Why.

For anyone who has been outside of their own town with a fully loaded  touring bike has probably had strangers ask a few questions. Stopping at a grocery store and eating some snacks in the shade by the entry is a likely place. Some common questions are things like, “where are you from?” “where are you going?” “how much does your bike weigh?” And there are variations to another common one but  to simplify it is “why?”

So here i am, thinking about what my answer is. This time. And im asking myself, not drafting an answer to dish out to locals.

I’ve toured before. My first Why was to see the Pacific Ocean. I was a good few years younger and had not done much traveling, none by myself for more than a day and I was about to ride my bike across the country. Not coast to coast, it was from my home town in Ohio to somewhere unknown in California. I didn’t have the money so i never even thought about flying to some other coastal start point. I did end up taking a bus back home but anyway, I learned a lot on that trip. I learned a lot on the first day. Meet lots of great people. The whole thing was the best thing I had done with my life. I felt great and learned some very good lessons about life and people.

A few months after that tour ended I did more traveling. I drove from Ohio to a ski town in Colorado and spent a few months there snowboarding. After Spring began I wanted to go home again but after a few months at home I thought about how easy it would be to go on another tour. It had cost me a good bit to buy a bike and panniers and all my camping gear and things for my first trip, but now I already had all that. And I had a better idea of my daily costs so i could budget more accurately. Also I’d learned how to camp for free. Going on another awesome trip was almost a given. So now the Why was to relive the experience of my first trip.

But once I got out there things weren’t the same. I did not have anywhere near the same experience. It was not very good. I could blame the area of the country i was in. And that may have been some of it, SC for example, but really I wanted it to be something defined when i should have just let thing happen how they will. My Why (the Why i told myself , not the Why i told inquisitive locals at grocery stores) had messed me up. And i didnt figure it out until too late. I had thought my second trip would be from Ohio to the Atlantic Ocean then ride down to Key West, then go up along the Gulf coast and follow that to Texas, a state I’d never been to. But being so disappointed in my trip and myself i quit in FL many miles before Miami.

After all that traveling I’d only spent less than 6 months in Ohio of the last 16. All together it was rad, but I was broke. I stayed home for a year before I did any more traveling. And for a long while all my trips were in cars. I still wanted to ride bikes but I’d basically done a coast to coast-ish ride. And I was not as excited to tour anymore.

Leap forward a few years. I’d done more traveling. Lived in CO briefly, CA for a bit, and was now residing in NYC. I for some reason started to think about planning another solo tour. Oh wait! I remember thinking about another tour before I left CA. It was to be something to do with my self before I relocated. I did not have a job or apartment waiting as i drove away from the west coast so that seemed like a good time to go on a long bike ride.

Fresh from CA, I was in Ohio only a week before I got a call from a friend in NYC asking if I wanted to move into an empty room they had and get a job with them. So I did. And so i did not go on another tour.

But! After about 3 years in NYC i did think I really wanted to do a big tour. More than coast to coast. Something better described as all over, or maybe a perimeter tour. The crazy thing was that at that same time there was a call for riders to be hired to do a promotional group ride from NY to LA. I wasnt amped on the route but i didnt mind either. On the plus side I’d be in a group and I’d get paid to do it (still cant believe that part). I did get that job and I did another tour. So that Why was really a Why Not!

Jump another couple years of still living in NYC and I do another tour. This time I’d started planing it to begin at the end of a lease on an apartment I/we had no interest in renewing. I was wanting to do something like an independent tour i might have done in 2009. And I was somewhat miserable. I needed a change. I wanted to see more of North America and I had not much else going on. My Why was, if I’m going to be down, the least i can do is get on my bike, see new places and take pictures along the way.

Not that i had grown up but i had lived enough to know that riding my bike, seeing new places, and taking pictures is what makes me happy. Also I sleep better if its in a tent after riding a heavy ass bike for 80 miles or so. Really then my Why was to see if i’d get better sleep.

Now. here I am almost exactly 18 months after my last ride ended and im looking forward to another. Why?

March 2013

I guess its been a full month of thoughts and little else regarding touring. The last bit of winter into spring. but spring is still cold and not spring-like yet. Being in the house too much. not getting out of the city at all. Thinking about things i miss. Traveling and photos of people and new places.

I’m going to call this the month i decided that i will def go on another bike tour. A shitty January and February might have had something to do with it.

The ideas might have roots in the further past but this month has been thoughts of a custom built touring frame. This was solidified just this week after completing a task i was given and compensated for nicely. That would never have happened if not for the recommendation of my friend, who happens to be a frame builder. So i think I’m going to take a little of my winnings and commission him to build me a frame. Win win.

As for tour duration, I want to aim for a year + a season probably starting end of summer, prob not till 2014.

