Winner!

I got home from work today to the news that I've won a Lezyne LED Super Drive from cyclesurgery.com in their Christmas competition.
I'm looking forward to trying it out when I receive it. For touring it seems to be a great light. With a claimed 450 lumens output it should be bright enough for mad night-time dashes to campsites. Also it's USB chargeable. Which brings me nicely onto the topic of power. I'm split between getting a dynamo hub with a USB charger or a solar panel USB charger. I'm still researching the topic; when I've made a decision I'll post it here.

Image from www.cyclesurgery.com

Merry Christmas

And all the best for 2012!

It's now a tradition that I go out on the bike on Christmas Day and this year was no different. However, it was the last ride of the year as I won't get the chance to go out again until 2012.

The build begins

When I first decided to go bike touring I really wanted to build my touring bike rather than buy it complete. This changed after failing to find a decent frame at a decent price. There are lots of well priced frames out there but few proper touring frames. So when I seen a Kona Sutra frame going cheap I bought one. So now I'm going to build!

Here she is :

I'll begin building next year unless I find some more bargains in the sales. So keep checking back to see how she's getting on.

Topeak computers and bar bags - an update

I got a response from Extra UK, the UK distributor for Topeak. This is the response I got -

I see no reason why your cycle computer shouldn’t go straight onto the designed bar on the Bar bag Fixer. In essence that bar is just replacing your bar/stem.

You shouldn’t need any extra parts for your computer.

I was just being stupid. The computer mounts directly onto an additional piece of plastic which mounts onto the bar mount. It took me a while to figure it out!

Watch this space.

Well, after a long period of inactivity this will be my third post today. This one is a very special post. I have purchased a 2006 Kona Sutra frame, new, for a very good price. Already build kits are going through my mind. She'll see XT/105 throughout with no compromises made. The biggest thing I need to decide on is disk brakes or rim brakes. Disk brakes are more powerful but can be difficult with racks. Rim brakes are less efficient but aren't a problem with racks. Thankfully I've got plenty time to decide.


I'll be updating the blog with the progress of the build so keep checking back to see how she's getting on.

Topeak computers and bar bags

I've had a Topeak Panoram V10x wired computer for a long time now and I think it's great. So good, in fact, that I got Emily one for Christmas. Unfortunately the mount supplied with it attaches across the stem. This is fine for use on the mtb but if you want to use a handlebar bag (which you most likely will when touring) you won't be able to use this mount.

Image from Topeak.com

Now, here comes the solution! Topeak's TourGuide bags have a handy mount for their computers!

Image from Topeak.com

In my view, this is better than having your bar bag mount and a stand alone computer mount. Having your computer, bell, light, mirror and bar bag attached to your bar (particularly drop bars) could mean there's no room for you! Don't forget there are many bar extenders on the market such as this one from Topeak.

I have e-mailed Topeak's UK distributor Extra UK to confirm compatibility with the Panoram V10x and if I would need to purchase any extras in order to use the computer with the bag or if all the fittings were included with the bag but so far they have not replied. When they do reply, I'll update the blog with their response.

An update

It's been a while since I've posted anything up on here. Not much has been happening to be honest. However, I've not forgotten about touring! So here's a list of new stuff that has arrived along with our first impressions.


Firstly, when I/we go touring I/we will be taking everything including the kitchen sink. That's right, we got the Sea to Summit Kitchen Sink. First impressions are overall good. For washing clothes and dishes on tour I reckon it will be very useful when a sink isn't available - such as at wild camping spots. Washing items in a running river can be a bit tricky and the water will be cold. The kitchen sink means you can use hot water; and if you let go of an item it won't disappear downriver to be reclaimed by Earth. Made from their dry bag material and with taped seams it won't leak. It has 2 handles for carrying which could prove useful. To test it out we filled it with water in the bath. It seems the more water it has in it, the more stable it is. We found it a bit tricky to put back into it's case. After a bit of searching we found this video on Youtube which solved the puzzle!
Available in 5, 10 and 20 litres we went for the 10 litres. It's the ideal size, large enough to wash clothes in but not so big that it requires so much water.

Image from www.seatosummit.com.au

To go with this I have some Sea to Summit Laundry Wash which I haven't tested yet. All I know is that it smells nice.

