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Geocaching by Bicycle


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First how many are cyclists? I am not talking in the most general of terms as I recognize anyone who rides a bike, even at a very minimal level is a cyclist. What I am talking about is how many actually go out and do recreation rides of your own that are more than say 5 miles, how many commute to/from work on a bike, how many participate in organized events, charity rides, RAGBRAI, etc?

 

I ask because I wonder how many geocache by bicycle? I did a search where it was mentioned but not a whole lot actually do so.

 

I am very new to geocaching but I am very experienced at being a cyclist. I have done everything from participate in charity ride to organizing one, I created a non-profit community organization that is still going today that raises money for the local municipal trail system in my immediate area of three counties, three states and up to 6 towns/cities. I have been commuting to/from work and using my bike to go shopping, run errands, etc for over 20 years.

 

Why do I mention this? Because there is a way to figure out how to geocache by bicycle. When I first thought about commuting to/from work, etc. I would use every objection in the book not to when someone would suggest it. I overcame every one of them and am going strong at it to this day.

 

Along with discovering geocaching I have also recently discovered it is an activity that can certainly be done from or via a bicycle. In fact through out my life I have discovered many destinations can be reached by using a bicycle as transportation vs. a motor vehicle, even very long trips. It just takes careful planning and logistics to make it happen.

 

I would like this discussion to be about geocaching via or by bicycle. As a well experienced cyclist if you need help figuring something out regarding a geocache trip by bicycle please ask. I may not know the answer about the geocache part of it but I will know or will know where to find the answer on how to get there via bicycle, whether it is the type of bike, gear, equipment, logistics, etc.

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The "How many" question would be more fitting for a multi choice poll instead for a common thread as

1) it depends on the area you live in - mid Europe is pretty different from mid Australia...

2) Lots likely use the transportation appropriate for the trip they are going for - hiking, bicycle, car, boat,...

 

It's more the area of the cache that determines the possibilities. If you want to go caching by bike - check out a route, look for caches along that route and go for it.

Same for hiking, car, boat, train ... well, you get the idea.

And yes, I did all of the above.

Edited by cachepohl
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It's not a lot different than on foot :ph34r:

 

Our "routine" is, walking (city)-caches in winter when it's cold and wet and there's mud everywhere in the countryside.

Spring and autumn "chilly" but dry... on foot but woods or other "great outdoors" or at least away from build up areas.

Warm and dry weather like summer (is supposed to be) spring/autumn we go by bike and select the caches we want to do very carefully. We drive to a central point and start there for long(er) multi's, nice series (not LPCs)or self planned tours. Our caching days are mostly around 8 hours long, not including time to drive there and we try to have a maximum of 35-40 Km on one day. We sometimes stop to have a snack along the way and definitely make an afternoon stop for icecream/pancake/waffle. As our cachingdays are always well planned we look up the places we want to stop during the afternoon in advance and even make detours.

We don't "race" from one cache to another, it's all at a leisurely pace. In all, on most trips we have an "all-in average" of 5-6 Km/h.

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The "How many" question would be more fitting for a multi choice poll

 

Except for the fact that you can't post a poll in this forum.

 

As for geocaching by bicycle...well, geocaching is the main reason I wanted a bicycle.

 

There's tons of "rail trails" here. Naturally, they are filled with geocaches.

 

477d1e50-bed3-4a58-a379-4d8b3ecd3074.jpg

 

B.

  • Helpful 1
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The "How many" question would be more fitting for a multi choice poll

 

Except for the fact that you can't post a poll in this forum.

 

As for geocaching by bicycle...well, geocaching is the main reason I wanted a bicycle.

 

There's tons of "rail trails" here. Naturally, they are filled with geocaches.

 

477d1e50-bed3-4a58-a379-4d8b3ecd3074.jpg

 

B.

 

Do you ride your bike to the trail head? Or do you drive your bikes to the trail head, unload and then take off on the bikes? If you drive first, why not just ride from home or your starting location?

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It's not a lot different than on foot :ph34r:
Very true. When caching on foot, I drop my daypack at GZ, spend half an hour expanding my search radius, and then discover the cache sitting right next to my daypack. When caching on bike, I park my bike at GZ, spend half an hour expanding my search radius, and then discover the cache sitting right next to my bike. That may seem like a big difference, but it really isn't...
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We drive the bicycles to the trail head.

 

There's not enough money in the world to get me to ride a bicycle on the roads we would need to take to get to the trail head. We won't even ride our bikes on some of local streets. Driving the truck to various trail heads is dangerous enough.

