RollCNY

Hi.
I am doing my first "tour", which is planned to be 8-10 days solo. I am planning to CC tour, and along that vein have a Tangle frame bag, a large seat bag, and an Osprey Synchro backpack. I am trying to go rackless. However, I am trying to figure out if I should be carrying a backup plan, like a bivy sack, sleepingbag, and pad. It will be early May, so campgrounds will most likely not be open, and any camping would be stealth.

Should I just put on a rear rack? I have no eyelets on the bike, but that is not a show stopper. I have a great deal of ultra light hiking gear, but no bivy sack. So I would be splurging for a rack and sack. I have an ultralight tent, but am less comfortable stealth camping if I have to pitch a tent.

Thanks for any feedback. I am leaning to not carry anything other than an emergency foil blanket for a forced overnight. Is that too risky?

mdilthey

Even when I carried a tent, I still liked the bivy bag for the occasional stealth camp. I say yes. You can use a Superlight bivy from Mountain laurel Designs, or if you want something standalone, check out the Snowyside Bivy from Borah Gear (that's mine).

RollCNY

Having never used a bivy, I am assuming that you use a pad inside it, correct?

Edit: I had written seeping bag also, and I know that that is bvy style and temp dependant. Pad is the question.

Altair 4

I'd say it depends where you are touring, how far apart your planned stops are, and how solid your overnight arrangements are. I'd also consider what the expected weather might be. If you're doing, say, the GAP and C&O, I'd probably not bother. Towns and accommodations are close enough together to not get frantic.

fietsbob

You can put your backpack in a Bike trailer , and the bike is still rackless .

when it rains , in a bivvy sack you have as much room as the meat in a sausage ..

a 2 person tent at least you can get dressed before going outside..

some 1 person tents are so low to not even let you put your shoes on ..

RollCNY

That is what is tough. I am doing some of the circumference of NY, and if I stay exactly on schedule, I have a solid plan for every night but 1. The issue becomes if I get off schedule, I end up in no man's land between.

RollCNY

I actually have a two wheeled trailer, and debated that route if I want to fully loaded tour. But I don't really want to camp every night. If it was later in the season, when all of the campgrounds are open, I would go that route.

And I agree on tent benefits vs bivy. I have a Eureka Zeus 1 which has been a phenomenal single wall 1 person tent, with room to change and camp with my 35 lb dog in it with me. But where I have the gear, my plan is fast and light. But I don't want to be unprepared and dead. So I am trying to figure out balance around carry the least that doesn't put my life in jeopardy, if that makes sense.

prathmann

I don't see a good reason not to have a rack and almost always have one even on group day rides. Mine weighs under a pound and cost less than $10 from Nashbar - I doubt that I'd be able to notice it while riding. On tours I find that I have much more flexibility with the rack since I can always pick up extra groceries or other items without worrying if they'll fit in limited bag space.

A small, lightweight tent or good bivy opens up options if you find yourself without available motel/hotel options - or even if hit by a cold hard rain shower during the day when away from other shelter. I'd consider it to be worth the extra weight unless you're really sure about each overnight arrangement in advance.

hueyhoolihan

put the rack on the back. carrying weight day after day on your back can be miserable.

here's what i do.

stuff your sleeping bag inside your bivy, fold your pad and place it inside your stuff sack, THEN stuff your bivy (with your sleeping bag inside) in the stuff sack. if your bivy is waterproof like mine the sleeeping bag with stay dry even in a rainstorm. strap the stuff sack longitudinally on the rack with a couple of light bungees or compression straps. usually takes about 1-2 minutes to camp and decamp...

stay in a cheap motel every couple of nights to regroup, cleanup and retain a positive outlook. good luck.

RollCNY

Thanks for all the feedback folks!

fietsbob

There are lighter , more space efficient tents, now . though Eureka is a bargain

if you are lot going N+1 shopping for another tent, since you own that one.

10 Wheels

Three friends are presently on 11,000 mile Texas tour

spinnaker

I usually always have a reservation before rolling into town. I make that decision based on popularity of the region and ease of making reservations.

For example I tour Italy on the off season. You can pretty much always find a room. And making reservations in a foreign country can be difficult.

When I did the Pacific coast I figured that there were not many places to get a room and the coast is always popular.

No matter what I do I always carry a space blanket. I figure it is small an light enough and if I break down and can't get to my lodging for the evening I have a backup plan.

