the TOURING thread

[AngryScientist]

Inspired by m sasso and the recent thread about a long tour from philly to key west, here is the touring thread.

this kind of stuff gets me excited.

post your touring rigs, camping equipment, lightweight kit, etc.

and stupid questions, definitely post them.

[AngryScientist]

here's marc's input from the last thread on his epic trip:

Hello Sib,

Here is a brief rundown of my bike and gear, if you would like to talk more better move the discussion elsewhere or the natives may get restless.

Bike
Frame and Fork - 53cm, 1983 Koga Miyata Superwinner modified with rear rack braze-on’s, mid fork and 2nd water bottle mounts. Basically same frame as a Miyata 1000

Drive train – Ultegra 6500 triple crankset 52,42,30t, Ultegra 6500 BB, XTR M9000 pedals, XTR M971 rear derailleur, Ultegra 6700 front derailleur, Dura Ace 7800 down tube shifters, Ultegra R8000 11 speed cassette, 11-34, Ultegra 11 speed chain

Wheels and Tires - Dura Ace 7800, 32 hole front and rear hubs, modified DA free hub to accept shallow splined cassettes, hubs laced to Mavic 32 hole Open Pro rims with DT Swiss DB spokes, Panaracer RibMo 700 X 28 tires, Continental Race 28 tubes

Brakes - DuraAce 7800 calipers, DiaCompe Aero Grand Compe brake levers

Saddle, Seat Post, Head Set, Stem and Bars – Prologo Scratch Pro 2, Kalloy, Dura Ace 7410, Nitto/ Miyata stem, SR Road Champion

Racks - Axiom Journey lower fronts, Nitto Campee 33R rear rack, Nitto H2O cages

Gear
Panniers - Ortlieb Sport Roller Plus fronts, Arkel XM45 rear

Tent, Sleeping Bag, Sleeping Pad – Marmot Tungsten 3PUL, Tyvek footprint, Marmot Never Summer, Thermarest Prolite

Stove, Cooking Gear and H2O Carry/Portable Shower– MSR Pocket Rocket 2, GSI Pinnacle Soloist, Victorinox knife, Reliance collapsible

Riding Shoes – Giro Code VR70

Pump and Inflator - Blackburn air stick, Lezyne Control Drive

Lights - CatEye 800 front, VibePro rear

Communications and camera - Acer Switch 10 computer, Samsung 3JV phone, Canon ELPH 520HS

Credit cards, passport, clothes, bug net, toothbrush and the usual assortment of essentials like hat, sun glasses, gloves, helmet, lock, etc …… toilet paper …..flip flops…… eye glasses…..tools....

Would I change anything, yes much of the terrain was so varied, dual-control levers on the handle bars!

[rcnute]

My first s24o!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/30684316@N08/29769357467/in/dateposted-public/

Ryan

[jr59]

Well, I made it from Jacksonville Florida to Austin Tx. Then I got very sick and had to come back. Glad I did, or I wouldn’t be here reading this.

Bike: Spec AWOL.
Wheels; dt 540 laced to a Dt 350 rear and Xt front
Tires; marathons 35s
Brakes; B.B.-7
Drivetrain: Ultegra triple, I forget the gearing, except I used a wolf tooth extender to get a bigger rear on it. It was lower than 1-1, but I cannot remember exactly.
King cages 3
Front and rear racks; tubus
Lights rear dinolight
Front I used Fendix flashlight with a two fish.

Gear, ortlieb roll top rear on both front and rear plus their top bag.
Tent ; Rei half dome, and a pad, and sleeping bag all from rei
No cooking gear

iPhone 6+
iPad Air
A Anker solar charger and their big portable battery

Shoes were Keens, with my normal Airius crochet backs.

Used the southern route I got from a friend. Somebody sells these and they are good.
All in all no troubles at all, except a 4 night layover in New Orleans. Just piddling along. Camped basically off the road when I was tired. Left no trace and it worked out good. I wanted an adventure and got it. Note, you get really hungry out there. But I’d recommend it , I had a blast!

[bikinchris]

To me, the ultimate cheap touring rig is a Trek 520. My touring rig is a lot more fancy. An Independent Fabrication Independence.

[Dave Wages]

My wife Deborah and I completed our dream tour this summer with a trip from Campo, CA on the Mexico border to Sumas, WA through the Sierras and Cascades.

