I wear these ^^^ Freerider Elements for day rides and bikepacking. Not as durable as Impact Lows, but much lighter and nicer to wear for long days. The Elements are great on the bike and fine for long stretches of HAB.

The only thing the Elements don't do well is get wet [ie stream crossing] and dry out fast.

^^ this. The solution to butt problems is not more padding it's better hygiene and a better fitting saddle....it could even be an overall bike fitting issue.

Just adding more padding is like buying ear plugs because your car's transmission is making a hell of a racket! You are attacking the symptom not the underlying problem.

180 riders? Wow! I hope the gas stations along the route have stocked up big time on snack food! 

Buy from a vendor with an easy return policy and/or inspect it in person. I bought a Thermarest quilt [previous version] and the down was so poorly distributed and sparse that it had cold spots that made it unusable except for the warmest summer nights. I returned it to REI after a few trips.

Great concept. Just poor execution in that particular quilt. 

Baja is amazing. Over the years I've spent many months:

- bicycle touring [pavement]
- motorcycle touring [pavement and dirt]
- sea kayaking
- beach camping
- fatbiking
- surfing
- kitesurfing

I've never had a bad time in the Baja. The place is filled some nice people, tasty food, ice cold beers and stunning landscapes.

I can't say anything specific about the Baja Divide route, but I'm sure to ride it sooner or later.

Caucasian Mountains are the really big white people at McDonald's. 

The Caucasus Mountains are what you are after: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasus_Mountains

I do PM and Quality consulting. Right now I work 30hrs/wk Mon-Wed and have 4 days off. I take about 5 weeks off at the moment, but I am planning to bump that up to 4 months+/yr once I have saved a bit more money.

I've carried 1.5L of water down the roughest trails I can ride for days' at a time and this ^^^ setup never budged. Carrying weight that low is really nice.

Goes on and off the bike in a few minutes. No damage to paint and works fine with a frame bag.

I'm working on a lighter FS bikpacking setup for techy singletrack adventures with resupply options every couple days.



I packed all my usual 1 week+ gear less stove/fuel/pot/cup and only packed enough dry food for 2 days/1 night of riding.

Took it for a run around a loop I regularly medium techy for coastal BC. Rode everything I normally would just a touch slower...although going slower meant I could ride with no stops and I finished the ride in the fastest time ever.

I think with a UL quilt and a tarp instead of a tent I'll get the weight/bulk down to a very sweet spot.

You could meet at several points along the CDN GDR route, but as noted above he couldn't follow the route with you. If you wanted to meet up at the end of each day that wouldn't be too hard except maybe in the Flathead area depending on how fast you ride.

How did the Grand Depart and full ride through go in early Sept?

A lot depends on what available at your resupply points.

Yup. Just look at each resupply point as a mini-adventure in figuring out what to buy and pack. I tend to let my cravings guide me and the size of my pack/bags keep things sane.

Depending how long until the next resupply point I'll eat a double meal and basically just carry snacks to get me to my next mega meal.

I've been using a B17 Brooks saddle on my road bike for years. Any suggestions or does anyone use a Brooks on their fatbike?

I use a B17 bikepacking. I also use Selle Anatomica saddles. Stick with what works for you.

If you buy a fully loaded touring expedition frame and don't load it up you have an overly stiff ride that's not comfortable and that's an energy suck for your legs.

OTOH - if you buy a flexy light duty MTB and load it to the gills with stuff it's hard to ride, potentially dangerous and may break.

In a perfect world you select the appropriate equipment for the trip at hand and the gear you will carry. The problem is [just like in other areas of human endeavour] people get caught up in their fantasies and buy things for emotional reasons not practical ones. Hence SUVs being used to cruise to the mall and carry 4 bags of groceries home...or expedition bicycles being used for easy local tours.

This route looks great!  Maybe someday when I can get enough time off I can get it done.  I know it rains a fair bit out there.  When is the best time of year to go...if there is one?

It rarely rains June through Aug. April/May and Sept/Oct can be very dry as well. I wouldn't try riding this route Nov-Mar unless you are okay with rain.

If I could ride it any time I'd probably pick last 2 weeks in May.

Ok so custom wheels have to be built. Thanks 

Yes given how expensive that can be especially for wide fatbike hubs it may be worth looking at a low cost 29er as a second bike.

Seems that a lot of campsites start closing at the beginning of September :-(

I prefer closed campsites. No way to keep a biker out and you have the whole place to yourself with no noise!

Great effort Lael!

You crushed it!

[The Good:]

Curious how those AfterShokz are working out?

I've just used them indoors so far.

The Good:

- arrived no problem
- no shipping charges to Canada
- reasonable cost $39USD
- fit and finish look good
- fit my head pretty well
- sound quality is darn good
- "speakers" don't go in your ear so you can indeed still hear stuff [see note below]
- small battery on cord has volume control for easy adjustment on the fly
- comes with nice case to store product
- weather and sweat-proof

The Bad:

- semi-rigid back band won't fit all heads [my boss is a big guy and they were too small for his neck]
- semi-rigid back band comfy for shorter sessions...I'll have to see how I feel after 4-5hrs+
- needs charging via USB [supposed to have 12hr life I haven't tested this yet]
- battery is partway down cable and you need to clip it to something so it doesn't hang off headphone band
- if battery was integrated into headphone band it would be a more streamlined easier to use product
- although buds are not in ear you can turn them up so loud they effectively block out sounds anyways
- semi-rigid band design means they take up more room in a pack than a couple ear buds on a flexible cord
- you feel the bass on your cheeks, but you don't hear booming bass like you do from in ear buds

The most important feature for me was the fact these don't go into your ears so you can hear the outside world. This is accurate, however, they conduct sound to your inner ear and they are loud enough you can effectively block out outside sounds by simply drowning them out. Of course you don't have to blast the volume so that's something you can control.

We got 2 sets in our house and we'll both use them for urban bike riding. I'll use mine at work as well so I can hear people/phones.

I don't know whether the comfort and size/form factor will make it a winner for bikepacking trips yet. I'll try it and see what I think. At the moment I don't have a dynohub so keeping them charged will be my challenge. I have a small auxiliary battery that might work to get me an extra 3 days or so of use. Which would probably be good enough for testing.

Go Lael Go!
Beast Mode fully engaged!

I love it!