Thorn Cycles Forum
Community => Member's Gallery => Topic started by: Cephas on December 09, 2003, 06:02:50 am
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(http://home.comcast.net/~jrmoore49/nomad.jpg)
I'll start things off with my Nomad. Not a great photo, but it was too cold tonight to mess about for very long. Let's see what you've got folks.
Cephas
Manchester, NH
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Granite State Wheelmen
Randonneurs USA
Adventure Cycling Association
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cool ... you ride a wee white square with a red 'X' ??? [:D]
I don't think your pic worked out mate ...
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Cep-
Sweet ride!! I can see the pic fine, no problems with it.
What kind of tires are you using for winter??
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quote:
Originally posted by Istanbul_Tea
Cep-
Sweet ride!! I can see the pic fine, no problems with it.
What kind of tires are you using for winter??
Thanks.
My winter tires are 1.9" Continental Town&Country's, the chunkiest tires that I could fit without having to mess around much with the fender(mudguard) set up. (Most of the year I run 1.25" - 1.5" road tires.) http://tinyurl.com/ebom
I used the T&Cs on my old bike a couple years ago when touring SE Utah and found them a good compromise for the mix of highway and jeep trails I encountered, performing well in everything but deep sand. One problem: The T&Cs were susceptible to punctures from goathead thorns that would wedge themselves into the recessed treads. Next time I'll use tire liners and/or thorn-proof tubes.
Here's the old bike, a 1985 Schwinn Sierra, that served as a test bed for most of the kit on the Nomad.
(http://home.comcast.net/~jrmoore49/HatchPoint.jpg)
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Nice pic!! That's one beefy-a$$ed seat tube... didn't know that you're an amputee. ;-)
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That black frame bag does add a bit of a twist to the pic, doesn't it.
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Do you still have your Schwinn? Also, did you tour out to Utah or drive out and then bicycle around?
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quote:
Originally posted by Istanbul_Tea
Do you still have your Schwinn? Also, did you tour out to Utah or drive out and then bicycle around?
The Schwinn was stripped down, got a fresh powdercoating and is in the basement. I haven't quite decided what I'm doing with it, but have some ideas. Maybe a bare bones one speed.
I flew into SLC and caught a shuttle to Moab. The bike was shipped ahead to a Moab bike shop and ready to roll when I arrived. Then it was off into the desert and mountains for two weeks. Went as far south as Monument Valley. Here's my bike and tent at the most incredible campsite in the USA. (http://home.comcast.net/~jrmoore49/Site25.jpg)
Although Moab is considered Mecca for mountainbikers, the posibilities for other outdoor adventures are endless. Gone once for canoeing, once for cycling and can't wait to go back. Someone said its like DisneyWorld designed by LL Bean.
Enough of me, already! Let's see someone else's bike and travel pics.
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Beautiful photo... bet that wood for the picnic shelter was a drag to carry though. :)
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quote:
Originally posted by Istanbul_Tea
Beautiful photo... bet that wood for the picnic shelter was a drag to carry though. :)
The pic has been carefully cropped so the you can't see any of the other 98 campsites in Mitten View Campground, Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. But tent site 25 is the best and I had to beg to get it, due to the high winds that were blowing that afternoon. (If my tent blew away the Navajo didn't want to hear about it.) Being a huge fan of John Ford westerns, the view was to die for.
The current website, http://www.monumentvalleyonline.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=document&ID=4 , says "There is no biking inside the monument", but no one objected in 1999 to my riding the dirt road thru the Valley out to Ford's Point and back. Perhaps there are times when it pays to look like a German tourist.
(http://www.reel.com/content/boxart/vhs/1486.GIF)(http://www.reel.com/content/boxart/vhs/415.GIF) (http://www.reel.com/content/boxart/vhs/4969.GIF) (http://www.reel.com/content/boxart/vhs/2428.GIF)
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Wonderful Picture, I'm green with envy. What does a German tourist look like?
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quote:
Originally posted by Mario
What does a German tourist look like?
Well, since you ask.....
(This space reserved for "THE GERMAN TOURIST STORY")
(Coming Soon To This Forum)
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In the States we characterize a German tourist as someone who typically wears the following-
1. Socks that reach to just below the kneecap.
2. Socks that are either white or dark in color.
3. Sandals on their socked feet.
4. Very tight short pants e.g. gym trunks.
5. A fanny pack.
6. A Tee shirt with either some touristy American logo or some unreadable German slogan.
7. A Macy's, FAQ Swartz, Toys R Us and/or I Love NY bag in their hand.
8. A camera drapped around their neck.
9. A mullet-style haircut(typically but not always).
10. Some kind of 'floppy-style', foldable hat.
But what really stands out would be the very short, very tight shorts. That and usually a lack of suntan on those very exposed legs.
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quote:
Originally posted by Istanbul_Tea
In the States we characterize a German tourist as someone who typically wears the following- (snip)
I thought those were the French Canadians who summer at the New England beaches.
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I am speechless! You just described the typical tourist from the US of A. With a few exeptions -:
1)2)and 3): American; 4): I'm not sure. If 5) is the same as a bumbag: American. German males carry a sort of clutch bag. 6)and 7) definitely American. 8)probably of Japanese extraction, but also American. 9) don't know what that is. 10) that hat is pure American! The white legs are universal to start with, later they turn a sort of salmon colour! All to be viewed at hotspots like Stratford on Avon or Heidelberg for example. Or could it be that tourists of any Nation feel free to dress in a particular manner as CEPHAS' answer appears to suggest.
