Mountain passes, here I come (Part 2, Day 9)

, 5 min, 905 words

Tags: biking transamerica-2021

Hello and greetings from the northwest American heat wave. Hard to believe I've gotten caught in not one but two historic heat waves on this trip, but here we are. I'm biking primarily early in the morning (sunrise here: 4:15am) and spending my nights in places where I have cooling options, whether that's A/C or frigid lakes I can sit in. I start crossing the Cascades tomorrow morning with Sherman's Pass. Wish me luck!

I thought I'd answer another common question in this email: what the heck I'm carrying.

One thing I don't know is how much all this stuff weighs. Some part of me really doesn't want to know! But I'll say that it's markedly easier to pedal around unloaded, so the gear definitely adds up.

But first, some pictures.

I encountered a road crew, and they let me place a median reflector! I was unreasonably stoked. Here it is!

A picture taken from road level shows a double yellow line and one sticking-up reflector. There's a road maintenance vehicle departing in the backgrounnd, and trees on the right side of the road.

Montana does not have a monopoly on beauty – here are just a few gorgeous Washington spots.

a lake and trees

A red bridge spans a wide river, with grass in the foreground and treed hills behind
brown grasses and some low-lying shrubs in the foreground, hills and two isolated trees stand tall further back.

Okay, back to gear. (You can skip this if you don't care; I promise there's no key plot points buried in here.)

So, what am I carrying? I'll go through this bag by bag, since by this point in my tour every item has a home.

Front panniers

  • Tent (body, tarp, ground tarp, poles)
  • Raincoat and rain pants
  • Less-used repair gear: patch tape, tent pole repair kit, spare inner tube, oil for my chain, repair kit for my sleeping pad, spare brake cables and pads, sewing kit...
  • Sleeping bag (down, far warmer than I probably needed but nice on those around-freezing nights)
  • Sleeping pad, bag to inflate it, sleeping bag liner, cotton T shirt, light but comfy scarf to use as improvised pillowcase, sleep socks, headlamp
  • Microfiber towel for showering
  • A highly compressed daypack made of ripstop nylon, so that I can tote gear along on a hike/short trip if I want to.
  • Unscented detergent for laundry
  • Kula cloth (a personal hygiene thing, google it if you so desire)

Rear panniers

  • An IKEA bag containing stuff I don't need too often while biking:
    • Stove, stove rack, pot, a spare spork, lighter, can opener
    • Fuel canister with denatured alcohol or yellow heet for my stove. Also a small funnel for pouring fuel back into the canister.
    • Two-liter water bladder – empty when it's short distances between towns, full otherwise
    • Flip flops (camp shoes!)
  • 24-oz water bottle (usually full)
  • Sunscreen
  • Chamois cream
  • Bug cream
  • Tiny bike pump
  • Water-resistant stuff sack with extra layers: a fleece, a puffy, a buff, wool gloves, and a windbreaker
  • Drybag with definitely-stay-dry stuff:
    • Charging cables and an incredible battery pack, which can happily power my phone for at least two weeks
    • Kindle
    • Notebook/journal
    • Sharpie and pencil
  • Laptop in its own waterproof case
  • Stuff sack of other clothes
  • Miscellaneous toiletries (unscented only) and medication, retainer
  • First aid kit, double bagged in ziploc
  • InReach for GPS and satellite texting
  • Solar powered lantern

Bear can

  • Food (see previous email)
  • More food
  • Scented toiletries
  • Soap (in future I'm just bringing Dr. Bronners, I think, rather than bar soap + bar shampoo + Dawn dish soap)
  • Collapsible bowl and mug (mug has a lid, which is critical)
  • Titanium fork, knife, and spoon
  • One paring knife, with plastic sheath

Handlebar bag

  • A pen
  • SPF 20 chapstick
  • Snacks for the day
  • Electrolytes for the day
  • Microfiber cloth (very small)
  • Soft case for my sunglasses (I'd ditch this in future)
  • Compass and whistle (just in case)
  • Hand sanitizer
  • Bike gloves, if I'm not wearing them
  • My magical homemade map holder
  • Adventure Cycling map, folded to current location

Saddle bag (repair kit)

  • Miscellaneous bike multitools
  • A regular multitool
  • Patch kit
  • Tire irons
  • Duct tape
  • Zip ties

Other (mounted on bike)

  • Two water bottles (22-oz, though if I were doing it again I'd up those to 24-oz)
  • A relatively robust cable lock
  • My cycle computer – effectively odometer and speedometer
  • A rear view mirror (in future I'm getting one that sticks up from the handlebar instead of down)
  • USB-powered front and rear lights with both steady and blinking settings
  • A kickstand

All told, this kit has served me well, though it will certainly be modified in places for any future tours. I'll probably go through and put together a more exhaustive list at some point, but I think this gives you at least a sense for what I'm carrying.

With that, I'm off for my 7:30pm bedtime. Farewell!

Zeph