April '09- 1,000 plus miles w/ RS 35cc....

...will probably be easier and take less time than figuring out how the MAPS programs work nowadays.

Get this, I had to cut up an old 1950's (pre-interstate highways) encyclopedia/atlas, do a bunch of scanning and cropping, to get a decent image to post !!

Maps are irrelevant once I get on the road, due to my tendency to follow the wind and end up 50 miles from that day's target. When I punched up this first part of the journey, Alabama to North Carolina, it was 457 miles by car, but 422 "walking". (Part of the first day will be retracing a route from my September '06 Mt. Cheaha trip, where I "lost" 140 pictures switching to Google's Picasa program, right before joining the forum.)

Since putting on the engine in December, I've done at least 500 miles of breaking in-3 oil changes, things are purring back behind the seat.

Some of the towns I'll pass in Georgia are Rome, Gainesville, up to Toccoa.

When I posted the plan at Daily Kos, a guy e-mailed me an invitation to dinner and potential campsite in Alto, which is about 204 miles from the house. At least the social part of the intratubz works better than the maps !!

Hi Paul,

Gainesville to Toccoa takes you within a mile of my house. The road name changes from 985 to 365 around Gainesville, and you just stay on it and continue north from Gainesville through Clarkesville. A few miles north of Clarkesville the road splits, 441 heads north and 365 arcs off eastward at an easy-to-spot interchange. That takes you on to Toccoa.

Those are the 4-lane roads. The two-lanes that you want run a parallel route. Take "old" 23 out of Gainesville through Rabbit Town (ask a local) to Lula, then Alto within a mile of me, then Baldwin, then through Cornelia and on to Toccoa. It's the same "arc" but parallel to the 4-lanes and probably a much more comfortable speed for you on your bike!

If you want to stop in Clarkesville it's just a few miles off the route, on "old" 441 north of Cornelia and Demorest. From Clarkesville you could go on to Helen and Anna Ruby Falls, probably 25 miles or so.

BTW, if you can find Rabbit Town, stop in the Double D Burger on the right and get one of their cheeseburgers all the way. They put slaw on 'em too. And go ahead and program in my cell number if you want, 706--- ----

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Helen and Anna Ruby Falls are part of a German/Alpine replica town, which I thought might be my scenic time-outs. Helen is home of the Cabbage Patch Dolls, which holds zero interest for me, but there is a genuine German type brewery nearby, which holds a 6 pack of test packing.

I'll just zip through South Carolina, Seneca, Clemson, Westminster....but I want to be 30 miles north of Greenville and Spartanburg if I can.

Lincoln, Cherryville, Mooresville are on the route into North Carolina, where my Easter Grateful Greensboro Sunday Dead ticket awaits. Exit N.C. sometime Tuesday, either north through Galax/Roanoke or south toward Columbia.

There is reserved for me a ticket up in Virginia for a Charlottesville Dead show the next week, but I may just go south to Charleston, SC, where another friend has backstage contacts for some sort of jam-band festival going on down there the next weekend.

I've searched the threads to see if somebody has put the 4-stroke Robin Subaru on a cross country stress test. With this journey, & especially if I do the Charleston option, all the "hard miles" will be on Day 1-2, once I get in the flatlands it's a smooth cruise. I was thinking of doing a Virginia Bluegrass tour in October, that's just another reason to "go south" next month.

Estimated day of departure is Tues. April 7....Rucio the Pack Mule is still a work in progress !

Very cool. Watch out for the storms moving through, though. We wouldn't want to hear that you did a 'dorothy' on us!

loquin said:

Very cool. Watch out for the storms moving through, though. We wouldn't want to hear that you did a 'dorothy' on us!

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Aiming toward the Atlantic, and ending up somewhere past Kansas....that would be a bummer.

However, landing in Oz, throwing shrimps on the barbie with the Aussies, would work out well.

Its still summer down there!

Hmmm. The bamabikeguy of Oz. Has a ring to it!

