Getting There By Bike

I always thought it would be cool to tour Europe or even the US of A via bike but I probably should have done something like that right after I graduated high school as it is now I'll probably have to wait until I retire and hope the old faculties still all work well enough to remain rubber side down and remember who I am and where I was going... or win the Powerball, that's always an option. More realistic though is the short one to two day mini-tour so I was pretty excited when I saw that Cycle Works was going to have a Self Supported Touring/Sub24 Clinic.


There was this guy, a ton of knowledge on bike packing and self supported touring... not to mention one of the sweetest bike grease chain ring tattoos I've ever seen.


Salsa Vaya setup with front and rear commuter type panniers, it looks like you could carry a ton of stuff in those bags.


Damon's personal bike setup mostly with handmade bags from Relevate Designs, they make some long lasting quality equipment.


One of the things discussed in the class that I really liked was that you didn't need to necessarily buy any sort of specific type of bike to get out and do a self supported sub 24 hour tour, you just needed to figure out how to adapt what you have and make it work.


No braze-ons, no problem, this little trailer will hold all the gear you'd need and even let your valuables ride in cushy comfort via it's own shock.


This is the part of the night where I kinda forgot all about the "you don't need a specific bike" part of the clinic, that ECR from Surly had me day dreaming and drooling all at the same time. It's a look you really have to be careful with, people tend to see someone drooling and staring off into space and they like to call the police about the escaped mental patient so you have to be aware of your surroundings to pull off such a look effectively. Learned more than a few things at the clinic and think I might just have to see about giving this bike packing thing a try, to me it really does seem like it might be a good time. Bikes, beer, fire... lots of nylon and polyester, what could possibly go wrong?!?