Deborah complied some stats on the trip;
2500 miles
52 days (8 rest days)
56 miles per day average (hey, it was hilly!)
~170,000' of climbing total (yeah, hilly)
~4000' per day
Hardest day, riding into Sequoia NP-6843' of climbing in 33.6 miles.
# of crashes, 1
# of flats, 0 (yup, see equipment below)

Our bikes were setup virtually the same, as follows;
Frames, Ellis Cycles Strada Fango (mine is full stainless, hers is painted steel)
Rims, WTB Asym 27.5"
Rear Hub, Shimano XT
Front Hub, Shimano Alfine Dyno
Spokes, Sapim Strong!
Tires, Schwalbe G-One Speed 27.5x1.5" tubeless w/Orange Seal Endurance
Crank & BB, Shimano Ultegra 46x34
Pedals, Shimano XT (Deborah) Shimano A600 (Dave)
Derailleurs, Shimano XTR Di2
Cassette, Shimano XTR 11x40
Shifters, Shimano 785 Di2 (Deborah) Shimano Ultegra Di2 (Dave)
Brakes, Shimano 785 Hydro (Deborah) TRP Spyre (Dave)
Saddle, Spec Ruby (Deborah) PRO Griffon (Dave)
Racks, Tubus Tara front, Tubus Cargo Evo rear
Waterbottle Cages, KING!
Panniers, Axiom Monsoon (Deborah) Ortlieb Back-Rollers
Frame Bag, Revelate Dangle medium (Dave's bike)
Headlights, Schmidt Edelux
Taillights, Spanning Pixeo on the rear fender and a Planet Bike flashy on our seatposts.

https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/33851514_1955125131164917_1812601165280444416_n.jp g?_nc_cat=110&oh=89e2fb9fb6c2c7772d03ef83092649a1&oe=5C628B1E

Gear;
Tent, Big Agnes Copper Spur UL3
Pads, Big Agnes Q-Core (although Deborah's sprung a leak midway and we replaced it with an Exped Synmat, which she really likes)
Sleeping bags, Kelty 0 degree and a Big Agnes Ethel 0 degree
Stove, MSR Pocket Rocket
Water filter, Sawyer Squeeze

Kit;
We both brought 3 full kits (shorts and jerseys)
Arm warmers and leg warmers from GORE
Wool undershirts from Patagonia (we wore these probably 70% of the time as we were at elevation quite a bit and consequently it was chilly most days)
Shimano mountain shoes for both of us.
3 pairs of wool socks
Patagonia Storm Racer jackets got used on almost every descent to keep warm, in camp at night and in the rain.
Wool full finger gloves and 2 pair of fingerless bike gloves
Patagonia puffy jackets for camp and under the shell jackets on cold descents.


We originally brought 4 kits and some extra street clothes but about 6 days in we sent home one kit and almost all street clothes except one outfit each. We also upgraded (ie, downsized) our stove and water filter to save precious ounces, as it all count when you're climbing 4000' every day! We had to ride ourselves into shape as the trip went on, and it was made tougher by the cold that I picked up on day 3, and shared with Deborah by day 6 or 7. We struggled with cold symptoms for a couple weeks, but kept plugging along.

Onyx Summit on Day 4, the height of my cold!
https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/32543883_1938279832849447_7875792967896662016_n.jp g?_nc_cat=104&oh=eda08f8eb8d7d4e4dd4419e6e8735c80&oe=5C1E2B98

Highlights of the trip would have to be riding through the Sequoias, pretty much all of Yosemite NP, and Crater Lake, although I don't think we had a "bad scenery" day on the whole of the trip. Some days were just better than others!

Poppies in a meadow after climbing the Caliente Bodfish road (holy crap that was steep!)
https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/33059056_1943549878989109_2813645337741230080_n.jp g?_nc_cat=102&oh=3f50c268616fe5a257a656259f6934d2&oe=5C23FC7C

Yeah, that's kinda impressive...
https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/33872717_1955124544498309_1774434913362116608_n.jp g?_nc_cat=103&oh=18c285651157644bf4e0367cfb70e77f&oe=5C1D8A33

High point of the whole trip!
https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/34031958_1955125347831562_7612835626718593024_n.jp g?_nc_cat=111&oh=673d6bf46452e5c9bd0bf69b84e5d447&oe=5C5CF346

Riding toward Mt Lassen
https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/34607776_1965608900116540_8217718892038979584_n.jp g?_nc_cat=108&oh=8b4deccad20daaf1827eee80890bdfe1&oe=5C15FDA9

Taking a break at Crater Lake
https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/35345555_1975030529174377_8410680159056691200_o.jp g?_nc_cat=106&oh=fc7d85e3336fb91178a2296ee09ab4e3&oe=5C27636B

After a very soggy last day, the official finish at Sumas, WA (we actually had to ride another 14 miles to my relatives in Lynden, but you get the idea!)
https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/36420586_2002182053125891_131405907400589312_n.jpg ?_nc_cat=100&oh=13d5867b1ba5a80c143be4b5a017e066&oe=5C269767

You can see all the pics on my Facebook album here (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1934643933213037&type=1&l=6c2d65af01). It was the trip of the lifetime and we're both so glad we were able to make it happen this year. Not sure if we had waited until we retired whether we would have been able to even begin this route, it wasn't for the faint of heart! Now we just have to figure out what the next "trip of a lifetime" is... ;-)

[old fat man]

I rode across the country solo back in 2008. Next time I'll be doing it with my two boys.

www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/rosey2008