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1  Forums / Bikepacking / Iohan died... :( on: September 20, 2021, 05:54:36 AM
A friend of mine told me today that Iohan died. Talk about a major bummer way to start a week.
 sad2

https://deaddeath.com/iohan-gueorguiev-bike-wanderer-death-obituary-cause-of-death/
2  Forums / Question and Answer / Re: Alaska route suggestions for a beginner? on: March 05, 2021, 05:21:48 AM
A coworker is trying to convince me to ride Prudhoe Bay to Anchorage in late July into early August.
I'd live to do it, I am just not in the shape to do 75 mile rides for 14 days in a row.
3  Forums / Bikepacking / Re: Flats vs SPD, regarding reliability? on: March 05, 2021, 05:19:50 AM
On my bikepacking bikes, I always use flats. I also wear Adidas AX2 Goretex mid height boots that I picked up a few years back.
For pedals, I have had great luck with WellGo MG-5 flats. They are relatively inexpensive, light and have put up with all kinds of abuse.

My reasoning for using flats is that after a 100 mile day when your mind is fogging a bit, if you start to go down, unclipping can be difficult.
4  Forums / Ultra Racing / Re: Tour Divide 2021 Preparation & Planning on: December 05, 2020, 08:19:02 AM
Touring is often considered 90 miles per day or less.
Mike Hall killing the record a few years back brought the competitive time way down.
5  Forums / Ultra Racing / Re: Tour Divide 2021 Preparation & Planning on: October 19, 2020, 08:57:31 AM
Hey there Bon....
Hopefully this thread will get me motivated. I've not been on a bike in well over 2 months. I just can't get excited about it for some reason.
This is the first year that I've not ridden out of Banff in 5 years. I don't do the entire route, but I LOVE the Canadian portion of the route.
6  Forums / Bikepacking / Re: All round shoe for bikepacking and hiking on: August 17, 2020, 06:48:30 AM
For bikepacking, I use flat pedals. Welgo MG-5 ones to be exact.
The first year that I rode the Tour Divide route, I had some Keen hiking shoes. They were fairly light. I then bought some Adidas AX2 mid height GoreTex hiking shoes and they were much lighter and great for cycling. They engaged the WellGo pedals quite nicely and offered good support for hike a bike areas.
7  Forums / Question and Answer / Re: Are 28 spokes enough for 29+ rim on: August 16, 2020, 06:30:27 PM
28 should be fine. 32 would be better though.

We run 36 on our mountain tandem and fully loaded it comes out to about 90#. 40 would be better, but Onyx only goes up to 36.

As wheels turn, weight transfers from spoke to spoke. The more spokes, the more even the transfer from one pair of spokes to the next. The added weight of 4 more spokes is very insignificant when it comes to overall wheel set durability. Surly bikes are by no means light so I'd go with more. Being the in the middle of BFE with a wheel issue is not a good place to be.

8  Forums / Question and Answer / Re: Tour divide, do I need both softshell and hardshell ? on: August 11, 2020, 12:11:34 PM
There are many threads here at BP.NET dealing with gear. IMHO it is much better than the FB groups.

It was so cute last year getting our gear together. My wife and I laid out all of her clothes to take.
Other than cycling jerseys (Wheatons in Kalispell) and baggie shorts, we compared piles.
I've done it before and have it finely tuned. My first year was an absolute panic.
Then we weighed piles of clothes. Then she tried to bargain. She finally agreed that she didn't need a nightgown. And she shed weight from there.
Our target was to hit Kallispell in 5 days or so, buy new clothes, ship the bike back and be tourists for a couple of days.

When we did initial loadouts on our bike, we had a lot of room. The frame bag on Lolly, our tandem, is huge. But it all boiled down to weight.
Full loaded with water and gear, she came in at 90#

9  Forums / Question and Answer / Re: Tour divide, do I need both softshell and hardshell ? on: August 11, 2020, 05:36:28 AM
Weather can be hit or miss and can change very quickly. 2019 saw a major blizzard blow up in the Rockies and landed a lot of people in Brush Mountain Lodge for a few days. There's been snow and rain in the northern half many many times in early to mid June.
As you said, there is time to fine tune things.
I've never completed the entire route but I have done Banff to Whitefish or Helena 4 times in 4 years. I do love that Northern section so that is what I ride. Rain, dust, sun, heat. I've seen it all.
Last year, my wife and I rode our mountain tandem down from Banff to Whitefish. Modest pace as her condition wasn't where we would have liked due to her breaking her leg a handful of months earlier. We took puffy jackets (down filled), windbreakers and I don't recall if we took rain jackets.
In 2017, I was in a lot of rain from Banff down to Eureka and the rain jacket really helped keep me from getting chilled.
In 2018, we left mid August and it was HOT and DUSTY.... Very dusty...
10  Forums / Ultra Racing / Re: Tour Divide 2020 Preparation and Planning on: June 12, 2020, 02:50:42 AM
Thanks, Bonnie. I hand not even thought of today being the day.

