Knowing Your Bike Style

The casual cyclist cannot be encumbered by the thought of riding further than the office. Most often, the casual cyclist owns a car, and drives to the gym to ride a stationary bike.

The bike enthusiast-maximus, perhaps a fixie-owning piece of vegan-hipster-meat is one who pedals over every bridge for breakfast. 

These are not a bike tour people.

Bike touring folks are a different kind of bi-ped (punny I know). I haven't hashed out all my theories on what makes a bike tourist, but I think you have to like the challenge of . . . slow cooking. What? You know, slowly doing something. Bike touring is not instant gratification. 

My Budget Bike Panniers

For my last bike trip, I made bucket panniers. I needed updated panniers and I did not want to shell out a bunch of cash for panniers. 
First I acquired square-type buckets from a grocery store. Originally they contained a whopping five-gallons of mayo, but after a few washes, they did not smell like a deli any longer. I cut into the bucket using a sharp knife in order to have a flush space for the brackets to mount on. I used "L" shaped shelving brackets beaten into shape for my mounts. The whole process was simple once I started executing the plan. With a project like this there was no need to overthink it. I am not a perfectionist. The buckets work as needed and even when one of them flew off during the test trials, the lid did not come off when it hit the street. When I packed for my tour, food, stove, first-aid, and toiletries fit into one bucket and tools and clothes went into the other. I was stoked.

• Here is a photo of my rig:

• The buckets are rugged, water resistant, strong, and create a spot to sit upon or cook on.  *Activities that cannot be done on traditional fabric panniers.

My method is a super simple easy set-up. 

For a longer tour this would need to be improved upon, but for a couple nights in the woods this set-up worked great.

Here is the Instructable I used to make my panniers:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Another-Kitty-Litter-Bike-Pannier/

Journey on!

Gear Thoughts

My last bike tour was so inexpensive I estimated that I spent around 80 dollars over the course of 4 days. Most of the money was spent updating a few key pieces of gear I did not want to travel without. Light weight gear gets lighter and cheaper every year. When you are on a bike, weight is important to consider, but you can definitely sneak in a few creature comforts for the nights when your body needs good rest. My luxury sleep items are: a fleece (home-made) pillow, a mummy bag, and a full length sleeping pad. My mummy bag is rated down to 35 degrees and I usually sleep in synthetic thermals to keep my body at a nice temp. 

• The sleeping pad I chose is inexpensive, made by Wilderness Technology, but it does the trick and I picked it up at Next Adventure on sale.
• Sleeping pads are not essential, however they create a barrier between you and the cold ground and allow a softer place for your bones to lay.

Most of my budget gear I purchased online through Amazon after doing some research. Ultimately it doesn't matter what brand is stamped on the side of the product, it is about how you feel about the functionality of said product. Some of my favorite gear was picked up for free, at yard sales and at army surplus stores. YOU DO NOT NEED FANCY STUFF TO HIT THE ROAD. If you need fancy stuff, well then, maybe you should stick to glamping.

These are thoughts on gear. My actual gear is really boring to look at, but it works for me. As I travel more, my gear might need some updating, but experience will let me find what works best. Also, it should be said that knowledge weighs nothing, and the more you know about being prepared for the great out-of-doors, the less gear you have to take with you. That's all for now. Journey on!

Introduction

Riding a bike creates a connectivity to the world around you that car travel misses. You are traveling at a speed that slowly lets the landscape unfold around you. On a bike tour, you become one with the land, rolling over hills, traversing mountains and watching the light and shadows change with every revolution of a well greased wheel. The United States is covered in roads that connect us to one another. The boundaries of far way places crumble away when we travel. It is easy to get swept away with wanderlust when you travel by bike.

Bike touring is an accessible way for the budget traveler to take back a weekend, explore a forgotten path, and overall, get a sense of how life can be hospitable to the weary traveler looking for a place to bed down for a night.

This blog is an exploration of traveling on two wheels, balancing life, and traveling on a budget. Journey on!