First Bikepacking Trip - Oregon Three Rivers

[aljee]

Hola!
I recently built up a pugsley, and I am excited to get out and do a bikepacking trip this summer  . I live in Portland, OR and am in the process of planning a trip from Eugene to Crater Lake. My goal is to use the Amtrak Cascades to get down to Eugene (on a Thursday) take a few legs of 3 Rivers trail system (written about here: http://www.bikepacking.net/bikepacking-routes/oregon-three-rivers/) and then get to Chemult to take the Amtrak back to Portland the following Tuesday. The riding looks to be about 200mi give or take. So i will need to average around 50mi a day - does this sound overly ambitious??

I have a few projects to complete: sew a frame bag, sew a seat bag, rig up a bed roll, maybe sew a stem bag and a ST/TT bag.

While i have done some bikecamping, i have yet to do anything close to bikepacking. I have been enjoying reading through the forums here and look forward to sharing my experiences.

If anyone has some good advice for this route (i am early in the planning process) please share a tip.
Also, if you have any other good route suggestions in Oregon or Washington or even Northern Cal, please drop a line. I have heard about the lower Deschutes trip, and will tackle that one next spring.

Thanks!
Alan

[aljee]

got my frame bag sewn up. just need to finish up the front end, but i could probably roll as is. here is a pic (don't worry i am losing the rack/fender/pannier, the pannier is just filled with weights for training). 
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4080/4815216463_2da6dc360b.jpg
the chemult idea isn't going to work. the train station there doesn't take bikes or any baggage checking at all. so we are doing a loop via the North Umpqua Trial.

[AZTtripper]

50 miles a day should be very doable.

[aljee]

that's good, cause it is looking like it will be more!

[AZTtripper]

It really just depends on trail/terrain and how long you are willing to ride/walk. Even with cheep commuter style lights I find I can keep moving tho a bit slower.

The biggest thing on bikepacking trips is there is really nothing else to do but ride or sit in camp so you pretty much end up riding a lot more in one day then normal.

[aljee]

yo, so the trip was a success. a great time was had, it was the craziest thing i have ever done, and i can't wait to go again.
My friend and I took the Amtrak down from Portland to Eugene then rode
out to the national forests, hitting some choice single track along
the way with loaded bikes, getting lost, running out of water,
sleeping in parks, and swimming in rivers. This was my first multi-day
bike tour. it was about 270mi when i got back to my garage. there was a good deal
of climbing. for bags, i sewed up a frame bag - big thanks to Tscheezy on mtbr and his post
on this here (http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=596676&highlight=frame+bag), and just adapted various army surplus
bags. it all worked fine, but there will be changes next time.
the pugs was awesome. solid on everything, super fun, and it never hurt to ride it nor did it feel super slow. on the gravel, i had an advantage, on the
pavement, my friend had the advantage (he was on a reg 29er hardtail), on singletrack it kinda depended on the spot. you can check out my flickr set here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/4001066...7624566016935/

[ScottM]

Awesome!  Oregon and particularly that region is a really cool place to bikepack, esp. this time of year. 

The link to your flickr photos didn't come through -- it says it's bad.  Try again maybe?

Would be curious to hear more about what your route was and how you followed it.  GPS or maps?

[aljee]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40010668@N06/sets/72157624566016935/

sorry about that, thanks for letting me know.

we used paper maps that i had made/scavenged from a few sources. they weren't as useful as i had hoped. while the maps were readable, they said something totally different than what we saw on the ground in terms of FS road names. so we got lost because of that. it wasn't too bad though. but it ended up being more gravel than the single track i had planned.
i would like to get a decent gps before next time.

i have been working on the route we took here and there. will post when it is done. but today i go to Yosemite!

[HOser]

Thanks for sharing, and great adventure!

I'm curious how your Amtrak experience was, were you able to roll your bike on board (unboxed)?  Any hassles?

[aljee]

dude, Amtrak was a pain. at first they said no way, and i was thinking about an impromptu tour to the coast instead. but i worked with them, argued with them, but kept a good attitude all the while. they have a strict policy now that all bikes have to go on a hook with no bags, not even water bottles. i argued that if you deflate the tires, you could probably fit it in and then just lash it to the lower 'tire slot'. and we even went to an empty train to try it, but no dice. they wouldn't have it. the rim still wouldn't fit all the way. 

in the end, they just had to talk to the supervisor. they just laid it down on the floor of the cargo car. the supervisor called Eugene to tell them what was going on (they were worried about getting bitched at).
what really sucked was that they called Eugene before i got there to tell them to tell that "i can never bring this bike on the train again". but we shall see. they baggage guy in Eugene said that he didn't see what the big deal was and it just depends on who you get. next time i will bring some of my wife's cookies.

for the way back, we had to take the bus because of track work. the bus had the under carriage cargo bays. no issues. we just had to stack our bikes in the bay.

but for the train, it also depends on the kind of train you are taking. the Cascades has a cargo car, and you don't have to box it up. but the Coast Starlight requires you to box.

for my next trip we might do two cars for more flexibility, or i might build a 29er, or i might do the fatbike and the train to Whistler. there will be another trip and i will post it.

[bmike-vt]

how do you like the fatbike for general riding? do you want another set of wheels? (29rs?) - or is pushing around the bike and the wheels OK for touring / traveling?

i'm debating a pugs / fatback / fargo / something as my next bike. living in snow country with lots of groomed trails in the winter, and more across the lake - i'm leaning to pugs or similar... but i'll be giving up my ss mtb in order to keep the stable down. i don't do much true 'mtb' anyways... but...

[aljee]

the pugsley surprised me by being very ride-able the whole time. i must have the fit dialed in now, cause i had very little if any discomfort during some pretty long days. part of it might have been the titanico saddle and part of it might have been the forgiveness of the tires. i made use of the different hbar positions, but felt i could stand to stretch out some more. thinking about mary bars with aeros? that might be a bit wonky...
i kept up with my friend pretty well who has a GF 29er. i consider him to be a strong rider - easily as strong or stronger than me. he had an advantage on pavement, but i was winning on the gravel (there was lots of loosey gravel). on single track we were pretty even.

"do you want another set of wheels? (29rs?) - or is pushing around the bike and the wheels OK for touring / traveling?"

that's a question i have been asking myself for a while. the price of a 29er set for this bike (with an alfine hub) would go a long way toward a new bike. while i did some pretty long days, around 70+mi, i can't help but think i could go much longer with a reg 29er. my goal next year is 100mi days in mixed terrain and possibly some endurance races.
right now leaning toward the el mariachi or something similar. another option is building new pugs wheels with lighter rims, less spokes, and lighter tubes. they are about as heavy as you can build them right now. i could even swap to the aluminum 9zero7 frame.

this is technically my first real mtb. so i don't have much to compare it to. my thought was i should build something that can do everything (this it does) and then narrow it down from there with my next build.

your terrain sounds perfect for a fatbike! i say don't hesitate, and make it happen, you will be glad you did.  OH and check out the salsa mukluk - a new fatbike with a complete version coming soon. retail is $1500 which is damn cheap compared to building up a decent pugs - that is unless you have a bunch of parts laying around.