Ultra-light bike tournig methods?

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:

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".

Well, consider carefully what you need. I have seen people on tour with
three pairs of shoes, a week's worth of cycling clothing, a couple days
with of casual wear, cell phone, Palm Pilot and an espresso maker. Take
what's essential. There are lots of touring books and packing lists
from experienced tourists to provide a starting point. Go here and
search for "packing list:"

http://www.trentobike.org/

Also, the following site has an "equipment list" link that will show you
lists of equipment people actually use:

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com

Both of the above sites have great touring reports (and some mediocre
ones, too).

Equipment choice hinges on whether you want to camp. I hate camping, so
I don't do camping tours. As a result, I can do a two or more week tour
with 10 pounds of gear, including the saddlebag to carry it in.
However, this does rather limit me to touring in places where there is
food and lodging readily available. Most of the world fits that
description, but there are interesting places where my style of touring
wouldn't work. My style of touring is also fairly expensive; camping
can drastically reduce the costs.

http://www.wallbike.com/carradice/longflaps.html

http://www.rivbike.com/webalog/baggage_racks/20079.html

If you like to camp, as millions of people do, then you're going to have
to haul a tent, sleeping bag, pad. If you want to do camp cooking, now
you need a stove, fuel, cookware. So you can hit 30 pounds of gear
easily, and some people haul 50-60 pounds of stuff. Yikes!

Basically, keeping the bike "light and lively" is going to be
diametrically opposed to a camping/cooking tour. But that can still be
a heck of a lot of fun (if you like to camp, unlike me).

In article ,
says...


Well, consider carefully what you need. I have seen people on tour with
three pairs of shoes, a week's worth of cycling clothing, a couple days
with of casual wear, cell phone, Palm Pilot and an espresso maker. Take
what's essential.

Do you mean to suggest an espresso maker is *not* essential for touring?
I'd sooner leave home my bottle of port and box of dark chocolate!

Touring is not, IMHO, an exercise in asceticism. It's a pleasant way to
travel. I'd rather have a few extra pounds of gear on the bike and
enjoy my creature comforts in camp.

On the other hand, sometimes I *do* save weight by not carrying my
medium-format camera and tripod for landscape photography.

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

I was in Scotland a few years ago and photographed this round-the-world
Japanese cyclist who was carrying 60kg of kit. I've never seen anything
like it!

http://www.pbase.com/gearoidmuar/image/37629524

wrote:
I was in Scotland a few years ago and photographed this round-the-world
Japanese cyclist who was carrying 60kg of kit. I've never seen anything
like it!

http://www.pbase.com/gearoidmuar/image/37629524

Am I imagining things or is the guy in the picture flipping you the
bird?

wrote
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.

The method I've seen lots of tourers use in Europe is having a support
vehicle to carry all the "stuff" for the group.

... tour light and lively but at same time have what you "need".

Crux is the detailed meaning for you of the word "need".

Repair tools and replacement parts:
What frequency of what kinds of repairs are you going to make for
yourself -- rather than taking the time and trouble of arranging
transportation to a bike shop and waiting for its opening hours?
I feel like I should be able to repair a breaking of a chain or
derailleur-cable or brake-cable on my own. Lately an interesting question
for me is when to carry a spare tire (especially for a tandem, which wears
down tire rubber faster).

Other stuff:
Key question here is to distinguish between comfort and survival. Like if
"running and jumping all night long" counts for you as a way to make it thru
an unxpected cold night . . . or sleeping in the same sweaty clothes you
rode in counts as sufficient comfort for you (and your companions?) . . .
there's new opportunities to save weight for that desired "light and lively"
touring the next day.
Not me.

For me a "need" if there's a significant chance of cold weather is something
to cover my fingertips while I'm riding. So I've got a pair of large-size
uninsulated shell mits I can put over my fingerless cycling gloves. Because
without them I've been in situations where my fingers got so cold in the
wind + wet that I wasn't sure how long I's still be able to use them to grab
the brake levers.