Also i don’t really put much thought into where to go specifically really just the wanting to go. No lines drawn on maps. Maybe some dots though.

A new idea is to pick a charity so if i can point attention of well meaning people i might meet to it, all the better. Not picked one yet, my thoughts are kids or the homeless.

Something to focus on for myself as i travel around is to locate people and businesses of different sizes that have a made in USA ethic and make a photo series out of that. People and the things they make here in North America.

I think this will be a solo trip but I’m open to riding with another bikers.

A worry, how to make money while on tour.

 

MSR MugMate

mugmate for bike touring

A small, light, infinitely reusable, coffee and tea filter with lid. I might ditch the lid and  also drill a hole in one side of the handles so i can attach a key ring & mini carabiner.

After some tea and coffee testing ive learned this works really well with tea. Using this for coffee is good but attention to the grinds coarseness is at least a little important. I drink coffee because it is coffee not because i care much about what kind or style it is. So if this thing is light weight and durable but doesnt  correct for variations in grind fineness or coarseness, well i can live with that.

On a short bike tour it might make sense to just buy $2 coffee whenever. On a longer tour saving a few cents or a buck on each cup will add up to something. And with that, the trip could be a extended little longer.

– after some use.. boil water, add grinds into pot, let sit and stir lightly, pour thru the mugmate into coffee cup(s). Most of the grinds stay in water pot. Can make as much or as little coffee as needed in one go.

Weight 1 oz
Cost: $16
Made in Germany

Touring Bike – 2013 Bianchi Volpe

Y3BC3U-Volpe-tiagra-triple

Today I was riding home and saw a guy riding one of these and chatted a bit. He said he just got it from Bianchi because he had a much older Volpe and kinda put it through hell. After writing a long winded letter about a cracked drive side chain stay drop out Bianchi sent him a new one. Must have just been the frame only because all the parts look different than this.

This is just the reason I want to get a new touring bike. As good as a bicycle is new, after years of miles on the road, loaded touring and being up & down coast lines the frame wont last forever. I worry that if I went out on another long ride the my frame would be the most likely to fail. Probably the drive side drop out because that spot endures the most stress.

I’m thinking about going the custom frame route and swap most of my parts over. But if i didn’t have a bike to tour on this would be the one I’d want to buy.

Argus C3

Argus C3 35mm rangefinder camera

An Argus C3 is not my first film camera but this is the camera that made me want to shoot 35mm film regularly. Unfortunately, the copy that got me hooked was only a loaner and I was again taking pictures with my only camera at the time, a Canon DSLR.

At some point I figured out that my DSLR lenses would fit onto an older Canon SLR, so i found a used Canon EOS 3 to shoot film again. Auto focus, light metering and auto film advance is all good but there is something really nice about a 60 year old, all manual rangefinder.

I did finally find an Argus C3 for sale on the street in Brooklyn. I knew what to look for to be pretty sure it worked. The seller was asking $20 but took $15.

Mine has a 50mm f/3.5 lens. All of them are really heavy. I like having black and white film in this camera.

Pros: 35mm film, no batteries, 50mm lens, made in US, conversation starter(rare-ish, looks cool), low cost, very tough build, the feeling of shooting thru a 70 year old lens and getting rad pictures back.

Cons: heavy, very small viewfinder, difficult to focus, max shutter speed is 1/300th, no light meter, must wrap up to carry or it will win in a backpack fight with whatever it rustles around with (they dont call it “the Brick” for nothing)

Made in USA

Wind Map

Wind Map

This is fun to watch and one of the few instances I’d agree that it makes sense to omit the rest of North America and still be a map worth looking at.

Link

Samsung Galaxy SII

galaxys2

As of today if i was to go on another bike tour i would do the same as I did last time regarding phones. Almost the same. Take a phone device, that has no phone service, to use apps and have music and get online at wifi spots. But this time drop the iPhone 3G (that I quit using as a phone in mid 2011) and take the Galaxy SII(that i bought used late 2012). The SII is no longer the best phone out there but it does a lot.

  • Better camera w/ flash
  • Bigger screen
  • More storage
  • Swype will make Touring notes easier to do
  • I don’t like the music player as much as iTunes

None of this matters though. It’s gonna be a while before I do any tour long enough to cancel my phone service for. And by time that happens who knows where I’ll be phone-wise. I guess this is just me daydreaming about gear and travel. I keep looking at touring sites and photos online, imagining that I’m in my tent when really I’m really just trying to sleep in my bed. Today I weighed my two different tire lever sets to see the actual weight difference. 2 Park levers are .8oz (24g) and 2 Pedros levers are 1.4oz (42g). My passport weighs 1.1oz (34g) for comparison, and my SII is 4.7oz (134g) w/o charger.

