Tourist in MSN

Steger and Schurke (and a few others) that took their dog sled teams to the N Pole carried a lot of butter for that same reason. If I recall (I read their book decades ago), Steger had a lot of intestinal distress from eating so much fat.

At home I average 30 to 35 percent of my calories from carbs, I have to eat a low carb diet to keep my blood sugar down. But on my recent backpacking trip I had an average of 49 percent of calories from carbs, most of those carbs were breakfast when I assumed that hours of carrying a heavy pack would burn off the carbs, and that assumption worked out well as blood sugar levels were good. I considered bringing a bottle of olive oil to add to my suppers to boost calories, but decided against it. I have done that on some other trips.

There are 7 calories per gram of ethanol, but I would not suggest relying on that source of energy for very much of the total energy needs.


That is very impressive that they held to their rule. I would have been very tempted to tear open the bags and let the tea loose into the wind.

Imaginos

Just starting out with two overnighters under my belt. Weighed my kit before my weekend trek and totaled 70# bike and gear with the bike at 30#. It was pretty easy going,with the new touring bike. A fun time. More longer trips to come.

Bikepacking for one. 4 water bottles onboard.

Miele Man

I'd LOVE to get panniers like those. Are they still available and if so where?

Cheers

Tourist in MSN

If he does not answer, I think those are the Cannondale Overland panniers from the 1980s. I have a set of the rear ones in black with red trim.

A friend of mine has a set like that with a Nashbar label too.

stardognine

Hi, I bought all 4 panniers at the bike shop in Seattle, just off Rainier Ave, South of the main Goodwill. I can never remember the name of that place, but it's an excellent place. 👍

The rears match, but the fronts (actually rears as well) are both different from the rears. They're all Cannondale- branded, from 3 different production eras. Also, they're basically the same size, but some have different storage pouches, on the outside.

They all have really good reflective patches, for night time, so the black isn't as bad as you'd first think. And they're not waterproof, so wetbags are recommended, lol. 😉

HendersonD

If your bags with gear in them weigh 60 pounds, that is a lot
I have a Trek 520 that weighs in at 36 pounds
My bags when loaded are about 38 pounds, a full 22 pounds lighter than your gear
Here is my packing list if it helps

tcs

I've never even had taking a chair on a cycletour in my paradigms but watching this video the other day, it seemed civilized, bordering on elegant. Hmm. Might go down to the camping store for some test-sits.

tcs

It's all relative:

CliffordK

@cccorlew, did you mention how many days out you were? Miles per day? I presume the tow path rides are fairly flat. That is a big benefit.

My last trip I over-packed somewhat. Generally too much food.

A sustained 5 miles at a 10% to 12% climb, and about overall of 2 miles vertical climbing the first day just kicked my butt.

In my case, I had planned on a 3 day trip, but it extended to a 4 day trip, and I still had food left over. And I wasn't too pleased with the Bear Barrel concept.

tspoon

I think my bike + bags setup last time I went out was ~25kg (50lb), but it was only a 5 day trip. So much depends on how often you might be passing through towns and service centers. In my country that's reasonably often, so not much need to carry extended food stores. Other variables include how hilly it is where you're going, and how hard you're happy to work vs. how comfortable you want to be. It's up to the individual. I also don't worry about heating my food or drink, which saves weight and time, although I might be in the minority with that decision.

I have another trip planned shortly, 9-11 days, possibly fairly hilly (>2000m daily), and have pulled the trigger on a couple of weight saving items adding up to maybe another 1.5kg

Ron Damon

I carried less than 5kg in my trans-South Korea tour. Less stuff can mean more enjoyment.

gauvins

Ron Damon impressive. Credit card tour? You have a gear list somewhere?

Ron Damon

Yes, indeed, CC-touring. This was me across the ROK. 4.6kg including rack and bags. That plus smartphone used to take these pics and a 2L bottle of water




Gear groups:

1. Bike tools & spares
2. Clothes
3. Toiletries
4. Cards, documents & money
5. Electronics & accesories

Other intangible & tangible advantages of going light.

• Less stress on the bike
• You stick out less
• You are more agile and maneuverable when you roll into town
• Less stuff means less stuff to keep track of or lose
• Less stuff means less time to pack and unpack each day.
• Your bike fits in tiny elevators

staehpj1

Interesting setup. I have always wondered about how it would be credit card touring, but have never taken the plunge. The folding bike in an interesting twist on it. I find my folder's tall masts to be too flexible for pleasant riding and I have never really been able to set up a comfortable setup for long distance riding on it. Your bike looks like it is a better setup than mine.

I manage to carry about the same weight with my lightest camping and cooking setup, but more often carry another kg or a bit more for cooking and camping. I figure that for credit card camping I might carry more off bike clothing and possibly a chromebook. So I could see carrying as much weight or maybe even slightly more for credit card touring depending on what I expect the trip to be like. On the other hand I could imagine taking as little as possible (toothbrush, clothes on back, credit card kind of thing). That would be a different kind of trip though.

What was your trip like? Did you do long riding days or do a lot of off bike stuff?

Ron Damon

The trip was great. I was actually looking to go back next month but by then it's gonna be a bit more cold that what if I'd like. Now is the time to go. I did medium-long riding days, not a lot of off bike stuff. I liked the super-chill vibe.