Now for something I wasn't so sure about but now I think it's great! It's the Sea to Summit (you could have guessed it would be!) Outhouse Toilet Roll Holder. At first I was of the what's-the-point opinion. A plastic bag would do the trick just fine. Made of dry bag material with taped seams and a roll top closure it will keep your valuable paper dry. It's easy to use, the holder is attached by a button-popper inside and, importantly, it works! The website also suggests it use as a vacant/occupied sign which might be useful at campsites with no locks! The hanging cord is adjustable and the holder can be hung from a tree or round your neck or anywhere really. Available in various colours we opted for our favourite orange.

Image from www.seatosummit.com.au

Home sweet home

After a long period of researching Emily and I finally have our 2-person tent!

We opted for the Vango Spirit 200+ which we got for a very good price from Nevisport. They kindly pitched it in store to let us have a good look around inside. It's got a huge porch for storing gear/sitting/cooking and a large sleeping area. One large side door is enough, I don't see the need for 2 doors. With decent ventilation and the inner a fair distance from the outer condensation hopefully won't be a problem. It's a 3-pole tunnel design, with colour coded alloy poles and is easy enough to put up in the living room. The inner is detachable from the fly so the weight can be split. The tent can be pitched outer first or all in one. It's got Vango's own Tension Band System which, from what I gather, it to add stability in the wind.

Pack size is very good for such a big tent; the stuff sack is actually too big. Weight is an impressive 2.9kg for the price and size of the tent. If the budget could stretch to a Hilleberg I would have one but the budget just isn't that big. I'll probably get the model-specific footprint for it. It'll keep the inner totally dry and prolong the life of the tent.

I can't make any comments on how it performs as it's only been up in the shop and living room of Emily's flat. It'll be tested properly at the next opportunity. 

Also, I've decided to stick with the trend and get a Vango Ultralite 200 bag. They're very good value for money which is exactly what I'm after.

Image from http://www.vango.co.uk

Cold

I've started getting up at 7am to have 45 min or so on the turbo before work. It's too dark after work to go out and I can't face the turbo after work so I've forced myself to get up earlier.


This morning was a cold one:

Wood Hill video

It's ready and it can be viewed here (opens in a new window/tab).

Autumn

I have to say I do like autumn. The colours of bright green, orange and yellow are pretty spectacular. Riding a bike can, however, be more challenging in autumn. The fallen leaves on the ground can cover the trail and mask hazards such as rocks. They also don't allow the ground to dry out as quickly so the ground stays muddy for longer. It does mean big drifts which are a lot of fun!
I went up Wood Hill today and shot some video/took some pics. The pics are below, the video is to follow.

Finally!

After wanting to get a night's camping for ages I finally got one! Having spent only a few nights in my tent I really wanted to get to know it better. Myself and Emily spent the night out in a top-secret location in the Highlands. As well as getting another night in the tent it was a chance to actually use my tarp properly. The plan was, originally, to set up the tarp over the tent. However we just didn't have the right trees to do that. So it got pitched away from the tent, making a shelter.

 Here you can see the campsite setup. Rather conveniently there was a fallen log under the tarp that made a comfy sheltered bench.

The tarp was set up roped to 4 trees using the 2 corners of one end. The other end of the tarp was roped on the penultimate loop (just the way the trees were placed). This left a bit hanging over. This could be pegged into the ground providing some wind protection. However we opted to roll the overhanging section up. Then by using a crafty stick through the loops the remaining tarp was rolled up securely.

Once the tent and tarp were up it was time to get a wee fire going for some warmth and to help with the midgies.

Again, conveniently, there was a fallen log by the fire to sit on with a view of the water. Dinner was a pack of Wayfayer's boil in the bag chilli con carne with a packet of supermarket boil in the bag rice. Pudding was a steamed orange chocolate cake. After that and we let the fire die down a bit then we headed into our sleeping bags.

Making breakfast of hot chocolate and chocolate filled pancakes under the tarp.

By this time the fire had gone out but the sun was out. It was time to break camp and head back to home comforts and to dry the tent out.

 The tent did suffer quite badly from condensation. There was very little wind to provide air flow through the tent; it was a fairly cold night and it is only a 1 person tent. I didn't expect the tent to be dry but I didn't expect so much condensation. When Emily joins me during my tour I'll be posting my 1 person tent back home and she will be bringing a roomy 2 person tent.

Plan so far.

