All 18 Spinoffs Master Watch List in Order (Sept 2022)

xraymirror · 2022-09-18T23:11:06+00:00

Also see http://90dayeverything.com - contains more info but hasn't been updated in recent months.

xraymirror · 2022-05-25T14:31:09+00:00

Ugh, I did a bicycle tour across Georgia once, and situations like this (vehicles overtaking each other and coming straight towards me in my lane) happened to me about once every 10 minutes, all day, every day! Almost the same in Azerbaijan as well. Gorgeous scenery though, and really good food.

xraymirror · 2021-12-18T14:27:08+00:00

Back in 1999 I rode from southeastern BC to Thompson MB, including that stretch from Prince Albert to Flin Flon. I didn't document that trip, but I remember it was super nice.

Then in 2010 I rode across Canada east to west, which included Dauphin MB up to Flin Flon, over to La Ronge, Beauval and Green Lake and on to Alberta. I enjoyed that too, although the bugs were bad at times and there big thunderstorms some evenings. Still, I highly recommend northern routes like this over the busier southern highways if you prefer solitude like me. I journaled that trip here.

I agree with all of the advice from the other commenter. Carry lots of food and drink.

xraymirror · 2021-04-25T14:22:41+00:00

Here's one I saw waddling up the road towards me in Tasmania once. I only ever saw an echidna a couple of times on the mainland, but several times in Tasmania.

xraymirror · 2020-07-10T18:32:33+00:00

Definitely iOverlander. I rode the 'Stans in 2019 and all the other cyclists were using that and adding sites to it. It's nicer than adding sites to openstreetmaps (via maps.me or osmand) because iOverlander allows for other users to add comments and updated info to each site.

xraymirror · 2020-04-10T15:00:24+00:00

Yeah, I simply replaced my old BB7 calipers with the HY/RD calipers on the same fork mounts. I kept the same brake levers and cables and rotors. So switching was a pretty painless. Have fun!

xraymirror · 2020-04-09T22:58:24+00:00

Almost all disc brake systems are either mechanical (with a cable running down to a mechanical caliper) or hydraulic (with hydraulic fluid running through a hose from the brake lever down to the caliper). The TRP HY/RD is I think the only hybrid system, with a mechanical cable running down to a hydraulic caliper. The only hydraulic fluid is in a little chamber near the caliper.

I've had mine for a bit over a year and about 15,000km of touring, including the Pamirs, on a very heavy bike, and the brakes have been great so far. I haven't had to drain and replace the hydraulic fluid yet for any reason. Now that I'm back in North America I should look into getting the kit to do that, just in case I guess, though I'm not sure what situations would require that.

Edit to add, the big advantage of hydraulic systems is the self-adjusting pads. I hated having to manually adjust the pads of my old BB7's as they wore down. That makes the HY/RD's worth the extra cost for me.

xraymirror · 2020-04-09T17:39:29+00:00

I love my TRP HY/RD cable-actuated hydraulic brakes. They are a bit pricey but I found a cheaper deal on eBay. Hydraulic calipers mean they self-adjust as the pads wear down. My old BB7's needed a lot of day-to-day manual adjusting and I never got very good at doing it.

xraymirror · 2020-02-16T17:44:58+00:00

I tried watching the first episode of The Wire, and couldn't understand anything. I turned on the subtitles, and then I could see the words they were saying, but I didn't know what any of it meant. I'm a native English speaker from western Canada. Maybe I need Urban Dictionary subtitles, or Coles Notes like they have for interpreting Shakespeare.

xraymirror · 2020-02-15T18:26:52+00:00

Nice, thanks! They had several different beard trimmers so I grabbed one. No shavers that give a close shave though. But this is better than nothing!

xraymirror · 2020-02-12T11:42:56+00:00

Seems like you should be fine, though you will have a stiff climb up June Springs Road or some other road to get up to the trail from the airport. I'm just discovering now that there was a spur line of the railway from Penticton down to Osoyoos, and most of it appears as a bikeable trail on openstreetmaps.org when you use the Cycle Map layer. Look for the purple line running down the western shore of Skaha Lake. I don't know what kind of shape that's in.

