We are big on “just wander” styles of biking. So far, the 2016 Idaho fall weather has been excellent for some nice weekend S24O rides. The “start” of the Adventure Cycling Association’s Idaho Hot Springs MTB Route is right out our door, but finding the time to ride the entire route in one big trip isn’t feasible. We’ve ridden sections of the trip – last year we accomplished 150 miles when it was 112 degrees in the shade so this year we opted to wait until after fire season and the summer heat and planned to ride two more sections. We also opted to be flexible and let go of the purist idea of where one should start a ride. Sometimes life gets in the way and while we did get one section ridden the other will now probably wait until spring. In September, the stars & the full moon lined up and we ventured to Atlanta with some great biking friends. While our entire ride isn’t described on the Hot Springs Map this is a great get away ride with some beautiful scenery. Another group decision was to not start in town and suffer the 12 to 14 miles of horrendous wash board on the Middle Fork Road. Enough of us have biked that section to know once was enough. Taking off after work on a Friday we drove to Willow Creek Campground, knowing there was a full moon we were happy to see clear skies. What we didn’t account for was the full moon attracting campers who had no intention of sleeping and having them set up camp right next door… A bit bleary eyed we took off for Atlanta Saturday am. The road follows the river pretty much the entire 47 miles so, for the most part, it is a gradual climb. The last few miles the road steepens but knowing the bar and cafe in Atlanta weren’t far off we all geared down and carried on. The Bike Hermit wrote about his trip to Atlanta last year and did a great job of describing the bar. Happy to say it hasn’t changed. Good beer, a choice of cheeseburger or hamburger and life was good. Not only that but they agreed to feed us breakfast the next morning, truly an easy decision for all of us. The seven of us had the campground to ourselves and the hot springs to ourselves as well. We all agreed this would make a great annual fall trip.
Things to know:
The road is dirt and gravel. For the most part a bike with 38 mm tires will do fine – there are some sandy areas. We had two Surly ECR’s, 2 Trolls and a Disc Trucker on our ride and all did awesome.
The washboard isn’t as bad if you start anywhere beyond Willow Creek Campground and it gets better once you leave Boise County.
The folks at Twin Springs are very friendly – one could also rent a cabin there and another cabin in Atlanta and be really spoiled (except the beer choice at Twin Springs is Coors or Bud so pack accordingly)
The Campground in Atlanta seems to be free after labor day
Hot Springs in Atlanta are nice. We opted for the one by the river below the campground but the pool close to the campground is also great. We didn’t ride down and look, but there are more hot springs by the river as you pedal to the campground.
Fall vehicle traffic wasn’t bad and people were polite.
There are plenty of places to camp along the way.
Highly recommend! Photo Credits to Paul Lindquist and Ron Riley
Brisk start Sunday but it’s all downhill from here!The road follows the middle fork of the boise riverTwin Springs – Bar, Cafe & Cabins with private Hot SpringsTucked in for Beer and BurgersEarly Fall colors the entire ride
The wintertime (known to some among us as the “off-season”) is a great time to experiment with your bike setup and few components can transform the ride of a bike like handlebars. Unlike many so-called “performance” upgrades that claim to offer weight savings, greater precision or improved efficiency, different handlebars change the way your body relates to the bicycle in a fundamental and important way. The wrong handlebar can make the finest bicycle nearly unrideable. The right handlebar can enhance comfort, control and confidence. The Jones Loop H-Bar does just that. As many of the Surly bikes we sell (in addition to many other touring bikes) come with drop bars and bar-end shifters, I thought I’d share my experience converting my personal bike from drop bars to H-Bars. I’ll get more into the details and technicalities of the process – especially the fit aspect – in a future post, so stay tuned for that.
I built my dirt touring bike – the RandoGnar – around drop bars. I had the wide-open and reasonably smooth gravel roads of north-central Oregon in mind when drawing up the plans and laying out the cockpit. The position is very similar to what I’ve used on my cyclocross bike to provide a good balance of comfort, aerodynamics and pedaling efficiency for long, mixed-terrain rides and ‘cross racing. This setup performed admirably on the Oregon Outback in May, 2014 and I wouldn’t have changed a thing. However, on rough descents or technical singletracks, the hand and body positions offered by drop bars leave something to be desired. When riding in the drops – the preferred position for descending – my weight is shifted far forward over the front wheel which tends to generate a feeling of “oh-crap-I’m-about-to-get-pitched-over-the-bars”. This leads to tension throughout the my body, causing fatigue and a diminished ability to ride lightly over rough surfaces.
