Originally Posted by
mymorningjacket
Took some time off work and I've been preparing by doing some over nighters. Plan on doing 3 or 4 overnighters, some multiple nights.
I'll be biking north from Vancouver through Whistler, Jasper, Banff, then Calgary.
After my first night out I can tell my organization for my panniers is pretty bad. I have too much weight in the back and not in the front, making my riding unstable.
Is keeping my tent in its bag necessary? What I mean is can I roll / fold up the tent and rainfly together and shove it to the bottom of my bag to have the weight lower to the ground? Right now I have it rolled up in the bag and on the side of the bag reaching to the top of the pannier.
What are your techniques when preparing for a long term bike tour.
Short trips are actually harder to do than weeks to months long trips. You don't have time to establish any kind of rhythm. About 3 days into a longer trip, you figure out how to do something and can stick with it for the rest of a long trip but short trips just don't allow for that.
There's also the problem of what you carry. On a 3 to 4 day trip, do you really want to do laundry either everyday or on the second or third day? I usually carry enough clothing to get me all the way through the trip rather than mess with washing clothes.
Food is also a problem. I usually carry enough for 3 days because I've found that it can be difficult to find food every day even in areas where there is population. Helmart has cleared out many of the smaller town grocery stores with in about a 40 to 60 mile radius so unless you want to eat grass, you need to carry food. But, on a short trip, do you carry enough for the whole trip or just for a few days and hope to find something?
As to tents and carrying them in a bag, I don't. Panniers are premium space. I have other things I put in my panniers and the tent has its own carrying case. Tent poles seldom fit in the pannier as well so you end up with them on the top of the rack so why not just carry the whole tent there? .
There is also the issue of morning dew. I've had far too many mornings where my tent was soaked on the outside and that not something I want to put in a waterproof pannier...or even a nonwater proof one...with
anything else. You end up with is everything in the bag getting damp which is usually not good. My tent, sleeping bag and pad go on the top of the rack. The sleeping bag is in a dry sack with the pad (the pad packs small) and the tent...wet or dry...is in its own bag.
Originally Posted by
mymorningjacket
Also another question to do with bike touring: What sorts of food work well when on the road? Whats easy to prepare and make?
Right now I'm eating oatmeal, granola bars, sandwhiches, and pasta.
Thanks
Foodwise, try not to carry things that have water in them. Freeze-dried works but it's expensive and not that good. I usually carry Zatarain's rice dishes and augment them with foil packed chicken or Spam (it's not as bad as it sounds). I'm also a fan of
some of the Velvetta Cheesy Skillets. They don't weigh much, the Buffalo Chicken one is pretty good, especially if you can add more Buffalo sauce or hot sauce (look for little packets of the hot sauce at convenience stores).
I save all that for dinner in camp. During the day, I've found that I can't ride and eat food that has too much fat in it. So no burgers, fries, pizza, fried chicken, etc. I've found that pizza can stick with me for 2 days and burping up pizza gets old fast I stick with mostly granola bars and other snacks that I can get at convenience stores. Jerky works and satisfies my salt cravings (and needs).
Unfortunately, that also means that ice cream is off the menu and I really love ice cream...just not enough to get sick over it
