(February 3)

Day 40 - Rebooting My Gear during my layover in Phoenix

Training Camp is Over

 

The items being sorted that will be shipped back home.

 

 

I won't bore all of you with the usual kinds of things one does while visiting family like reminiscing about the old days or what Cousin This or That might be up to these days, but will focus here on the changes I've planned to make to my rig and gear for the final part of my journey.

 

What changes might those be? EVERYTHING.

 

I'm going to refer back to my meeting of Eritia the Canadian on the last night of my stay in Duncan. My discussion with her was eye-opening. I learned, for instance, that on the day she made it to Silver City she did so in a SINGLE, 90+ mile riding day that INCLUDED the massive climb up and over Emory Pass (you know, the one I decided I couldn't ride over due to the need to camp two nights in sub-freezing weather to reach?) from Truth-or-Consequences NM. I was stunned. What I immediately realized was the reason I...though not her...I would have to camp those two nights was how SLOW I figured I'd progress up and over that massive climb. If I'd been able to climb faster and ride longer in a single day, I could have made it to Silver City (well, if the wind hadn't been strongly opposing me...it was helping her in contrast) without any need at all for sub-freezing camping.

 

Say what you will about the fact she is 20 years younger, undoubtedly in better physical condition and had a tailwind that would have been my headwind (she was coming to the path from the North, not the South as I was)...all that would be true. But I was so far from being able to pull my rig up and over all those climbs AND ride over 90 miles in a single ride day it wasn't even funny..even WITH a tailwind. And that made me embarrassed. Angry with myself for not planning better. Yes, that isn't really being fair to myself in any way given I'm such a novice at this and started my journey only a little over a week after deciding to go...but those were my immediate feelings.

 

And those feelings set my mind racing. My very first thoughts centered on a key fact I'd noticed among others of my tribe: none of them were pulling trailers but me. And, almost none of them had, I believed, anywhere the amount of total weight of gear that I had in my rig (more about that exception below). I don't mean the weight of their bikes, etc. (I think the relative weight of my bike is in line with many of what my tribe has been riding), but rather the weight of the gear. All of my tribe...with the possible exception of the 3 youngsters who I'd passed outside Lordsburg who were, by their own admission traveling rather "posh" with folding chairs, etc. (and who, I should note, were also former collegiate bike racers)...had been travelling much lighter than I was.

 

And one of the big reasons, I came to believe, was the sheer weight of my trailer itself.

 

So, as of the morning I left Duncan, I had a TOTAL revamp planned for my "touring system" already planned out in my mind, and it is a plan I started working on yesterday (Friday). It goes like this:

 

1) For the trip from Phoenix to San Diego I'm not using my trailer, but rather will limit myself to two rear panniers. I've already sourced those from REI here in Phoenix. I'll strap my tent to the top of my back rack and the two panniers to each side of the rack and use it as it was intended to be used. To this point it was a vestigial limb. I've already broken down and boxed up my trailer for shipment home (i.e., taken the tongue off, removed the wheels, etc.).

 

2) I'm making my final equipment cuts. These are the cuts, in NFL terms, to get my roster down to 53 players (i.e., the players who actually make the team coming out of training camp). And I think that is an appropriate analogy because I'd classify my first 5 weeks of bike touring as my training camp. In fairness to myself, with only one exception (Jerry & Ruth) all of the other riders I've met have been touring before. There current tour wasn't their first rodeo. I'm sure they learned many "gear" lessons along the way just as I have. Here are some of the equipment cuts I'm making:

 

- Clothing. There were clothing items I thought I might need that I've not really worn at all. I've arrived...through a great deal of trial and error...at my preferred cold weather and rain clothing sets of layers, and anything I've not used for cold or rain I'm shipping back. Like the final set of insulated long bib pants I had left. Or the serious rain gear I had been hauling around that I eventually stopped wearing because it was just too hot inside while I was pedaling that it got me more soaked with sweat than if I'd just let the rain get to me. I had too many pairs of socks that I never wore (I'll be down to just two sets now that are more multi-purpose). I'm getting rid of my pair of "camp" sneakers and am now just using the same shoes I ride in AS my camp shoes. Etc.

 

- Cooking gear AND my dehydrated meals. Mostly I eat out three meals a day. And, even when I have cooked, I didn't REALLY need to boil water to make a backpacking dehydrated meal in a pouch. I COULD have simply had what I had for lunch on my trip days to Deming and Lordsburg: crackers/tortillas with spray cheese and either Spam/tuna from a foil pouch or summer sausage in a kind of sandwich/burrito concoction. Sure, if I was camping out EVERY night, it would be different, but I'm not (too cold on this winter trip, though I'd definitely consider camping more on future bike tours). So I don't need my stove, my stove fuel or my 2L pot to boil water. Or the two backpacking dinners and two backpacking breakfasts I'd been carting around "just in case." Instead I have a ziploc gallon bag with some tortillas, spray cheese and foil pouches of tuna and Spam. Along with a stock of some CLIF bars (my energy bar of choice) and my usual "fuel" foods of Fig Newtons and trail mix on board, I'll be good food-wise for any overnight camping I may need to do (like Glamis).

 

- My thick, luxurious "winter-rated" sleeping pad. While it is the bomb when it comes to insulating me from the cold, heat-draining ground below my sleeping bag, it is also BULKY and HEAVY. Camping for me on this trip has been kind of an emergency affair, so I don't need "posh" accommodations: I can simply endure a colder sleep for one night if I find myself needing to "emergency camp." That said, I'm still considering the idea of sourcing a lighter, less bulky sleeping pad at REI because I think I'd kind of like to evaluate my hill-climbing performance with gear aboard I'd almost certainly have if I didn't only have about a week of riding remaining.

 

- Spare items related to my trailer like the innertubes ad spokes I had to carry around. This also includes an interesting side effect I immediately noted of not using a trailer any longer: my panniers...being waterproof in and of themselves...negate the need to put all of my other gear inside waterproof stuffsacks. So, I have three, kinda-heavy waterproof stuffsacks I'm sending back as well.

 

- Miscellaneous items I'd kept in my trailer, I think, simply because I had a bunch of cool little mesh pockets in which to hold them such as a tent-stake puller (haven't used) or a small, battery-powered light to hang inside my tent. Nice little luxuries...but ultimately not used and not good enough to make the team.

 

It amazes me how light I'm traveling now compared to when I left home. I've stripped away...over the course of four different "purge" sessions...all of the dead weight. I feel lean and ready to tackle big climbs and long riding days in a way I haven't been since I was planning my ride in the days before I'd actually done any riding. And while that early optimism was born purely out of ignorance and naivete, THIS new optimism comes from a lot of hard-earned lessons over the course of all these weeks of actually doing this.

 

In-ko-pah Gorge...and my first-ever 90 mile bike tour ride day...I'm coming for you!