Part of not wearing out our welcome when bikepacking everywhere is knowing the laws and being very prudent when it comes to camping in bear country.

https://www.rmotoday.com/banff/tour-divide-cyclist-fined-300-for-illegal-camping-in-banff-after-black-bear-feasts-on-his-food-1688745

From my experience with 19" 2.1" and 2.25" tires, the volume difference isn't that much greater. But, going from a 46mm tire to a 2.1 will be a very noticeable difference. I did ride gravel on a rigid fork mountain bike with 2.1 and it shook me to death and was hard on my wrists.

If you are going to try 650B tires, I'd definitely recommend Vittoria Mezcals. I used to use WTB Nanos, but they don't hold a candle to the Mezcals. My wife and I just rode our mountain tandem on a modified TD route from Banff to Kalispell using Mezcal XC-Trail 2.1" and they worked flawlessly. We used the XC-Trail because it has a reinforced sidewall and for tandem usage, it was a must. As we ground over Whitefish Divide, I looked at the sharpness of the embedded rocks and never regretted the decision. The Mezcal XCR is a lighter tire and might work better for your use though.

Well, we made it there and back again. Right at 300 miles over 5 days.

Mechanically Lolly the tandem was flawless. We had a couple of spokes loosen a bit the first day but they were able to be tensioned well enough in the field. After that, they stayed snugged up and doing what spokes are supposed to do.
The brakes with upgraded 203mm rotors never acted up and stopped us well whenever we needed them.
The bags held up very well and rarely needed adjusting.

My wife now understands what it is like out on a ride like the TD and how it can wear you down. She felt that she was going to be in good enough shape for it, but day 1 (102 miles to Elkford) provided an eye opening experience. By day 4 though, we had started climbing well and I decided that we would go over Whitefish Divide. We walked out the last 1/2 mile but ground out all of the rest and had a very nice picnic in the pass. Polebridge was a real treat after all of that.

Our last day, we were going to take the Inner North Fork road but the Polebridge rangers told us that it was off limits due to bear activity and efforts to trap the bad actors. So, we got stuck on the outer road with all of the traffic and dust.

Nevertheless, we persevered and completed what we mostly wanted to do in 5 days.

A momma bear with cubs, mountain goats, some spruce grouse, many many deer and a wolf rounded out the encounters.

Day 1 - At the top of Elk Pass.

[GIVING]

I found someone with an exact fit.
Apologies for not updating it sooner but I've dropped out of cycling for a bit.
The same thing happens every year when I get back from the northern sections of the tour divide. I just don't even want to think about cycling for a month or so.

I am GIVING away a Surly Karate Monkey frame bag that I made a few years back for for Steve (My KM). This was when I first rode the TourDivide route and it served me very well.

It is not that pretty of a bag as it was my very first effort but it is very functional. One trick that I incorporated into it was the use of a vinyl strip that keeps it formed to the frame using the water bottle mount boss holes. It still has velcro straps to hold it to the frame which is something that my new versions do not have.

It is free! Preferably to someone who is interested in bikepacking and needs some equipment. It does come with conditions. Those conditions being...

• You can never sell it. It must be given away if not needed.
• If you have something that you no longer need and someone new into bikepacking could use it, pass it forward.
• Always strive to gain more bike karma.
• It might take me a few days to get it shipped.

It can be seen here.


PM me for details.

Welcome!

After all of the trials, tribulations, hurdles and what not. Tomorrow we fly to Calgary.
Hopefully.

You can find out more at www.bakerjw.org where we have tracker information and other information.

Thanks for everyone's support!

Thanks. These are not my first efforts.

The straps will get trimmed back.
One thing that I do in my bags is to glue a strip of vinyl (siding, soffit, etc...) to the inner surface of the bags and then use a fender washer and cap screw to affix them where the water bottle mounts are located. The bottoms are then rock solid.

[If you notice the horizontal line in this pic. There is an identical line on the other side. The fabric is looped inside and I have slits in it every 1".This allows me to lace side to side wherever needed to reduce the amount of bulging.]

Well, my wife and I have a custom Curtlo mountain tandem bike which has been named by my wife as "Lolly" which is short for Lollypop Blue.
I've made most of the bags on all of my other bikepacking bikes and this one is no different.
All of the latest loaded pics are here on our gallery.
http://www.bakerjw.org/PhotoGallery/index.php?/category/860

Last night was a shake down ride to see how it handled with a full load on it. The main triangle bag is quite loaded here and she looks pregnant.
But... That has been taken into account.


If you notice the horizontal line in this pic. There is an identical line on the other side. The fabric is looped inside and I have slits in it every 1".
This allows me to lace side to side wherever needed to reduce the amount of bulging.


The stoker roll bag. This holds the Eureka Midori 2 person ten and sleeping pad. It is made with Goretex that I got very cheap.






The front handlebar bag is not a roll bag but rather it opens to the front. It was an early iteration that I used on the Tour Divide in 2017.
With the Jones bar, it loops on the front and rear parts of the bar as shown here and is rock solid. It just isn't color coordinated.

Looks like a great time. wish that I had extra PTO.

I suspect that 80mm would be too wide for a 3" tire. If you have the equipment, you can always relace the wheel with a new rim. I just did that for our mountain tandem. There are a lot of good inexpensive rims out there. SunRingle is what I recently used.