A bivy is a great idea but it has problems. First if you roll into town to try and get a room, and there is none, you might have a significant way to go to find a campsite, unless you want to stealth camp. Then you are still going to need to find a place to hang it.

prathmann

Not sure what problems you see with a bivy as opposed to a space blanket. A bivy is basically just a light, waterproof/resistant material in the shape of a bag, so you use it like a space blanket but it gives more protection from rain and also keeps out insects better. Either way you're likely to get rather chilled at night unless you also carry a sleeping bag/blanket or only tour in really warm climates.

RollCNY

You guys have definitely convinced me to contingency plan. I know that I will lack cell coverage in the dacks and Catskills, so I won't know availabiity until arriving. I have double checked campground opening dates, and they won't open until a week after I return. So it will probaby be a Toba rack and my current tent for safety sake.

I am also seeing that I should grab some more dry sacks. I'm trying to prepare early.

martianone

IMHO - a bivey is fine, but I include a short pad and a light wool blanket in the pack. The pad takes the most space - go for the rack & shed the backpack.

spinnaker

My mistake maybe. I thought that you had to hang them.

fietsbob

maybe Spinnaker was thinking of these: https://hennessyhammock.com/
it can be a bivvy on the ground, but staked out you wont have it raining


potentially directly on your face, when you poke your head out .. with the awning over you..

bike frame can suspend one end, if only 1 pole. (think suspension bridge)

hueyhoolihan

you're probably thinking of horse thieves...

Tourist in MSN

If your bike has a good seattube and seatpost (not carbon), you could use a rack that clamps onto the seatpost. My tent without footprint weighs 3 pounds, my 25 degree down bag is a bit over 2 pounds and a light shorty thermarest pad is maybe a pound. Add a pound for a clamp on rack, a couple stuff sacks and plastic bags (stuff sack liners for rainy days) and some nylon straps and you have a 7 pound camping setup.

Some Caradice type saddle bags could hold all this stuff without a rack. A friend of a friend of a friend did the GAP and C&O trail with her father, she used that type of rack for all her gear but her father carried the bulk of the weight, I do not know what her rack and gear weighed.

I try not to put too much weight in an handlebar bag, but that is one more place you could distribute some of the weight. Unfortunately, handlebar bags and their brackets often are quite heavy empty, so do not have a lot more weight capacity. But I always use one for the convenience.



You might want to avoid ambiguous acronyms, it took me a couple minutes to figure out you were credit card (CC) touring, not doing a cross country (CC) tour.

RollCNY

Sorry for vaguery. Credit Card.

sstorkel

When I did my credit card tour from San Francisco to Los Angeles, I took enough spares and tools to be able to repair the bike should anything go wrong. I built the bike from the frame up, so I was pretty certain I could fix any common problem well enough to be able to limp to the next town. I brought an inexpensive headlight, blinking tail light, and reflective vest just in case I wasn't going to make the next stop until after sunset. Worst case I would have stripped the expensive components off the frame (~5min), abandoned it, and started hitchhiking.

RollCNY

Honestly, you just summed up my initial plan. Spare spokes, tire, tubes, patch kit, pump, spoke wrench, chain tool, spare chain, Allen wrenches, two head lights, three blinkeys, spare batteries, reflective vest, rain gear, thermals, cold weather hat, gloves, and socks, pocket rocket stove, pot, and fuel, street and sun glasses, phone (non smart), tablet, and camera. And on the road food.

The backpack I referred to is essentially a large camelback, and will have little weight in it other than water. I have done a two day 250 mile trip with it stuffed to the gills, carrying everything, and where I won't repeat that loading, I am not concerned about it being uncomfortable lightly loaded.

The thing that I am taking from most of you is that it makes sense to just add the rack and bring the gear I already own, even if I successfully find lodging every night. It is better to have it and not need it than the converse.

stevepusser

A good choice for an emergency pad is one like this: https://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___98096#

Rolls up to the size of a soda can, and is 7 oz. You can also buy fleece blankets along the way for a few bucks at discount stores, if it's not too cold. This won't be an option out in the countryside, though--although newspapers will do in a pinch.

Many suggest calling the pastor of a rural church for permission to camp there in an emergency. Often they will invite you inside. Also, if a public campground is closed, you can often carefully set up out of sight and stay overnight anyway, maybe even in some type of shelter. It's not like you're in a ten ton RV.

Cyclist0094

Don't over plan, you will only frustrate yourself when things don't go exactly to plan(they seldom do). With few exceptions there isn't more than 15 miles between any two towns in NY state. If you can ride 50 miles a day you will easily be in striking distance of at least two motels. As for public campgrounds, In New York State the unwritten rule has long been that individual hikers and cyclists will been accommodated whether the campground is full or not.