Bike Geek

As I write this, I am making final preparations for my 68-mile journey from my house in San Antonio, TX to the town of Fredericksburg, TX. As a road, mountain and commuting cyclist it was only natural that I instantly gravitated to the sense of adventure and freedom that bicycle touring offers.

A few months ago I joined the Adventure Cycling Association and have found the resources on their web site incredibly helpful. Just last evening I was reading “What to take and how to pack” – just one of many great articles for the novice bicycle tourist.

I consulted with several road biking friends for route insights and experiences, including a few great web sites like John Wolter’s CycleTexas.

Once I had a sense of what route to take, I used Garmin’s MapSource software to create a route I could download to my Garmin Edge 705 bicycle computer. The 705 will be a powerful asset since it has the ability, on the fly, to generate a route and has detailed maps – including points of interest – for my route. Once I get to Fredericksburg, it will become my primary means for finding shops, places to eat, etc.

Physically, I feel that I am prepared for this journey as I have been training for the past several months in preparation for my recent participation in the annual Conquer The Coast bike ride. Since I’ll be using my Trek Valencia bicycle for this journey and will be carrying some weight on my bicycle rack, I plan to make stops every 10-15 miles or so.

Mentally, it’s exciting to think that I could use a bicycle to travel to such a destination. That might sound weird for diehard bicycle tourists but for a newbie, it just seems kind of amazing to think of traveling on a bicycle to a location that at least seems far away.

I’ve packed “after ride” clothes, bicycle clothing for the ride home, some rain gear and the usual necessities for an overnight stay. I’m pampering myself a bit since I’ll be staying at the Hangar Hotel. Nothing like a nice hotel and a hot shower to reward myself!

Equipment wise, here’s a short list of items for my there and back overnight trip:

• Trek Valencia commuter bike
• Topeak DXP bicycle bag (with fold-out panniers)
• Topeak Road Morph G mini bicycle pump
• Two bicycle tubes
• Trek bicycle lock (cable, less secure but also a lot less weight than a u-lock)
• First Aid items
• iPhone (of course)
• Garmin Edge 705
• Cygolite Trion 600 headlamp
• Tailights including Planet Bike Superflash, NiteRider Cherry Bomb, Princeton Tec Swerve
• Performance Jersey (high-vis yellow)
• Hoss Bicycle shorts
• Reflective bands
• Canon Powershot A710IS
• A “bento box” on the bicycle frame (for quick grab items like nutrition bars, might put my iPhone or camera here)

I’ll be posting regular updates on my journey via my Facebook page.

I’m sure this will prove to be an adventure and a learning experience. I look forward to both and appreciate the support of my family (who have put with me from learning to fly an airplane to becoming a bicycle commuter).

This entry was posted on Monday, October 5th, 2009 at 2:08 AM and is filed under bicycle touring. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.