Open country and smooth gravel on the Oregon Outback
Upon moving to Idaho and sampling some of the unpaved roads and singletracks in the central part of the state, I found myself wishing for a different handlebar. Descending on a loaded bike through rough, rocky, loose terrain can be sketchy on any bike but I’ve had some harrowing moments on rutted, washed out mountain roads and trails down in the hooks of my deep drops.
A section of steep, rocky road near Scott’s Mountain on the Smoke ‘n’ Fire 400
Anyone who has ridden a modern mountain bike can tell you that a short stem and wide, flat handlebars yield enhanced control in challenging terrain. It is easy to keep the front wheel light and approach steep terrain with confidence. So for mixed-terrain bikepacking and touring – where we ride long hours on loaded bikes in widely varying conditions – we need a middle ground. We like the range of hand and body positions offered by drop bars but miss the confidence and control lent by a flat bar with things get rough. The Loop H-Bar treads this fine line better than perhaps any other handlebar available.
Your list of necessary parts will vary, but here are the parts I needed to effect the conversion.
The bits: Jones 710mm Loop-H bars, Thomson X4 90mm 0-degree stem, Paul Thumbies, Shimano canti levers.
I replaced my 100mm, -10 degree stem with a 90mm, 0 degree version to bring the handlebar clamp up closer to level with the saddle height for a nice, balanced riding position. I am now able to rotate my hips back slightly and rest my weight lightly on the saddle with most of my body supported by the pedals. The stance is upright and controlled but with enough forward reach possible to tuck under the wind. On the road, the forward extension offers a very similar perch to riding on the “ramps” of my drop bars. On singletrack, the extra width and rearward extension provides a very strong and confident stance to attack steep terrain with one finger tucked in the crook of the brake levers. The overall look is a little cruiser-y but the bike feels much more at home in singletrack.
Rando-Gnar with Jones Loop-H Bars
These bars are now the widest I have on any bike. The extra leverage and control is remarkable.
Cockpit from above
ODI’s classic Longneck BMX grips pair well with the Jones bars. The extra length covers more of the handlebar section than a standard mountain bike grip. I prefer to trim the flanges off for additional shifter clearance. We also offer the ESI foam grips which are designed for the long grip section of the H-Bars.
Also, I found (in corroboration with Jeff Jones’ guidelines) that the ergonomics of this setup are much improved by adjusting the brake levers’ reach screws in slightly to bring the lever blades closer to the bars. Those with extra-long fingers may not need to make the adjustment but the levers are easy to reach with the first finger even when at the farthest rearward position on the bars. The BL-R550 levers deliver a very strong pull to my cantilever brakes and a comfortable lever shape for one or two fingers.
De-flanged BMX grips and brake levers with reach adjusted in slightly
The sweep and width of these bars has transformed the Rando-Gnar from a dirt road crusher into a singletrack slayer. I’m able to ride much faster and more confidently than I ever thought possible on a rigid bike. In addition to the range of hand positions, the 45-degree sweep of the bars offers excellent leverage for lifting either end of the bike over obstacles in the trail. This is especially helpful when the bike is loaded and requires more effort to maneuver.
From the front
Thomson’s X4 stem pairs perfectly with the Jones bars. Even the alignment marks align with the edges of the clamp jaws.
Alignment hashmarks placed perfectly for Thomson clamp
On the first few shakedown rides in the Boise foothills, I had to consciously keep my speed in check any time the trail pointed downhill. The riding position inspired so much confidence that I quickly outran the available traction from my close-knobbed tires in loose corners. With my weight shifted over the rear wheel and my hands out wide, I was able to leverage the bike around downhill corners with ease and maintain a comfortable, relaxed posture. When climbing, I could easily shift my hands forward to keep the front wheel down.
