On Friday, the MS Mountain Tour begins in Hinton and following that two day cycling event it's off to the Kettle Valley Railway for a week of bike-packing with my daughter Jackie
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| The MS Mountain Tour |
What is complicating things is doing two different events but only bringing one bike. The MS Mountain Tour requires a stripped down bike - handlebar bag gone, handlebar extensions removed, a different seat, headlight and tail light removed, rear pannier rack dismounted and handlebars lowered. A lower handlebar offers more control on a trail in the woods and items like a rear pannier rack are weight you don't need to lug around. A narrow, horned seat is necessay not only for steering but also for different body positions (right on the horn when going uphill and right off the back of the seat when going downhill).
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| A stripped down Furry Lewis |
The Kettle Valley Railway excursion requires a different setup - mostly to provide comfort while spending up to six hours in the saddle every day. So a comfortable handlebar height, my Spiderflex seat and handlebar extensions are all very important for maximum enjoyment while bike-packing.
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| The Spiderflex hornless bike seat |
The Arkel handlebar bag is a useful addition in that it can hold frequently used items like a camera, sunscreen, earplugs (if there's any highway riding), gum etc. Not to mention the easy to see map pocket on top of the bag. With this being Jackie's first bike-packing trip, I'll be doing most of the navigating having done the KVR five times in the past, so I'll be referring to my cyclometer and map often.
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| The Arkel bag |
I still have to decide on which bike to take with me - Furry Lewis or the MOAB and luckily I still have the time to try both bikes in the woods before making my final decision. Furry has been a faithful bike and has joined me on several MS Mountain Tours and KVR trips. The MOAB has just come back from bike-packing in Idaho where it performed beautifully (especially after a tune-up at the Excelsior Bike Shop in Kellogg Idaho - more on that later).
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| The MS Mountain Tour |
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| The KVR |
I miss biking so much, you had a fun activity base on your pictures.
ReplyDeleteJacob of biking Philippines
Thank you so much for sharing your bicycling experience! Readers will surely be inspired to wear their favourite cycling clothes and rush to join those events! Keep your passion on the go!
ReplyDeleteLooks really great, like you had a terrific trip. I like that Spiderflex seat, actually didn't even know something like that existed :) Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteI was so excited on biking I really like it.
ReplyDeleteBiking in Zion Canyon