Biking Across America

Route Change! Goodbye 1,200 miles.

So after some careful consideration I've decided to change my route around a bit.

I had originally planned to bike up the Pacific Coast and then take the TransAmerican trail in it's entirety from Oregon all the way through Virginia. This would total about 5,000 miles.

Basically, this would be the route I would be doing:

Old route: 5,000 miles of tour! Yikes!

Take a look at the highlighted region. That extra route from San Francisco to Oregon and back to Colorado is 1,200 miles. Now, I'm all for making this a ride I'll never forget but I've also got a loving girlfriend and family I'm eager to come back to.

So, I switched my route up a bit. Notice that (almost) straight line from California to Colorado? Yup, that's the new route. I've decided I'm going to be doing the Western Express route from California to Colorado and then taking the TransAmerica trail all the way to Virginia. Or, in graphical form:

New route: ~3,800 Miles. Piece of cake.

I'm hoping this will shave almost a month off my tour. I'm still going completely across country (as you can obviously tell) but it's a much more efficient route.

What are the downsides? The Western Express is considered a very challenging route. There are long stretches with no services. What's a long stretch? Well, according to Sir Sanner (who took the Western Express route) he mentioned distances of up to 70 miles without water and over 100 miles without food.

Sounds frightening right? Not really. There are a number of creeks along the way, and I plan to bring a water purifier to utilize them. Plus, I'm carrying five bags for a reason. I can likely tote almost two gallons of water a good five to eight thousand calories of food :)

In addition - I've been told by numerous sources that the Western Express route has, hands down, the most gorgeous scenery in the entire country. Desolate desert sunsets and rocks? Sign me up.

In other news, my frame is finished and is at the powdercoater getting painted. I'm not sure the wait but I'm hoping I'll be able to pick it up next week. Excitement abounds.

Frame in progress! Picture by Tim Sanner

Carrying the Gear: Racks & Bags

One of the greatest things about riding in charity rides like the AIDS LifeCycle and the Waves to Wine MS150 is the amazing volunteers who make the ride possible. The rider's only responsibility is getting themselves from point A to point B on their bike. All of your luggage is trucked by volunteers and fresh food is placed in front of you every fifteen miles. It makes for an amazing weekend (or week, for the AIDS LifeCycle) ride. There's not a care in the world.

On this trip, however, I'm not going to have the luxury of a full roadie crew supporting me. I'm in charge of transporting all of my own food, drink, clothes, and camping supplies. As I'm anticipating this cross country ride is going to take between ten to fifteen weeks that amounts to a lot to carry on a bike.

So, to maximize what I can carry, I'll be utilizing both front and rear racks and will have a total of five bags filled with goodies. I'll have two bags attached on the rear of the bike and and two strapped to the front. I'll also have one back placed above the rear bags for additional possessions that don't fit elsewhere.

When I was hunting for bags and rack solutions for touring cyclists I was absolutely overwhelmed with options. The bags and racks I chose are not the only options, but I feel like they'll suit my needs during this tour.

First, the bags I'll be riding with:

Front Panniers: Arkel GT18 (in red)

Why the Arkel GT18?

    I wanted at least one set of bags to have a variety of external pockets and pouches. This will let me sort out a bunch of smaller necessities that I'd like to have handy access to. The downsides to the Arkel bag is that it's not water proof. While I plan to be riding in summer, I still value being able to place my sleeping bag and clothes in a bag where they won't get drenched in a downpour.

What's going in it?

    These bags will likely store my food, liquids, a sealed med kit, and cooking supplies. The specifics aren't ironed out, though.

Rear Panniers: Ortleib Bike Packer Plus (in black)

Why the Bike Packer Plus?

    I'm keen on carrying at least one set of weather proof bags. These don't have as many pockets as the Arkel but I'm fine with that - the things going in here I'm alright searching for.

What's going in it?

    Clothes, sleeping bag, tent, additional food, bike tools.

Extra Bag (on top of the rear bags): Ortleib Rack Pack (in black)

I may not end up using this on the tour, but it was discounted when I purchased it and it seems like it might be useful for some odds and ends. It's a weatherproof bag that lays over the rear bags. I'm thinking of storing extra water and my camera equipment in this bag.

Bags don't do much good without sturdy racks to mount them on, and I chose the following two racks:

Rear Rack: Tubus Cargo

 

Why the Tubus Cargo?

    I picked this rack for it's great reputation in the cycling community and for it's tried and true design. It may not be the cheapest rack on the market but it's got a fantastic warranty and it's pretty unlikely I'll ever need to buy another rack again in my life. It's got a mounting point for a rear light, which I'll be utilizing. It mounts to a rack eyelet on the rear dropout and to the mounts on the chainstay for extra rigid mounting.

Front Rack: Tubus Ergo

 

Why the Tubus Ergo?

Another sturdy and "tried and true" design from Tubus, this rack is mounted to the fork of the bike. It helps you mount the bags low to the ground, which supposedly improves your center of balance.

There are a number of conflicting views on whether mounting your bags low actually achieves this, but I'm not going to stress about that too much. I plan to be staring at the scenery that passes me by, not wondering whether or not my center of gravity is affected. I've got other bikes to worry about that with :)

So, there you have it! These are the racks and the bags I plan to store all my gear in. Carefully picked for reliability and internet approval, I'm hoping they'll suit me well. I'll be taking additional photographs once they show up and I unpack them.

The Touring Bike: A custom Sanner frame

For the past few months I've been hunting around Craigslist and various bike forums in an attempt to locate the ideal touring bike for my budget. Being a student whose only working part time I don't have a substantial income and can't afford one of the spectacular touring bikes from Waterford, Bob Jackson, Rivendell, or any of the other top tier bike manufacturers.

So, I've looked at a number of different options for my touring bike:

1. A new Surly Long Haul Trucker built up with stock components from a local bike shop
2. Buying a used Trek 520, Miyata 1000, Cannondale Touring 1 or 2
3. Converting my old bridgestone frame to a touring bike and hauling a trailer behind me
4. Finding a local frame builder to build me a custom frame for an affordable amount

I had test ridden a Surly Long Haul Trucker and enjoyed the bike. It was a smooth, soft, ride and reasonably priced in the touring bike world. After thorough thinking I had come to the conclusion that was going to be the bike I bought once I saved up a little more. Until then, however, I had kept perusing Craigslist. One fateful morning I noticed a posting on Craigslist by a local frame builder, Tim Sanner, who was advertising lugged steel touring bikes.

After browsing his web site I found his story about how he got into frame building. After he graduated from the University of Florida he went on a cross country biking tour. During his tour he decided that he was going to open a steel frame building business when he got to San Francisco. Rockin!

Call me crazy, but my impression is that anyone whose actually gone touring likely has a good idea of what makes a great touring bike. So, I contacted him about having a custom steel touring frame built for me.

We worked out the specifics and carefully went over all the dimensions. I had a million questions and he was more than helpful in answering all of them. We talked about the pros and cons to every single tube dimension and each option I'd want on the frame. I'm really confident about the dimensions we ended up with and I can't wait to receive the frame. We decided on a standard sized tubing lugged steel touring bike with a 1" threaded fork. A nice vintage look - and something I know I'll enjoy for years.

The bike is currently being built, and Tim anticipates it being done by the end of March. When the bike is finished I will (of course!) take tons of photographs. Stay tuned!