 |
| Now that's a rig |
I'm going to be cycling from Canada to Ventura via the the Pacific Coast this summer. This endeavor is commonly known as "bike touring". One of the things that appeals to me about bike touring, is that you don't take a whole lot of stuff with you. But you do need a few basic things. Like a bike. Preferably (although not necessarily) a touring bike. Something that is durable, easy to work on in the middle of nowhere, and able to hold everything you would need for an extended tour like a tent, sleeping bag and stuff for cooking in camp . Next, you add some racks, panniers (French for "rubber bags that hold things"), fenders, kickstand (yes, kickstand), lights etc.... and you have what I have been referring to as "a rig". Some people name their bikes. I have not. I just refer to it as the "Touring Rig". Even the name sounds heavy. For the benefit of those still reading, I'll go through my rig and it's accouterments:
The Bike
The options for a touring bike range from converting an old road bike you pick up on Craig's List for $200 (Yugo), to a $10K+ custom bike (Range Rover). I went with a Chevy. After quite a bit of research, I was all set on a Surly (Long Haul Trucker) and then REI put their equivalent brand (Novara Randonee) on sale for 25% off. Being a frugal guy, it was an easy decision to go with the REI bike.
 |
| The bike |
So what would the frame on this bike be made out of you ask? Carbon? Aluminum? Titanium? Nope, nope and nope. STEEL. That's right, the same stuff your old Schwinn Varsity was made out of (alloyed with a little chromium and molybdenum for good measure). Sure, it's heavier than the high tech materials used on even basic mountain and road bikes today. But, it can take the heavy load, rides smoother than other materials, and might be repairable if it needs welding while on trip. Most small towns have someone who can weld.
Storage
 |
| Probably going to need a little more room than this |
One could not load up a touring bike with way too much stuff unless there was somewhere to store everything, right? My approach is to use a set of panniers on the front and back of the bike and a handlebar bag on,...... well, the handlebars.
|
 |
| Panniers, and handlebar bag |
The bags are all waterproof (the panniers are basically a dry bag with some mounting hardware on one side) which is great if I ever want to take a spin through a car wash or I get into some rain while on the road. The handlebar bag also doubles as my "man purse" so I can take all my valuables (iPhone, cash, credit cards etc....) with me when i go into a store for supplies.
|
|
 |
| Front view |
 |
| Handlebar bag in man purse mode |
Other stuff
I've added a few pics of some of the other things I've researched/obsessed about before adding to the bike. The coolest might be the Goal Zero solar charger that provides a simple way to keep my iPhone (and to a lesser extent) my iPad charged. The double kickstand gets honorable mention.
 |
Works great as long as there is sun....
|
 |
| Headlight mounted on modified wine cork |
 |
| Kickstand |
 |
| Brooks B-17 leather saddle |
It handles surprising well when fully loaded - just need to watch out for crosswinds as I have the side profile similar to a sheet of plywood....... I plan to take it out for a weekend test tour sometime soon.
|
|
Posted with Blogsy