 

A destination that I've had in mind for years for bicycle-caching is something like 200 kms away.

 

B.

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It's not a lot different than on foot :ph34r:

 

Our "routine" is, walking (city)-caches in winter when it's cold and wet and there's mud everywhere in the countryside.

Spring and autumn "chilly" but dry... on foot but woods or other "great outdoors" or at least away from build up areas.

Warm and dry weather like summer (is supposed to be) spring/autumn we go by bike and select the caches we want to do very carefully. We drive to a central point and start there for long(er) multi's, nice series (not LPCs)or self planned tours. Our caching days are mostly around 8 hours long, not including time to drive there and we try to have a maximum of 35-40 Km on one day. We sometimes stop to have a snack along the way and definitely make an afternoon stop for icecream/pancake/waffle. As our cachingdays are always well planned we look up the places we want to stop during the afternoon in advance and even make detours.

We don't "race" from one cache to another, it's all at a leisurely pace. In all, on most trips we have an "all-in average" of 5-6 Km/h.

 

When you go by bike to start from your destination on the bike? Or do you drive to the general location, a trail head for example, and then get on your bike and ride to each cache location or near it?

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I need to clarify something. When I refer to geocaching by bicycle I am talking about you start the entire journey, trip, from your starting point, ride to the geocache locations or the general area and ride as close to the cache's as you can, then of course search by foot.

 

I am not talking about driving to the general locations of the caches, unloading your bike, then riding.

 

The only caveat to this is if you have to transport your bike across a body of water. For example if you are attending an event in another country across the ocean. But if the event is in the same country or continent you are on there is a way to travel entirely by bicycle to the event. It is called self contained touring.

 

It can be done with careful planning and logistics and I would venture to say it has already been done by geocachers.

 

My very first time geocaching I used my bike to transport myself to and from each cache and it was not on a day I was commuting to work. At the time I still had to use my unloader brace on my left knee because of a problem I have with it that a surgery helped fix last August. Thankfully I no longer need the brace.

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We drive the bicycles to the trail head.

 

There's not enough money in the world to get me to ride a bicycle on the roads we would need to take to get to the trail head. We won't even ride our bikes on some of local streets. Driving the truck to various trail heads is dangerous enough.

 

A destination that I've had in mind for years for bicycle-caching is something like 200 kms away.

 

B.

 

I used the same excuse for years about not riding on the public roadways. I figured out a way to do so and have not looked back. Sure there are roads that while legal to ride a bike on it is still not a good idea. But I have found there are always lesser used roads, residential streets for example that can be used to get me to my destination.

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When you go by bike to start from your destination on the bike? Or do you drive to the general location, a trail head for example, and then get on your bike and ride to each cache location or near it?

 

We put the bikes on a rack on the car and drive to the startingpoint of our cachingtour. Before we started caching we made biketours in our general area and most of the time we took the same route (path along a river, took ferry accross, rode back) but now we make a selection of nice caches, plan our tour, park close to the first cache and unload the bikes. We also plan a shortcut in case it all takes longer than expected (we avoid P&G) and something extra in case all goes better than expected. In all, most of the the our 5-6 Km/h is not to far off including all stops (never forget a cup of icecream and a drink in the afternoon B) )

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I need to clarify something. When I refer to geocaching by bicycle I am talking about you start the entire journey, trip, from your starting point, ride to the geocache locations or the general area and ride as close to the cache's as you can, then of course search by foot.

 

Too restricting unless you want to find all caches near you. We take our bikes by car within a 1 hour driving time radius and caching is mostly along quiet country roads away from motorized traffic. Riding a bike along main roads is no fun here anyway (take look at how build-up Belgium is and you'll know what I mean.

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I need to clarify something. When I refer to geocaching by bicycle I am talking about you start the entire journey, trip, from your starting point, ride to the geocache locations or the general area and ride as close to the cache's as you can, then of course search by foot.

 

Too restricting unless you want to find all caches near you. We take our bikes by car within a 1 hour driving time radius and caching is mostly along quiet country roads away from motorized traffic. Riding a bike along main roads is no fun here anyway (take look at how build-up Belgium is and you'll know what I mean.

 

So for you it is because of the distance from home to the trail head? If this is the case would it be possible and why not budget more time into your trip to start your destination from home, ride to the ferry dock, board, cross the water, then ride onto the where the cache's are located? If you did this how much time would it take compared to driving first, parking then continuing on the bikes?