At the top of Scott’s Trail in the Boise Foothills
Overall, I’m quite happy with the comfort, control and multiple riding positions the Jones bars offer. On longer stretches of smoother terrain I find myself missing the aerodynamic position offered by the drop bars, but feel that the off-road confidence and control more than makes up for the slightly decreased efficiency on the pavement.
Rando-Gnar with Jones Loop-H bars in the wild
Overall, the Jones H-Bars are an excellent alternative to a drop bar for touring bikes that are regularly ridden in more technical and demanding situations. I’d recommend them to anyone who wants to blend the confidence and control of a flat bar with the comfort and hand positions of a drop bar. I’ll be taking a closer look at the setup process in a future post, so feel free to chime in with any questions you’d like to have answered or ideas you’d like to see explored. Thanks for reading!
In 2010 The Bike Hermit took his first bike jaunt in Texas. Titled Texas Buckaroos, his adventure is well chronicled on crazyguyonabike.com. Since then, I have heard about his trip pretty much Every Single Day; how amazing this part of Texas is, how friendly the people are, how we need to move to Texas, how Boise is actually hotter and colder than Alpine – you name it, I’ve heard it. Being who I am, my initial reaction was there is no way I am moving to Texas. Those who know me know that I tend to balk when others rave about certain places or things – yes even when The Bike Hermit is the one doing the raving :). After a few years of his pushing Texas I finally let the brain crack open and began to soften to the idea of at least going for a visit. It took a few years to line up all the stars but suddenly the idea was becoming a reality. Originally we planned to go in early 2015 but with everything slipping into place we decided we’d planned enough and we’d just go for it. Again, to those who know us, this should come a no surprise.
From the start of our Texas Bike Ride I vowed to have no agenda, no expectations and to allow each and every day unfold of it’s own accord. A little self congratulations are in order as I think I came pretty darn close to achieving that goal. (okay there may have been a few moments and there were some very choice words thrown around on a particularly nasty section of Glenn Springs Road in Big Bend National Park) But as always when riding, it got better.
Everyone approaches bike touring in their own way. We all have our little rituals and habits. One of mine is to make up songs as I ride. My theme usually involves what ever I see or experience on the the ride. During our 3 weeks in Texas I wrote a great little riding ditty. My singing is totally restricted to riding my bike with Jim either way out in front or somewhere behind me. I can carry a perfect tune, as long as no one is listening. Here are the words: (the tune is The Heart of Saturday Night by Tom Waits)
Little Yellow Flowers growing by the road, tucked in with the cactus and a flowering yucca plant too.
Bike riding in Texas, having a marvelous time.
Got the wind at my back, the sun in the sky, riding along with my favorite guy.
That’s why I like Texas, have a wonderful time
So, what do I think of Texas? I will answer that with, we are busy planning the next trip. As the standard response from a certain someone. “Just listen to the Bike Hermit and all will be fine.” West Texas is a country unto itself. I am a lover of wide open spaces and certainly got my fill of beautiful, quiet, rugged country.
Are we moving to Texas? Well that move, if ever, is certainly a longs ways off. I look forward to doing quite a bit more Texas bike pedaling and have many more places to explore. The isolated beauty, while amazing to visit, may become a bit tarnished if I were to experience it day in and day out.
You can never go back – a mantra of mine for sure. I believe one will never have the same experience twice so when we do go back, I will once again embrace the adventure with no expectations and just look forward to enjoying the beauty Texas has to offer. Have a wonderful time.
If you follow any of our posts you have already noticed we aren’t afraid of touring on dirt and gravel roads. In fact in the last few years we have probably covered more miles on dirt than on pavement… AND we cover most of them on loaded touring bikes. Certainly, riding a fully loaded touring bike on dirt/sand/gravel is not the same experience as the rider on a “fat” bike or a “mountain” bike. Sometimes our descent will be slower or we may have to walk a few stretches but overall we rarely shy away from following that enticing road and going exploring.
The last few weekends have found us seeking sunshine in the Big Jacks Creek Wilderness Area, south of Boise. Evan Worthington, the Owyhee Wilderness Ranger from BLM took the time to share his knowledge and passion for the area at a recent Wandering Wheels meeting (a loose group of people who like to ride bikes). What makes the area special for biking is the existence of many cherry stems- from the BLM website:
“Cherrystems are spurs of roads in Wilderness areas that do not themselves have wilderness status. The boundary of a Wilderness area extends up one side of a cherrystem route, around its terminus and down the other side of the roadway, to allow for motorized or mechanized activity on the roadway that is prohibited in the Wilderness area.
