Day-minus 4 “Stuff”

While I wrote about not doing such a great job in prepping my body for this trip, I will admit that I spent all that extra time over analyzing what to bring on the trip. Clothes, repair equipment, camera equipment, water storage, etc. I have read and watched how others prepared, and it is all over the map. But every one is constrained by how much weight to strap to the bike. It seems more critical with “bikepacking” vs “bike touring” since you typically end up in more remote places, where the hills are a lot steeper, and less towns you go through for supplies, etc. A large portion of the weight carried is for drinking and eating. Trust me, 6 liters of water weighs quite a lot.

Also, some prioritize speed and daily distance over comfort. Many of those folks will crank out extra miles in the dark to make it to a hotel or Warm Showers host. They will usually carry a minimal sleep kit like a bivy to sleep in, which basically is just an oversized garbage bag.

I fall more in the camp of “reasonable comforts”. Sleep is critical, so I am bringing a good tent, sleeping bag, inflatable mattress, and even the luxury of a blowup pillow. I will plan to stay in some indoor, hotel like places, but refuse to ride an extra 40 miles late in the day to get there. On the other side, I will be pretty minimalist in terms of food & drink. I don’t plan to bring a cook system, so no warm meals or hot coffee when camping. I find that I am usually too tired at the end of day to cook (and clean up). In the morning I am usually ready to pack things up and leave early. I do like my morning coffee, but I plan just to drink it cold with a good instant mix instead, unless I am near a place that serves it. I found a good cold coffee instant powder that tastes surprisingly good. I also plan to “cold soak” some of my breakfast food with oats, milk powder, chia seeds, etc. More on that when I do it.

Other than the instant coffee, I am not bringing anything from home food wise, so I’ll need to find a grocery store in Canada as soon as I land there. That along with bear spray. Here is a pic of all the stuff I will plan to bring with me other than the food I need to still buy, laid out on our garage floor.

My “stuff”.. More detailed shot: https://abercrombies.smugmug.com/Other/GDMBR/i-QGKrQF2

There a couple items I forgot to include like paper maps, but that is pretty much it. Lots of camera gear and electronics, which probably weighs the most. Again, a good part of my motivation is to document this, otherwise nobody will believe I am doing it. No, I really want to have something to look back on about this later on. It will also challenge my creative side a bit.

I’ll try to show some of this gear in action on the trip other than the “Butt Butter” 😜.