Conference noted::bicycle

1767.0. "Cycle America --- New England" by STAFF::ERICKSON (John Erickson, DTN 232-2590) Tue Oct 23 1990 14:37

        I pulled  this off NEWS a few days ago.  Should be of interest to
        anyone considering a regional or trans-continental ride!
        
        John
        
Article        24191
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From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles
Subject: trip report: Cycle America - New England (long)
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Date: 4 Oct 90 03:59:49 GMT
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Organization: GE R & D
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        At the  end of August, I took a bike trip across New England with
        a company called  Cycle America.  Here is a somewhat belated trip
        report.
 
        For those of you who are not familar with Cycle America, they are
        a company out of Northfield,  Minnesota.    This  was their third
        season of business.  They offer  a  12  week  trip across the US,
        starting in Anacortes, Washington and ending in  Belfast,  Maine.
        The advantage of Cycle America is that they  break  up  the  trip
        into 12 independent week-long segments.  You can sign  up  for as
        many  weeks as you choose.  Another advantage is that  they  will
        provide  (for a fee), transportation from the end of each segment
        to  the beginning.  Each segment's ride starts on Sunday and ends
        on Friday.    Saturday is an off day when they do the ferrying to
        the start/end of the segments.
 
        I  signed up  for  the  New  England  segment  which  started  in
        Clintonville, NY (just south  of Plattsburgh).  The route crossed
        Lake Champlain (by ferry), went  across  northern Vermont and New
        Hampshire, followed by southern Maine, ending  in Belfast, Maine.
        For 1990, the basic cost of each  segment  was  $130.  (There are
        discounts for multiple segments and early sign-ups.   Prices  are
        going up $10 per segment for 1991.) The basic cost includes:
 
        1) Get-acquainted dinner on Saturday night
        2) Maps and route marking
        3) Sag wagon support
        4) Baggage transportation
        5) Camping
        6) Cycle America T-shirt
 
        I  thought  the  route  selection was excellent.  The  route  was
        primarily on lightly traveled, good condition, back roads.  In  a
        few  cases, we had to go on some roads with a  bit  more  traffic
        than  I  like,  but  those  streches  were  short  and  had  wide
        shoulders.   I don't think there is any way to do a long point to
        point bike trip  and  totally  avoid some undesirable roads, so I
        can't fault the organizers  for  that.  You were given vague maps
        that gave you a general  idea  were  you  were going.  The actual
        route was indicated by yellow arrows  painted  on the road at key
        intersections.  I never had any problems  missing  arrows.  A few
        people did manage to get lost, but I  think  that  was  their own
        fault, not a problem with the marking.  There  were  3 sag wagons
        which  cruised  the  route  in  case  of  illness  or  mechanical
        problems.
 
        Total  mileage for the New England segment was 370 miles.   Short
        day  was  47  miles, long day was 83.  (Other segments varied  in
        length from 363  miles  (North Dakota) to 510 miles (Minnesota).)
        The long day also  had  the  most climbing, since we went through
        two passes:  Kinsman Notch  (1814)  and Kancamagus Pass (2860) in
        New Hampshire.  However, I enjoyed  that  day  the  most, since I
        thought it had the best the scenery  of  the  trip and there were
        two great downhills out of the passes.   There  is  a  12 mile up
        hill from the west of Kancamagus pass, although the  grade  isn't
        too  steep  until near the top and even then it  isn't  too  bad.
        From the top, it was about 7 miles of coasting (I generally don't
        pedal  past 25 mph), plus another 16 miles with a slight downhill
        grade where you can really cruise if you want.
 
        I thought  the  New England trip was moderately strenous.  For me
        it was perfect  -  hard  enough to be challenging without killing
        myself.    I  was  usually  comfortably  tired  but  not  totally
        exhausted at the end of  the  day.    Your  mileage  may vary.  I
        thought the scenery was beautiful, particulary New Hampshire.
 