The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 also designated a few cherrystem routes that cross entirely through the Big Jacks Creek, Bruneau-Jarbidge Rivers, and Owyhee River Wilderness Areas.
All cherrystem routes are signed and open to motorized and mechanical transport unless posted otherwise. Please stay on established cherrystem routes to protect adjacent wilderness.”
Photo by Aileen Frey
Evan also blessed the shop with several excellent maps of the area so if you live near by feel free to come in and plan adventures. The recent ride involved a section of road that is best described as double track. Some sections were rocky, others quite sandy and a few of the descents would be described as somewhat challenging regardless of the type of bike a person was riding.
Roads really aren’t my topic though. My topic is what bike can I, do I, choose to ride for Adventure Cycling. My answer is – it really doesn’t matter – much; I am taking a big leap of faith that if you are reading this, your bike of choice probably isn’t of the road racing variety. Taking a bike with a tire narrower than 32 mm may lead to frustration but other than that we say don’t underestimate the ability to try the intriguing dirt road on your current bike. (see Chris Kostman’s Rough Riders Blog) Understand that the riding experience will not be the same as a full suspension mountain bike and personally, we think that is fine. Our group of back road adventures often will have a wide variety of bikes – Touring style, Mt. Bike Style, Fat Bike Style, Adventure Bike Style. Some cover ground faster than others but everyone who shows up to ride realizes we are in a group and nobody seems to get their bike shorts in a twist about waiting for others or having others wait for them.
Things to consider and to include on your adventure:
Sky King and Sky putting the Grand Bois Hetres through the paces.
Tire Width & Tread – A width of 32 mm is a minimum. Skinny tires don’t do well in soft dirt, sand or deep gravel. Tread – while I have ridden my Gran Boise Hetre’s on many dirt roads & also have used Schwalbe Marathon Supremes I do need to pay attention to loose/deep gravel and have walked sections others have been able to ride because these tires aren’t heavy on the tread. Don’t over inflate either! If anything start out in the mid range of PSI for your tire and adjust accordingly.
Some good tire choices: (l. to r.) Surly Knard 700×41, Bontrager 29×2.1, Schwalbe Big Apple 700×2.35
Pedals & Shoes – I have the Shimano A530 which is a two sided pedal, giving me the option to clip or go clipless. I typically ride clipped in and will clip out if I am concerned about needing to put my foot down quickly on a tricky descent but ride with many who don’t use a clipped in style. Some use a BMX style pedal. The 45North pedal with the hi traction pins are great for those who don’t want to be clipped. The Power Grip is another alternative.
Bags & Bottles – For day trips or overnighters I never ride without at least one bag on my bike. We have had many discussions about to ride or not to ride with a front bag. The front bags we like and offer for sale rest on the front rack so the weight is on the tire and not weighted on the handlebar but others will argue that the weight of the bag affects the handling. Once again I will just say riding a loaded touring bike on dirt/gravel is going to be a different ride than a bike with suspension sans bags. If you ride in heavy brush or trees, using panniers can be an issue. Frame bags aren’t just for Mt Bikes and work quite well on touring and adventure bikes. Several of our biking buddies take their hydration packs for back road rides. I don’t happen to own one so I always make sure I carry plenty of water and we often will throw the water filtering devices in the seat bag if we know we will be in an area that has water. For day adventure rides I take a saddlebag. This last trip I used a Frost River Gunflint Trail and had so much room I carried extra clothes for a few others.
The Gunflint Trail bag on the Nitto M15 rear rack. Note the riveted and sewn leather attachments.
Be Prepared – Day trips or overnighters; always bring more than you think you’ll need. Getting stuck out in the middle of nowhere and not having the right tools, clothing, food is not going to be any fun for anyone. We always have the essentials – tube, patch kit, pump, tire irons and other simple tools. In addition- strike anywhere matches, flint tool, tactical flashlight, emergency blanket, first aid kit, chemical toe warmers, jacket, hat, gloves and pants (based on the season) and extra food – fruit, nuts, gorp, sardines or whatever you’d appreciate if your ride takes a sudden unexpected turn.