And not just in Banff, but thousands of dot watchers sitting in front of computer monitors waiting to see the dots start to move.
11  Forums / Ultra Racing / Re: Tour Divide 2020 Preparation and Planning on: May 13, 2020, 06:16:19 AM
Thanks for the update.
The jury is still out as to my Summer ride plans as I am waiting to see how things pan out. If I do ride out of Banff, it will be late July or early August and will be a touring pace with a mish mash of old TD routes. To Elkford, flathead pass, cabin pass, Galton to the border with minimal stops along the way.

OT - Other options are round trip to the coast. Ride back to the flatlands. Fly with the wife to FCA and spend a week riding the mountains on our mountain tandem.
12  Forums / Ultra Racing / Re: Tour divide tips and tricks fb page is CENSORED!! on: May 03, 2020, 07:16:26 PM
I am on several forums, bike and other. This Red China Flu has divided this country like nothing else that I've ever seen. My youngest, who lives in a state with a major lock down, will have little to do with me and my wife because we go out in public. FWIW, where I live the marginal infection rate is keeping pace with recovery rate. 10 people with active infections in an area of 275,000. Around 100 infections in total.
Just relax, people. Educate yourself. Discern the data. And turn off the damned media as hype and fear sells ads and nothing else. This is a virus with some dangerous vectors but it is not the apocalypse.
We needed a pause to figure out what we were facing and now that we have an idea, we move forward. some areas faster than others.
<rant off>
13  Forums / Ultra Racing / Re: Tour divide tips and tricks fb page is CENSORED!! on: April 20, 2020, 11:43:45 AM
My son is on one of the FB pages and had an issue this last week with some of the posters. There's a reason that I don't do FB.

We have a safer at home order in Tennessee. I can hop on my bike where I live and go to gas stations and stores. In fact when my wife and I do our weekly shopping it is on the tandem with a Bob. With the exception of restaurants, it is mostly business as usual around here as it is in most rural locations.

Give it a month to sort out and we'll see where things are then.

FWIW. if things are opened in late July, I'll be pedaling South solo and will likely see very few people when I do stop.
14  Forums / Ultra Racing / Re: Tour Divide 2020 Preparation and Planning on: April 18, 2020, 07:15:21 AM
Not to hijack. Haven't been on here in a long time. I also don't do FB or other social media so this is the place where I hear what's going on in the BPing community.

I had not planned on riding out of Canada again but the bug hit me again. Last year I toured South with my wife on our mountain tandem and it was a lot of fun. Our picnic on Whitefish divide was one of the best experiences in our marriage. We didn't get to go to some places where I'd have liked but it was a great experience for her and me.

Depending when and how things get moving again, I'll likely head South again late this year. I've learned so much the last 4 times down the trail. Especially what I don't "need".

Ride safe all.
15  Forums / Question and Answer / Re: Tires -- Need Recommendation for 29" Wheels -- Preparing for Great Divide Trail on: January 08, 2020, 06:30:55 AM
My wife and I rode our mountain tandem out of Banff in late August ending up in Kalispell.
We used Vitoria Mezcals and they were darn impressive. Vittoria recommended the XC-Trail which is a bit heavier but more durable.
Going over Whitefish Divide, it handled all of the rough rock very well.
16  Forums / Question and Answer / Re: How To Carry a Laptop Around the World Bikepacking? on: October 09, 2019, 06:13:04 AM
Backpack would be your best bet. Wither that or go with a rear rack and panniers.
The reason that many don't use panniers is to keep weight down.
17  Forums / Question and Answer / Re: Great Divide Race Information on: September 30, 2019, 08:49:52 AM
Many use Spot trackers. There are new ones available that might have more features; however, I am satisfied with my Delorme InReach which allows for 2 way messaging.

For GPS, I use a Garmin eTex 30. It uses AA batteries which can be found anywhere. I always carry 2 just in case. Usually about a month before the race begins a "final" GPX route is produced and made available.

There it letter of intent that you can send in that can be found on some of the earlier TD threads here on BP.net. For the most activity, there is a facebook page. I don't use FB at all so I hang around here as dead as it can be.
18  Forums / Question and Answer / Re: Rear racks on hardtails - why don't people use them? on: September 23, 2019, 10:09:56 AM
I am of the school that believes that the more space that you have, the more unnecessary stuff you will take with you.

As for seat bags, I've seen some that wobble like crazy. I could never ride with those. Luckily, I got a Rogue Panda Picketpost and it is solid on my bike.

My wife and I did a variation of the North portion of the Tour Divide earlier this month and at one point I considered going with a lightweight rack. But the more I thought about at it, the more convinced I became that it likely would be a failure point due to the stresses involved with day in and out washboard, ruts, roots, rocks, etc...
19  Forums / Question and Answer / Re: Thoughts on... on: September 19, 2019, 07:12:18 AM
Some of us are on a lot of different forums Smiley

You can run clear tape on the seat tube to protect the paint.
My biggest concern with low clearance is if you ever get into soul sucking mud...
My worst experience ever had me ready to toss my bike off of the road after it happened the 2nd time.

20  Forums / Classifieds / Re: Surly Karate Monkey large frame bag on: September 13, 2019, 08:45:36 AM
It might.
Do you have the geometry measurements for it?
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