The excursion does sound like it'll be a lot of fun. I've driven the roads in NC & western VA many times. It's beautiful country. Do you have a flag to mount on your bike? I think I'd like riding a recumbent, except for the reduced visibility aspect (since you're AT the bumper/grill level already!)

do u plan on stealth camping,camping in designated areas or hitting up the hotels?are u gonna pull a trailer?how many miles a day u gonna cover?

eastwoodo4 said:

do u plan on stealth camping,camping in designated areas or hitting up the hotels?are u gonna pull a trailer?how many miles a day u gonna cover?

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Leave nothing but tire prints....about 2 hours before sunset I start to plan.

I knew from the Boy Scout days that camping near water was for photographic reasons only (more bugs and critters), so I look for higher ground. I buy a couple of snacks and make sure the water bottle is filled, then keep my eyes peeled for an isolated spot.

On the Florida and Denver trips I used tarps, I didn't get the dome tent until the 2006 Mt. Cheaha trip. When I start looking, abandoned barns or a really old house with a porch are all over the place. I like to have shelter nearby if there is a threat of rain. Out in windswept Kansas I could hide behind round bales of hay to cut down on the breeze factor.

You can get an idea of how sparse the population is on a map by aiming for a national or state forest, and when you pass a likely spot, just circle back if it suits your fancy.


Funny thing, on the Mobile AL run in Jan 07 three times I found deer stands, like in Pic 1. You'd get off the main road, see some tire tracks, and could pretty well "be alone" after hunting season. In exchange for borrowing a hunters chair/stool, I'd haul out a bag of their litter the next morning.

The ideal spot is 10 miles from the next town, so in the morning, you have a brisk ride before the first cup of coffee.

Once I got the hang of it, I'd ask the locals while lunching at a diner "where's the best swimming hole?", and after a swim and a siesta, a 2-3 hour late afternoon ride, there really wasn't a need for a motel. The new hammock purchase will make that siesta twice as nice.

As to the trailer, no, I'm putting the final touches on Rucio the Recumbent to carry as much gear as Rocinante, the Red Cruiser.

http://www.motoredbikes.com/showthread.php?t=17338

posted byloquin:
Do you have a flag to mount on your bike? I think I'd like riding a recumbent, except for the reduced visibility aspect (since you're AT the bumper/grill level already!)

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I only use one flag locally, but have a second one available....maybe it will be a good idea to fly both. Thanks !!

eastwoodo4 said:

how many miles a day u gonna cover?

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On the 2 cycles, either the Zenoah or the Tanaka, there were a couple of times I was over 250, maybe 280 miles that time I caught the tailwind out of Manhattan Kansas.

Average worked out to 225, because I do way too much yakking along the way. I carve up a map in 200 mile pieces, to gauge if I'm ahead or behind the clock.

Since the first leg of this trip is over 400 miles, I know there will be 2 nights camping, no matter what, so I'm not going to push it.

But for sure, since this is a "test of the 4 stroke", on the return I will put in at least one "dawn to sunset ride", pure "riding for distance", just to see what it will do.

The big differences are the cruiser's 12" saddle versus the recumbent's chair, and not being able to use cruise control on the 4 strokes trigger throttle.

Years ago, when last I did any road trips opn my bicycle, I generally carried a 12 X20 rip stop nylon tarp treated with waterproofing, and I watched for roadside rest stops or isolated small town parks with a picnic table well off the road. Picnic tables make great tent frames, and the tarp was big enough to make a ground sheet and wrap up over one side bench, cross the top, and down on the other side to about bench level. I did that many times, and only encountered a problem once - a local cop in Gold beach, Oregon thought I was breaking some local ordinance and hauled me to city hall.

I talked to the night shift sergeant, provided ID, explained what I was doing, and the sergeant told the patrolman to try not to be such an a$$ in future. Then he gave me a ride back to the park. Said he wished he had time for something like what I was doing, but three kids and all that kind of stuff kept him way too busy.

If I can get my health issues under control, I hope to start road tripping myself, once I get the trike done.

Since the forum has grown by leaps and bounds, and so many folks are interested in cross country riding (and to remind myself to replenish the mini-citronelle candle supply), I'll post a few ideas I've found out along the backroads.

