Seeking Riding Companion(s) for Journey of a Lifetime

[creadinger]

I definitely can’t join, but I fwded your post on to a friend of mine who was directly affected by ALS.

Sounds like an amazing trip! Best of luck!

[dasgeh]

I can’t join either, unfortunately, but keep us posted. I have some connections in the ALS world as well. (One a documentarian…)

[KLizotte]

Additional information may help in your quest to find riding mate(s). For instance, are you looking to camp the entire way as opposed to staying in hotels/motels? Have you done over night trips before? How long do you expect the trip to last? Average riding speed/expected miles per day? Will the riding mate(s) be expected to raise funds for ALS as well? Etc.

Best of luck and it sounds like a great cause!

[wrosselet]

Hi again!

Thanks for the feedback! I plan to do a little bit of camping and a little bit of staying with some folks on http://www.warmshowers.org when available. I want to start the trip off pretty easy as the terrain definitely isn’t flat and I don’t want to get burned out right off the bat. So at the beginning I’m planning to do less than 50 miles per day (around 40), resting every fourth day, and gradually building up to 55-60 per day as the terrain becomes a bit easier. I’m gauging that we’d finish around mid-June but I’m not absolutely certain as I’ve never done anything this extensive before. I don’t know how badly my butt is going to be kicked during that first month. Might have to rest more than I thought because I honestly don’t know what I’m capable of handling right now. I’m going to be doing a lot of riding this summer and fall in preparation and if the winter is decently non-snowy I’ll go out a good number of times from December to February. My companion(s) absolutely doesn’t/don’t have to raise funds for ALS. That’s just something that I’m doing because a close friend of my family was diagnosed in 2009 and I think it’s a good cause to ride for.

The way I’m mapping the route right now is by using Google maps. I mark out destinations that are within that 40-50 mile range from wherever I’m setting out from and search Warm Showers for nearby lodging that people are offering. If nothing’s showing up, I scope out campgrounds. A lot of the biking is on trails but some of it is on minor roads. I think this is a good way to get unique stories from the trip as opposed to everyone seeing the same things on the main biking trails.

[wrosselet]

Would anyone be up for *part* of the trip? I have a friend out in California that said he’s interested in doing a leg of the trip with me. Would anyone be interested in going with me for like a week or two? Maybe from Baltimore to Western PA with me? Or even into a bit of Ohio? Or you could do the end of the trip with me from somewhere in New Mexico or Nevada into San Francisco?

[Steve O]

Hi Wesley,
Last year, Friday Coffee Club regulars, Crystal Bae and her fiance, Adam, set out from the White House on May 24 to ride to her new job in Santa Barbara via Portland, OR. They made it in under 100 days.

You can relive their trip on her website/blog at http://www.crystalbae.com. The website also includes a map of their route. You can learn a lot by reading all of their entries. I’m sure if you contact Crystal she would be pleased to offer you tips. (start here: http://www.crystalbae.com/2013/05/)

I don’t know if there are other forums like this along your route, but you may have better luck finding a dozen people to ride with you for a week than one person to ride with you across the whole continent.

Good luck!

[Rootchopper]

You could also check out Adventure Cycling’s website. I think they have free Ride Companions “classified ads” on their website. Same goes for Crazyguyonabike.com’

[mstone]

@Rootchopper 85874 wrote:

You could also check out Adventure Cycling’s website. I think they have free Ride Companions “classified ads” on their website. Same goes for Crazyguyonabike.com’

I second checking out the ACA. I’d advise avoiding the crazyguyonabike site.

[cyclingfool]

@mstone 86209 wrote:

I second checking out the ACA. I’d advise avoiding the crazyguyonabike site.

I’m curious why you’d advise against looking for a riding companion on crazyguyonabike…?

[mstone]

@cyclingfool 86256 wrote:

I’m curious why you’d advise against looking for a riding companion on crazyguyonabike…?

