djb

I've been meaning to buy some crocky type things to use bike camping, would be a lot lighter than the sandals I lug around...

Buffalo Buff

In all seriousness I like lightweight runners for touring. Merrell Trail Gloves or their Bare Access line. I like being able to comfortably bike, walk around town, and hike trails all in the same pair of shoes. I outfitted mine with bungee laces...haven't tied a pair of shoes in years.

Buffalo Buff

I've never been in a situation where I was forced to stand barefoot in a public shower while touring in USA. Last time I used a public shower was at a beach on the coast of the southern US, and I just stood on my pair of shoes. Let them air dry overnight and was good to go in the morning. They needed a washing anyways.

psy

Then how do you shower? Are you saying you only shower once per tour? What do you do if you want to keep you shoes dry and want to have a shower at a park or in a hotel or wherevever?

saddlesores

you do realize the dude said

maybe if you ever get some experience touring, as opposed to arguing about lightweight
gear, you'll find the real world is not so antiseptic. you might set up camp in a local park
in the midwest, and use the showers at the swimming pool locker room. perhaps the
campers at jellystone rinse off in the showers, cause virginia, bears do indeed **** in the
woods. and even you ultralightintheloafers guys, if you ever get off the starbucks poser
grrrrravel grrrrrinder circuit, may stay in the bates hotel in kermit, texas. try your uv
light in the shower......you may be surprised at what you find.

oh......and don't even think of showering in a guesthouse in laos or
cambodia without full body protection......

Buffalo Buff

right tools for the job. Touring habits in one country don't mean I'd do the same in another.

I did three tours this year, plus ~200 mile overnighters every month. How many tours did you do in 2015?

I don't even drink coffee you chuckle****.

saddlesores

you got me beat. you are so awesome.
i only did two this year.

five weeks: bangkok, to cambodia border, cross into laos, into bolovan plateau area,
dirt trails (ho chi minh trail) to vietnam border, turned back west to meander over
to vientiane.

two months: beihai (south china sea), to china/vietnam border, follow border
along vietnam, then along laos, then cross north of xishuangbanna, crossing the
lancang (mekong), so many mountains, to myanmar border, to ruili.

nice to have shower shoes here can keep my cycling
shoes dry, not worry about cutting my feet on sharp objects like tractor parts of bits
of 500-pound bomb shrapnel. and you don't even wanna know about
the toilet facilities in myanmar!

but i yield to your ultralightsuperiority. i wanna have your babies!

Buffalo Buff

Because those are totally the conditions I rode in when I toured through populated first world cities. Would you use the same gear to ride through the Himalayas as you would southern California? Like I said, right tools for the job.

saddlesores

i understand. not needed when navigating your grrrrrrrravel grrrrrrrrrrrinder from starbucks to starbucks.
but if you're not comfortable getting dirt on your dirtbike, your loss.

i'll stick to bicycle touring.
maybe you could try it sometime.
you might even enj......nah, prolly not.
doilies weigh too much.

psy

The more you post, the more evident your lack of experience.

I don't know where you're camping in southern ca, but I wouldn't step foot in any of the showers I use in state and private campgrounds without shower shoes. Or even the cheap motels I stay at occasionally for that matter. Even and especially when touring first world cities I feel shower shoes are essential. Bums and drug addicts use many of these public facilities to clean up. It's not like they weigh a lot.

Happy Feet

I just want to remind everyone that we are now at 990 posts for this thread and don't want have it locked before it hits 1000. 10 more posts!

Happy Feet

I mean nine more posts!

fuzz2050

eight.

unless this thread can be locked for inanity.

Buffalo Buff

awww the chuckle**** is still learning how to read, how cute. I know tons of people that don't drink coffee that ride from starbucks to starbucks, surprised it took you this long to figure me out.

Hugh Morris

Quite the swordfight in here... maybe keep your pants on fellas?

bungee laces are a cool idea though; do they ever lose their stretch and/or are they constricting at all when new?

Happy Feet

Yes, very good question about the shoe laces.

nine more posts... again.

dannwilliams

lol!!

Squeezebox

Saddlesores, you live in China, and seem to tour mostly SE Asia. I would love to do that someday. You would be one of the 1st people I would go to for advice on touring underdeveloped areas. Needing a water filter is one tiny example. No offence but Buffalo buff and Happy feet really don't have much to offer in this area. But on the other hand if I want to ride from St. Louis to NY, 100% paved, to visit my son they are spot on. The last thing I would do is carry your setup on a paved USA tour. If I was heading for Tierra del Fueggo the last thing I would do would bring their gear lists. Different places, different weather, etc. requires different bicycles as well as different gear. Road touring USA requires little to no "what if" stuff. Touring underdeveloped requires quite a bit of "what if"
Apples and Bacon !!!

Tourist in MSN

Just thought I would help you win your bet.

tramptrade 

The more gear I haul the lighter I wish it was

Happy Feet

No offense taken. Didn't know this had turned into a "riding in underdeveloped areas" thread or that you are able to calculate my knowledge base without asking but you have contributed to the post count so thanks for the service.

Four more posts!

indyfabz

Some offending posts were recently deleted, which is what set things back to nine. But if those posts were not enough to lock the thread, I think you are pretty safe. Then again, I don't want to underestimate the ability of some people to come back with replies that result in a lock.

bikemig 

+ 1. There's nothing particularly unpopular about UL touring but the OP has spent considerable energy trolling his own thread.

robow

Darn, I was so close, thought for sure I could be number 1000 and win the free Surly Long Haul Trucker. Who pulled their post?

shipwreck

1000. Wheres my cookie?

Oh, and I usually travel so ultralight that next time I plan on bringing a four barrel carburetor and rebuilding it at night, just for something to do, and as ballast to keep my bike on the ground!