I’m finally doing a trip that had to be delayed after I crashed on my bike in April. Now that my knee has had time to heal it is…TRIP ON!
The trip is by bike not hike and the first of its kind for me. The gear I’m taking is pretty much the same as the gear I would take on a b-packing trip with a few minor changes.
Shelter
Tent poles instead of trekking poles, stakes, ground sheet and Gossamer Gear the One tent.
Sleep System
Western Mountaineering Summerlight bag with e-vent compression sack (I’ve never owned a compression sack until now), Thermarest Neoair All Season sleep pad and Exped UL Air Pillow.
Cook Kit and Hydration
Food bag, Opsak, rock sack w/50ft of cord, Soto OD 1R stove, canister fuel, Evernew .6 Ti pot, ditty bag with knife/lighter/fire kit/soap, 1.5L water bag, Sawyer Squeeze filter and 1L plastic water bottle.
Bike Gear
Rear bike panniers, bike multi-tool, chain lube, tire tools, CO2 cartridges, tire tubes, bike computer, zip ties and cargo net for attaching wet gear, map bag, bike helmet and sunglasses.
Clothing
Bike shorts, 2-shirts, bike gloves, rain jacket, leg and arm sleeves, 3-pair of socks, bike shoes, shirt/pants/shoes for camp, fleece beanie, light weight fleece hoody, light weight gloves, wind shirt & pants and stuff sack.
Misc Gear & Electronics
First-aid kit, hygiene kit, bug spray and sunscreen, Alite Monarch chair, GoLite Chrome Dome umbrella, Joby tripod, camera, headlamp, SPOT, non-smart phone, iPod and extra batteries.
On this trip I will be using more stuff sacks than I would on a backpacking trip and found it’s much easier to pack the panniers by using them than without. The Alite chair will be a welcomed luxury when I reach camp; my thinking is after a long day of leaning forward having something to lean back against and off the ground will be nice. Why an umbrella? Well I intend to do a few historical side trips along the way, forts, towns and other interesting locations and I find an umbrella useful around camp.
Over the past 6-weeks I’ve been conditioning by riding 70-80 miles per week on bike paths with hills. Riding with the added pannier weight wasn’t as noticeable as I thought it would be, now after the many weeks of conditioning I don’t notice it at all.
At first packing the panniers was a little tricky, the weight needs to be evenly distributed for balance, if not I’ll be going around in circles all day…just kidding…then again maybe not. Also it’s easier to pack the panniers before attaching them to the bike.
I’ll post a trip report with location and photos when I return.
Tagged: bike, planning