Key strategic question:
If "light and lively" is important ...
* why do a multi-day tour at all? or
* why not choose a tour with mostly gentle or flat terrain, where your
riding will _feel_ light?

Ken

In article ,
Joshua Putnam wrote:

In article ,
says...

Well, consider carefully what you need. I have seen people on tour
with three pairs of shoes, a week's worth of cycling clothing, a
couple days with of casual wear, cell phone, Palm Pilot and an
espresso maker. Take what's essential.

Do you mean to suggest an espresso maker is *not* essential for
touring? I'd sooner leave home my bottle of port and box of dark
chocolate!

Touring is not, IMHO, an exercise in asceticism. It's a pleasant way
to travel. I'd rather have a few extra pounds of gear on the bike
and enjoy my creature comforts in camp.

An excellent illustration of the variable definition of the term "need."
Of course, in my definition of touring the word "camp" involves a room
with a bed, bathroom and shower. Creature comforts indeed! ;-)

On the other hand, sometimes I *do* save weight by not carrying my
medium-format camera and tripod for landscape photography.

Well, the old Zone VI field camera was fairly reasonable to carry
around. I don't know what alternatives there are now.

After much resistance to digital, my brother in law gave me a Fuli
FinePix A205 for Christmas a few years. It's rather bulky so I don't
carry it for bike rides, using my old Olympus XA for that as it's
smaller, but I've been impressed with the usefulness of the digital
camera. I have been keeping an eye on the very small digital cameras to
have one for bike riding. Not having a darkroom any more- not having
been able to set it up in 20 years or more- digital is appealing. But
still, digital images do not (yet) approach the fine quality of a fine
art print.

Am I imagining things or is the guy in the picture flipping you the
bird?
He could be but I doubt it. I was talking to him for quite a while
beforehand and asked if I could photography him. He had no problem with
that.

In article ,
says...
In article ,
Joshua Putnam wrote:

On the other hand, sometimes I *do* save weight by not carrying my
medium-format camera and tripod for landscape photography.

Well, the old Zone VI field camera was fairly reasonable to carry
around. I don't know what alternatives there are now.

The two MF cameras I've used on the bike were at opposite ends of the
portability spectrum.

One was a Moscow 5 pocket camera -- took beautifully sharp 6x9 negatives
yet folded up to fit in a jersey pocket. But it was too IR-permeable
for Kodak infrared film.

The other was a Mamiya Universal with a 70mm back and a couple of
lenses. It fit nicely in an Oyster Bucket pannier with foam.

After much resistance to digital, my brother in law gave me a Fuli
FinePix A205 for Christmas a few years. It's rather bulky so I don't
carry it for bike rides, using my old Olympus XA for that as it's
smaller, but I've been impressed with the usefulness of the digital
camera. I have been keeping an eye on the very small digital cameras to
have one for bike riding. Not having a darkroom any more- not having
been able to set it up in 20 years or more- digital is appealing. But
still, digital images do not (yet) approach the fine quality of a fine
art print.

I do have digitals as well. For work I carry an old Canon PowerShot
A40. Very reliable, quite rugged, does a fine job for documenting
things, and it fits in a pocket.

For better-quality photography, my Dimage 7Hi has manual controls and
external flash. I'd compare the quality to good 35mm snapshots, not as
good as professional-quality 35mm, but pretty good.

About the only 35mm I still do is HIE -- I don't have a darkroom, but I
can develop with a changing bag, scan negs, and get real prints of the
few shots that really deserve it.

--
is Joshua Putnam
http://www.phred.org/~josh/
Updated Infrared Photography Gallery:
http://www.phred.org/~josh/photo/ir.html

wrote:
I was in Scotland a few years ago and photographed this round-the-world
Japanese cyclist who was carrying 60kg of kit. I've never seen anything
like it!

http://www.pbase.com/gearoidmuar/image/37629524
Awesome pic! I bet that Japanese cyclist really flies when he removes
his load.