Preparation
For First Bicycle Touring Adventure: Fall 2007
I’ve been riding bicycles for a good part of my life, but like most
of us just on weekends and day trips. The route was pretty easy to figure out,
as there are not too many roads leading from Salt Lake City to Baja California.
From start to finish, this trip would be about 2300 miles over 2.5 month. As
before, 203 miles from Logan, UT to Jackson Hole, WY was the longest ride I had
ever ridden in one day. The biggest difference would be the lack of support, as
everything would have to be carried on board the bicycle and no hotel room, or
restaurant waiting at the end of the day.
As I was searching for touring equipment and ideas, I came across
the website “downtheroad.org” which
became my bible of sort. Preparation and planning took little over a year, as I
not only had to buy the equipment; my employer also had to agree to get me the
needed time off. Most of the gear I purchased at REI, such as tent, sleeping
bag, silk liner, panniers, hydration pack, tools, spare parts……. as everything
carries a great warranty. For my touring bike companion, I bought a Koga-Miyata World Traveler, which is
already setup for touring, complete with luggage rack to hang on panniers. An
important part the manufacturer forgot though was to mount a mirror. So I added
a mirror, aero-bars, and raised the front pannier bracket to make it perfect.
At first I used a mirror from the bike store, but later on some narrow roads, I
felt this was a much more important part and mounted a motorcycle mirror
instead. As for bicycle safety, I think this is a much overlooked part on the
bike. It also pays off to plan ahead and travel on good equipment, as all those
years I didn’t have any material breakdowns, except for flat tires of course.
Before the BIG one, I did a couple of trial runs in Salt Lake City,
to check the gear and weight distribution. Although staying at friends places,
I pretended to be camping out and used all of my equipment in their living
rooms, making sure everything was in its place. Knowing that once on the road,
there won’t be a bike store around every corner.
Then finally on October 1st. 2007, I was all packed and
ready for the trip south. As it was a rainy day with snow mixed and freezing
cold, I decided to leave the following day on a better weather forecast,
staying warm and dry an extra day…………..
Until next time...
Tony Bike
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