Riding a touring or adventure style bike on loose gravel, deep sand or rocky roads does take some practice. Learning to power through deep sand and to not back off when hitting the unexpected were two things I had to concentrate on when I began to leave the pavement. Rough roads can be tiring on the hands and the arms, but at the same time perhaps that reminds you to stop, take a break, enjoy the scenery and remind yourself it’s about the journey, not the destination.
My happy little trip to ride bikes on lightly traveled roads and to commune with the hermits of yore in the silence of the Death Valley desert is completely ruined. The last few days of December is one of the busiest times here and the campgrounds are full, while automobiles (bumper to bumper at times) crowd the roads on the way to must see tourist attractions; Badwater, Artist Drive, Golden Canyon and so forth. My expectations arise from my visit here in February a few years ago, when the campgrounds and roads were more or less deserted. Your high, unrealistic expectations- not the crowds- led to your disappointment, grasshopper. Good job, Little Rock Crusher. Your work is done.
Panamint Springs Resort at the north end of Panamint Valley is as I remember it though…quiet, inexpensive campground, showers and a restaurant with a fantastic selection of beers (160 or 180 different beers depending on which sign you read…..many/several, at any rate). A gallon of gas here is only about a dollar less than a campsite! There is no phone service and only a sketchy internet connection, actually- none during our stay. This turns out to be OK for our purposes! Roughing it at Panamint Springs Resort Panamint Springs Resort. You can tell it’s a resort because of the palm trees.
Even better, the Panamint Valley Road towards Trona is closed due to damage from flash flooding earlier in the year. We ride around the barricades and continue through the desert for 15 miles to the junction with Trona Wildrose Road, which is also closed with barricades. We head back to Panamint Springs Resort stopping along the way to eat some corn tortillas with summer sausage and cheese and to listen to the quiet. Even in this total stillness, it is not completely quiet; We hear the blood pumping in our veins
And the synapses firing in our brains
There is a “ringing” in our ears.
The wind can be a factor here as we discovered in the last five or six miles, which took probably an hour for us to cover. But that only made the beer and burgers at the restaurant at Panamint Springs taste even better. Did I mention they have 160-180 different beers? The road to Wildrose campground Sky King enjoys her new Gilles Berthoud bicycle!
Sunday morning we pack up the bikes for an over-nighter and we sail, with the wind aft and with the sheets eased out,
towards Trona, but this time we hang a left at the junction and start the climb to Wildrose Campground. From here the road slopes up at an average of about 6 degrees; 3000 feet in nine miles. The wind shifts until it is blowing off the snow fields on the slopes of 11000′ Telescope Peak directly into our face. Oh yeah, and in the last few miles the road surface varies from broken asphalt to dirt, to loose, deep gravel through which we are obliged to dismount and push the bikes. Mentally tough ride, this. Once we reach the campground we strip down and rinse off the sweat before the sun is blocked by the western ridge and the temperature drops. We take a hike and scavenge pieces of wood from broken pallets which are left over from a metal roofing project on the park service buildings. Once we burn through that we are driven into our tents by the wind which now feels as though it originated in Antarctica. I have camped in lower ambient temperatures (our water bottles don’t even have ice in them in the morning) but the wind chill is brutal. Chief and Bernard
Wildrose RoadWildrose Road
The aforementioned roofing project has apparently been abandoned for some time. It appears that the new roofs are complete but half full pallets of material are still laying around and one pallet has fallen or was blown off the edge of the bank adjacent to the building and pieces of roofing are fanned out across the driveway. Empty pallets litter the area. I mentioned the fact that area roads have been closed due to flash flooding. We were told these floods happened in June and it is now the end of December. The only apparent work that has been done on the road inside Death Valley National Park is the placement of some traffic cones along the edges of the most severe drop-offs. In October of 2013 we were in Baker, NV one of the main entrances to Great Basin National Park. The park had just reopened after being closed for two weeks due to the government shutdown. The town of Baker and the businesses there were all but deserted. In other news: The US military is proceeding with the production of the F-35 fighter jet which is seven years behind schedule and hideously over budget. Vanity Fair wrote about that in September 2013. Congressional representatives in almost every state have 1400 good reasons to love this project; that’s the number of sub-contractors providing 133,00 jobs in 45 states. Miraculously, the government shutdown and sequestration has not affected those jobs or the funding for this project.
