Bicycles--Rocky Mountain Metro
These bicycles were off the shelf items but then we started "playing" with them. They are solid bikes, not too heavy, but hopefully strong enough to survive the pounding they will take on this trip. They have 24 speeds which we altered by adding a "true granny gear". They are now geared more like mountain bikes. They have strait handlebars with large hand grips. We chose the strait bars because the "road handle bars" force you to crouch over far too much...especially at our age!!! They are equipped with mirrors for safety reasons and we both have headlights and tail lights for that rare occasion of evening riding. The plan is to not be forced into this situation but who knows. We will also be wearing safety vests for better visibility. We have Sigma bike computers so we know how far we have "crawled" and so we know how "really slow" we are riding. We will be equipped with clipless pedals. Over the last couple of years some nasty tumbles have occurred (forgetting to unclip seems to have been a problem) but we really believe that extra power is provided by being able to pull up at the same time as pushing down. The bikes have 700-35 tires and we have chosen Michelin Tracker tires which have a puncture resistant kevlar layer inside the tread. We will see how effective this really is once on the road and riding over all the "neat things" you encounter on our highways.
Saddle Bags
Our cargo carrying system of choice looks like an advertisement for Mountain Equipment Co-op. I will have MEC World Tour 56 litre cycling panniers. Sue will have the slightly smaller MEC 43 litre Cordura Cycling panniers. Like I need the extra weight!!! Both of us will have front low-rider bags, the MEC World Tour 40 litre cycling panniers. All of these bags will be covered by "bright yellow" MEC rain covers when necessary. We really should be getting paid by MEC for advertising!!!
Camping Gear
Since we plan on camping as much as possible we have chosen a Sierra Design - Comet three person tent. This gives us a fairly large vestibule for overnight gear storage. Our minus 7 rated sleeping bags will rest on Therma-Rest sleeping pads. These bags will hopefully be warm enough for the cold mountain passes of British Columbia in May and will probably be too hot for the summer temperatures. The stove we will take is a single burner Coleman. We have been quite successful with this stove despite it's greater bulk and it should be less troublesome than the "whisper-type" stoves.
Bicycle Tools and Parts
We will be taking a universal hex key set, a spoke wrench, tire irons, an adjustable wrench, small needle nose vice grips, chain lube, a bike pump and tire guage. Our plan is to start off with a tube repair kit, 3 spare tubes each, 1 extra tire each, tire boots, extra brake pads, cleaning rags, zip-ties and of course bungee cords.
Clothing
We have chosen to again be the "poster people" for MEC. We will be taking MEC Whoosh Cycling Jackets, red for me, yellow for Sue. We will have MEC Rain Cycling Pants. "Layering" we are told, is the key to survival when the temperatures change in the mountains or cold rains occur. (Have to hope that never happens...ya right!!!) We will be taking 3 layers of Merino Wool underwear for this purpose. Each is slightly heavier, and if the advertising is correct, should provide us the "whicking" abilities so crucial to staying warm when those downhill things actually happen after "hours" of climbing. We will have Nanu Lobster Cycling Gloves for cold weather riding and MEC Cycling Shoe Covers. Hopefully the shoe covers can provide "some" waterproofness when riding in damp weather is neccessary. We will be taking 3 pairs of MEC riding shorts (the best padded ones we could find)!!! For the after biking hours we will be taking one non-riding t-shirt, 1 pair zip-off long pants (doing laundry regularily will be crucial!!!),a pair of shorts, and a bathing suit (I am sure the bathing suits will be good for those "nice warm" mountain streams or maybe those rare campgrounds with hotubs)!!! And to keep us "toasty" at the end of the day a down filled vest. (This will also double as a pillow if we are not forced to use it to keep warm while sleeping.)
Countless hours have gone into the planning for this adventure. We know we will have gotten some things wrong but with a little luck hopefully we will have more things right than wrong!!! That will be part of the adventure!!!
64 days and counting....