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One other thing I need to point out as it has been alluded to the type of other roadway traffic being a problem that roadways are determined as not so safe:

 

First, always check local laws and ordinances t make sure bicycles are not specifically prohibited from riding on the roadways in the area you are geocaching in. If they are, don't ride on stated roadways.

Second, before you decide to ride on busier roadways, for example undivided 4 lane city streets, where it is legal, try to find an alternate route that will still get you to your destination.

Third, if you do have to ride on a busier street the only thing that is going to make this safe and easy for you is to just start doing it.

 

Here is a practice I always use as there are two undivided roadways I have to ride on that are 35 to 45 mph. I always ride no less than 3 to 4 feet from the curb or road gutter. This puts me in the travel lane and forces other traffic to move completely into the other lane to safely pass me. I have found when I ride closer to the curb/gutter motorists think and attempt to pass me in the same lane, something that is illegal in my state. They are also more aggressive when they try to pass in the same lane, they yell, etc. at me. But when I place myself in the travel lane, not on the edge, they are not aggressive, they just simply pass safely. Sometimes they have to wait a little bit for other traffic to pass and slow down until they can change lanes to pass, but they are not yelling, honking or anything like that. This works because I act like traffic that belongs on the roadway and am treated as such by other roadway users.

 

This is not something I just started doing over night. It took practice and time to develop this type of defensive riding skill. It works on any roadway I ride on.

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I need to clarify something. When I refer to geocaching by bicycle I am talking about you start the entire journey, trip, from your starting point, ride to the geocache locations or the general area and ride as close to the cache's as you can, then of course search by foot.

 

Too restricting unless you want to find all caches near you. We take our bikes by car within a 1 hour driving time radius and caching is mostly along quiet country roads away from motorized traffic. Riding a bike along main roads is no fun here anyway (take look at how build-up Belgium is and you'll know what I mean.

 

So for you it is because of the distance from home to the trail head? If this is the case would it be possible and why not budget more time into your trip to start your destination from home, ride to the ferry dock, board, cross the water, then ride onto the where the cache's are located? If you did this how much time would it take compared to driving first, parking then continuing on the bikes?

 

Yes, too restricting. You live in Iowa, but do you say someone didn't do RAGBRAI properly unless they rode their bikes from wherever they live, Colorado, or California or wherever?

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I need to clarify something. When I refer to geocaching by bicycle I am talking about you start the entire journey, trip, from your starting point, ride to the geocache locations or the general area and ride as close to the cache's as you can, then of course search by foot.

 

Too restricting unless you want to find all caches near you. We take our bikes by car within a 1 hour driving time radius and caching is mostly along quiet country roads away from motorized traffic. Riding a bike along main roads is no fun here anyway (take look at how build-up Belgium is and you'll know what I mean.

 

So for you it is because of the distance from home to the trail head? If this is the case would it be possible and why not budget more time into your trip to start your destination from home, ride to the ferry dock, board, cross the water, then ride onto the where the cache's are located? If you did this how much time would it take compared to driving first, parking then continuing on the bikes?

 

Yes, too restricting. You live in Iowa, but do you say someone didn't do RAGBRAI properly unless they rode their bikes from wherever they live, Colorado, or California or wherever?

 

No of course not. I am not being to restricting, I am sorry if others think so. But there are those who do RAGBRAI, every year, that self contain tour to the start of the ride, ride the whole week and then continue their self contained tour afterward.

 

Let me make this easier:

If you geocache by bicycle do you start your geocaching adventure/trip from home, hotel room, etc. on your bike?

Or do you transport your bike on a motor vehicle, unload it, then ride to the cache locations? If you do, why?

Have you considered riding the entire distance by bicycle, even though you may have to cross water ways on a ferry?

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If you geocache by bicycle do you start your geocaching adventure/trip from home, hotel room, etc. on your bike?
Yes, sometimes, especially when I've gone geocaching as a detour for my bike commute.

 

Or do you transport your bike on a motor vehicle, unload it, then ride to the cache locations? If you do, why?
Yes, sometimes, usually when the geocaching bike trip is a special group geocaching trip, and I'm meeting everyone somewhere that's a good location for cycling.

 

Have you considered riding the entire distance by bicycle, even though you may have to cross water ways on a ferry?
Yes. But if cycling to/from the trailhead would take an extra hour, then I might prefer to spend that hour geocaching with the others in the group, or at home working on other projects.
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I need to clarify something. When I refer to geocaching by bicycle I am talking about you start the entire journey, trip, from your starting point, ride to the geocache locations or the general area and ride as close to the cache's as you can, then of course search by foot.