Developing and building a new fighter jet is fine, I happen to think fighter jets are one of humanity’s coolest inventions. But if the idea is sort of a neo-New Deal, then I wonder if there might be a better way to spend the money and put people to work. Things such as, say, maintaining national parks, or bridges, or building schools, or even making bike paths. Maybe National Parks can be considered a superfluous luxury in a society but on the other hand they might be considered a mine canary which, when it begins to wobble a little as it can now be seen doing, signals a declining quality of livability.
By daylight on Monday morning the wind has moved on. The shining blue sky sun quickly warms us to the point we can take off layers. We are in shorts and shirtsleeves by the time we mount the bikes for the ride back…..the same section of road which took 2 1/2 hours to climb yesterday we now cover in 50 minutes. Back at the campground before we left we spoke to a couple vacationing from Minnesota. I think Minnesotans have some weird need to prove that the extreme cold is not problematic. They told us stories of ice fishing and camping on the ice in wall tents heated with wood stoves when outside the temperature is minus 40. Since nobody wants to get up when it’s that cold in order to stoke the fire it drops to maybe minus 20 in the tent by morning. I’ll pass on that adventure.
A fighter jet from Edwards Air Force Base makes Panamint Valley its own personal half pipe as it caroms down the valley a few hundred feet off the deck. I wonder out loud if it’s too late for me to become a fighter pilot. The remaining eighteen miles back to Panamint Springs is basically flat. The temperature is in the mid 60’s, the sun hangs in the boundless blue sky and the wind, such a bully yesterday, is feeble. Back at Panamint Springs the shower rooms are pretty basic but functional and clean. The stout metal framed screen door to the men’s room doesn’t even latch. For some reason this makes me happy. Paradoxically, it makes it feel safe and it’s comforting to know it never gets very cold here.
Dinner again at Panamint Springs Resort where they boast a great selection of beer.
Tuesday we decide to just explore the area on bikes with no firm agenda. In the morning we ride a mile or so up Highway 190 and take a left onto a dirt road towards Darwin Falls. In the PM we go back east on Highway 190 and turn on an unmarked road and ride another several miles across the playa towards Panamint Dunes. There are two or three groups of people camping out here even though there are no apparent designated camping sites. I wonder if there are permits issued by the Park Service for camping out here or if the people are just poaching. It doesn’t look very pleasant at any rate since it gets dark at 6PM and I’m pretty sure they are not supposed to build fires. Lower Darwin Falls
So, that’s it. On Wednesday we pack up the car and start for home. It’s sort of sad to be leaving but it’s been over a week since we left and it will be good to get back. Overall the trip was a great success. We got some nice riding in and were able to sleep under the stars in this “Gold Tier” International Dark Sky Park. Now I know that late December is not the best time to visit if one seeks quiet, but the Bike Hermit only had words with two different parties, so all’s well that ends well….and Panamint Springs Resort has a good beer selection.
Yes, I coined a new term; “A24O”- for “about 24 hours over-nighter”. The “S24O” or “sub 24 hour over-nighter” seems too extreme. Too much pressure to return home in less than 24 hours, especially from Boise where the distances to decent camping spots are greater than in some other shires.
We rolled out the front door at about 10 AM Saturday morning and by shear luck, even though it would be almost 100 degrees by the afternoon, there was a nice cloud cover most of the morning which even sprinkled a little rain. We followed the Boise Greenbelt out past Harris Ranch to Lucky Peak Dam. There is a four mile climb to the Hilltop store, which is open again (hope they can keep it going) and actually has a nice selection of beer, so there was no need to have lugged our adult beverages up that hill! A fast descent and a sharp right past the high bridge brings us to Spring Shores Marina. It’s another 5 1/2 miles of pavement before the road turns to dirt/gravel/sand which is severely washboarded in places by the almost steady (on the weekend anyway) traffic of recreationalites with their recreational vehicles.
