The Gear

For a long bike tour, a lot of gear is needed.  As I go on my adventures and training, I get to find out what applies to my lifestyle while I’m traveling.   I always think like a backpacker when I’m preparing for a long trip;  I plan ahead and think about any problems I might encounter on the road.  By considering what situations I could get into, I think about the gear I need to carry to get out of them.

So this is the stuff I’m planning to take:

 The Essentials:

1.   Bike (otherwise it should not be called a Mountain Bike trip) – I will be riding on a 2010 Trek Fuel EX 8.  I know, I Know!  This is not a bike designed for this type of trip.  I will be using touring tires on the bike to be more efficient on the ride.  My opinion:  ride whatever you feel more comfortable and whatever you have been training with.

2.   Trailer – I will be taking the BOB Yak Plus Trailer.  It is really cool way to carry your stuff since it is strong, light, and can be attached easily into the rear hub of the bike using a quick release mechanism.  There has always been a great deal of debate between panniers and trailers.  Both have their advantages and disadvantages. 

3.   Maps – Adventure Cycling Association offers a whole slew of adventure cycling maps.  Since these maps were created by cyclist for cyclist, they include information not found on typical road maps helpful to the adventure cyclist.

4.  Tools – Unless you are trained or know how to fix every single piece of your bike, there is not much you need to take for the road.  You could try to carry every single tool ever created, but if you don’t know how to use it would be nothing but excess weight.   My advice to you is to take the tools you are familiar with.  As long as you clean your bike every day before/after your ride and make sure everything is in place, you should not have major issues.  Unless, of course, you crash! and at that point, you should worry about other things besides your bike.  So for a 30-day cross country bike ride, this is what I’m taking:  (a) Tire Levers, (b) 15 mm pedal wrench, (c) Spoke wrench, (d)  Spare spokes, (e) Pump with gauge (f) Folding metric Allen wrenches, (g) Patch kit, (h) Spare tubes, (i) Grease, and Lube, (j) Extra chain (already measured and cut for the bike), (k) Powerlink chain, (l) CO2 inflator and CO2 cartridges, (m) Bike owner’s manual in case you need some extra help.

5.  Food and water – Although I will be buying food along the road, I will be taking dehydrated food.  Dehydrated food is very convenient when doing long backpacking trips.  It is light, easy to make (just add hot water), and surprisingly delicious.  There is a whole variety of it out there;  from scramble eggs to chicken teriyaki with rice.

The Basics:

Since towns and services will be few and far between, I will be largely dependent on what I bring with me.  These basics items (I think!) will make the trip more comfortable while away from civilization:

1.  Solar Charger – Since I’m planning on taking my cell phone and a notebook, I will be needing some “juice” to have them running at all times.  The Solio Classic Solar Charger is an easy to operate device that has multiple charging heads, and ,apparently, it is an effective charger (will see!…details of the performance will be found on gear review ) .

2.  Stove – The smallest single (and cheapest) backpacking stove I could find: MSR Pocket Rocket Stove.  I have used it before during my climbing trips, and, I have to tell you, this little sucker can be as powerful and reliable as your regular stove.   The only disadvantage is that does not have a self igniting burner, so you need an external source of ignition.  I will also be carrying a solo cookset.

3.  Sleeping bag – I remember hiking to the Aconcagua and feeling like crap because I had a bad night sleep due to the freaking sleeping bag.  So sleeping is very important, and a good sleeping bag is more!.  Hopefully Big Agnes Lost Ranger will do the job.

4.  Solo Tent – MSR Hubba tent.  Very light (2 lbs. 2 oz) waterproof, easy to set up, and, most importantly, the zipper works very well.

5.  Watch – Although Denzel Washington called it a “cheap watch” in the movie man on fire, there is nothing “cheap” about this Casio Pathfinder PAG40-3V Multifunction Watch.  It has everything I need for this and other trips:  digital compass, altimeter/barometer and thermometer.

6.  GPS Messenger – SPOT II Satellite GPS Messenger will allow me to transmit my location and that I am ok.  It will also track my progress by sending and saving points along my route to Google Maps.

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