 

I am not talking about driving to the general locations of the caches, unloading your bike, then riding.

 

The only caveat to this is if you have to transport your bike across a body of water. For example if you are attending an event in another country across the ocean. But if the event is in the same country or continent you are on there is a way to travel entirely by bicycle to the event. It is called self contained touring.

 

It can be done with careful planning and logistics and I would venture to say it has already been done by geocachers.

 

My very first time geocaching I used my bike to transport myself to and from each cache and it was not on a day I was commuting to work. At the time I still had to use my unloader brace on my left knee because of a problem I have with it that a surgery helped fix last August. Thankfully I no longer need the brace.

 

Most of the bike caching I have done is far from home. An hour or more car drive. That's my excuse. Also, most of my life I've lived in the boonies and biking would require traveling on highways or gravel roads and neither of those are appealing to me. Now that I live in the city, I'm just not in good biking-shape.

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I need to clarify something. When I refer to geocaching by bicycle I am talking about you start the entire journey, trip, from your starting point, ride to the geocache locations or the general area and ride as close to the cache's as you can, then of course search by foot.

 

I am not talking about driving to the general locations of the caches, unloading your bike, then riding.

 

 

I guess we aren't 'cyclists' either..... I cache with my son, 6 and sometimes younger son, 3. So we aren't going to be riding to whereever the trail head is. Recently we did a 17-18 cache trail riding bikes, but the start of that was a 25 minute drive from home.

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So for you it is because of the distance from home to the trail head? If this is the case would it be possible and why not budget more time into your trip to start your destination from home, ride to the ferry dock, board, cross the water, then ride onto the where the cache's are located? If you did this how much time would it take compared to driving first, parking then continuing on the bikes?

 

Why would I ride a bike for a few hours and have no time left to do some geocaching before peddling back home. We go caching so why would be do a 50 Km bikeride to get there, 35 Km of caching and 50 Km back?

We could easily fill a few months caching near our home (within a 10Km radius) but we're not interested in those caches so we drive (max) for one hour or 80-100 Km.

Have you visited Belgium? I guess not as you would know traffic situations are not optimal for bikes (understatement!). Most of the time there are no bikepaths and most roads are a lot narrower than in the US.

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So for you it is because of the distance from home to the trail head? If this is the case would it be possible and why not budget more time into your trip to start your destination from home, ride to the ferry dock, board, cross the water, then ride onto the where the cache's are located? If you did this how much time would it take compared to driving first, parking then continuing on the bikes?

 

Why would I ride a bike for a few hours and have no time left to do some geocaching before peddling back home. We go caching so why would be do a 50 Km bikeride to get there, 35 Km of caching and 50 Km back?

We could easily fill a few months caching near our home (within a 10Km radius) but we're not interested in those caches so we drive (max) for one hour or 80-100 Km.

Have you visited Belgium? I guess not as you would know traffic situations are not optimal for bikes (understatement!). Most of the time there are no bikepaths and most roads are a lot narrower than in the US.

 

I would mention the fact that sometimes part of the TDF route goes through part of Belgium but it is a closed route when it does. As to your question of why, well only you can answer that as it is up to you what you want out of such a journey/adventure of both geocaching and cycling. If by narrow roads you mean the type that are 2 lanes but there is parking on both sides leaving only one lane to drive in where oncoming traffic has to "duck" in to so one can pass safely, yes I know all about it. What kind of traffic conditions are you referring to? Do you mean the number of cars on a given roadway over the course of 24 hours?

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I need to clarify something. When I refer to geocaching by bicycle I am talking about you start the entire journey, trip, from your starting point, ride to the geocache locations or the general area and ride as close to the cache's as you can, then of course search by foot.

 

I am not talking about driving to the general locations of the caches, unloading your bike, then riding.

 

 

I guess we aren't 'cyclists' either..... I cache with my son, 6 and sometimes younger son, 3. So we aren't going to be riding to whereever the trail head is. Recently we did a 17-18 cache trail riding bikes, but the start of that was a 25 minute drive from home.

 

Let me make this easier:

If you geocache by bicycle do you start your geocaching adventure/trip from home, hotel room, etc. on your bike?

Or do you transport your bike on a motor vehicle, unload it, then ride to the cache locations? If you do, why?

Have you considered riding the entire distance by bicycle?

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SUX, what do you do for work? I suspect you aren't a diplomat.

