You have been warned.
(Also, I would like to apologize for the organization of this post. It is pretty hodgepodge. Really it could be made into several separate posts, which is kinda what I did by separating it out. You know, what with all the fancy shift +hyphen key separation lines....)
This was taken by a Tour Divide hopeful that I happened upon in Del Norte after a rough day out on the Divide. I was thirsty and they had the best deal on Gatorade EVER. Thanks for the photo Steve!
Gear, yet another subject that I harp on with people that come to me for advice. When I went to Banff I talked to lots of racers that were still deciding on their "final gear selection" at 8pm the night before the start. I on the other hand had basically the same gear on my bike that I had been using since DECEMBER. I can not describe to you the amount of mental stress that this put on the riders who were frantically discussing gear choices.
My first piece of advice about gear revolves around each rider's suffering threshold (a term coined by Matthew Lee). One guy that I met from Texas brought two down sweaters with him. TWO! When we left the start of the race, it was about 45 degrees and he was wearing one of his sweaters. I on the other hand was only wearing a summer kit with arm and leg warmers. Get the difference? My kit weighted much less that his but that wasn't because I'm more awesome (although that case could be argued), it was because I was experienced in cold weather, acclimated to it, and I possessed the ability to deal with it when it became incredibly uncomfortable.
On the other hand, I'm sure that guy smoked me in the desert heat.
I guess what I'm trying to say with all this rambling is: You need to train in inclement weather to force your body to adjust, to figure out what you need to survive, and to learn what comfort level you can handle.
I think the real key in gear choice is a really contained in that word I just used, comfort.
- Are you comfortable riding in the rain for three days straight without rain pants?
- Are you comfortable getting little sleep for a few nights because you freeze your booty off in a summer sleeping bag?
- Are you comfortable with the risk factors of getting stuck out 60 miles from a city because you don't have an extra chain?
These comfort levels are what you need to establish a base line. From there, experience and experimenting will guide you to the most acceptable ratio of weight and risk. Personally I was able to dial my kit and bike down to 31 pounds (excluding the summer kit and helmet that I would always be wearing during the race).
This kit weight included things that I consider to be mandatory for mere mortals on the Divide; two spare tubes, two gps units (an extra incase the first one broke), a kit for body care, a kit for bike care, a sleeping system, 6.5 liters of water capacity, and extra clothing.
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Below I will list a few things that I think are the best options of gear choices that are ubiquitously discussed in bikepacking circles. You cannot argue with my stance. I am right. Don't even try it.
- Tubless is king.
- Nanoraptors are great but they aren't what they once were. One set used to make it through the divide, that no longer happens. If you use them, be prepared to change them at least once.
- GPS is the shizz.
- You need a back up navigation method, why not a second GPS?!?!?
- Your sleep system including stuff sack, insulation, pad and bivy doesn't need to weigh more than three pounds. Mine weighed 1 lb 14 oz.
- Rain pants are BS. Grow a pair. Unless of course you are the wicked witch of the west and you can't get wet.
- Wear real bike shoes, none of this hiking/biking shoe business.
- Bring an extra pair of cleats for you clipless pedals. (See what I did there? I assumed you would have clipless pedals because well, I'm telling you you will.)
- Use Revelate Designs for all your bikepacking gear needs. If you use a rack system you are not only a dolt, you are adding several extra pound of metal to your bike that WILL break on The Divide.
- Cooking systems are useless.
- If you have built a fitness base that leaves you capable and you are ready to suffer through some discomfort, you need not fear hypothermia. (This of course assumes you have adequate clothing.)
- The Neoair sleeping pad is more comfortable than your five grand thermarest space age foam adjustable california king mattress. And, it weighs less. (Your only other option is a Klymit X-frame but that doesn't have nearly the insulative value.)
- I have a love affair with Western Mountaineering sleeping bags. My only grip is that they don't make a quilt. So, I taught myself to sew and I made my own out of my fav WM sleeping bag.
- Your bivy doesn't need to be waterproof if you are 1) willing to ride until you find something to sleep under and 2) you are creative.
- Wool is awesome.
- I wish I would have brought extra socks, wearing two pairs of uber thin socks would have helped with the blisters from endless snow hiking. I would not bring extra socks just to have a dry pair to change into.
- Baby wipes. Use them to keep your feet and @ss clean!
- Anbesol is a great numbing agent for giant saddle sores.
- Cream for chaffing is a must. A and D ointment, the stuff Matthew Lee recommends, is available along the divide and works well. But, be careful. It's ability to resist water is a double edge sword: it's good because it won't wash off in the rain, it's bad because it holds sweat against your skin if you use too much.
- Don't skimp on the tire pump.
- If you want to ride a lot at night, you need a good light system to keep your eyes from getting really tired. If not, one light is adequate. (If you use an EOS, take it off the mount and stow it unless you are using it. That would have saved me a ton of trouble by preventing me from loosing it just before Platoro.)
- Cuben fiber is the best lightweight fabric out there. (FYI, it is easy to wear out though!)
- That is all I can think of in the non-debatable category. However, I reserve the right to tell you that I'm right and you are wrong about anything in the future.
So Justin, how did you go about choosing all your gear and whittling it down to a svelte 11 pounds?
Well, I started with an excel spread sheet and it was all down hill from there.....
But really;
I perused bikepacking.net and backpackinglight.com for ideas on light weight gear lists. Then I synthesized my own list of what I thought I needed. (This original list was modified several times. I ended up adding a few things and removing several things, based on experience and training of course.)
From there, I took the items that I already owned and weighed them (being sure to log the weights on my excel spread sheet). Then I got online again and looked for the lightest weight version of the items that I didn't have. I also found some items to replace gear that I already had. (For example, my old down jacket weighed 1 lb 2 oz or so. I sprung for a 900 fill mont bell jacket that weighed 5.5 oz and was almost as warm.) I compared cost to weight ratio and came up with the best version of a kit that I could muster for the money.
Don't get me wrong here, my kit cost a pretty penny. But, there were some things that I just wasn't ready to spend money on. For example, I could have save quite a bit of weight on my sleeping bag (a tremendous 1.5 oz!) by having my own custom cuben fiber sleeping quilt made for ~$600. That works out to $400 per ounce of reduced weight. Ummmm, yeah... No thanks!
I did come up with some other creative ways to save weight with my sleep system though. I cut down and resealed my neoair so that it was only torso length. I rented a sewing machine, taught my self to sew, and made my sleeping bag into a quilt. I found a great deal on an uber light bivy. I custom made a super light tarp to get me through any horrendous down pours. The nonsense just went on and on.
It was a lot of work but I am relatively certain I had the lightest kit at the start line. The bike shop owner in Banff said that The Matthew Lee was the only person he had ever seen with less gear. That was probably the best compliment I've ever recieved!
Another photo of the stallion. I mean really, it looks like there isn't hardly anything on there!
Ok well, that is about all I can think of as far as gear goes. There are a few things I could add (ok there are TONS of things I could add) but this post is just too long as it is.
Peace out and good luck with the training!
Happy Hanukkah!!!!
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