Thursday, September 18, 2008

protective lenses

I've been using Smith eyewear for a number of years and rarely ever thought about it. I guess that means the equipment is doing its job if you don't even notice or think about it. For 4200+ miles the Smith Theory slider style glasses were comfortably on my face. Rarely did I ride without them and rarely did I notice them. From burning sunlight to hazy overcast skies, the glasses and the three interchangeable lenses just performed, not fogging, not sliding, not getting in the way.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Comfy comfy

I thought the soft Fizik Gobi mtb saddle that I had chosen would be comfortable for my tour. Somewhere around mile 600 I stopped being comfortable and started moving around non stop. When I made it to my in-laws in Hamilton, MT I was fortunate enough to find a Brooks Professional at Red Barn Bicycles. I was apprehensive given the rumored break in period of hundreds of miles but I knew the Gobi wasn't going to work.

I managed to get in 100 miles while with the in-laws and I could already sense a marked improvement. With lots of proofide and love the saddle molded to my ass over the next 300 miles and I soon forgot about the hunk of leather I was sitting on. Like a good offensive lineman, your saddle should go unnoticed and the Brooks did that for me.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Lots of Stuff

When I took off for my cross country trip I had lots of stuff. I managed to pack it all into two cardboard boxes for the flight out to Vancouver. Here's a look at what I packed.


Once I got to Vancouver I had to assemble the bike and trailer so I found a quiet corner in the airport and got to work. Manaaged to assemble the whole thing with nothing more than a Pedro's pocket tool.