Sure am glad today is over! I had planned to leave for San Diego this afternoon, but that didn’t happen. I never finished all the items on my “things to do” list, so that was out of the question. Won’t bore you with the miscellany. The most significants tasks of the day were getting some final tweaking done on my bike and a final gear check.
Final Bike Tuneup
The day started with a final bike tuneup with my bicycle hero and personal mechanic, Jay Stewart, who happens to be a fellow McClintock High School alumni and personal friend of my Home Teacher, Todd Rallison, who thankfully hooked us up. Jay helped me get my mind wrapped around the bicycle touring mentality. Over the course of several months, he tricked out my bike with new gearing, super comfy handlebars, and a custom-made rear reflector that will hopefully keep me from getting run over, and tweaked and tuned various components to perfect the ride. After attending numerous classes on general bicycle maintenance, I still needed help figuring out how make adjustments to the types of brakes, shifters, etc. that are on my bike. I appreciate Jay’s willingness to help any way he could at any hour of the day or night.
One training day, a while back, I was hill climbing in the Usery Pass area, and my bar end shifters stopped holding their gear, which made climbing extremely difficult. The phone advice from my local bike shop mechanic was to load up my bike and bring it in to the shop, which would have been impossible, as my car was about 6 miles away. Knowing intuitively what the problem was, Jay talked me through fixing it, which took less than a minute, and I was able to continue riding for another couple of hours.
Gear List
As you can see, there’s a lot of gear, but it organizes neatly into several bags, then pack down to fits nicely into two panniers, and a lunch back from Target that sits on top of my rack, a little zipper bag that hooks to my aerobars, and an even littler frame bag. Fully loaded with four full water bottles, the beast weighs 65.8 pounds, which may sound like a lot to someone who does any kind of road or mountain biking. But to a bicycle tourer, it’s an ultra lite setup. The last few weeks of training, I have ridden my bike fully loaded to get used to the load.
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Bike:
- Salsa Marrakesh
- Profile Design T4 Carbon Aerobars
- Profile Design 7 cm Aerobar Riser
- Profile Design UCM XL Electronics Mount
- Lizard Skins DSP 3.2 Bar Tape
- Grab On Maxi Foam Touring Grips
- Water Bottle Cages (4)
- Neoprene Bottle Bag (Repurposed as a Feed Bag)
- Seat Bag
- Schalbe Marathon Supreme Tubeless Tires
- Cable Lock
On Bike Clothes:
- Pearl Izumi Cooler Cap
- Performance Ultra Cycling Shorts (4)
- Pearl Izumi Sun Legs
- Sugoi Leg Coolers
- Bandanas (4)
- Swiftwick Socks (4)
- Terry Soleil Jerseys (4)
- Performance Cycling Tights
- Patagonia Rain Jacket
- Rain Pants
- Rain Oversocks
- Patagonia R1 Hoodie
- Shocktek Gloves
- Pearl Izumi Gel Gloves
- Pearl Izumi Wind Gloves
- Lake Cycling Shoes
- Giro Helmet
- ESS Ice Sun Glasses
Off Bike Clothes:
- Swimsuit
- Sleeping Shorts
- Underwear (4)
- Shirt
- Tights
- Vionics Sandals
Electronics:
- IPhone with Handlebar Mount
- IPod Nano
- Garmin 520
- Cygolite Metro Light
- Cygolite Hotshot Tail Light
- Cateye Rapid X Tail Light
- Anker Multi Charger
- Anker Battery Pack
- Black Diamond Headlamp
- iclever keyboard
Sustenance:
- Camelbak Podium Water Bottles (4)
- Platypus 2.5 Liter Hydration Bag (2)
- Mio Electrolytes (2)
- nuun Electrolytes (3)
- Various Other Supplements/Vitamins/Minerals
Hygiene:
- Coppertone Sport Sunscreen
- Chapstick Lipshield 365
- Hand Sanitizer
- Wal-Mart Shower Scrubbie
- Shaver
- Dental Floss
- Toothpaste
- Oral B Battery Operated Toothbrush
- Dove Deodorant Minus the Dispenser
- Travel Sized Bottles of Favorite Shampoo, Conditioner, Soap, Lotion, Etc.
- Q-Tips
- Comb & Tiny Hairbrush
- Hairbands (7)
- Eye Liner Pencil
- Lipstick
- Blush
- Makeup Remover Wipes
- Freshette (if you’re curious, ask Google)
Toolkit:
- Lezyne RAP Multi Tool
- Nylon Twine
- Rubber Gloves (a bunch)
- Cotton T-Shirt Squares (a bunch)
- Wet Ones
- Tire Boot
- Spare Tubes (3)
- Tire Levers (3)
- CO2 Inflator
- CO2 Cartridges (2)
- Tire Patches
- Valve Stem Wrench
- Stan’s Tire Sealant
- Missing Links (4)
- Loctite Thread Locker
- Extra Silicone Bands
- Velcro Zip Bands (6)
- Lighter
- Length of Electrical Tape
- Length of Aluminum Tape
- ATB Chain Oil
- Swiss Army Knife
- Sewing Kit
Touring/Camping Gear:
- Ortlieb Backroller Pannier (2)
- Ortlieb Map Case
- Embark Lunch Bag (Rack Top Bag)
- Topeak Tri Bag Frame Bag
- Granite Gear 5 Liter Zippsak (Handle Bar Bag)
- Granite Gear 12 Liter Zippsak (Clothes Bag)
- Granite Gear 12 Liter Zippsak (Supply Bag)
- Sea to Summit Dry Bag 5 Liter (Laundry Bag)
- Sea to Summit Ultra Sil Dry Sak 8 Liter (3)
- Neoprene Water Bottle Bag
- Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2 Tent with Footprint
- Tyvek (Cut for Tent Vestibule Footprint)
- Silk Sleeping Bag Liner
- Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Xlite
- Therm-a-Rest NeoAir AirTap
- Exped Air Pillow
- Sleeping Bag/Quilt (made from Costco Down Quilt)
- Portable Clothesline
- REI Camp Towel
- Solo Man Titanium Cup
- Toaks Titanium Spork
- Rubbermaid Containers (2)
- Headnet
- Repel Sportsman Max Mosquito Repellant
Living Our Bucket List 
Will you be coming thru San Antonio
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I wish! We bypass it, going a more northern route through Johnson City and Fredericksburg on our way to Austin. Want to come up and see me one of those nights? They will be weekend nights. What say?
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I might have missed it but what is your basic route you are taking and by the way good luck.
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Thanks for the good wishes! There is no map that I am aware of to illustrate the route. If you look at the home page or menu for the blog, there is a link for “The Southern Tier Tour” that gives info either in paragraphs via the Adventure Cycling site or a spreadsheet with daily from/to towns that shows the route. One third of it is in Texas, but unfortunately not Harker Heights. We pass through El Paso, then Austin, then Del Rio.
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Eileen you are my champion.. you go girl !!
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Nice complement, Madhu! Thanks for the support!
E
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Good luck my friend. I have you on the calender for Sept 22-23. Stay safe.
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Thanks for having my back—literally! You are a great friend! As I already told one of my nieces, I’ll do everything in my power to be safe, but beyond that, staying safe also depends on God sending good weather and the drivers on the road be attentive.
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