From looking at the world map on my wall I've drawn a rough route that I'd like to take. The first bit of the tour will be getting the ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam. The ferry can be booked for £85 (it's an overnight ferry). Flights to Europe are so cheap but when bikes are added on to the ticket price and the extra baggage costs it's getting near £100. On top of that I don't think I could fly. I'd be too scared the bike would get damaged/lost. So the ferry seems the less stressful option. From Amsterdam, it's east across Holland and Germany as far as around Berlin. Then south through Czech Republic, south-west through Germany again (towards Munich). After that it's south through Austria and into Italy. Then west through Italy towards France. North through France, Belgium and ending up in Amsterdam again to get the ferry back over to Britain.

In a couple of months time I'll be looking into the route more closely for the first few weeks of the tour. After that I'll be making it up when I'm there!

Big sound from a wee thing

Today I bought myself an x-mini v1.1. As a musician and a lover of proper studio-style "big" headphones I can't stand rubbish speakers/'phones. This thing proves that you don't need big size for big volume or decent sound. It coils down closed down smaller than a tennis ball when not in use. To use it, it's a case of twisting the two halves to let it spring open, then open the cover for the top section. It's got a built-in volume control and on/off switch. Powered by an internal battery it's rechargeable by USB. The USB charging cable supplied is a bit clever as it has a 3.5mm stereo jack also which means that you can listen to audio while it's charging, or get audio via USB. On the bottom there's a 3.5mm stereo jack for putting into mp3 players etc but it is only about 2" long. Cleverly, you can link more than one x-mini up to each other creating a "daisy-chain" of speakers.
The sound that comes out of it is impressive, quite balanced. Small speakers can sometimes lack in bass response but I'm pleased with this one. Volume is loud enough. As high volume, sound clarity is compromised but that's expected really.
And they're not very expensive retailing around £10-15. For me, it'll mostly be used with my laptop as the speakers on my laptop are totally rubbish. At work it could be handy. I don't think it's something I'll be taking bike touring however. 

Tired

I'm knackered. I'm happy that I'm getting lots of work as it means I can fund my tour. The downside with this is that I'm often quite tired. I also want to get out on the bike as much as I can, even if it's just the turbo trainer. 
I want to get my touring bike as soon as possible so I have a good chance to get to know her before I go but I've decided today it's probably best to hold off buying until the decent weather comes back. There's no point getting a totally new bike and taking her out in the Scottish winter to get ruined.
I also really want to get out camping, whether it's with the bike or not. I've got a number of new bits of kit I want to try out. I don't mind winter camping, but I don't get 2 days off in a row so I can't get out. I've got a week off at the end of October. Things will just have to wait until then.

Language

I got a book/CD combo promising "quick and easy" French and German. I'm not surprised to find that I've forgotten most of the French and German I learnt at school! I'm hoping I can pick it up again. I'll also need to get learning some Dutch and Italian!
On a different note, I've re-discovered my love for Moby's early music!

Tarp

I took the tarp out with me on the bike to try it out.
At 720g it's not that far off a tent weight wise so a lightweight tent plus the tarp would be the same sort of weight as a cheaper, heavier tent. It comes in its own bag with 4 guy lines and 4 pegs.

At 3x3 metres it's plenty big enough for a tent and bike. It's quick and easy to put up. The difficulty can come in finding the right spot. Using trees to hold the tarp up relies on having nicely spaced trees, not too far apart yet not too close together. Once I've worked out the ideal spacing I will be able to pitch it better. However, some interesting set ups can come out of odd spaced trees or fence posts or whatever you're using. Since it has so many attachment points it can be set up in a variety of shapes! Here's what I managed today:

By using guy lines for 2 corners on one side and pegging out one corner and leaving the final corner hanging down, water will be able to run off the tarp. This set up would also offer protection from the wind too, if aligned correctly.

I simply need to get out and use it. Try out different set ups, see what works and what doesn't. Since I haven't really used it I can't comment on it very much except to say that it's not difficult to set up or pack away.

Invisible

After a good, fast pedal down Wood Hill my Gore-Tex jacket magically turned into an invisible jacket! Two cars and a bus almost took me off the road! One pulled out of a junction in front of me causing me to slow down. Then it stopped as soon as it had pulled out of the junction to reverse park into a space! I had some choice words to say to her. The other was surely seeing just how close they could get to me without hitting me. The bus decided to overtake me on a very narrow stretch of road without leaving any room. No wonder many bikers dislike motorists. Some are out to get you (throwing things at you, shouting abuse), some have no consideration. Of course some are fine and leave plenty room or hang back until it's safe to overtake. Those types are probably bikers themselves though...