An update for those interested.
We went to the doctor yesterday and it was eleven weeks since the break. The X-Ray still showed a slight line where the break occurred but the doctor said that sometimes the X-Rays lag the healing. I told him that a couple of weeks ago, she was able to stand on it without pain so I told her that she should put some weight on it while using crutches. He said that helps the healing process. I also told him that she'd been walking on it more ever since using high ankle boots and shoes. She then confessed that we took our tandem out for an easy flat ride up and down the road and around the block.
The big question was when she asked about cycle training since it was 6 weeks until we fly to Canada. He told her, start training today. He had her fitted with a firm ankle brace that she can fit into her hiking shoes. One of the benefits of getting them a tad large to fit extra socks .
So last night, we hopped on the mountain tandem and did a 16 miles road ride in the heat and it was damned hot. Mid 90's. Our speed  was a bit slow, but WTB Nanos don't roll or climb as well as our Continental Gatorskins do.

Making progress and she is still excited as can be about the adventure.

This will be my 4th foray out of Banff. I just love the entire experience up there in the Rockies. I might mix it up in a year or so and try to get over into the Bull River valley. Time will tell.

We are again talking gear a couple of nights ago. I asked her, "Remember my first year? All of the crap that I bought and left home or didn't use?" It is all part of the journey.

I've got an extra Surly Karate Monkey fork sitting around doing nothing. It's been on E-Bay for a while. If anyone is interested in it, send me a PM and we'll get smething worked out.


This is a very good condition black Surly fork that came with my Karate Monkey.
I used a suspension fork on my KM so this sat for a few years.
I ended up installing it in a mountain tandem bike that my wife and I used for road riding.
This has never been off road.
The only signs of wear are at the skewers and a light scuff here or there.

It is a 1 1/8" steer tube that has never been cut.
A star washer is installed.
It has standard disc brake mounts.
It has no water bosses on it.
It has rack mounts down near the skewers.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Surly-Karate-Monkey-29-Black-Disc-Brake-Fork-Quick-Release/233193382125

I love my wife. She is so excited that we are going through with our ride through some sections of the Tour Divide from Banff to Whitefish. Yesterday, we were discussing what we would be taking. Soap. Shampoo. Deodorant. Clothing? Other items?

I take 1 medium sized bar of unscented glycerin soap. It is very easy on the skin.
I take a small bottle of Johnson's Baby Shampoo. If your eyes get irritated, you can wash them out with it.
Deodorant? I've never taken it nor have I really needed to.
Extra clothes. Nope... We will get what we need when we get to Whitefish.
The only place where I consider it a splurge is that I take a small hand towel to mostly dry off if I rinse off in a creek or similar.

Definite culture shock.

With the exception of some Rogue Panda bags that I absolutely love, I make all of my own bags. i.e. Frame, handlebar, feedbags, etc...
I'm getting ready to remake a roll bag that fits my Jones H-Bar. The way that I make them, the straps wrap around the bars in a few spot which holds the handlebar bag snug to the H-bar. There is no shake or wobble at all. In the past, I've used 1.9 ounce ripstop fabric which works well for the dry bag part of the system, but I am looking to go a little heavier this time. It got me looking at X-Pac, Dyneema and regular heavy nylon. I've even seen some polyester ripstop but I do not know how waterproof that it would be.
Any fabrics that you might recommend?

Kind of off the wall thought here. I've ridden out of Banff 3 times so far on regular rides on the TD route and will be heading South in august with my wife on our mountain tandem. One thing that I have done many times is to watch grand depart videos and videos that people have made on the way. I look to see what they're riding. What the gearing is. How they run their loadout. etc...
It can be a real eye opener.

Myself I ride a Foundry Firetower with a Shimano XT/XTR 2x10 drivertrain and a Lauf fork. With 2.3" Mezcals, I can't keep up with a road bike but for a mountain bike, I can put in some distance.

Yes, I did.

For those following along. our route takes us along portions of the TD route down into Eureka. The tentative route is to cross Whitefish divide, which I love, down to Polebridge and then down through Columbia Falls to a rental car and hotel room.

Depending on how my wife is fairing, we might keep south west of Hwy 93? and threepin has offered some route advice. One we leave Polebridge, they have also offered some route advice.

The hope is to get a couple of days in the area to go see some sights that don't necessarily require pedaling.

One evening, I'll give you a call and bring up ride with GPS to plot out a route close to Glacier from Polebridge.

Out tandem has couplers so we can split it into 2 boxes that do not exceed 62" of WxHxL. Since it weighs about 45#, it will work best splitting it across 2 boxes and will help keep the weight in each under 50#

As for American dropping their rates, that is great!


ETA... This is before I installed the MRP suspension fork.

Anyone have any news on my bud Mike Jolly? I saw his early check-in heading NOBO, but no movement for the last 5 days.

Edit: Caught up with him, out with a respiratory infection.

Major bummer. It seems like a lot of cyclists get respiratory issues on the TD. I know last July riding Lodgepole, Cabin and Galton passes was a miserably dusty experience. Combine the dust with pollen and other irritants in areas that our bodies are not acclimated to could cause problems.

Chris Seistrup has been riding a stellar race, making great decisions and enduring just like the rest of them except it's all new to him.  Whether he wins or not give the guy some love!  All the experienced experts who are behind him or scratched have their reasons for being where they are but let's pay attention to the guy(s) who is(are) in the same race enduring the same conditions not quitting.  The other two guys out front deserve some attention too but Chris is a friend so I am pushing for him.  This will go down as another legendary TDR and the fact that a rookie is leading it for so long is astonishing.  Not to mention that the guy is a hemophiliac who missed the race last year because of a training crash causing a serious internal bleed.  The guy is out there risking his life and heath!

And another shout out to John Shilling who has zero chance of winning but is out there to finish and take in the experience.  Burrito power!

Thanks for filling in some detail on him for us. We all have our favorites and with those that we do not know, there is always more to the story.