have only traveled by car there and am pretty sure that Missoula is the only town along the route that I have ever been to. Anyway, it is more of a psychological thing than a reality.
I can tell you of some tough Michigan rides a lot shorter than 70 miles. But, I usually knew what lay ahead whichin many cases was more headwinds.
As for wireless computers, I was wrongly assuming that the technology was better now than when they first came out. Both of us will have one with us so I hope that we can keep one working at all times. My wired computer intermittently stops when the wires get jiggled the wrong way. I may just see if there is some way to improve that connection and stick with it and take the wireless as a backup.