        The camping accomodations were on high  school  atheletic fields,
        with the access to the showers in  the  locker rooms.  This might
        not be to everyone's taste, but I didn't find it too bad.  
 
        For an extra $95, you could sign up for meals, which started with
        breakfast on Sunday and ended with lunch on Friday.   Some people
        did  their  own  thing,  but most people signed up for  the  meal
        service.   It included all three meals, all you could eat.    Not
        gourmet  fare,  but  nourishing  solid  food.  I thought it was a
        pretty good  deal.    (Provisions were made for vegetarians, like
        meatless pasta sauce.)
 
        The daily drill was as follows:
 
        Breakfast from 6-7:30 AM.  Load your duffle bags (each person was
        allowed two large duffle  bags)  on  the  baggage  truck by 8:30.
        Lunch on the road.   Dinner  from  5 - 7 PM.  8 PM, tour briefing
        for the next day.
 
        Other nice features.  There were  4  mechanics on the trip.  They
        would work on your bike for $16  /  hour.    They also had a full
        complement of tools which you could borrow to  work  on your bike
        if you wanted to do something yourself.  There was also a masseur
        on the trip.  He charged $40/hour, but you could  sign  up for as
        little as 15 minutes.  I did two 15 minute sessions after the two
        longest days  and  thought  it was worthwhile.  Apparently so did
        other people.   The  guy  was  working from 3:30 in the afternoon
        until about 11 PM.
 
        The transportation from the  end of each segment to the start was
        $70 for you and your  bike.   This was optional, but I thought it
        was quite convenient.  They had  two  shuttles  for each segment:
        one the day before the week's trip  started  and  one  the day it
        ended, so you could leave you car at  either end if you were just
        doing  a  week  and  had driven.  They also  have  transportation
        to/from the nearest airport for about $25.  For the  New  England
        trip,  this  was  the Albany airport at the start and the  Bangor
        airport at the end.  
 
        There  were 260 people on the New England segment.  Of these,  90
        had  done  the  whole  12  weeks.   This may sound like a lot  of
        people, but  I  didn't  find it a problem.  In the morning people
        got up at  different  times,  so  there  were  never big lines at
        breakfast.  People were  really  spread  out  on  the road, which
        meant they got to the  night's  stopping places widely spaced, so
        there usually wasn't a problem with  showers.    There was a line
        right  at 5 PM for dinner, but  if  you  waited  until  5:30,  it
        thinned out.  
 
        Conclusions:  I thought the trip was a  great deal.  If you don't
        mind the group aspect (I have friends who hate  riding with large
        groups),  you  want a trip where someone lays out the  route  and
        carries your  gear,  I  would  highly  recommend  Cycle  America.
        Several of the  people  I  met  on  the trip had done other trips
        previous years and were  repeat  customers.    Others I talked to
        were planing on doing another  segment  next  year.    Next year,
        Cycle America will repeat the 12  week  coast  to coast trip.  In
        addition, they are adding a 9 week  trip  out  west.    This will
        start  at the north rim of the Grand  Canyon,  go  north  through
        Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Alberta to Jasper.   It will
        then  head south through British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and
        California, ending  at  the Golden Gate Bridge.  I am considering
        doing the Alberta and British Columbia segments.
 
        If you want a brochure, Cycle America's address is:
 
        Box 29
        Northfield, MN  55057
        phone: (507) 663-1268
 
        If anyone has  specific  questions  about the New England trip or
        about Cycle America, I  would  be  glad  to answer them.  I don't
        have personal knowledge about any  of  the  other segments, but I
        might be able to answer questions about them from talking to some
        of the cross-country riders.  (e.g.  Most people who did New York
        really  liked it.  People thought Pennsylvania was  pretty  hard.
        Short but very steep hills.)
 
        DISCLAIMER:  I have no financial interst in Cycle  America.  Just
        a satisfied customer.
 
        Marc Laymon	         E-MAIL: [email protected]
        GE R&D
        Schenectady, NY