Sunday, June 24, 2007

Dreams of Bike Touring...

Laura and I and two other friends are planning to escape the LBC for two weeks in August. The plan is to pack our bikes with clothes, camping gear and food and take the Amtrak to Portland. From Portland we're riding to Astoria (via Vernonia). From Astoria we go south to Reedsport and inland to Eugene, where we'll reluctantly take the train back to Long Beach.

The next two months will be a slow process of checking routes, getting in shape and acquring gear. Laura and I did a mini tour in Solvang so we've had a chance to break in some of our equipment, but we haven't done a trip this long, nor have we done a trip with the extra weight of camping equipment and cooking equipment.

I've made a wishlist and it's rather daunting in its cost. However, knowing that I want to do more touring, I'd like to get the top-shelf equipment right off the bat, rather than getting a poor substitute. Some stuff on the list:

Ortlieb Packer Plus rear panniers
Trangia Stove and cook set
Ostrich Handlebar Bag
Nitto Mini Rack

Time to start saving pennies and shoot more gigs!

No comments: