Ultra-light bike tournig methods?

Besides http://www.crazyguyonabike.org check out
http://www.kenkifer.com and http://www.downtheroad.org

wrote:
Was recently reading an article in Adventure Touring
abt how when touring people take too much stuff.... and
methods of taking less (ultra-light).

Curious what others here do to keep the clutter and
"stuff" down on tour that includes both camping along
way and some staying in motel.

Example..... if a person had only say a rear rack
only...could you use a compression sack for major
gear....and what else?

Just looking for some ideas on how to NOT take
everything and the kitchen sink along and keep the bike
and tour light and lively but at same time have what
you "need".

"
wrote:

Besides http://www.crazyguyonabike.org check out
http://www.kenkifer.com and http://www.downtheroad.org

Thanks

What's everyone opinions on bags vs a trailer?

Their is also a yahoo group
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/ultralightbiking/
that may prove useful. Ken kifer http://www.kenkifer.com
had a great approach to cycling. Sure miss his posts .
Dave
http://www.noweldrecumbent.com

wrote in message
...

Was recently reading an article in Adventure Touring
abt how when touring people take too much stuff.... and
methods of taking less (ultra-light).

Curious what others here do to keep the clutter and
"stuff" down on tour that includes both camping along
way and some staying in motel.

Example..... if a person had only say a rear rack
only...could you use a compression sack for major
gear....and what else?

Just looking for some ideas on how to NOT take
everything and the kitchen sink along and keep the bike
and tour light and lively but at same time have what
you "need".

In article ,
wrote:

" wrote:

Besides http://www.crazyguyonabike.org check out
http://www.kenkifer.com and http://www.downtheroad.org

Thanks

What's everyone opinions on bags vs a trailer?

Trailers really make it easy to take too much stuff!

This isn't all that complicated and you seem to be making it much more
difficult than it is (assuming all the questions are being posted by
only one person using a fake e-mail address).

There's a danger in spending so much time and energy getting ready that
you never go. Just go. If the equipment you have isn't perfect, so
what? You'll have a ball anyway. Thousands of people rode across the
U.S. in the 1970s on 40 lb Schwinn Continentals with a Pletscher rack
and their stuff in a nylon bag strapped to the rack with bungie cords.
They had a great time. It's not about the bike. All the bike has to be
is comfortable and reliable. A tour is about the places you see and the
people you meet.

I've toured on a cyclo-cross bike in the Alps, and on an "all rounder"
in the Mississippi River Valley. I've ridden both on brevets. I've
done brevets on my racing bike. I've done long distance rides on my
single speed. It doesn't matter. They were all fun (except the the
200K ride with 8 1/2 hours of rain at 42 degrees F and a 25 mph headwind
for the last 63 miles. That wasn't fun, but which bike I rode would
have made no difference).

Pack light. Two sets of cycling clothing, one pair of SPD style shoes
that you can walk and cycle in, one set of lightweight casual clothes
that you can wear to a restaurant and to the laundromat. A rain jacket
and a cycling hat are a necessity, arm warmers, leg warmers and some
light weight long finger gloves. I have a couple of medicines I carry
(aspirin, migraine medication) and a small hiker's first aid kit from
REI that is in a very small pouch. Sunscreen and lip balm, too. ID,
credit card, ATM card, small amount of cash. Also a phone card versus a
cell phone- the former weighs less but is often useless in an emergency.

Take enough tools to fit all the fasteners on your bike plus tire
levers, patch kit, a spare tube, a foldable spare tire, a spoke wrench,
two spare spokes of each size. I carry a Ritchey CPR 9 or a Cool Tool
for most of those tools and a Crank Bros. Speed Lever for the tire lever.

The above will get you through weeks of minimailst credit card touring,
will fit in a Carradice Nelson saddle bag and will weigh less than 10
pounds. Your bike will feel normal after a couple of days.

If I was camping, I'd take the same list of stuff plus the necessary
camping gear. Ultralight backpacking gear really is often very light
and quite suitable for cycle touring. I'd use a bivy sack rather than a
tent.

In article ,
says...

If I was camping, I'd take the same list of stuff plus the necessary
camping gear. Ultralight backpacking gear really is often very light
and quite suitable for cycle touring. I'd use a bivy sack rather than a
tent.

I was a bivy-sack tourist until I got married.

Now that we have three kids, our lightweight tent is a six-person,
three-season dome. If we're packing really light in the summer, we can
skip the thick air mattresses and inflator pumps and just take
Thermarest pads.

On the other hand, the tandem plus Trail-a-bike has *lots* of cargo
capacity.

--
is Joshua Putnam
http://www.phred.org/~josh/
Braze your own bicycle frames. See
http://www.phred.org/~josh/build/build.html

If you are going to bike/pack a combination of self contained backpacking,
and cycling - trailers can be great, the trailers are big enough to carry a
extended trip backpack in. I do this with a bob coz "no longer made" it is a
waterproof tupperware container single wheeled trailer. The nice thing is
that the trailer fits perfectly inside the tub for air/bus travel. For
family trips we take a bykaboose folding trailer 2 wheeled. For solo or just
plain trips bags are the easiest to handle on tour.
Hope this helps,
David
http://noweldrecumbent.com

wrote in message
...
"
wrote:

Besides http://www.crazyguyonabike.org check out
http://www.kenkifer.com and http://www.downtheroad.org

Thanks

What's everyone opinions on bags vs a trailer?

In article ,
Joshua Putnam wrote:

In article ,
says...

If I was camping, I'd take the same list of stuff plus the
necessary camping gear. Ultralight backpacking gear really is
often very light and quite suitable for cycle touring. I'd use a
bivy sack rather than a tent.

I was a bivy-sack tourist until I got married.

There is that. I was assuming that "me" would be doing a solo tour, but
that of course is an unfounded notion.

Now that we have three kids, our lightweight tent is a six-person,
three-season dome. If we're packing really light in the summer, we
can skip the thick air mattresses and inflator pumps and just take
Thermarest pads.

On the other hand, the tandem plus Trail-a-bike has *lots* of cargo
capacity.

And a good thing, it sounds like!

Joshua Putnam wrote:

I was a bivy-sack tourist until I got married.

Ok

So any advice on what brand/model bivvy sack to get?

In article ,
says...
Joshua Putnam wrote:

I was a bivy-sack tourist until I got married.

So any advice on what brand/model bivvy sack to get?

I never had any complaints with my Outdoor Research bivy.

--
is Joshua Putnam
http://www.phred.org/~josh/
Braze your own bicycle frames. See
http://www.phred.org/~josh/build/build.html

Tim McNamara wrote:

There's a danger in spending so much time and energy getting ready that
you never go. Just go. If the equipment you have isn't perfect, so
what?

Understood

But I'm on a really really tight budget here.

So have to make sure the stuff I purchase is as "right"
as I can get it.