Arrowrock Reservoir is bigger than I realized. We followed the road along the upper shoreline for about 14 miles to the upper end of the reservoir where the Middle Fork of the Boise River flows freely again. This is where the climate becomes more alpine too. Pine trees begin to replace the clumps of Black Locust growing at the lower, dryer elevations. Indeed, it seems a bona fide forest at Willow Creek Campground.
Riding ’round the rim of Arrowrock Reservoir. Big Country.
At Willow Creek Campground. Boise National Forest
MSR 4 Liter Dromedary Bag lashed on top of the Frost River Gunflint Trail saddlebag. First use of both!
I’m still undecided about the best bike for this kind of trip. Most of the miles are on pavement but the unpaved sections can be sort of jarring and tiring. I rode my touring bike with 700x35c tires while Sky King rode her Bleriot with 650bx42mm Grand Bois Hetre tires, and neither one of us had any significant problems. The smooth tread tires were nice on the paved sections. Bikes with even more voluminous tires would flatten out the bumps a little on the unpaved sections and provide better traction I think. So there are compromises on a trip like this. We will be covering the same ground on the last day of the upcoming Ketchum to Boise ride and we both want fatter tires. Sky King will be buoyed by 26″x2.4″ Schwalbe tires on the Disc Trucker. The Surly Big Dummy has unexpectedly risen to the top of my own short list of off road touring bikes. The frame is designed to fit tires up to 2.5″ wide, even if tire selection in that size is a little bit limited. And the long wheel base distributes the weight of the rider and the load more evenly between the two wheels resulting in better traction and more stable handling….theoretically. The longer wheelbase undoubtedly would smooth out the chatter bumps on these gravel roads too. In more remote areas drinking water can be the major challenge to doing off road back-country rides fully self-supported. With its 200 pound load capacity, not including the rider, and its capacious bags the Big Dummy unlocks that conundrum. The only downside I can see is if the need arose for some bushwhacking or log hopping to get to that perfect campsite, but that is not a deal breaker.
Oops….. this post has encountered a bit of metaphorical sand and could easily slide over the bank into the weeds of B.R.O.C.D. (bike related obsessive compulsive disorder). Careful, just a little body english, don’t over correct…..right, back on form. So figure on a solid 5 hours to do this 40+ mile ride one way on a loaded bike. There is drinking water at Hilltop, at Spring Shores Marina and at the Willow Creek Campground. The campground is a no fee forest service facility with picnic tables and plenty of trees and good access to the river. The area is very popular on summer weekends and the auto traffic is heavy, especially on Sunday afternoon.
In case you aren’t familiar with Loan Peak Packs – They are a made in the USA, previously based in Salt Lake City but recently relocated to Marysville, Washington. The craftsmanship has always been top notch and the panniers are well worth the price. We have stocked the Mount Superior Pannier since we opened. A large capacity pannier that is perfect for the long distance traveler.
Recently we were discussing the Lone Peak product line with Gary and expressed our interest bringing in a smaller pannier that could work either on the front or on the rear. Gary suggested we consider the Millcreek. Our first set arrived just in time for the Wandering Wheels S24O to Sheep Creek Reservoir. For this trip, the Bike Hermit decided he would take Norm – the Surly Crosscheck with the large Paul Components basket.
Norm also was happy to be a tent pole for the Hennessy Hammock
Norm has a custom bag that fits perfectly into the basket and the Bike Hermit was quite pleased with the items he could carry. While he had the stove and his hammock, fitting food and the sleeping bag were a challenge.
Normally, on a S24O I take my Gilles Berthoud front bag and a Zimbale 18 liter but the Millcreeks were calling to me and we wanted to try them out before we offered them in the store. Suffice it to say, we need to order more Millcreeks for the store as I will be hard pressed to relinquish the pair I tried out.
The Millcreek Pannier
Right off the bat, packing the Millcreek’s are a breeze. The main compartment unzips completely, like a suitcase, making layering and adjusting and FINDING items easy. No more pawing through the pannier or needing to dump half of your items on the ground to find something.
Main compartment
The secondary pocket, also called the large front pocket was a great spot for my camp shoes, camp jacket and assorted small camping necessities. It has a 3/4 zip so again easy to access.
