Thanks for the replies. I think we are going to shuttle a route from Paisley to Croom. I'll let folks know how it goes.

Anybody?

Hey Yall. I'm looking to take a group of neverevers down to Florida to ride a portion of the Huracan 300 in March. I doubt that we will be able to complete the entire loop. Is there a section of the route that would be better/nicer to ride? Sections to avoid? I'm looking to do 150-200 miles.

Thanks.

No, this is strictly a straight stitch. I would imagine an industrial zigzag would be pretty hard to find.

Personally, I would just get a decent older Japanese made zigzag machine for when you need to make those stitches. They are dime a dozed used and will work great.

I have had access to sever differnt industrial machines for a good while and have always wanted one of my own.  After combing craigslist for months I finally found a really great deal on an older JUKI LU-562. This machine was re-branded by a ton of other companies like Consew and and was originally designed by Singer. Its workhorse of a machine and they made zillion of them. That makes them pretty readily accessible and easy to repair. I have seen them around pretty cheap to. I got mine at a great price but it needed some repairs. Took it to the local All Brand and they had it back to me in a day. It runs perfect now and the stitches look better than the new Juki-1541 that I have at work. I can push leather through it and I can also sew sil-nylon with no issues. I think I have about $250 in it all said and done.

Its got a clutch motor on it now (which most of them do), and I'll probably get a servo for it in the not to distant future. For my uses its great. Every couple months I fixate on a project and sew for a few days on it. After its done, I wont touch the machine for a while. Its nice to be able to walk into my shop and sew/ repair basically anything I can think of.

This is awesome!

Chattooga River in GA is on the top of my list. The Trans North Georgia starts/ends there, as well as the Palmetto Trail (well, near there). Its a stunning wilderness run, with only one road crossing over 40 miles. Section II is class 2, Section III is class 3/4, and section IV is class4.  If you were up for all 3 sections it would take you about 3 days.

Another option could be the New River in WVA. Lots of dirt road and trial in the region. Upper new is class 2ish.

The Big South Fork in Tennessee would be great. Probably a 2 day trip. Again, lots of trail and dirt roads in the area.

I think there is a good chance we may see one another. We are riding around the Langjökull glacier and making our way over to Landmannalaugar/thorsmork. I'm flying back the on the 1st.

Small world. I'll be doing a big loop starting and ending in Vik. The plan is to ride counter clockwise around Katla into the Fjallabak and then down through Skogar back to Vik with some side trips. I'll be on the road on the 20th through the 2nd. Maybe I'll see you out there.

Save some tortillas for me.

Ha, Im leaving for Iceland on Monday for a three week fat bike/bikepacking trip with friend.

I'm in the came boat on the space/weight thing. I'm bringing way more Pro Bars than care to think about eating, and a bunch of backpackers pantry's for dinner.  I like tortillas as a carrier for just about anything (peanut butter and gram crackers, dried hummus, cheese etc...) for lunch. Packs pretty well and has a lot of calories.

The cookie dough sounds like a great idea. I might make up a batch before I leave.

Have a safe trip. Maybe well see you around Iceland somewhere.

I'm in. Was 68 on the list when they bumped the start number up to 70. I haven't really trained that much because I didn't think I was going to make it on the start list. I guess I'll do the best I can with the time I have and see how it goes. A 3 week bikepacking trip in July should help my training out....

Will you be heading through Richmond, VA?

I have been looking for the same thing and think I'm gunna go with the Fuji X-20. Its basically a fancy point and shoot, but comes with an optical viewfinder and most of the manual settings that I need. Its a pretty hardy camera so it can take a beating butcompact enough to fit in a small pocket.

Pretty cool article about Australian sheep shearers riding bikes in the early 20th century. The set ups are surprisingly similar to modern bikepackers.

http://veloaficionado.com/australias-bicycle-riding-shearers-of-the-early-twentieth-century/

Anyone ever bikepacked in Iceland? I'm going to be there in August and have 5 days to go for a ride. I would like to avoid the typical dirt road tours and find as much single track as I can.

Latest incarnation of the monkey.
1x10 with Space Bars for the control deck.
DIY frame bag, bar sling and feed bag. Relevate seat bag.
Mix well and apply dirt as needed.

I basically have the same one. I bought them from GeoMan Gear (which is no longer in business). Anyway, they are awesome. There is nothing that is even close to comparing to these lights in the same price range. Super bright and long lasting.

For $50 its worth trying them.

here is a link i found about some guys that just linked a bunch of trail together in VA. it would take a little work to figure it all out, but it sounds awesome.

http://forums.mtbr.com/passion/touring-virginia-mountain-bike-trail-746234.html

yeah, i e-mailed them them and got the same answer. oh well. i guess ill just have to do the trans north Georgia!

can you ride the mountains to sea trail in north carolina? i have looked on the website and didnt see anything that said you couldnt ride it. anyone have any experience?

yeah, i have been looking at that. i dont know the exact route, but i think i can figure it out on the topo maps.