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Geocaching by Bike?


RingXero

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Alrighty,

 

I'm new to this whole thing, haven't even looked for a cache yet, but I do have some questions. Primarily, as the topic name suggests, how viable is hunting while perched on a Mountain bike? I am in the central/northern NJ area, as that will have an effect on the answer. Granted using a bike as my primary means of transportation will only be of limited value in the near term in any case, as there are only be so many caches within range. Will using a bike just get me closer to the spot before having to result to hiking, thereby requiring me to get a rather large lock for said bike?

 

thanks for any help that you can give,

 

RX

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Good luck if your primary means of transport is a bike. Urban caches would probably be alright, but rural caches may be a challenge to get to.

 

We typically pack up the bikes on the car and take them out to the trailhead for biking. It's a fun way to break the monotony of a ride to get off, take a break and do some caching.

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I don't know about NJ, but the Sacramento area has a lot of caches hidden along bike-able trails. I geocache on bike frequently. I'll sometimes tote my bike on my car to an area then bike to the individual caches. It is a lot faster than hiking! I carry a cable lock as I sometimes have to lock my bike to a tree and make the final approach on foot.

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ChiefPig,

 

That is the real issue I have I think, brand new bike, not cheap. So I am trying to see how often I would have to leave the bike 'locked up' on the side of a trail.

 

Now, I do have a car, and would use it for longer outings to carry my bike (and the wife's) but under 20-30 miles in a day I am comfortable with making it a bike trip.

 

anyway, thanks for the info.

 

RX

 

Any deity worthy of a graven image can cobble up a working universe complete with fake fossils in under a week - hey, if you're not omnipotent, there's no real point in being a god. But to start with a big ball of elementary particles and end up with the duckbill platypus without constant twiddling requires a degree of subtlety and the ability to Think Things Through: exactly the qualities I'm looking for when I'm shopping for a Supreme Being.

 

[This message was edited by RingXero on September 29, 2003 at 10:07 PM.]

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There are some bike friendly caches in northern and cenrtal NJ, but be aware that bikes are not allowed on the majority of the hiking trails in state and county parks and forests. So you may need to park and lock once you get near the cache.

 

Here are some bike friendly trails in NJ & NY. There may well be caches along these. Also, the Delaware & Raratin Canal State Park in central NJ has a 60 mile long multi use trail. There are a number of bike friendly caches placed along this route and you can almost pedal right up to some.

 

If you tell me where you live, I can probably recommend some bike friendly caches in your area. Or better yet, post this in the northeast forum (often called the New Jersey forum by jealous out of staters icon_wink.gif ).

 

"You can't make a man by standing a sheep on his hind legs. But by standing a flock of sheep in that position, you can make a crowd of men" - Max Beerbohm

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Eventually you will run out of caches that you can get to by bicycle. An alternative, if you are able to get your bike there via automobile, is to take your bike to a large state park. Often there will be numerous caches within a larger state park which you could spend a day or weekend (if you are camping for example) finding them.

 

If the bicycle is your primary means of transportation you will, obviously, be limited to cahces within the distance you are able to pedal.

 

"Now may every living thing, young or old, weak or strong, living near or far, known or unknown, living or departed or yet unborn, may every living thing know happiness!"

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Being an avid mountain biker all of the caches I've placed were placed from my mountain bike. I do about 50% of my caching from my bike. Some of the bush waking in lycra bike shorts is pretty harsh as is climbing over rocks in bike shoes.

 

When in trouble, when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout!

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Don't forget this. I got mine a couple weeks ago and it's made biking while caching *much* easier. No more riding one-handed down a rocky slope or watching the GPS fly out of a pocket when I hit a rough patch.

 

Ode to a Pigeon: Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, You Lookin' at Me? YOU LOOKIN' AT ME?! (b. katt, 7/14/03)

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BrianSnat, thanks, will post a new thread over there.

 

quote:
Originally posted by enfanta:

Don't forget this...


 

Already got one icon_wink.gif

 

Also have a bike mounted otterbox for the PDA as well. That, and the bike comp, and the Jetlight headlights, and I have a fairly geeked up bike.

 

RX

 

Any deity worthy of a graven image can cobble up a working universe complete with fake fossils in under a week - hey, if you're not omnipotent, there's no real point in being a god. But to start with a big ball of elementary particles and end up with the duckbill platypus without constant twiddling requires a degree of subtlety and the ability to Think Things Through: exactly the qualities I'm looking for when I'm shopping for a Supreme Being.

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At the end of june I rode the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal Towpath from McKeesport (near Pittsburgh) to D.C. logging a dozen caches along the way.

 

http://www.tasigh.org/gps/gap2003.html

 

And in July I rode my bike on a trail on Long Island, NY and logged 4 caches using that.

 

A bicycle can certainly allow you move more quickly than if you were on foot. Most caches, even in the wilderness, are near trails of some sort. Some of those trails are not suitable for riding a mountain bike. On the other hand, I have found a number of caches in areas that the mountain bikers have claimed as their own, expanding the trails with ramps, pits, jumps and the like.

 

Get a handlebar mount for your GPSr and go. Get a steel cable so you can lock your bike to a tree should you run out of trail.

 

89355_500.gif

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I've taken my mountain bike on many hunts and when I'm hiding caches too. When I get to the point I'm going off trail completely I lift it up on my shoulders and continue on as long as the undergrowth doesn't become too heavy. If I have to leave it, I don't worry about locking it but I do set a waypoint so I can find it again.

 

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I'm in the same area and have done a bunch of caches on my mountain bike.

 

I wouldn't worry much about a lock - typically if I hit a cache that can't be ridden directly to I ride as close as possible, then carry it a couple dozen yards into the woods.

 

More a worry of someone stealing my bike is forgetting where I left it! (so make doubly sure to waypoint where you set your bike down!).

 

Good luck!

 

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Take everything you like seriously, except yourselves. - Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936)

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Depending on where I go, my bike is a great tool for caching. With the bike mount for my Vista, it's right where I can see it at all times, which is far better than having to stop, pull it out of the pouch on the shoulder of my Camelbak only to realize I'm .25 miles past the cache. It's especially beneficial when I want to cover more ground faster when out in the boonies caching. Besides, the downhill part of the riding makes it soooooo worth it.

 

Brian

Team A.I.

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I'm a roadie, thus do about a quarter of my caches on my road bike. I find caching on a bicycle especially useful for areas where urban caches are spaced fairly close together. Much easier to bike from cache to cache than drive, park, and walk to caches only a mile or two away from each other. Also easier to check out the entry points to some cache locations.

 

Even though I'm on a road bike, I do hunt caches that require a short off road hike to the cache location. Since I use hard to walk in cleated shoes, I bring along cleat covers or light weight shoes with me to do the hike in. When the brush gets too thick to haul the bike with me, I normally just leave it (and mark the spot with my GPSr) and hike the rest of the way in. I do have a very expensive bike, but I normally only leave it within a few hundred feet of the cache site. Most likely no one else (other than another cacher) will be coming through that area anyway, so I don't worry about it too much. If I'm in an area where I do worry about theft, I use a lightweight cable lock

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quote:
Originally posted by bykenut:

Since I use hard to walk in cleated shoes, I bring along cleat covers or light weight shoes with me to do the hike in.


Partly for this reason, I use SPD mountain bike shoes. They're much easier to walk in, whether I'm caching our touring.

 

Jamie

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