Previously: iPhone (no phone plan)

Advice on Touring Bikes

I think just about any bike could be used for bicycle touring. If lots of parts and bits are that important and need to be specific, then you can do what you need to get all those parts and bits. Some of the ones that may or may not be obviously important to a person new to touring are the frame, the wheels, the drive train, and the contact points.

There are millions of bikes out there. It is not crucial that you buy a Surly Long Haul Trucker or any other complete off the shelf touring bike, new or used. But one does need to start somewhere.

A steel frame that is about the right size for your body is the best place to start. New or used, a “touring” bike or just a bike that is a bike, anything in good condition will do. Having a frame made of steel is going to be best because Aluminum is too difficult to repair, Ti is too expensive, and carbon is too expensive and pretty much can not be repaired. If it’s not a pure racing bike there is probably a way to get a rack on it. If it only has 2 bottle mounts that’s fine. Mine does have 3 but i carry peanut butter in the 3rd. And if there were no 3rd cage mount i’d carry that peanut butter in a pannier. Besides that, pipe clamps will do the trick to add bottle cages where there are no mounts.

Wheels. For basic touring, generally people want a bike with either 700C wheels or 26″. Keeping it simple, and speaking about average size riders, 700C will be more efficient and good if more than 90% of your riding is on paved roads. And 26″ will be stronger and better for riding on unpaved conditions. 26″ is also OK for paved roads but will be heavier and a bit slower. This is all important because the frame is made for either 700C or 26″. So this is a choice to make when looking for a bicycle or a bike frame.

My first tour was with an off the shelf touring bike. I wanted to ride across the county so I bought a touring bike. It had the stock, 700C factory built 36 spoke, with a 3-cross lacing pattern. I had not too much stuff but was fully loaded and about 650 miles later my rear wheel broke a bunch of spokes and i could not ride. I was in the middle of nowhere and had to deal with a lot of unexpected to get back to riding.

With that, I do not recommend touring on factory built wheels. Regardless of the wheel size or how many spokes, my best advice is hand built wheels from someone who is reputable and a 4-cross lacing pattern.

It is not only important that the wheels spin true, but also that the tension in the spokes is even. A spoke that is too tight is doing more work than the ones next to it. And a spoke that does too much work will break. And then the ones next to it will be doing too much work. It’s like falling dominos in slow motion. Ask someone you know who has broken a spoke, if they kept riding I’ll bet they broke more than one. So having hand built wheels is a good place to start because the builder should watch the tension to keep it even. And as for the 4-cross, it means the stress of the wheel is sent to a broader area on the hub. Think of it like this, carry a heavy backpack with skinny straps, or carry it with wide straps.

I like to ride on roads, i don’t want to have to work any harder than i need to, and i don’t want problems with my wheels. A lot of touring advice out there says 36 spokes are more than enough. I will agree that a wheel might do fine with just 36 spokes but I know that a wheel with 48 spokes will definitely do much better, and with only a small weight penalty. I said something about spoke tension. A strong wheel with 36 spokes has more tension than a wheel with 48 spokes. With 48 each spoke does less work(because there are more of them working) so the tension does not need to be as high. Or think about it like this, tandem bikes have a lot of weight on them right? Two riders on one bike with just two wheels. How many spokes do tandem wheels have? I don’t want to carry 150 lbs. of gear, but i could. And if i did my 48 spoke hand built 4-cross wheels would be just fine.

Drive train. This is simple. Have a wide range of gears, a new chain (maybe not the cheapest one there is) and if it all works good before you depart, it should work to get you a couple thousand miles before anything major needs replaced. Although if you have to lay you bike on the ground I’d say lay it with the chain side up so your derailleurs dont have the weight of your bike on them.

Contact points meaning saddle, handle bars/grips, and pedals. Unless you have a Brooks saddle already, you should get a Brooks. I know it sucks to look all over the web looking for advice on gear and seeing nothing but LHT, Ortlieb, Brooks, LHT, Ortlieb, Brooks, LHT, Ortlieb, Brooks. They all get a lopsided amount of gushing reviews, mostly by the less experienced. I don’t give a shit about LHT or Ortlieb, but getting a Brooks is a good idea. And preferably one with springs. I’ve done 4 tours, each 2, 3 or 4000 miles and only on my most recent one did i ride with a Brooks. It can be done without one. But after I got one I don’t want to do a long ride on anything else. As for handle bars i think wider is more comfortable with good cork bar tape. And pedals, think about clipping in. It’ll let more of your muscles do work. Or,,, it means a few of you muscles wont have to do all the work.

Ok, any steel frame that fits, strong well built wheels, a sound drive train, learn about Brooks now or later, comfortable handle bars, and efficient pedals. After all that you can think about what stuff to take(clothes, tools, camp set, cook set, notebook, camera) and what to carry it in. Good luck.