Category Archives: Biking

Evolution of a lightweight bike touring rig

Goodbye panniers

Earlier this summer, my brother and I set off on what should have been a 3,500 mile bike tour around the mountainous west of the U.S. for two months. Things didn’t go to plan when I crashed badly on day 9 so we returned home to DC whilst I recovered. However, I’m now better and itching to get back out on the bike. We’ve spent the downtime going through our kit item-by-item, paring down to the absolute minimum and transitioning from panniers to full bike-packing setup. As I alluded to in this post, I believe my previous setup with two heavy rear panniers was a contributing factor in the crash. A rethink was needed.

Below is a brief history of my bike touring equipment, showing a general progression towards a lightweight setup.

Bike touring version 1 – 1997 to 2006

I began touring way back in my teenage years, on a 26″ mountain bike. This culminated in a 3 month tour across Norway in 2006, at the peak of my fully loaded setup:

Fully loaded above the Arctic Circle, on my 2006 Norway tour

I had two large rear panniers, two smaller front panniers, a bar bag, and a tent and sleeping mat attached to the top of my rear rack. I was certainly not in the lightweight category but I still encountered plenty of heavier laden cyclists during my travels through Norway. I did post some kit home during the tour and suffered numerous broken rear spokes, so the setup was far from ideal. Still, it was relatively stable fore and aft, but rather heavy going uphill. I carried a Terra Nova Voyager tent (2.2 kg), as well as a stove, plenty of warm clothes and food. I was still a novice tourer, carrying too many “spare” items and always an excess of food in my panniers. Overall though, the tour was a fantastic experience and hugely enjoyable.

Bike touring version 2 – 2013/14

After a long period away from bike touring (I spent most of my holidays mountaineering or trekking), I returned to cycling with a vengeance, as a way to explore a new region of the world, when I moved from the UK to Washington DC, USA.

Last year I started touring again – a lightweight tour on a road bike, with two small rear Vaude roll-top panniers and a Revelate gas tank on the top tube. This was a comfortable setup and didn’t dramatically alter the handling of the bike or add too much of a burden for the hills. I kept the weight low by not carrying a stove or too many additional clothes (it being a hot DC summer). I still carried a double skin tent however (a Mountain Hardwear Skyledge tent in this case), weighing a little under 4.4 lbs or 2 kg.

Lightweight rear panniers and a Revelate gas tank bag – works well as long as you keep the weight down

This year I’m riding a Cannondale Cyclocross bike. The riding position is very similar to the road bike and it’s supremely comfortable for long rides. It’s light and rides well over the rougher stuff. It’s inching closer to that mythical one-bike-to-do-it-all that we cyclists dream of.

For the No Rest Out West tour this summer, I went for the same setup that I used on my tour last year, namely two rear panniers and a gas tank bag, but added a bar bag as well. (At the time, I thought the lack of eyelets on the front fork was a drawback of this bike, but now I’m glad I didn’t go down that route of front panniers, and instead went in the opposite direction.) However, I had a lot more gear this time – a stove, warm storm-proof clothing for the mountains, an iPad for keeping in touch with home and telling the story, and a pair of trainers for trekking and days off the bike. Way too heavy to have on the rear of the bike only. The front wheel felt very light and squirmy. The photo below from the California coast shows this setup:

Large rear panniers and tent on the top of the rear rack

Bike touring version 3 – summer 2014

The transformation to this final bike-packing setup really began on day three of the No Rest Out West tour, at a campsite in California. My brother and I had rolled into Van Damme camp after a beautiful, but hilly, 68 mile ride, feeling pretty good and in the touring groove. We were soon put in our place when an ultralight bike tourer arrived at camp, having ridden 160 miles that day. He carried the bare minimum of equipment, in various frame bags. We looked in envy at the lightness of his setup in comparison to our seemingly monstrous panniers. A seed was sown, and we started discussing ultralight tactics that very night. We’d both been following the growing bike-packing movement with interest, so this encounter, and then my subsequent crash on an unstable bike, were the catalysts that set us off down that road.

