Gearing up for camping

The weather is getting nicer and I've been recovering from my cold.  It was nice to get back on the Brompton!

My friends got married last week at Catalina State Park, north of Tucson.  We camped overnight after the ceremony.  It's actually a really nice campground with nice restroom facilities and other conveniences.  This experience really got me itching to try bike camping.

I've started slowly but surely gathering the equipment I need to do S24Os (and even full length tours).  I've based my selection of gear from what Laura and Russ from PathLessPedaled have done (their book, The Unauthorized Brompton Touring Guide is also an excellent resource).

So far I have (or have ordered):

• Gregory Savant 48L backpack.
• Wiggy's Overbag (rated to 35 degrees F)
• Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Xlite
• Trangia 27-7 stove / cooking set
• Sea to Summit eVent compression dry sack (14L) - for sleeping bag
• Outdoor Research Z-compression sack (12L) - for clothes
• Backcountry Boiler - for hot water
• MUSA Vapor Barrier Layer that goes inside sleeping back on colder nights

I think that's all... I also have the Brompton C-bag, with which to carry food, phone, maps, possibly iPad.  I've been housesitting for a while, so I haven't been able to try riding with all this gear yet.  I'll update when I do.

2013 Brompton World Championship announced!

For those of you lucky enough to live nearby and/or to do some traveling, it was just announced that the BWC will take place on July 27 & 28 at the Orbital Cycling Festival in Goodwood. Unfortunately I won't be able to make it this year, but I am anxiously waiting for the United States Championships! I do hope to get out to the BWC one year, probably in 2015.

Brompton put up a video about it... I'll link to it when I get the chance.

Update:  Here is the video.

Old Pueblo Grand Prix and new factory video

I'm still getting over being sick for the past week, but I still was able to make it out to the Old Pueblo Grand Prix with the meetup group.  We did a parade lap with some cool kids (I'm in photo #5 in this Tucson Velo gallery).  Unfortunately I wasn't able to stay and watch any of the races.

It was also brought to my attention that there is a new video of the Brompton factory at work making works of art.  I always enjoy these insider videos, so I linked it here for you to enjoy!

Bike Camping 101 at BICAS

I have been getting the itch lately to try my hand at bike camping a la Russ & Laura from pathlesspedaled.com.  Unfortunately injuries and extreme cold weather (for Tucsonans anyway) have prevented me from even commuting on the Brompton.  Plus I have to get some more gear before I can embark on my first trip.

However, I did come across an introductory class offered by BICAS, our local non-profit bike repair and recycling collective.

The class was very informal and had a lot of group participation.  This class was the first in a series of four that will be taught, and an organized S24O (Sub-24 hour overnight) will be happening through BICAS on May 18-19.  Unfortunately I will have to miss the next two classes and the S24O due to prior commitments.  I am truly bummed!

 
Part of this class went over what bikes were commonly used for touring and camping.  Of course Bromptons aren't on this list, but the consensus was that you can pretty much use anything that will carry your gear.  Steel is good because it is forgiving (compared to carbon or aluminum) and can be bent back into shape if in a wreck.

If you are using  full size bike, you should think about whether to run 26" or 700c wheels depending on tire availability during your travel.  Since the Bromptons have 16" wheels, we just have to carry our own or have someone on speed dial to ship them when we need them.  Don't expect shops in small town to carry tires and tubes in our size.

The internet resources are really great, particularly crazyguyonabike.com, which is a site where anyone can post up their tour experiences and pictures.  Searches can be done using keywords for location or route.  You can really spend weeks just browsing that site!

Sad news about two bike tourists exploring the world

Heard some rather sad news today from a Path Less Pedaled retweet and the Riding a Folding Bike Around Manila blog regarding a bike touring couple that were killed in an accident today in Thailand
(Here is a news link to this story).

Peter Root and Mary Thompson wrote the twoonfourwheels blog which I had unfortunately not heard of until today.  Their passion for exploration and human interaction was evident in their writing and films (Here is a link to their videos on Vimeo).

This is an unfortunate reminder that life has a finite shelf life.  I admire Root & Thompson for living it on their own terms and living more than many people who are many years older.  And while I have been fortunate to explore much of the world, I have never done so by bike.  I hope to remedy that in the not too distant future.

Please be safe out there and let your loved ones know that you love them.  Be kind to one another.  Peace.

Review of Stanley Nineteen 13 One Hand Vacuum Insulated Bike Mug

On a recent cold bike commute to work I was drinking "damn, it would probably be better if I had something warm to drink on my ride." Concurrently, I saw a tweet from a friend of mine regarding this new concept of "bulletproof coffee." That sparked my search for a coffee mug that I could use on the bike.

There were several options that I saw. One was a coffee cup holder that attached to the handlebars by PDW.  It's pretty nice, but it's more meant for grabbing coffee from a shop as opposed to holding your own brew.

I was doing a lot of research on water bottles and came across this little guy:

The Stanley Nineteen 13 One Hand Vacuum Bike Mug.

This mug claimed to be leak-proof, was double-wall vacuum constructed and holds 16 oz. of fluid.  Sounds pretty promising.

The mug fits quite well in my hand and is very ergonomic.  And of course,  it is ambidextrous.     

Underside of lid.

Interior of the mug

Flow of your drink is permitted by pressing on the little button upon which your index finger naturally gravitates.  It was pretty stiff at first, but now that it has broken in after a couple of days it works perfectly.

The mug inside the back pocket of my C-bag.  It's too tall to allow the pocket to close, but that's ok since it allows easy removal.

The mug fits securely in my friend's standard water bottle holder.  He is also ridin' dirty.

I've been using this mug every day regardless of whether I am commuting by bike or car.  Once I'm done with my coffee I refill it at the water cooler.  I feel that I am definitely drinking more water than I usually do.

On my current trip to Denver I brought the mug along.  It was empty so that I can take it through security, and then I filled it up at the drinking fountain before my flight.  Now I didn't have to wait for the flight attendant to bring me a drink when I was thirsty... this was actually really great for when we were waiting to take off or to get off the plane.

The mug in an airplane seat pocket.  It's a little big, but it definitely fits.

Stowing the mug in the exterior pocket of my Tom Bihn Aeronaut travel bag.

After a couple of weeks, I can attest that the mug is certainly leak-proof.  There is an elastomer o-ring that provides the sealing action, so the mug should remain leak-proof as long as that holds up.  The mug is easy to sip from, especially once the button breaks in a little.  I can also confirm that drinking is very easy with gloves on.

The vacuum construction seems to hold drinks at their temperature pretty well, but I haven't done any comparison tests or anything.  I suspect that it wouldn't be better than the Hydro Flask at holding temperature based on this comparison, but I would hope that I had finished my drink before a few hours have elapsed.

In conclusion, I'd give the Stanley Nineteen 13 One Hand Vacuum Bike Mug a big thumbs up as long as it stays leak-proof (which I foresee it being for a while)!

Street Cred and Other Press Bits

A friend of mine sent me a couple of pics of a Brompton being featured on Pimp My Ride, a show on that used to be on MTV (I guess it's on Speed Channel now) that take cars and highly modifies them.  I think that is the host (rapper Xzibit) riding it in the second picture.  Unfortunately I don't know when this show aired or have any other info on the Brompton.

In other advertising news, I'm sure a lot of people have seen this commercial with a second of Brompton (at 0:19):

It looks like that particular Brompton footage is taken from the NYCeWheels video of the electric Brompton:

I hope NYCeWheels and Peter got some commission from that!