 

Anyway.... Like I said, I cache with my 6 and 3 year old sons. We enjoy bike path caches, but drive to the start for 1. safety, and 2. convenience. As we now have 500 finds, there is precious little left in walking/cycling range of home, especially the cycling range of a 6 year old.

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I need to clarify something. When I refer to geocaching by bicycle I am talking about you start the entire journey, trip, from your starting point, ride to the geocache locations or the general area and ride as close to the cache's as you can, then of course search by foot.

 

I am not talking about driving to the general locations of the caches, unloading your bike, then riding.

 

 

I guess we aren't 'cyclists' either..... I cache with my son, 6 and sometimes younger son, 3. So we aren't going to be riding to whereever the trail head is. Recently we did a 17-18 cache trail riding bikes, but the start of that was a 25 minute drive from home.

 

Let me make this easier:

If you geocache by bicycle do you start your geocaching adventure/trip from home, hotel room, etc. on your bike?

Or do you transport your bike on a motor vehicle, unload it, then ride to the cache locations? If you do, why?

Have you considered riding the entire distance by bicycle?

 

Why are you pushing so hard to get others to cache the way you do? I thought you had already accepted there are many ways to cache and it is up to the individual to do as she/he chooses.

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... endure a miserable 40km bike ride...

 

Well that is a matter of perspective. What you call a 24.85 mile bike ride as miserable I call a normal, enjoyable ride. Of course I have always believed in the philosophy that a bad day of bike riding is better than a good day of work. I take it you do not make it a priority to ride bike. If you don't that's OK. I ride anywhere between 1,100 to 2,000 miles a year on average. And I only ride between the months of April to November.

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I need to clarify something. When I refer to geocaching by bicycle I am talking about you start the entire journey, trip, from your starting point, ride to the geocache locations or the general area and ride as close to the cache's as you can, then of course search by foot.

 

I am not talking about driving to the general locations of the caches, unloading your bike, then riding.

 

 

I guess we aren't 'cyclists' either..... I cache with my son, 6 and sometimes younger son, 3. So we aren't going to be riding to whereever the trail head is. Recently we did a 17-18 cache trail riding bikes, but the start of that was a 25 minute drive from home.

 

Let me make this easier:

If you geocache by bicycle do you start your geocaching adventure/trip from home, hotel room, etc. on your bike?

Or do you transport your bike on a motor vehicle, unload it, then ride to the cache locations? If you do, why?

Have you considered riding the entire distance by bicycle?

 

Why are you pushing so hard to get others to cache the way you do? I thought you had already accepted there are many ways to cache and it is up to the individual to do as she/he chooses.

 

I am not pushing people to do anything. I am offering or rather suggesting to people another way to travel/transport themselves to/from geocache locations. I was already a cyclist long before I started geocaching. Now I am a bicycling geocacher. Kind of a cool concept if you think about it. There are many cyclists at all different levels. there are those who are as they described themselves here and there my type or style of riding and then there are those who would ride circles around me like I am sitting still and ride many more miles than I do in a year in less time.

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... endure a miserable 40km bike ride...

 

Well that is a matter of perspective. What you call a 24.85 mile bike ride as miserable I call a normal, enjoyable ride. Of course I have always believed in the philosophy that a bad day of bike riding is better than a good day of work. I take it you do not make it a priority to ride bike. If you don't that's OK. I ride anywhere between 1,100 to 2,000 miles a year on average. And I only ride between the months of April to November.

 

Isn't it interesting that some people enjoy bicycling often and for long distance, and some people only enjoy small bursts of bicycling, and yet both are totally valid ways of existing?

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I would like this discussion to be about geocaching via or by bicycle.

Cool. Good topic. We like geocaching while bike riding.

 

I need to clarify something. When I refer to geocaching by bicycle I am talking about you start the entire journey, trip, from your starting point, ride to the geocache locations or the general area and ride as close to the cache's as you can, then of course search by foot.

 

I am not talking about driving to the general locations of the caches, unloading your bike, then riding.

Oh, nevermind.

 

If you geocache by bicycle do you start your geocaching adventure/trip from home, hotel room, etc. on your bike?

Started from home a few times, but there aren't many caches left for me to find without riding through unfriendly traffic. I'm near the water, so I don't have a 360-degree direction that I can ride.

Started from our campsite when we camped at Lake Tahoe, CA. We rode to restaurants and stopped for caches along the way.

 

Or do you transport your bike on a motor vehicle, unload it, then ride to the cache locations? If you do, why?