And this is where we’ve ended up:

Cyclocross bike setup with Revelate bags, bar bag and touring tyres

For the next phase of our summer tour, we’re leaving a lot of heavy gear at home (notably, the panniers, pannier rack, all the cooking gear, the iPads, spare trainers, warm clothing for the mountains) and swapping out other items for lighter versions (the tool kit has been slimmed down, lighter clothing is being taken). The revised kit list is as follows (summer conditions, north east US):

[Note – am working on weighing all the kit, will add to the table in due course]

Bike and items attached to the bike

Item	Kit	Weight	Notes
1	Cannondale Cyclocross CAADX Disc Ultrega bike	9,480 g / 334 oz	Fitted with Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres for touring (700 by 35)
2	Ortlieb bar bag		A 6 liter, waterproof bag containing spare clothes, camera, diary, food. Mine is around 9 years old now, still going strong
3	Revelate Gas Tank bag		A 1.5 liter bag on the top tube, useful for food and misc. items
4	Revelate Tangle half frame bag		Around 6 liters or so, currently packed with tent poles and flysheet. My brother is carrying the inner tent.
5	Revelate Viscacha seat back		Up to 14 liters, packed with sleeping bag, thermarest, spare clothes
6	Topeak Mini Dual G minipump	158 g / 5.56 oz	Attached to frame via bottle cage mounts
7	Water bottles		One standard bike bottle and one soft drinks bottle (since bike bottle too large to fit under frame bag)
8	Cateye Strada wireless bike computer
9	Rear red LED light
	TOTAL	tbc

Camping gear

10	GoLite Shangri La 3 tent		Lightweight for its size and very comfortable for 2 people, carried between the two of us
11	Rab Neutrino 200 sleeping bag	580 g / 20.5 oz	4 years old and still going strong, a superb sleeping bag. Leaving stuff sac behind and stuffing directly into Revelate bag
12	Rab silk sleeping bag liner		Not sure of the model, old. Leaving stuff sac behind.
13	Thermarest Neo Air Small		Very small pack size and ultralight, this smaller size will be an experiment
14	Petzl Tikka headlamp
15	Mini Pac towel
	TOTAL	tbc

Clothing (items worn on the bike indicated in parentheses)

16	Shimano Mountain Bike shoes		Not sure of the model as these are a decade old now, but still going strong. So comfortable!
17	2 * Generic black cycle shorts (1 pair worn)		Any brand will do, nothing expensive
18	2 * full zip cycle jerseys (1 worn)
19	2 * socks for cycling (1 pair worn)		I favour thicker socks
20	Cycling gloves (worn)
21	Bontrager Helmet (worn)		New – replaces the one that was damaged in recent crash
22	Oakley sunglasses (worn)
23	Cycling biretta (cap) (worn)		We bought caps from Velo Cult bike shop in Portland, to remind us of our time in the west
24	Cycling jacket		Something lightweight, no hood
25	Zip-off trousers (pants in the US)		For town wear
26	Long sleeve layer		For town use or cold days on the bike
27	T-shirt		For town wear
28	Boxer shorts		For town wear
29	Flip Flops		For off bike wear
	TOTAL	tbc

Other items

30	Maps		From the Adventure Cycling Association
31	Canon G16 Camera, padded case, mini tripod and charger
32	Mobile phone (cell phone) and charger
33	Diary and pen
34	Toolkit and spare inner tube		Relatively lightweight, left the heavy multitool at home, carrying separate, much lighter Allen keys
35	First aid kit
36	Toothbrush and small wash kit		Half sized toothbrush and travel size body wash/shampoo
37	Spot satellite messenger		Emergency contact beacon, in case of disaster
38	Cable and padlock		Lightweight, shared item
39	Ben’s Insect Repellent (DEET)		Small amount carried in 2 oz container
40	Chain lube		Small amount carried in 2 oz container
41	Wallet with ID, credit cards
	TOTAL	tbc

Shakedown tour and further refinements

Ahead of our upcoming east coast tour, my brother and I headed out for a short overnighter to test the new setup. A quick, evening blast 30 miles out along the C&O canal, chosen for its lack of traffic and rough surface, then an overnight camp and a blast back early the next morning in time for breakfast.

Despite its minute scope, the tour delivered an out-sized portion of natural beauty as we enjoyed a stunning sunset, plenty of wildlife (deer, vultures, herons being the most interesting) and the peace of the woods.

