Thanks to the guys at Campione in Calgary, I’m now the happy owner of a very shiny Surly LHT.
It went for its first test ride today, and seems to work. And aaahhh, the smooth gear changes of a brand new bike. All stock components on it so far, no upgrades to fancier parts. I’ll probably keep it that way too, until things actually need replacing… except perhaps the saddle. A comfy saddle is always good.
(And yes, it is green)
As I’ve been whiling my time away looking at accounts of bike tours, it suddenly occurred to me that my two rear panniers (Deuter Rack Pack I think they are) probably wouldn’t carry enough stuff for cycling round Europe for four months. Even if I lashed things on top of them. There would be water and food and camping gear, and maybe, just maybe, tying everything to the back of my bike would be do-able, but would not necessarily be very rideable. Lots of people seemed to have front panniers. Also, I would really need somewhere to put my camera bag. I could get a basket and tie it to the front of my bike, and put the camera bag in that. This solution wouldn’t be very waterproof though. Or dustproof. Or shakeproof. So I got all consumeriffic and started looking for things online. Then somehow managed to order everything, just like that…
So I’m soon to be the proud new owner of a small Ortlieb rackpack/duffel bag:
Ortlieb Classic Front Roller panniers:
A Tubus Tara Lowrider Front Rack Black to carry them:
And an Ortlieb Ultimate 5 Classic Bar Bag – to be padded with foam to provide a nice solid camera carrying case:
The plan is not to fill these all up, just because I’ll have the space now, but instead to have spare room available for extra things like food and water – so we don’t always have to be reliant on food shops being open, or water being where you need it. So now I have all the bits I need for cycling wherever I want. Hurrah! The most horrifying part of all of this is that my order came to about AUD$340 (with postage free) – but pricing these things at Australian shops comes to around AUD$700.
My current loaner road bike – JD’s Campagnolo beastie. It has just 14 gears and likes to go fast. (Oh, and a giant statue of an eagle)
Another ride up to Whiteman’s Gap, but without the hike up Ha Ling afterwards. It was cold (well, not really cold in the scheme of things for the Rockies, but cold after the nice 20oC temperatures I’ve become accustomed to), and raining as I cycled into the cloud. This left the dirt road lovely and muddy.
This photo was taken at the top, looking away from town across the dam. It takes just under an hour to bike here from home.
And it only takes about 15 minutes to get from Whiteman’s Gap back down to town. I can’t guarantee you’ll be clean afterwards though. Or that your camera will be dry after taking it out in the rain for the earlier photo.
We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming with an exhilarating account of Megan’s ascent of Ha Ling Peak.
Bike rests at the pass (note water crackers in drink bottle holder)
The cycle from home, through town, and up the hill to the pass between Mt Lawrence Grassi and Mt Rundle went something like this:
(click to embiggen)
Then the bike was hidden in the trees, and bike shoes were switched for Chaco sandals. And the hike went something like this:
The summit of Ha Ling is at 2407 metres (7897ft), so an elevation gain of 700 metres for the hike, or 1.1km if you count it all the way from cycling through town. Basically, it was high enough for the intermittent rain to turn up as snow just as I arrived at the summit (while I was quite warm in shorts and a t-shirt down in the valley).
After some summit photos and snacks, I trotted back down the hill again, singing along to the songs in my newly created adventuring soundtrack…
I’m burning through the skies Yeah!
Two hundred degrees
That’s why they call me Mister Fahrenheit
I’m trav’ling at the speed of light
I wanna make a supersonic man of you
(Queen are fun – although I’m not sure how much sense some of the lyrics make, particularly that one about a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva).
Back down from the hiking, I collect my bike and just after taking this photo, realise my wallet is not in my pack. This was nearly the sad tale of a wallet lost somewhere on the wilds of Ha Ling Peak, but instead is the feel-good story of a lost wallet found by someone and handed in to a passing Park Ranger, who in turn got the wallet back to its owner.
Thanks for that Tom. After the weather, we’ll be coming back to you with more hard hitting news from the Yukon.
