My big annual work conference is coming in San Diego this coming week. What does that mean? Well besides a week filled with hours of technical sessions on computer mapping and alcohol filled nights:beer:, for me it means a beautiful bike ride down to San Diego and back to Pasadena. :bang: My plan was to ride my new DeSalvo to SD, camping at San Onofre on Sunday night. I was to pull a borrowed trailer with all my clothes, computer, other necessities for the week and camping gear for my stay at San Onofre. Best part of the plan I am meeting my dad in Cypress and riding with him from their house to San Juan Capistrano where he will take the train home. Well the bit about riding the DeSalvo and pulling all my gear on the trailer ended today when I discovered my bike was still at paint in CO, needed to still be delivered to OR for final prep, then delivered to CA. Oh well one can't rush art and I now have a back up plan. After many hours of research have decided to purchase a Carradice Nelson Longflap and Expedition Bagman rack from Peter White and attach it to my Lemond. I ordered the green and brown, which they luckily had in stock!! For those not aquainted with Carradice here is a bit of background: Located in the Northern England town of Nelson, is the last British firm still making traditional cycling bags. Carradice makes all of their products on these premesis using methods that have been relied on since the 1930s. Using proven, sturdy, waterproof cotton duck fabric, Caradice makes a unique line of products that is renowned for quality and durability. I plan to carry my poncho/tarp, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, pot, stove, fuel, dinner, breakfast, camp clothes, bike tools and repair stuffs. If I need a bit more space I will pick up a handlebar bag I guess. Stay tuned for photos and ride report.
All packed and ready...well almost I'm not so sure about the sleeping bag on the handlebars. I'm going to look for something better tomorrow. Weight according to the bathroom scale is 33 pounds, that's without water. Here's the gear: and the kitchen: Gear List: Sleeping Bag: Marmot Arroyo 35 deg (~16oz) Sleeping Pad: Big Agnes something or other Tent: Six Moon Designs Gatewood Cap silnyon poncho tarp Stove: Cat food can Pot/Bowl: Heineken can with bobble warp for insulation and aluminum flashing for windscreen Utensil: Lexan spoon Fenix LED flashlight for camp and lights at night old school Black Diamond LED headlamp Solar charger to charge the Garmin Riding clothes for day 2 Camp clothes Food: Beef Stew, instant Oatmeal dried cherries
Somebody has been doing their homework. Still pretty light too. Hell, had I knew you were doing this, I'd have jumped in. Now I have my grandson coming over for the weekend so I'm stuck now.
Sorry Mike. This one is a family ride. Sunday is a chance for my dad and I to ride and just be together. I REALLY want to do more of this stuff so there will me more opportunities.
I took the new set up for a spin on one of my normal training loops around Pasadena this morning. I was very surprised how well it handled and my current gearing was sufficient. I am running a normal 52x36 double with a 27x12 cassette. The bailout 27 cog really helped on the double digit grades. Standing was a bit awkward but manageable. I was actually also pleasantly happy with the sleeping bag strapped to the bars. Not the best long term solution but does save me from buying a less than idea handlebar bag just for the trip. I noticed my braking was a bit sloppy but not dangerously so. I will keep with this set up for the ride. While riding I didn't notice any side to side movement and the bike tracked perfectly on descents. I managed 33 on one descent and was holding back out of a scenes of preservation.
I had to ship those down with a co-worker. Not my ideal plan but in the end that's what had to happen.