Large front pocket, 3/4 zip
The final “pocket” is mesh, with a zipper so great for damp items, gear you want to use during the day, etc.
zippered mesh pocket is also ample in size
I had more than enough room for all my gear (except the tent) – but my hammock would have fit had I chosen to take it. I also packed enough food for the two of us and still had room left over.
Other features that impress me – the panniers stand alone, so nice when taking on and off the bike. The nylon compression strap can be used for extra security by attaching it to the rack but even on dirt and gravel roads the pannier’s didn’t bounce around at all. The locking system was easy to use. A minor issue for me and my Nitto Rack is the bungee with the s-hook that attaches at the bottom. With my rack I just need make sure it stays in place as I pull the pannier up to hook on the top.
The nylon fabric is high quality and very water resistant (tested by riding through a creek) but for those who ride in wet climates Lone Peak makes a rain cover as well.
I know I will be recommending these to many fellow bike travelers.
The March 2013 Wandering Wheels ride took us from Mountain Home, Idaho to Bonneville Point along the Main Oregon Trail. The trail is easy to find traveling north from Mountain Home on Canyon Creek Road thanks to frequent signage. Once on the trail the surface is nicely graded hard dirt and parts of it could be challenging in wet conditions. The tourist traveling east or west between Mountain Home and Boise needs to be prepared for some sharp climbs, and there is no place to get water for over 40 miles. Camping on BLM land is permitted but there is private land interspersed with BLM so it’s a good idea to get a Surface Management Status map from the Idaho Bureau of Land Management or from the US Geological Survey beforehand.
It’s eerie to listen to the voice. The transmission starts out chirpy, almost a forced chirpyness. As the voice goes on, loneliness and a sort of uncertainty come through. The voice is not real time but it’s still chilling to realize it’s coming from the middle of the Antarctic, the middle of that frozen desert. He’s alone. I can see pictures of him crouched in the orange glow inside the little tent, or huddled beside the bike trying to get out of the wind.
Eric Larsen just returned from an attempt to ride a Surly Moonlander to the South Pole…and I complain about a little bit of snow on the local roads! Spoiler Alert: He didn’t make it. At first he saw it as a failure, but on the ride back to the pickup point it sounds as though he started to enjoy the routine. That brings to mind a paradox; one needs a goal when setting out on a journey, but if the ultimate, original goal is not reached, is that necessarily a failure? What is the point of the journey after all? Sure, Eric had sponsors and he felt as though he let them down but at the same time he was being realistic. He calculated that he would be out of supplies before he reached the South Pole. How would his sponsors look and feel if he died?
Tom Allen set out on his own journey. He didn’t know what he was looking for, but when he found it he was self aware enough to know it. And lucky for us, he made a movie titled Janapar. We will be screening it twice this month (January 2013) so if you want more information about that leave a comment.
Paul Salopek is planning to walk from Ethiopia and across Asia before crossing over to Alaska and continuing the length of the North and South American continents, ending up at the “end of land”. That’s 21,000 miles. On foot. What’s scary is that I sort of get this trip. He is a journalist and his “goal is to cover the major global stories of our time by walking alongside the people who live them on a daily basis”. To me the hardest part of this trip would be the mental aspect. He plans on walking for seven years. Thinking about reaching the end, or even the day’s stopping place- o n f o o t- might drive me mad. His website is called Out of Eden
Canada to Argentina on Surly Long Haul Truckers
Randy and Cheryl had been living their dream for two weeks when they arrived in Boise to stay with us for the night. Starting at the Canadian border they pointed the handlebars south and started riding, with the aim of eventually making it to Argentina. When I mentioned that I would have difficulty wrapping my head around a trip of that length and duration their response was reassuring. Before taking on the breathtakingly empty, desolate and beautiful Nevada desert they took time to let me record this rambling, background noise filled, (put the mic on a tripod, Mr. Hermit) interview.
Randy and Cheryl stopped at Bike Touring News on their way to Argentina.
Cycling Home From Siberia
A reader sent a link to a video of this talk by Rob Lilwall recounting his three year trip by bicycle across Siberia and Eastern and Central Asia. Rob’s an entertaining speaker and his tale is inspiring. Thanks for the link Yanyan!
But as always when riding, it got better. 
West Texas is a country unto itself. I am a lover of wide open spaces and certainly got my fill of beautiful, quiet, rugged country.
