Tour Divide: Gear

Let me start this post off by saying that I'm not a gear freak.  Some people get a huge buzz off of comparing weights and materials and brands, I hate it. I'd rather be riding my bike, so if you want a fully geeked out gear list, mine probably isn't the one to look at.  I'm also a believer that my gear list is one of the heavier ones out there, so I'm not worried about sharing any secrets.  That being said, I completely forgot to thank Walt in my last post, so if I write this, at least I can pretend I left him out intentionally.

 

Bike - 29'er, fully rigid Waltworks.  I've been riding Walt's bikes for a lot of years now.  I don't plan on changing as I love the way his bikes ride, I love the fact that he doesn't really seem to give a damn if I ride his bikes or not, and most of all, I love the fact that even if everything else on my bike explodes, my frame will be rock solid.  I went for the rigid fork because I have terrible luck with suspension breaking and I wanted as few moving parts as possible.  Walt also can build super soft forks, so even on the roughest roads, I didn't feel too beat up.  I'd change nothing on the frame for a second attempt.  The bike was built up with XT all around, Stans Notubes Race Gold wheels, Crossmark tires, Time pedals, Ergon grips, and aerobars.  I'd probably go for a slightly burlier set of wheels if I did it again because they definitely worried me, but they held up the entire way.  I changed my rear tire in Salida and had no flats.  I also went with mechanical disc brakes because I'm terrible at changing pads in the field on hydraulic brakes.

Bags - I went with a full Revelate Designs bag set up with a seatbag, framebag, Sweetroll handlebar bag, and two Gastanks.  Best bags on the market.  Period.  I also carried a Osprey Hornet backpack which was great for overflow food and I carried water in it for the Great Basin crossing.

 

Oh-Shit-Kit - I went heavy on this because I wanted to be able to fix anything non-catastrophic. Cleat, cleat bolt, water bottle cage bolt, 2 tubes, chainbreak, patch kit, tire irons, zip ties, toe strap (great for fixing broken bags if need be), pump (which Rob at the Outdoorsman had to show me how to use), spare valve, chain lube, rag, duct tape, lighter, parachute cord, leatherman, multitool, chain quicklink, chainring bolt, derailleur and brake cable, spokes, brake pads.  I also had a basic first aid with pain killers, cuts and scrapes kit, and basic medicines for upset stomachs, etc.

Yes, it's blurry.  But it's the best I could do.

Clothing - I hate being cold.  I'm a firm believer that the more comfortable I am, the more I can ride so I probably carried more clothing than most.  Up north: two chamois, wool jersey, arm warmers, knee warmers, tall compression socks, wool socks, thin wool top and bottom for sleeping, medium weight wool top for riding, rain jacket, rain pants, UL down jacket (Montbell), thin gloves, nordic ski gloves, Buff.  In Salida, I sent home the wool jersey,  the thin wool top and bottom, and arm warmers.  I bought a normal jersey and arm coolers instead.

 

Personal care - toothbrush, toothpaste, sunscreen, chamois cream (I went through two entire tubes), baby wipes, toilet paper, and chapstick.

 

Water - I carried a 4 liter bladder that I used in my frame bag.  I also had a normal bottle and a 2 liter bladder that I could fill up for the dry stretches.  I'd normally fill the bottle up with some sort of Vitamin Water or gatorade at stops.  I carried chlorine dioxide for water purification but I never needed to use it.  In hindsight, I'd haul less water and get a steripen or some sort of in-line filter.

Pony Power!

Sleeping - I used a 40 degree Montbell bag, a full length Neoair thermarest, a Montbell sleepingbag cover, and an emergency blanket for a ground cloth (or burrito material for when it started raining).  In hindsight, a tarp would have been really nice.  The full length pad may have been overkill, but I slept super well and good sleep is key, so I'd take it again.

 

Electronics - I used a small Exposure helmet light that would run for 24 hours on low, which was good enough for climbing.  I carried two of these and would recharge whenever I stopped for an extended period.  It wasn't enough light and I'd take more next time.  Smartphone and charger, GPS (Etrex 20) and spare GPS (I have no sense of direction, I didn't want to have to rely on cue sheets), rear blinky light, SPOT, spare batteries for SPOT and GPS, camera.

 

I used pretty much everything I had.  I'd tweak a few things here and there if I did it again, but I think this is a pretty solid list of what it takes to get across the country relatively comfortably.

Comments

[Buzz]

Ez,

My question is about your shoes. What were they and how did they work on the hike a bike stuff?

Being an old geezer with a million miles on me feet it becomes a very big deal at the end of a long day

:-)

[Ez]

I just had some middle of the line Shimano mountain bike shoes, three velcro straps, nothing special. I got them a size too big because I know that my feet swell and if I do this again, I'd put in a nice footbed because the soles of my feet definitely developed hot spots which are currently peeling and making walking and riding a pain in the foot. They were the same shoes I wore for CTR last year (a new pair) and they seem to hold up to the hike-a-bike pretty well. They aren't super stiff, so that helps for hiking, but stiff enough for riding.

[unite tyre changer]

One of the things you can do to keep yourself safe is to cycle in a forward looking manner. Always observe your environment no matter how you enjoy the moment to prevent possible danger.

[Hermes Outlet]

It means that if you have 10% discount card you’ll manage to get a better price at an e-shop, too.

[Debbie]

This looks like a lot of fun. How do you find the time to do these activities? I seem to always be too busy.

[Uggs On Sale Uk]

Give me some useful information, thanks for sharing