I'm back from my conference and finally in front of a computer again. The ride down was a blast! The Good: The weather was perfect and not too hot. I pick up my dad in Cypress and rode with him to Capistrano. He did really well but the hill in Laguna kicked his butt. He doesn't really ride hills at all. We had a great lunch at some place in Dana Point before he got on the train. In a city as large as LA it is hard to imagine just bumping into people you know. In HB I ran into my next door neighbor from Pasadena, in Laguna I met singletrack from STR, and in south Laguna I ran into my good buddy Berstieger with his wife and beautiful new baby boy Max for the first time. I honestly hardly knew I had gear on my bike. The only time it was really evident was when standing. I made pretty good time all things considering. Day one was 107 miles and I did that in right at 7 hours. Not bad considering my bike and gear weighed 33 pounds. The camping site at San Clemente was really nice. I watched a beautiful sunset while eating my dinner. I met a cool couple riding a tandem Santanna with BOB trailer who was on their last night of camping having ridden from Seattle. They were from New York and seem to tour frequently. Oh and the hot showers were an a nice surprise! The Bad: I did something stupid at night and woke up to a dead Garmin even after I thought I charged it. I didn't take enough time at night to look after myself and my gear. Just kind of was done by the end of the day. Guess that's what happens after riding 107 miles in one day with gear. This lack of attention presented itself the next morning when I had too many little things left to tend to when all I wanted to do was ride. I originally planned on camping at San Onofre. I tried contacting the park to see if they had hike/bike camping there. I didn't receive a response so I just went for it. When I got there after about 100 miles of riding I was told the campground was full and I couldn't stay there but that there was hike/bike camping at a park just north. So then I had to ride 7-10 miles back north in head winds to San Clemente State Park. That kind of sucked. I was pretty darn tired by sunset and no one really to hang out with so I went to bed. Just before bed time some 30 somethings with a kid rolled into camp and proclaimed "let's get this party started!" They turned on the Bob Marley and started setting up camp. In all fairness to them they were actually pretty respectable and the music wasn't that loud but still I was dead tire and couldn't sleep because of it. The Ugly: After dropping off my dad and a bit of a resting with him I noticed a small pain in my left knee. I haven't had these issues in quite some time, but for this trip I switched from my carbon post to a Thompson not wanting to hang the additional weight off my saddle with a carbon post. I took great care to measure everything before the switch but must still be off my a few millimeters. By the time I got to camp the pain was definitely noticeable. By the next morning it was really bad and I had about 60 miles to ride. Every pedal stroke of my left leg was painful. I had to stay very conscious of my form and how much effort I used with the left leg. BioFreeze helped by not that much. I managed to get to San Diego but the knee is still in pain and I couldn't ride home and will be on the couch this weekend. There were several mosquitoes that eat me alive in camp. I looked like a pin cushion by the morning. Lastly I came the closest I ever have to being hit on my bike. I was rolling through Oceanside close to the beach when a guy in a full sized Dodge truck pulled right in front of me to pull into his driveway. I yelled, luckily he had is window down, swerved hard right, then left, locked up the rear wheel for a second and rolled out of it. I was doing about 20 before hitting the brakes and he was going pretty slow. If he hadn't stopped I would have gone across the hood. Pretty scary. Thoughts on my kit: I can see now that for a longer tour I would likely put the Carradice on a rear rack (Nitto Fly), which would give me the ability to carry another small stuff sack or small tent outside the Carradice. Like this guys set up from bike forums. I really like his setup. Also a handlebar bag is essential. Looking at the Acorn bag: Might also look at a small frame bag as well. As a result of my mosquito attacks I see now I need some bug protection. A very cheap and lightweight solution would be bug netting placed inside the tarp. Or a different tent set up. It will be impossible to find another shelter as light as the one I have with better bug protection but there are some out there that are not that much more weight and offer full ground lever bug protection. I also need some kind of flooring in the tarp. Six Moon Designs sells a tyvek floor for my tarp. Because it was so hot I had my 35 degree bag draped over me most of the night. Without a floor the bag was constantly on the dirt, which isn't cool. If you've gotten to this point congratulations! Thanks for reading all my thoughts. If you get into touring our already tour I hope you find some bit of information useful.
Yeah, I have a lot more to do now that I've got my first tour down. That handle bar shot is not reality though. I've never seen a bike without something else on the bars and tour riders have a shiatload of stuff on them. I have brakes on the bars but I'm going to change that. I also was eaten almost death by them little buggers. As much as I hate the bug repellent I hate getting chewed on worse. A pad,tent and bag are essential for me. I guess I could go with just a footprint but the tent only weighs a few pounds and has such a high comfort level that I'll probably stay with it. Why is that CA is so lacking when it comes to camping? All the other states in the west will always accomodate us as long as we come in under human power,except CA. Campgrounds in other states that I've been to also seem to go out of their way to encourage alternative transportation other then vehicles pwered by gas, yet here they seem to have some sort of disdain for us. Weird.
Re the campgrounds. I was told more than once (and even by a state worker) they had problems with transients staying in the campground that rolled up on bikes and make a home for themselves there. For instance San Elijo does not officially have a hike/bike campground but when I rolled up and asked guys at the entrance booth about bike camping they said something to the effect 'if you roll up like that they will let you camp.'
