Planning my next small tour
With the completion of my bachelor’s degree only a few weeks away (exciting!) I want to celebrate the past five years’ hard work with a multi-day bike tour. There is…
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Adapting my Surly Rear Rack to work with Topeak MTX bags & baskets
So I bought a brand new Surly Disc Trucker in June, fitted it out with Surly front and rear racks, and now use this bike as my primary commuting bike,…
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Getting everything packed and ready to go!
With just a few days left to go until I depart, I’m putting together all my kit, just like Santa Claus I’m making my list and checking it twice. (more…)
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Setting up the bike for cargo
When sitting down to plan out the Ride in September, one of the first requirements to come to mind was carriage space on the bike — how would I allow enough storage for food, water, shelter, changes of clothes, etc? Being a newcomer to the world of bike touring, I quickly found a number of different options and styles of travel, that when compared to the gear I already had, left me with three main choices to make: A setup involving lots of panniers and frame bags; a support vehicle to accompany me and carry all my gear; or attaching a cargo trailer to the rear.
Saturday morning Creswick run
I made another run out to Creswick today, taking a slightly different route to avoid a long gravel section of roadwork, and taking in a bit more of Pootilla and Wattle Flat. It was also the first chance I’ve had to field-test the Jakroo cycling bibs that arrived on Friday!
Sleeping arrangements
Not wanting to ‘waste’ money on proper accommodation that could be far better spent on the cause, and being an enthusiast of the outdoors anyway, the obvious answer for me has always been to camp rough in, or near, each town/stop on the journey. It’s with this in mind that I first started contemplating a simple hammock and tarp setup. The Snugpak Jungle Hammock and All Weather Shelter fitted almost every requirement that I had…