Weather

What a dull day! It's not raining at the moment but it sure will later. Today's plan is to go up for a quick blast on Wood Hill then find somewhere to pitch the tarp and try it out. I do feel I need another length of rope to thread through the top to make a ridge so that water will fall off it, not gather on the flat top and eventually pull the tarp down!
But before I go out I need to come up with a way of getting my broken Crud Catcher on! The recesses where the nut sits have been misshapen so the nut won't stay still when trying to thread the bolt on. I can see myself using huge washers! 

Book review

The Bike Touring Survival Guide by Friedel & Andrew Grant.


Available in print or in ebook from Travelling Two website.

I've been visiting www.travellingtwo.com for a while now and was quite excited to read their book. I got it in the print version. Made to order delivery time was a number of days but I was fine with a wait.

My overall impression is that absolutely Friedel & Andrew love touring. That enthusiasm comes through in their writing. I found the book very easy to read and as clichéd as it is, it was quite hard to put down.
Organised not into chapters but answers to questions. The questions are grouped together into categories are in a sensible order starting from why you might want to tour, to planning, to life on the road to coming home. 
It's not full of very technical jargon so would be very ideal for those new to bikes or bike touring. Already having a wealth of bike maintenance and set-up knowledge I wasn't looking for something that would teach me how to deal with a dead shifter or a grinding headset. I was after an inspirational read that would cover the every-day things like dealing with traffic, finding good food and somewhere to stay.
For those looking for something more technical I would recommend Stephen Lord's book.


For an inspirational read and for countless handy tips and bits of advice that could only have came from years on the road I can recommend it hugely.

Kit list so far

I've already got a number of the things I'll be needing but there's still a fair bit of stuff I still need to get, most importantly the bike!
So far I have - 


Tent
A Lightwave t0 trek. A very roomy 1-person tent or a cosy 2-person tent. Lightweight and loads of headroom for sitting up/getting changed. I've had it for a while now. My only problem with it is that it's an inner-pitch first (although it is possible to pack the tent down with the inner attached to the outer but it's a bit of a hassle). So if it's raining when you pitch the inner first it'll get wet. As it's not very waterproof water will get inside the tent. Aye, it doesn't take long to get the outer on top but my solution has more than one use. That solution is...

Tarp!
From DD hammocks in Edinburgh. A lightweight 3x3m tarp with loads of attachment points means it's big enough to put up and then pitch the tent underneath. With enough use and enough rain even the best tents will let water in so the tarp will prolong it's waterproofness. It also means I can keep the bike under the tarp to keep it dry - especially important with a Brooks saddle. I haven't yet had the chance to try it out, I'll post up my thoughts on it.

1L Trangia fuel bottle
I got a one litre bottle to carry the methylated spirit for my Trangia stove. I already have a 500ml bottle but with 1L I can go for longer without having to restock on meths. Also, meths is usually sold in 500ml bottles so if I were to buy a new bottle but still had say 250ml left with a 500ml fuel bottle I could only carry 500ml, whereas with the 1L I could take all 750ml. It'll live in a bottle cage on the downtube.
I'll be taking my Trangia because I love them. They're so reliable. Sure, there are lighter, smaller gas stoves out there, but the reliability of the Trangia stove is enough to merit the extra weight/space. Plus I just love them!

Vango 3/4 length self-inflating mat
Yet another item I've had for a while. I'm quite happy camping without a sleeping mat but obviously camping every night would be a bit uncomfortable without one. As a compromise I got the 3/4 length. It's more for insulation than comfort really.

Various dry-bags
As my cheap Oxford panniers aren't waterproof everything's going in a roll-top dry bag. I've got one for each bag plus a large one to house the tarp, tent, sleeping bag and mat which will go on top of the rear rack.

I can't think of any other important bits of kit I have at the moment. A few of the things I still need to get are:

Bike - Thinking of a Ridgeback World Voyage (although the Alfine-hubbed Journey would be fun) at the moment.
Front bags - Ortlieb of course
Racks - Probably Tubus racks. Definitely steel though.
Sleeping bag - If I could stretch to a down bag I would but a light-weight 2/3 season synthetic bag will do just fine.
Bar bag - Again, probably Ortlieb.
Pedals - Time, probably just the Aliums.

It's been a while.

It's been ages since I've been out on the bike. All I've managed in a half hour on the turbo trainer. I'll be out tomorrow. I'm hoping the rain stays off but it won't stop me going out.