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Truth be told...
WE all probably look rather dumb when traveling in someone elses country(at least based on what the citizens of that country assume "normal" to be).
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BTW...
An example of the much dreaded Mullet-
(http://www.mulletsgalore.com/assets/images/classifications/01/powerdykemullet.JPG)
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As promised,
THE GERMAN TOURIST STORY
Mexican Hat, Utah, (named after a sombrero-shaped rock formation on the edge of town) is a dusty little crossroads village a couple of cycling hours north of Monument Valley. I had stopped there for lunch at a TexMex cantina and to pick up supplies at the general store. After resting for a while on the porch of the store, letting my tacos and refried beans settle into my GI tract, I grabbed the handlebars of my steed and started threading my way on foot across the busy gravel parking lot shared with the cantina and a motel. As I passed a mid-sized American sedan, a well dressed gentleman (no socks and sandals) of about 60 years got out, smiled and and spoke to me......in German.
I had encountered plenty of Euro-tourists on this trip but this was the first time one had spoken to me in his native tongue. Now, my language skills are limited to a bit of broken Spanish learned in grade school nearly 40 years ago, so I smiled back and said "Sorry, I don't speak German." He quickly switched to perfect English, with only the slightest accent, and apologized for assuming I was German. No problem, says I, commenting on the fact that there seemed to be more Germans touring the Southwest US than east-coast Americans. Easterners are more likely to travel abroad than visit their own country. He agreed, saying it was a shame and that many Germans prefer visiting the grand scenery of the American west to any of the urban centers of the world. In fact, this was his fouth visit. Feeling somewhat like a stranger in my own homeland, I politely asked why he assumed that I was not an American.
A brief pause, then he says that I don't look like an American cyclist. (see picture above) No tight clothing. No bright colors. American cyclists all look like professional racers. True, I say, I'm often snubbed by 'serious' cyclists for my appearence.
He continued, adding that Americans all ride mountain bikes. It sometimes seems that way, I agreed. On this two week trip every American bicyclist I encountered was on a mountain bike.
Another pause. Then he states that the most unAmerican thing about me was that I actually used my bike to travel. Americans only drive around with their bikes mounted on top of their cars. He didn't think we rode them at all. I totally crack-up laughing, congratulated him on his insight, wished him well and headed south. Proud to be an honorary German.
Post Script. In the course of my two weeks in Utah I met only two cycle tourists along the highways: A German and a German-speaking Swiss. And for three days on a remote jeep trail I followed the fresh track of a lone cyclist, but was never able to catch him. An SUV going the other way said he was just a couple miles down the trail. And that he was German.
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Great story!! Isn't that ironic as hell?? I particularly love the parts about the clothes and bikes being mounted on top of their cars... fantastic!!
Americans=Car Obsessed...
Thanks for sharing... I may have to Cut-N-Paste your story onto a very hostile 'roadie' board I frequent... I love going there to witness their amazing gull about everything from attire to shaving their legs and how much their bike cost to their latest carbon fibre purchase.
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I was touring Colorado witha group of others by motorbike in 1998, and we stopped off at a petrol station [gas in your speak??] in Carbondale, and a truck driver struck up a converstaion with me, asking where we all came from ... I told him a few other riders came from Colorado, a couple from N.Carolina, another couple from who knows where out west somewhere, and me from New Zealand ... He actually knew where New Zealand was, and we chatted for a few mintues while I filled the bike, then he says "You know, for a New Zealander, you speak pretty good English." ... I thanked him very much and said that I been practicing a very long time!
It was surprising how many Americans had no idea where NZ was, or asked which state is that in ... most even had blank looks when I tried to explain it to them ...
Don't get me wrong ... I found most Americans very warm and friendly people, but still couldn't understand why they held world championships and never invited anyone else?
cheers,
hoogie
timaru/oamaru, new zealand
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LOL!! Hoogie- Don't feel bad about folks not knowing where NZ is... most Americans don't know who the president of the US is and cannot find their own State on a US map.
They can tell you where the nearest McDonalds is located or Ben and J-Lo's current marriage plans and even last years Superbowl champion BUT usually are clueless about anything meaningful or relevent.
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I found The German Tourist Story heart-warming. Normally they are portrayed as a bit thick, wearing Lederhosen and constantly eating Sauerkraut. But I liked the (by now very old) story where an American comes to Stuttgart to buy himself direct from the factory a brand-new, beautiful Mercedes because he had wanted and saved up for one all his life. Being aware of the way the Gs. drive with no speed limit on their Autobahns, fast and aggressive on other roads he has his baby carefully wrapped and crated and shipped from Stuttgart direct to New York and he accompanies it on the Liner. On arrival he oversees the unpacking of the Merc., tries out all the buttons and carefully drives down to the quayside. And just as he accelerates with happiness in his heart, there is a great big crash and he is hit by a car. He sits there, stunned. The other driver winds his down window and shouts: Ja koennen Sie denn nicht aufpassen?!!
The English actually know where NZ is because lots of them go there on holiday (at least four of my friends are there now), but it is possible that they believe they are going to some island in the Med., although the fares would appear rather steep.
Nobody knew where the Falklands were - somewhere north of the Hebrides?? -
And the world has become a better place since England is Rugby world champion.
Hoogie, if you see my friends give them my regards. (Earlier on this year in LA I was ask if I knew Mrs Gerstenhauer, she also lives in London)