The kit performed flawlessly. The Revelate bags are rock solid – the seat pack does swing side to side when you really stomp on the pedals but you don’t notice when you’re riding. The frame bag isn’t noticeable except for occasional brushes against the inside of my knees which is not a problem. We were able to carry everything we needed (see above list) but it was a squeeze, so we spent some time discussing further weight/volume savings, leading to the following modifications:

Small half-size toothbrush
Zip off pants (trousers) – saves on taking separate pants and shorts
Small bottles for liquids – e.g. take chain lube in a 2oz bottle instead of a 6oz bottle, ditto for bug spray
Leave mosquito headnets at home
Transfer the Advil (painkillers) from their container into a bag or much smaller container
Leave spare spokes and spoke tools at home – much less likely to suffer broken spokes with this lighter setup
Only carry the minimum number of tent pegs (6 in our case) and leave spares + stuff sac at home

Some photos from this mini-tour:

Pete on the C&O canal

Evening reflection near Great Falls

Sunset over the Potomac River

Lessons learned from the crash and a new plan

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It’s been twelve days since I crashed my bike and brought a temporary halt to the No Rest Out West tour. The recovery is taking longer than I expected. All of the superficial cuts and scrapes are almost completely healed, but I still have general pains down my right side in my wrist (like a sprained wrist feeling), my back (sore at night) and my hip (general ache and feels weak), so I’m not yet ready to start riding again. My head is mostly fine now and the fractured cheek bone is healing up nicely (wait, but it still hurts when I yawn!). So I think another week or two of rest, interspersed with some gentle rides to get moving again, is needed to get back to full fitness before resuming the tour. So, we’ve made the decision to head back home to the East coast, so I can recover there.

I’ve spent a considerable portion of time since the crash thinking about it, trying to resurrect any fleeting memory of what happened but nothing is forthcoming. So I’ve done the next best thing and tried to piece together an anatomy of the crash from anecdotal evidence and many conversations with my brother, who was riding behind me at the time and saw it happen.

The crash was caused by three elements, with the first element being the primary suspect:

– riding into a patch of deeper, loose gravel that caused me to lose control and start weaving left and right (if you’ve ever ridden through a section of sand, you’ll know what this feels like). Finally the front wheel twisted 90 degrees, causing me and the bike to crash to the ground (with enough force to bend the brake levers – see photo below). This whole process happened within a couple of seconds.
– having all the weight at the rear of the bike which made the front wheel skittish and light, and therefore easily twisted sideways.
– going downhill at the time, so that gravity was increasing, not decreasing, my speed as I lost control.

The brake levers were badly skewed and my helmet was well bashed up on the right side (I’m replacing it):

After being ok, the next most important thing to take away from an experience like this is the lessons learned, which can be applied going forward, in the hope of avoiding such fate again. From this experience:

– don’t tour with all the weight in rear panniers only. Best to travel lighter (for a whole host of reasons) or, if you insist on the kitchen sink, at least balance between front and rear of the bike or use a trailer.
– the transition from riding along without a care in the world to a serious situation can happen very, very quickly.
– accidents can and do happen so be prepared.
– wear bike gloves, especially when riding gravel roads.
– when a trip doesn’t go to plan, don’t get too down about it, learn the lessons, make a new plan, look forward and get going with it!

So our new plan is this: whilst I’m still recovering we’re going to return home to DC (hotels get expensive and monotonous after a week) and start again with day rides, short tours and build up to a new four week tour starting from DC. I can rest up for another week or two and still fit a four week bike tour into our original time frame, so that is our current thinking.

This time however, we’ll make two major changes. Firstly, we’re concocting a route here on the East coast so we can ride straight from my front door, thereby avoiding the hassle and expense of flying with the bikes again. We’re looking at a loop going from DC up to the Great Lakes, then heading north east into Maine and returning along the coast to DC. I’ll post up our revised route in the coming week or so. Secondly, we’re making a huge commitment to going lighter and ditching as much unnecessary gear as possible. The panniers are definitely going, so too is the cook gear, inner tent, and various other “luxury” items, so that we can keep the weight really low. This should allow us to ride further and faster each day, and hopefully avoid a recurrence of my nasty crash (look for an upcoming post about this lightweight transition). We’ll be looking to emulate some of the philosophy espoused over at the ultralight cycling blog. Stay tuned.

During our enforced downtime, we’ve been enjoying watching the Tour de France from the awesome Velo Cult bike shop and bar here in Portland:

A crash and minor setback (day 9)

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I’m tapping away, one finger-style-typing, from a hotel in Coos Bay, propped up in bed wearing hospital scrubs. Two days ago I had a crash on my bike and I’m still trying to piece it all together in my head.

