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It is a nice colour!
2 years agoI've been looking!
2 years agoYou could save lots of weight be replacing those washers with an aluminium bushing. I think Homedepot has them in those cardboard drawers.
2 years agoThat's an excellent bike and gear page! Doubly appreciated, since you did it twice. We have all felt the pain.
I note that you are using my favorite Marathon tires. I like Racers, Jacinto uses the heavy Plus. He doesn't care what they weigh, he would rather pedal harder than change a flat. I also note you have a folding spare.
We also carried a spare last summer, and used it with about a month to go on the tour. Could we find a replacement? No! Not in bicycle friendly Colorado, or even Moab. We were sure we could find a tire in Moab. We could - if we wanted MTB tread! We weren't desperate, or we would have gone with the MTB tire. We were carrying the reject tire as a spare. That's a long way to say that I like carrying a spare. Especially if you are picky about tires.
Tubes are another tricky item, in a 1.5. We both carry two, plus a patch kit. If we find that skinny of a 26" tube in a typical shop, we are impressed by their stock. In Tetonia, Idaho I ran into a shop that had 1.5's. The clerk said another shop in town used to sell recumbents, which used 'funny' size tubes, which is why they stocked them.
Unless it's a tough trip, we can usually get by with the two tubes each.
I look forward to reading your journal!
The traditional first mailback usually serves to significantly lighten the load. This is where the nice to have with you stuff collides with the how do I drag this accross a continent stuff, and hard choices are made.
2 years agoWelcome Ed - from another Stratus XP rider. I will be following with great interest. Now we need a photo of your bikes to go along with the gear page! Riders can be in there also, as long as they don't block the view of the bikes.
This sounds like a grand adventure!
I really liked my Schwinn Super Le Tour - used it for commuting to work and a bit of touring as well in the late 70's. Only parted with it about 1 year ago when I donated it to a local community college program that repairs bikes for use by homeless folks.
2 years agoHi Ed, saw your post on FB about putting links to your journal....we do that all the time! We are Racpat, and live in Boise ID! Welcome to cycleblaze.
2 years agoA fellow Geologist! And within 6 months of my age. I'll be following along.
2 years agoThank you for including the comprehensive list. I always enjoy seeing what is necessary to someone else. I agree with you - people either go really heavy or really light when packing.
Jacinto and I somewhat resemble your remark about the husband carrying all of the weight. Years ago I read a journal (title long since lost to time) of two men touring together. Camping/cooking. They both claimed less than 10 pounds of gear. That has been my goal ever since. We hotel tour, and I still have trouble hitting ten pounds!
I totally get where you are coming from with the gallon container for water. I'd like to suggest two smaller containers, or even four containers. A gallon of water weighs eight pounds and sloshes. It can effect your bike poorly as your ride. Distributing smaller containers appropriately will help you with handling.
Really fun to see such a complete gear list. Can hardly wait to see what does't make the cut/gets sent home in the traditional first mailback. Dodie says try to balance weight side to side and do not overload the rear. We have found makeup remover wet wipes work a hot damn toclean hands after bike repair/maintenance. Available in the travel size section of every Walmart everwhere.
2 years agoOh goody, new riders to follow. Have a great time you two!
2 years ago
Hi guys! I saw Ed's posts on FB and signed up to Cycleblaze just so that I can follow you here.
2 years agoI'm particularly interested in how you're going to get along on your two very different bikes. I've been riding laid back since 1991 and would never consider going back to upright (upwrong!) touring again. But riding with headfirsters is always a problem since our speeds are different - I'm slower on the uphills but faster on the downhills!
Happy trails!
/Torsten