Btw how we did it: tie one end of the rope around the tower's seatpost. Wrap the other end around the towee's handlebars a couple of times and hold it in place. Then, if you need to break the tow suddenly, just let go of the rope.

Whoops, I got this in the wrong forum - could a moderator delete it? I've started another thread at http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,3087.new.html#new

I recently had a couple of experiences where we ended up towing someone, and was curious whether anyone else ever carries a tow rope.

1) On day 2 of what should have been a 3 day ride into Snowy River NP (southeastern Australia), I broke a derailleur hanger. We coasted back back down the mountain, then reached a few k's of flat dirt road. Walking wouldn't have been the worst thing, but towing worked great.
2) On a normal cycle tour with about 12 of us, my partner started to get heatstroke on the scorchingly hot final day. We wrapped her up in a wet towel, then got the strongest rider to tow her for more than an hour (at close to 30kph!) on flat, sealed rail trail.

In both cases, I just happened to have a piece of paracord around 3m long. It weighs next to nothing, and was easily strong enough. I didn't anticipate using it this way, but now I'm thinking I'll always bring it for this purpose. A 20km tow is nothing compared to a 20km walk, let alone 50km...

Anyone else? Maybe you should?
[originally posted in the wrong forum - oops]

I recently had a couple of experiences where we ended up towing someone, and was curious whether anyone else ever carries a tow rope.

1) On day 2 of what should have been a 3 day ride into Snowy River NP (southeastern Australia), I broke a derailleur hanger. We coasted back back down the mountain, then reached a few k's of flat dirt road. Walking wouldn't have been the worst thing, but towing worked great.
2) On a normal cycle tour with about 12 of us, my partner started to get heatstroke on the scorchingly hot final day. We wrapped her up in a wet towel, then got the strongest rider to tow her for more than an hour (at close to 30kph!) on flat, sealed rail trail.

In both cases, I just happened to have a piece of paracord around 3m long. It weighs next to nothing, and was easily strong enough. I didn't anticipate using it this way, but now I'm thinking I'll always bring it for this purpose. A 20km tow is nothing compared to a 20km walk, let alone 50km...

Anyone else? Maybe you should?

Interesting comment above cross bikes vs mtb. I ride a cross bike, and usually have to take a small amount of gear in a backpack, but I keep it pretty light, maybe 3-4kg. It's definitely the last resort, after the frame pack, gas tank, handlebars and saddle pack are all stuffed full. It usually ends up being the sleeping mat, thermals, and a little bit of food.

Sometimes I've also lengthened the straps extremely long so the weight actually sits directly over my hips. It's hard to stop it sliding around then, though.

Depending on region, OpenStreetMap maps can be pretty good. http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_Map_On_Garmin/Download

What do you need 9 pegs for? I have the massive 3 man Rainshadow Tarptent, and it only needs 4. Easy weight savings!

Err, what's nylon coated fishing tracer, and what do you use it for?

They break? Hmm. Can you fudge a repair with duct tape?

>I've thought a cyclocross and the LHT would both be great but the price is off-putting and they seem a bit limited in regards to true MTB trails, especially if loaded

Nah. The only limitation of my cyclocross is really rough MTB trails (downhill, rock gardens etc). Most XC trails are a lot of fun...for me, anyway. Oh, and multi-day stuff can be hard on the hands if it's particularly rocky. Oh, I would say that without suspension, obstacles can be less forgiving - if you're not paying attention, you can lock up the front wheel more easily.

I do love the versatility: in the space of a week I did a 350km/2 day road ride with a group of friends on road bikes (30kph+), and then a 2 day bikepacking trip on rough firetrail in mountainous terrain (averaging <4kph!). And of course commuting, normal loaded touring, and everything in between the rest of the time.

The only thing that makes me at all tempted to switch to a hardtail for bikepacking is possible durability for longer rides, and the hand comfort issue.

And possibly brake pads, for a long trip. A friend recently ran out of brake pads during a long bash through Vietnam and China. The results were pretty hideous: hundreds of kilometres where every hill had to be walked down.

After a recent derailleur hanger incident, I'm, uh, reviewing my selection of spares to carry. Most of them reflect some past incident

Currently, I'm at:

• spokes
• tubes
• gear cable
• chain powerlinks
• allen bolts
• derailleur hanger

What am I missing? Cleats? Brake cable? My bike is a cyclocross with Tiagra STI shifters btw.

Cool stuff - would love to see more background on how they came up with the route, the issues they went through etc, for people considering doing something similar in their own backyards. I don't really understand the secretive, sometimes cryptic attitude - surely it's in everyone's interests to publicise the route, and build momentum for some government funding, etc. But who knows - perhaps we all have the wrong end of the stick

Went and checked out the Aarn Marathon Magic 20 and 33. They look pretty good, but I wish I could find more reviews from cyclists. I know they're great for trail running - but that's not something I do. I'd definitely use the 33 for overnight hikes, which I do a bit of. The 33 turns out to be around $240AUD.

I am guessing they are the "anything cage" from Salsa:
http://salsacycles.com/culture/new_product_-_salsa_anything_cages/

Nifty.

In my experience of both methods, neither is fool proof. Using routes, you get a lot of false alerts (it beeps at every roundabout, when a road merges into another but you continue in a straight line etc). Using tracks, you get false negatives (you should have turned, but didn't notice). It's fairly rare to go far past a turn, when following a track.

Ideally, the GPS would let you know when you were far off track (eg, 100m). Don't think mine does though.

Hate to be off-topic, but what are those drink bottle holders on the fork - custom made? How do they attach?

For the Oregon 550 can you program in a route ahead of time like the TD and then set it up to help you navigate?  As in "turn left in fifty meters". Or "beep!"

Yes, but the problem I always run into is that you're planning the route on one set of maps (typically Google), and then running it from a different set (in my case, OpenStreetMap). Which just doesn't work very well, for reasons I'm too inarticulate to explain.

I've been to altitude twice: once, a few weeks in Bolivia/Peru, where I suffered moderate symptoms. More recently I went cycling in India, 8 days ranging from around 2200m to 4500m (mostly 3000ish). Very few symptoms other than expected shortness of breath, general feeling of unfitness. I think the big difference was taking "altitude pills" religiously throughout. On our second day we rode from around 2200 to 3300m, which was a bit of a shock but not terrible. That wasn't a race though

I agree with the advice that it's very sensible to have plan B's worked out - losing altitude is the only solution to severe altitude problems.

I'm using a 9 speed 12-36 cassette - think I found it on eBay. That's on a cyclocross though.