We had departed Humbug Mountain State Park camp around 8.30am for our 9th day of cycling. We had another superb day of cycling, with many more wonderful coastal views. We stopped for a late seafood lunch in Bandon – excellent Pacific cod and chips – before continuing for our final 15 miles or so to camp. We were delighted to turn off the busy 101 highway and take the back roads into Charleston, where we were headed for the night.

Further along the ominously named backroad of Seven Devils Road, it turned into an unsealed, gravel road. I cycled into a patch of deep gravel and felt the front wheel writhe around and spin out from under me. Next thing I’m aware of is waking up in a 4×4 pickup (thank you SO much to these kind strangers) on way to the nearest hospital, at Coos Bay. (I think the combination of the loose gravel and having the luggage weight on the back of the bike meant the front wheel of the bike was “light” and prone to slipping. I think the front wheel twisted 90 degrees sideways and threw me to the ground on my R side.)

I have two sets of two stitches in the R side of my face and have fractured two of the bones in my cheek around my eye (zygomatic bones). I have scrapes and missing skin from both hands, forearms, R hip (also stitch here) and R knee. Thankfully the CT scan came back clean so my head is ok.

My bike and clothes also took a hit – both brake/gear levers are bent sideways, I have holes in my shorts and shirt, my sunglasses are heavily scratched on the R lens, and my helmet is bashed up on the R side.

So where do we go from here? Well, I’ve been told to have a week off the bike so we’re holed up in a hotel here in Coos Bay for the next few days. Then we’re going to head to Portland by car on Monday, and get the bike fixed up again. Hopefully we can then resume our route from Portland middle of next week. Fingers crosed. I’ll post some updates early next week.

My brother has also written about the crash from his perspective here on his tumblr.

And some photos from earlier in the day before the crash:

Goodbye California, Hello Oregon (days 6 and 7)

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Day 6: 54 miles, Day 7: 85 miles
457 miles from San Francisco

Silhouettes at sunset, Patrick Point, end of day 6:

Two excellent days of cycling, with a mix of coastal scenery, another avenue of giant trees, more big hills and constantly rolling roads. Of course, there was also some hard cycling along Highway 101 to link up the prettier sections (the noise of the traffic is the worst part, after coming off the much, much quieter side roads).

Sunset at Patrick Point, end of day 6:

Waking up to the sun streaming through the trees on morning of day 7 at Patrick Point State Park campsite. A beautiful site that we shared with several other bike tourers.

We had great (read, large) burgers at this real redneck bar. All manner of country paraphernalia adorned the bar – moose antlers on the wall, a chainsaw hung from the roof, nascar lampshades above the pool table, and photos of fishing and hunting conquests proudly displayed on any remaining wall space.

We pushed on during day 7, the scent of the Oregon border drawing us on. Everyday we’re getting stronger, although the hills do not feel any easier, but perhaps we’re just stopping less! So far, Oregon is much like the section of Northern California we’ve ridden through, with stunning coastal scenery, steep hills and big RVs and pickups thundering along the roads.

Beautiful sea stacks in Oregon, seen from Arch Rock viewing point.

Avenue of the Giants (day 5)

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83 miles

A day of contrasts. Stunning cycling through the Avenue of the Giants, a scenic roadway through some of the most massive and oldest trees on the planet. These venerable old Redwoods are so huge, it’s impossible to capture them all in one frame with the camera. Necks crane skywards as we ride, taking in as much of this majestic corridor as we can. We pass through several interesting little towns en route, stopping for lunch at the deli in Myers Flat, where we strike up conversation with some motorcyclists from Houston, Texas.

The wonderful cycling sections were interspersed with some unavoidable, and rather torrid, riding along the 2 or 3 lane freeway – US101. The shoulder is mostly wide, so it’s safe, but the noise, the dirt, the speed of the cars and trucks is disconcerting. We were always relieved when we turned off the freeway again.

The final 10 miles into Ferndale (our camp – see picture below) had some murderously steep hills and stiff headwinds to keep us pushing through to the end (no rest out west, right?). The campsite was a bit weird – an RV/trailer ground that was hosting a dog show (plenty of big, gnarly dogs (and owners!) about). We camped in a nearby field, half expecting to be eaten in the night. Well, we survived, so onwards we go!

I’m writing this from a Starbucks in Eureka, whilst we charge up batteries and catch up on some news. Another 40 miles beckons this afternoon…

Ben Collins Outdoors

Tales and photos from biking, hiking, mountaineering, and paddling trips. Currently based in the Appalachian Mountains.