I was just at one of Tucson LBS getting geared up for the Coconino and I mentioned that some friends as expressed interest in bike packing but wanted to be able to rent some of the more specific gear. Long story short the guy said he would consider stocking a seat post bag and handle bar sling and putting them out for rent.

Any interest, thoughts?

Awesome!

 

 

No more  just lots of fun Bikepacking 

I was just putting together my kit for the Coconino.

Extra cloths for camp/sleeping include:

Light weight capilene bottoms

Mid weight capilene top

Light weight board-shorts (surfer style) can be worn over capilene bottoms or free balling to air things out or over tights when entering stores.

T shirt  for town and camp and also as a potential part of my first aid kit along with athletic tape I think you could cover a lot of road rash if need be.

The reroute actually looks good it keeps the race a little more remote with out the night in Williams tho I was willing to take it and get a room. It also makes day 3 a bit easier as well as day 4 since we will be farther along already. Getting back earlier on Monday is good for getting home as well.

I have a ride up with Brink he's doing the "Through Race" so we will be at the Place at 7:00 any other "Stage Riders" want to meet up around 7:00 I plan to head out about 8:00. This also gets us there in time to pick up Spot units from Chad. We could also do a neutral roll out to the starting line.

  

I have tried baggies and find them too hot. I carry a light weight pair of nylon shorts to put on over the "tight shorts when going into a restaurant. And if I am going to be there long I go in and take of the tights and free ball in the baggie boardshorts to get aired out.

As for the stares f um as a white water kayaker I wore a spray skirt and didn't let it bother me. Tho I did see guys who had to have them off with in the first 10 seconds of hitting shore. I also have some friends who wear baggies on group rides because of the stares but again f um I am riding in what I feel comfortable in especially when I am doing longer rides.

I do have a pair of Fox baggies (not sure the version but they were on the low end price wise) but they are so hot that I only wear them on the coldest of mornings and then only for a short rides.

Mike is right on there, I forgot that I have a down strap on the sling to help with the bouncing. I'll get some pics this weekend on the Coconino and post up next week.

I would drop the tent and tarp camp I just got a new 8x10 mid weight nylon tarp and I plan to stop carrying the bivy. I think I can stay dry with the bigger tarp with no need for the bivy. The one down side to bivy's and tent's as well is moisture condensation. Tarps solve this problem quite nicely in my opinion. Campmore also has a more expensive and even lighter tarp that I might look at.

I don't have a pic handy but, I carry my prolight pad under the bars, a Jandd Mountain Handle Pack on top, a GPS and 2 lights.

I made a sling that holds the pad under the bars similar to the commercial ones but not as beefy I mostly use that to hold it in place while I strap it on with a 2 foot strap and buckle. It is a tight fit when all set and done but it works out.

But do you really need a tent how long is it when stuffed, are you leaving the polls in? Could you get by with a tarp instead?

And how is 'remote' defined?
 

One persons remote is another persons home turf. If you go through a town every other day how can that be remote. I do think I get into some pretty remote area's on the AZT but I am sure others would disagree and point out all of the towns along the way.

Great, get out there see how it goes you wont regret it that is one thing for sure.

I am thinking I can make all the way to Munds and then stock up for the night.

I did not see it I looked around the building near the 5th wheel trailer but I didn't see it I thought I was looking for something on the building not a sink.

It did look like there was someone staying in the trailer but there was no one around I knocked on the trailer door and yelled a little but no answer.

Go Light!

Depending on what you want to ride while you are out, depending on how much time you want to spend riding as apposed to camping. The less you carry the more you can ride the more fun you will have riding.

I have used a similar set up to what you describe two racks 4 panniers (saddlebags) with lots of gear for camp and it does make camp time more enjoyable but really slows down the riding.

So it really depends on what you want to do but the problem with having lots of storage space is the tendency to fill it up with stuff you could probably get by without.

Hope that helps.
 

Just back from the Mormon Lake area, tried to contact someone at the Knights of Columbus (to find out when they shut off the water) but there was no one there. There is a camp ground right next to the Knights but the water there is off already. But there is a small creek running through camp it goes under the highway just past the camp gound entrance about 100 yards from the Knights.

It is also only 2.5 miles from there to the store at Mormon Lake Lodge.

A friend of mine reps for them he had one out on the trail the other day it did look pretty nice. It did have one problem when he tried to adjust the sternum strap position it came part way off and would not go back on.   

This thing is great now that I have a few rides in with it on I think it definitely worth the weight.

AZ Cold = Good

I am a little concerned about my reliance on my GPS unit for this one. Not that I don't think my GPS is 100% reliable and that I will never go over my bars and smash it...any chance a cue sheet will be available. Long shot I know, just asking.

Looking over the course I was wondering how many Jpegs it would take to (at the map level that I can see with out reading glasses) cover the whole course, and then how much would it cost at a copy place to print it all out.

I think it would be more cost effective to use a copy store rather then print at home but it does look like it would be possible follow the course with out a GPS if you had all of the maps. Also my Prescott FS map shows a lot of it as well though not at a very good scale and not all on one map part of the course must be on a Flagstaff FS map I don't have yet.

I just got mine put it on the wheel last night but haven't ridden it yet.

Hmmm...don't like that sentence.  It's a race, right?  Everyone should know who they are racing.  To not know could play havoc with a thru racer's pacing & mojo.
  

Seems like those who want to ride non stop should line up at a set time, declare their intentions if you want to call it that.

As the original start time was 7:00 that could be the start time for thru-racers, stage riders could start latter if they want to delay their arrival in camp.

I hope to make this one it should be fun I'll be in the stage race if I can make it.

I saw two of them on the Tour of the White Mountains pre ride this weekend serious gear envy looks like they are all going to the new bikes but none for the after market yet.