Short answer: it’s basically one guy’s personal blog. People can use it, but if you get on the wrong side of the one guy whose personal blog it is, you’re gone. He has a lot of strong opinions on all kinds of things (politics, computers, veganism, whatever) and isn’t big on different opinions. Which is all fine, since it’s his personal blog, but after a while you start to notice that the community is not as open and vibrant as it might otherwise be. So not specifically when looking for a riding companion, but in general, I’d just suggest people go somewhere else.

[cyclingfool]

@mstone 86298 wrote:

Short answer: it’s basically one guy’s personal blog. People can use it, but if you get on the wrong side of the one guy whose personal blog it is, you’re gone. He has a lot of strong opinions on all kinds of things (politics, computers, veganism, whatever) and isn’t big on different opinions. Which is all fine, since it’s his personal blog, but after a while you start to notice that the community is not as open and vibrant as it might otherwise be. So not specifically when looking for a riding companion, but in general, I’d just suggest people go somewhere else.

Having been a regular on CGOAB at times over the years and seen some people banished from there, I certainly understand why you might raise the concerns yo do about differences of opinion. That said, to call it a personal blog is not a fair characterization. It’s a site open to all who wish to post there (paying or non-paying) as long as you play by the rules, which is true of any site. I think he does a pretty good job of setting boundaries and letting people express themselves within those boundaries. The people I’ve seen shut down on the site deserved it at least nine times out of ten IMHO for being openly (and unnecessarily) confrontational or trolling. And they have always been given multiple fair warnings in the cases I’ve seen.

I really like the crazyguyonabike site. I’ve posted a journal there and will again. I’ve even donated a few bucks once or twice, too, to support the site. The site owner/admin pours a lot of time and energy into it. I think it’s a great community resource for those touring cyclists or aspiring touring cyclists who do use it, and I have yet to find anything even close to it in terms of quality or breadth or user-posted content — between the forums there and more importantly the thousands upon thousands of bike touring journals.

So, to the OP, I personally wouldn’t hesitate to post a companion wanted post on crazyguyonabike. I thought mstone was raising some sort of safety concern or something, which he’s not. Rather than steer clear of it, I’d say steer straight for it. It’s a great site, and I think it could be very helpful to you, both in terms of finding a riding companion(s) and in terms of learning from the collective knowledge and experience of others.

[mstone]

@cyclingfool 86317 wrote:

Having been a regular on CGOAB at times over the years and seen some people banished from there, I certainly understand why you might raise the concerns yo do about differences of opinion. That said, to call it a personal blog is not a fair characterization. It’s a site open to all who wish to post there (paying or non-paying) as long as you play by the rules, which is true of any site. [/quote]

Nope, it’s a completely fair characterization. There is no process for any actions that Neil takes and no real rules other than “don’t annoy Neil”. There are some quasi-guidelines, but they don’t apply to him (e.g., he can attack somebody he disagrees with, but others need to be civil because those are the rules). Again, there’s nothing wrong with that in an absolute sense because it’s his personal web site, but it’s a very different thing than a site that, for example, has a group of moderators who share responsibility and are somehow accountable for their actions (and most larger forums I’m familiar with have a policy of not acting as a moderator in a thread you’re actively engaged in).

Quote:

I think he does a pretty good job of setting boundaries and letting people express themselves within those boundaries. The people I’ve seen shut down on the site deserved it at least nine times out of ten IMHO for being openly (and unnecessarily) confrontational or trolling. And they have always been given multiple fair warnings in the cases I’ve seen.

That was more true in the early days than it’s been in the past couple of years. And what about the 10th guy? Too bad, he’s doesn’t have any right to be on Neil’s site anyway, right? Just doesn’t seem like the basis for an actual community.

[cyclingfool]

Guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. I think the OP has both sides of the coin presented here now when it comes to CGOAB. I haven’t been really active on the site for the last couple of years, so I can’t speak to how he’s running the ship ad of this instant. Maybe things have changed a lot.

That said, even if Neil is less than fair and judicious in his dealings with those he disagrees with, there I’d still a critical mass of touring cyclists there, and for better or for worse, that makes it a good place to advertise for riding companions.

Your criticism of the site, particularly of late has me curious. I’m going to have to delve into the forums and see what’s going on there these days. Maybe you’re right…

[Author]

Posts