Have done this several times. We've done a couple 20-25 mile trail rides, where we geocached all along the trail. Each of these places were more than 150 miles from home. Even if we found bike-friendly routes, since our usual route would be I-5, we're just not going to bike that distance when we have only the weekend to make the trip.

 

We've also done a lot of daytrips where we take our bike to a trailhead and search for the caches along those trails. These trails are often shorter and are either paved or rail-to-trail surfaces. We do some MTB trails as well, although I'm not a fan of the technical stuff or riding uphill. Once the riding reaches certain gears, I prefer to just get off and walk the bike. If we ride an out-and-back trail, then I like to do the cache searching while going uphill. Gives us breaks during the climb and then we can just coast past those GZ's on the return trip.

 

Have you considered riding the entire distance by bicycle, even though you may have to cross water ways on a ferry?

This is in our plans, especially since bringing a car on the ferry costs quite a bit more than being on bike/foot. We would drive to the ferry terminals though.

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I would mention the fact that sometimes part of the TDF route goes through part of Belgium but it is a closed route when it does.

 

That's on main roads, closed off to other traffic and a complete no parking zone. Hardly an everyday situation. :ph34r:

 

If by narrow roads you mean the type that are 2 lanes but there is parking on both sides leaving only one lane to drive in where oncoming traffic has to "duck" in to so one can pass safely, yes I know all about it. What kind of traffic conditions are you referring to? Do you mean the number of cars on a given roadway over the course of 24 hours?

 

You clearly have no idea about traffic over here, that's for sure. towns are so close together that you literary drive from one town center into another, most roads go through centers. You have crossroads every few 100 meters, traffic lights....

 

Just 2 examples:

N51 00.091 E4 07.657

N51 08.908 E4 17.908

go to streetview and take look. Inviting for bikes isn't it? Both are two way traffic where cars can not pass when there's a bike present. I could make an endless list like that. Besides, riding a bike between motorized traffic just makes you breathe in polluted air.

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Have you considered riding the entire distance by bicycle, even though you may have to cross water ways on a ferry?

This is in our plans, especially since bringing a car on the ferry costs quite a bit more than being on bike/foot. We would drive to the ferry terminals though.

 

The ferry I was talking about is for pedestrians/bikes only and is free. It operates every half an hour just to cross a river (N51 03.352 E4 11.948 - pictures @Google Earth).

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I cycle for pleasure and sometimes cache by bike.

 

If you geocache by bicycle do you start your geocaching adventure/trip from home, hotel room, etc. on your bike?
Sometimes I start from home, but as my local area is pretty much chached out I would have to cycle further and further to get to any caches.

 

Or do you transport your bike on a motor vehicle, unload it, then ride to the cache locations? If you do, why?
I often take my bike out on a train and cycle an area which I wouldn't be able to cycle to and return by train. I've also taken a train out to a destination and then cycled home caching along the way. I've also done quite a lot of caching by bike in London, which would be impossible to cycle to/from.

 

Have you considered riding the entire distance by bicycle, even though you may have to cross water ways on a ferry?
When I do long distance cycling it's on a racing bike, with clipless shoes, and lycra gear which isn't very conducive to crashing about in the undergrowth. The off road bike I use when caching isn't really suitable for long distance trips.
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The Netherlands is made for biking...(especially the western part without any hills)

 

I do most of my caching by bike. Problem with that is that a the moment most of the caches which can be reached within an hour are already found. I have a "mama-fiets" (a really heavy bike designed to fit 2 kidseats (1 at the handlebar and one at the back))lar_7160DSCN1634.JPG.

I use it for daily commute to work when the weather is good, bringing my kids to school/daycare and geocaching. Just starting at home a see whereever I end up following the geocaches on my device.

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I used a bike when finding my first cache in August 2003:

 

bikecache.jpg

 

The yellow spot on the handle bar is a Garmin Geko.

 

Though usually I use public transport and walking, from time to time I still use a bike to geocache (either searching or maintaining my own ones). Especially the combination of public transport (rail and light rail) together with a bike is nice. I have a flatrate ticket for public transport which allows me to take a bike for free on weekends and after 19:00 o'clock on workdays.

 

Apart from that I commute by bike. Everyday, all year round, 9 km (single trip).

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The Netherlands is made for biking...(especially the western part without any hills)

 

Which is why we occasionally go caching in Zeeland, just across the border (40 minute drive). It is a bad area if it's windy though (in one direction :lol: )

We'll be in Goeree (Middelharnis) for few days in July with our bikes. We already have some mysteries solved and are looking for nice multi's too.