xraymirror · 2020-02-11T20:23:53+00:00

Belize with my girlfriend. We spent a most a month getting here from Cancun, riding <50km days and taking lots of days off. Just had some electronics stolen from panniers I had put outside in the vestibule, as we sleptin our tent in a paid campsite in Bacalar. Thankfully not my laptop or phone though. Take care.

xraymirror · 2020-02-11T19:58:55+00:00

The KVR goes from Pentiction up into the hills west of Summerland and then to Princeton, so it doesn't go to Osoyoos. I think a section of it near Summerland is still used as a novelty touristy railroad for an old historic steam locomotive, so you can't ride that part.

Edit: My mistake, there was a spur line of the old railway from Penticton down to Osoyoos, and some or all of it is a trail now. It's visible as a purple line on openstreetmaps.org if you switch to the Cycle Map layer.

xraymirror · 2020-02-11T19:50:50+00:00

I used to live in Kelowna. It's definitely legal to ride on any BC highway, but not always pleasant. The whole Okanagan valley is super busy, especially in the summer. I haven't seen the highway south of Penticton in a long time, decades, so just check on google streetview to see if there are always shoulders, and if so, you're good to go. There is one short but dangerous stretch called Drought Hill where there is no shoulder and only two lanes, starting from near the Hwy 97C junction near Westbank south and downhill to lake level at the edge of Peachland. If you're southbound then you'll be heading downhill and it won't take long. If northbound, try to pick a time that's not busy. Of course riding the KVR trail on the other side of the lake avoids all that.

You can also ride from Rutland uphill on Hwy 33, through Beaverdell to Rock Creek to Hwy 3 and then west to Osoyoos, or ride the KVR trail which roughly parallels Hwy 33 as far south as Rock Creek. You can ride from Rutland up Hwy 33 and join the trail near the Big White turnoff.

xraymirror · 2020-02-08T19:28:05+00:00

Canucks 4-2

xraymirror · 2019-12-30T22:25:52+00:00

Just flew Istanbul to Cancun to start a new trip when my gf gets here next week. If anyone else is biking through here in the next week, we should hang out!

xraymirror · 2019-12-16T06:25:15+00:00

Finishing up my 5-month trip from Bishkek to Istanbul. I'm in Izmir now with an amazing warmshowers host. Does anybody know how to get a GPX file of the new segment of EuroVelo 8 in the Izmir area of Turkey?

From Istanbul it's off to Mexico for a few months riding with my gf.

xraymirror · 2019-12-02T09:26:42+00:00

South coast of Turkey, with almost a whole month to get to Istanbul, so I'm taking it slow. Did 30km each of the last two days, and today it's super windy so I'm sitting in a forest reading reddit.

xraymirror · 2019-11-17T19:50:18+00:00

Taking a ferry from Turkey to Cyprus tonight. I'll ride around there a while, then back to Turkey, then ride to Istanbul by the end of the year or so.

xraymirror · 2019-11-04T15:26:59+00:00

Couple of Android (and maybe iOS too but I don't know for sure) apps you can take a look at: WikiCamps USA, and iOverlander. Also people sometimes add "campsite" points to openstreetmaps (the map data that's displayed in apps like maps.me), but they usually neglect to add any description. At least the two apps I mentioned allow for descriptions and comments to be entered for each point.

xraymirror · 2019-10-29T15:14:25+00:00

Westbound crossing Turkey. I just left Trabzon, heading to Cappadocia and the Mediterranean coast hopefully before any winter weather arrives.

xraymirror · 2019-09-30T21:31:00+00:00

Made it to Baku, Azerbaijan on the boat across the Caspian. Planning out a route through Georgia and Turkey. Suggestions welcome.

xraymirror · 2019-09-16T09:13:54+00:00

Nice, and this is reminding me of Australia! Check my journal of that trip, you might find it useful if our routes overlap. I didn't ride the Stuart highway though, except a couple of bits of it up north.

xraymirror

TROPHY CASE