I was looking to go to Spain next month, but Taiwan is only five hours and $265 away and not cold, so I may do that instead. I'm gonna need to take a laptop so that's gonna put my weight close to 7kg. The upside is I am now down to 68-69kg, a good five or six kg below my last tour weight, and my rig now is lighter too at 9kg.

HendersonD

Just finished a 13 day, 650 mile tour
My Trek 520 weighs 36 pounds, all of my gear (6 bags total) weighs another 36 pound which does include camping gear
I weigh 195 so all toll I was pushing 267 pounds down the road
Never felt too heavy

Brett A

I appreciated Darren Alff's suggestion that your bike shouldn't be too heavy to lift over a guardrail or similar low barrier. I follow this rule of thumb and it's been valuable. Of course, this varies with upper body strength and a strong back, so it can't be a hard and fast rule. But I'm good for up over 70#.

Brett A

Only for those whose enjoyment is affected by how heavy their bikes are. Personally, I don't experience a correlation.

afrowheels

Reading this thread with a chuckle and grimace after weighing up my current bike and gear, which come in at a whopping 54kg total (119pounds) of which 15kg (33pounds) is the bike with racks, etc, and no food, fuel or water included yet.... I will probably pare down the luggage a few kilograms before I hit the road, but I think the weight is partly because of feeling the need to be expedition prepared (tent, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, etc) so that I can go off the beaten track, while also carrying a fair amount of tech (camera, heavy second lens, lightish laptop, chargers). Can't say I am enjoying the initial feeling of cycling a truck but it's not called the Long Haul Trucker for nothing!

veganbikes

My suggestion on that front is minus tent and sleeping gear and maybe some cooking gear and stuff try living off of the stuff you plan on bringing with you and seeing what you need and don't need. You may not get it down much but some people find they are taking 8 pairs of undies and 20 shirts for every occasion and you really don't need quite that much. I would say one to wear and one to wash for cycling wear and undies but everything else you can probably get more time on. Also depending on where you are going you might also just get yourself a box of stuff you think you would need and see if a friend or relative can mail it to you if you need it.

I am a chronic overpacker so I know the feeling. With phones these days you can ditch a lot of the electronics potentially unless you need to work or are doing photo journalism or similar type stuff but these new phones have really great cameras and I have friends who have taken some of their best shots with cheap point and shoot cameras even though they have expensive camera equipment.

Though the weight on the touring bike isn't bad that is pretty average I think mine when last weighed was around that with dynamo hub and lights and charger.

Yan 

My rule is maximum 5 days of cycling before a hotel to shower and laundry. Socks can only be worn once. Everything else can be worn a maximum of twice. This means I need 5 pairs of socks and three sets of cycling clothes. That right there is a third of a pannier. Socks are surprisingly bulky.

Phones cannot replace real cameras unfortunately. They are ok for casual photography but the compromise on image quality is too much for me.

Tourist in MSN

I try to do sink laundry almost every day. Two shirts, two pants, two bike shorts, two jerseys, four undies and four socks. One pair bike shoes, one pair hiking shoes. That means a 25 foot clothesline (very thin cord) and a dozen clothes pins comes in handy.

If you had 39 kg of gear not counting the bike, I hope a lot of that was food. I find that a day of food is close to 1 kg.

veganbikes

That is a fair rule. Jerseys I am a little less strict on and cycling shorts or bibs I would swap and maybe use some alcohol spray on the ones not worn or carry extra. Socks yeah I don't love to wear socks two days in a row and I do generally carry enough socks to get me to a place to wash and maybe more but I have in the past worn socks twice not in succession and would consider it on a trip potentially depending on conditions. I also highly recommend baby wipes washing your nether regions especially daily is important on tour and something I couldn't fathom not doing. I usually also do the armpits but I sweat a lot. You could "bathe" yourself all the way like that but I generally focus on the chafeable regions and places I don't want to get any fungus or sores or anything.

Phones not totally no but there are some pretty slick in phone cameras and accessories to make it more useable out on the market. I mean if I am touring as a photographer sure but if I am just touring and enjoying the tour I will probably want the phone more especially as it is easier to take a photo with generally and I will still get good enough for most views. Heck if I toured not to sacrifice I would have an extra 1000lbs of stuff with me and wouldn't be able to carry it. Sometimes a little compromise isn't so bad at least on the picture quality front next to skin items especially ones from areas that can get bad when not clean not so much.

Miele Man

Uh, are you saying that your total weight thus far WITHOUT food or water is 54kg/119 lbs? Ah, I see that is so. 39kgs/86lbs.

How much food and water do you intend to carry?

Are there any steep or long hills on the route you plan to take? Loose surface roads/trails?

How much loaded bicycling have you done?

Do you have gearing low enough for these weights and routes?

To be honest, I'd try to pare down that initial 39kgs/86lbs weight if I needed to carry much food and/or water. Walking a loaded bicycle up a hill or on a loose surface is NOT fun.

Good luck and cheers

indyfabz

Sock fetish much? I never take more than two pair for riding and one thick, warm pair for around camp if it might be chilly and/or rain. (I can ride in them.) They are last things on my list to wash. I try to wash my riding shorts and jerseys every day, either in the shower or in natural, flowing water, but there have been times when I have had to ride in dirty bibs/jerseys. It's not the end of the world if it's not a regular occurrence. If I am staying somewhere with convenient laundry facility I sometimes do a wash if I have been out on the road for a while.