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Just 2 examples:

N51 00.091 E4 07.657

N51 08.908 E4 17.908

go to streetview and take look. Inviting for bikes isn't it? Both are two way traffic where cars can not pass when there's a bike present. I could make an endless list like that. Besides, riding a bike between motorized traffic just makes you breathe in polluted air.

 

That would be one of the reasons that I would prefer to drive to a trail head then ride to it. Unless one is retired or unemployeed any reasonably busy person is going to have a limited amount of time for recreation (e.g. some combination of geocaching and bicyclng). If I had, say 6 hours available I would prefer to spend most of it on a nice trail than riding with motorized traffic spewing dirty air.

 

At least the locations you show are flat. I live near the top of a long steep hill. Since we have lived here three cars have overheated and stopped in front of our house, including a car and a bus that caught on fire. We have a tree out front that his been knocked over twice by cars sliding down the icy road in winter. If I go to the end of my driveway, take one pedal an turn left on the road, I don't have to pedal again for about a half mile. Coming up is a different story. I've tried it a few times but there are several spots that are so steel that I've had to get off and walk. There's a rail trail about a 2 miles from here but getting there involves going down a steep hill into a gorge then back up. I live in an area carved by glaciers and other than the downtown area where it's mostly flat it's all hills.

 

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You clearly have no idea about traffic over here, that's for sure. towns are so close together that you literary drive from one town center into another, most roads go through centers. You have crossroads every few 100 meters, traffic lights....

 

Just 2 examples:

N51 00.091 E4 07.657

N51 08.908 E4 17.908

go to streetview and take look. Inviting for bikes isn't it? Both are two way traffic where cars can not pass when there's a bike present. I could make an endless list like that. Besides, riding a bike between motorized traffic just makes you breathe in polluted air.

 

There are areas in the United States and Iowa where you drive from one tow to another without any country side. The U.S. has become way too much of a car-centric society it is truly pathetic.

 

The cars in the U.S. have to meet strict exhaust and pollution standards, so it does not bother me if I am between two cars in on an urban roadway.

 

And yes it looks rather inviting to bicycles to me. I'd ride it and would not be afraid to. In fact I have ridden very similar roadways in the U.S.

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I need to clarify something. When I refer to geocaching by bicycle I am talking about you start the entire journey, trip, from your starting point, ride to the geocache locations or the general area and ride as close to the cache's as you can, then of course search by foot.

 

I am not talking about driving to the general locations of the caches, unloading your bike, then riding.

 

The only caveat to this is if you have to transport your bike across a body of water. For example if you are attending an event in another country across the ocean. But if the event is in the same country or continent you are on there is a way to travel entirely by bicycle to the event. It is called self contained touring.

 

It can be done with careful planning and logistics and I would venture to say it has already been done by geocachers.

 

My very first time geocaching I used my bike to transport myself to and from each cache and it was not on a day I was commuting to work. At the time I still had to use my unloader brace on my left knee because of a problem I have with it that a surgery helped fix last August. Thankfully I no longer need the brace.

 

Apparently, I am not a bike rider.

 

I only rode practically every weekend, typically more than 40 miles each day that I rode, often more than 100 miles in a weekend, and over 1000 miles in a season ...

I only stopped and got probably 100 geocaches along the way ...

 

But I ride on trails, recreationally, not on roads, which are dangerous on my recumbent bike. While I can ride from my neighborhood a bit, I can only get so far ...

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You clearly have no idea about traffic over here, that's for sure. towns are so close together that you literary drive from one town center into another, most roads go through centers. You have crossroads every few 100 meters, traffic lights....

 

Just 2 examples:

N51 00.091 E4 07.657

N51 08.908 E4 17.908

go to streetview and take look. Inviting for bikes isn't it? Both are two way traffic where cars can not pass when there's a bike present. I could make an endless list like that. Besides, riding a bike between motorized traffic just makes you breathe in polluted air.

 

Actually, I do not think that the OP has not experienced such situations. It's rather a matter of personal philosophy.

I often ride my bicycle in areas like those shown on the picture. I live in a city and so most of my regular trips (work related, shopping, appointments etc) are in an urban setting. If more people used bikes or public transportation whenever possible, there would be less car traffic in urban areas.

 

My favourite caching takes place in areas I cannot reach by bicycle (typically too many height meters involved or too long distances for me). However I use my bicycle for urban caches and for caches not too far away when the ride is within my reach.