My neighbor has one of those mini-thin Time/Life FM radios I borrow. You wake up at 4 in the morning, and you can find some of the coolest stations that break the monotony, like a 2 hour Dylan concert from a college in Georgia, or the "Bunkhouse" on a Sunday morning which aired out of Texas, but I picked up in the middle of Oklahoma. Texas swing music and the history of the smaller cow-cutting horses was discussed with the son of a famous pioneer cowboy. Very informative, and it gives you good karma during the day, something to think about in foreign territories.


Give yourself a minimum hour before sunset to set up camp, to gather up a little firewood....and break off a couple of green leafy branches to occasionally smoke out the insects, making sure you guessed the wind direction ahead of time.

Buy the local newspaper before getting off the road at night, you might find an item to check out the next day, and that's how you light your fire. It is USELESS to think you can read a novel on the road, due to the dim light "on the road again" attention span being ultra-short.

I have a key chain flashlight and another bigger one, I use the key chain light to locate the other one.

When you pack up your gear, you really want to reduce the weight. I've built up a separate set of traveling tools, carry cheap rubber flip flops instead of clunky sandals. My wish list item is some sort of galoshes to slip over the Chuck Taylor's when it rains.

As an example of "weight control"....a bottle of OFF bug spray would last you a month, what you really want is a mini-spray bottle to carry enough for a few days. I also spray it around the perimeter of my ground tarp before sleeping, (I think it works).

Never be wearing denim jeans if the weather threatens, they won't dry out easily unless you hang them up, which wastes travel time.

If you are going to do a sightseeing loop, you can hide some of your gear behind the bushes, climb that peak or go see that tourist trap, then reload on the return.

Lunch conversations are 10 times better in a local diner than a franchise burger joint, all-you-can-eat lunch buffets are the holy grail of $10 a day traveling.

If you travel with others you might be able to cook in camp, but it won't work for solo riding. I don't even brew water, just wait till I reach the first store in the morning for coffee and a 30 minute conversation with the locals, who tell me the shortcuts or alternative destinations. I am usually packed and ready to ride when the sun peeks over the horizon.

Talking to locals every couple of hours, to get oriented, is a lot better than being tied to a map, so be flexible mid-journey. But always try and be as far from the city lights by late afternoon, camping spots leap out when you are on a two lane in the middle of nowhere.

Never forget to fill the water bottle before camping, nothing worse than waking up thirsty at midnight.

A package of 18-24" zip ties are very handy.


That's a few suggestions, there are a lot more little details, but it is all trial & error.

SimpleSimon said:

Years ago, when last I did any road trips opn my bicycle, I generally carried a 12 X20 rip stop nylon tarp treated with waterproofing, and I watched for roadside rest stops or isolated small town parks with a picnic table well off the road. Picnic tables make great tent frames, and the tarp was big enough to make a ground sheet and wrap up over one side bench, cross the top, and down on the other side to about bench level. I did that many times, and only encountered a problem once - a local cop in Gold beach, Oregon thought I was breaking some local ordinance and hauled me to city hall.

I talked to the night shift sergeant, provided ID, explained what I was doing, and the sergeant told the patrolman to try not to be such an a$$ in future. Then he gave me a ride back to the park. Said he wished he had time for something like what I was doing, but three kids and all that kind of stuff kept him way too busy.

If I can get my health issues under control, I hope to start road tripping myself, once I get the trike done.

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I was doing the same thing with tarps and picnic tables, and the only time I talked to a cop was at Foss Lake State Park, above Elk City, Oklahoma. I was three days out of Denver, aimed for the lake to wash the Panhandle dust off, and set up air mattresses atop a table, hung the tarps to break the wind.

It was midweek, and about 9 p.m. a cop drove up, said there were troublemaking teenagers....I carry business cards and sometimes copies of the newspaper interviews I've done along the way, so that answered all his questions.

But the tent gives me more possible campsites, and since part of the purpose it to find a little solitude, avoiding state parks is a better plan.

National Forests are good, a fire ranger in the Okefenokee Forest in N. Florida let me use the showers at the station.

Boy Scout training taught me to always leave a camp looking pristine, the extra water is to make sure the small fire is completely out, then scatter dirt and leaves over it to make it look like nobody was there.