 

While of course everyone can choose their own way of caching, it often makes me sad when certain caches generate a lot of car traffic that is easily avoidable. It goes as far as I decided to refrain from hiding certain caches that would have been designed as bicycle caches but would have been visited by car by the vast majority. (I'm not a mountain biker and I prefer paved roads and hard packed terrain for riding a bicycle.)

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Actually, I do not think that the OP has not experienced such situations. It's rather a matter of personal philosophy.

 

I ride those roads to get somewhere but not if it's to relax (and geocaching).

 

That there was an agenda behind the question asked was obvious from the beginning :ph34r: .

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Apparently, I am not a bike rider.

 

I only rode practically every weekend, typically more than 40 miles each day that I rode, often more than 100 miles in a weekend, and over 1000 miles in a season ...

I only stopped and got probably 100 geocaches along the way ...

 

But I ride on trails, recreationally, not on roads, which are dangerous on my recumbent bike. While I can ride from my neighborhood a bit, I can only get so far ...

 

I ride a Vision R 40 short wheel base with over seat steering. I bought mine in September of 2001, right after 9/11. What do you ride?

 

I ride on a combination of public roadways and multi-use trails. Because trails do not go to every destination I need to ride I use use the roadways despite the anti-bike culture where people think bikes only belong on the trails. People have actually stated "you can transport your bike to the trail head and unload it it and ride the trail, then transport it back home on your car." No, I am not going to and do not do this as long as the state law continues to state I have a legal right to the roadways on my bike and I can ride as far to the right as practicable, NOT possible, I will use the public roadways and trails both.

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Actually, I do not think that the OP has not experienced such situations.

 

So you think I hve never experienced such road conditions? OK, that is fine, but you are wrong and I wish I had photos to prove you wrong. I don't normally stop to photograph narrow public roads while I am riding.

Edited by SUX_VR_40_Rider
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Actually, I do not think that the OP has not experienced such situations.

 

You are wrong and I wish I had photos to prove you wrong. I don't normally stop to photograph narrow public roads while I am riding.

Cheezits! He is supporting you and you still have to be contrary?

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No, I am not going to and do not do this as long as the state law continues to state I have a legal right to the roadways on my bike and I can ride as far to the right as practicable.

If that works for you, great.

 

I find many roads too dangerous for my liking on the bike, and routinely go out of my way to take quieter residential streets. Yes it's farther, yes it's slower, yes I've been doing this for decades and I'm still alive.

 

Cemeteries are full of people who had the right of way.

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Actually, I do not think that the OP has not experienced such situations.

 

You are wrong and I wish I had photos to prove you wrong. I don't normally stop to photograph narrow public roads while I am riding.

Cheezits! He is supporting you and you still have to be contrary?

Double negation seems to be hard to understand for some people, especially if they're already up in arms.

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Apparently, I am not a bike rider.

 

I only rode practically every weekend, typically more than 40 miles each day that I rode, often more than 100 miles in a weekend, and over 1000 miles in a season ...

I only stopped and got probably 100 geocaches along the way ...

 

But I ride on trails, recreationally, not on roads, which are dangerous on my recumbent bike. While I can ride from my neighborhood a bit, I can only get so far ...

 

I ride a Vision R 40 short wheel base with over seat steering. I bought mine in September of 2001, right after 9/11. What do you ride?

 

I ride on a combination of public roadways and multi-use trails. Because trails do not go to every destination I need to ride I use use the roadways despite the anti-bike culture where people think bikes only belong on the trails. People have actually stated "you can transport your bike to the trail head and unload it it and ride the trail, then transport it back home on your car." No, I am not going to and do not do this as long as the state law continues to state I have a legal right to the roadways on my bike and I can ride as far to the right as practicable, NOT possible, I will use the public roadways and trails both.

 

I ride a BikeE short wheel base recumbent. More upright than some recumbents, but still.

 

And I agree with the cars -- bikes should ride on trails, not roads.

A mistake by a driver (texting, anyone?), and I would be the one who ends up dead or severely injured.

Right of way and legally allowed or not, it is just not worth the risk.

There are 1000's of miles of great trails for recreational purposes.

 

Additionally, We have 100's of miles of great trails in Ohio. I went to a great set of trails in Michigan. I went to another great trail in PA. I was able to go to these farther out places in a reasonable amount of time, because I drove to them, and then rode along the nice trail. Otherwise, all I would see is roadside between here and there, and not just the nice trails.

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