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Touring
Hi gang.
I've never been touring / bike camping before but ive been thinking about grabbing some panniers for the bike and heading off for a night or two. Just locally in the mountains region to start with some overnighters to get gear figured out etc and building up from there I guess.
Most of the rides I've got in my head will be predominantly Tarmac and gravel roads.
So basically I'm here asking for ideas, tips, recommended rides and to hopefully enlist some other keen cyclo campers.
Here's what I've got in my mind...
Ride 1:
Mount Victoria - Coxs River Campsite.
Starting at mount vic, heading along the causeway then cutting down to hartley and the down to the Coxs river campsite on the six foot track.
Distance aprox 80km.
Returning via the same rout in reverse most likely.
Anyway let's hear everyone's ideas please?
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Found this a while ago when I was thinking about the same thing. Pretty good discussion of what to take and what to expect.
http://www.rotorburn.com/forums/showthread.php?2....
Hi Rory I was planning an overnight, but a bit more civilized. Blaxland to Wisemans Ferry, overnight at Del-Rio, then ride the back road (dirt) through Ebaneezer home. 76km each way. Im keen on hooking up for what ever ride.
Nothing to do with the route but just saw this on bikerumor regarding pannier systems
http://www.bikerumor.com/2012/08/28/first-look-n...
That rear thule rack looks frighteningly similar to my Freeload rack.
I have 2 setups for bikepacking. If I'm heading out for a night on my own, I'll go minimal, which will be a handlebar harness with sleeping stuff ( tent or bivvy with tarp, sleeping bag or inner sheet, and mat) and a tangle bag with food and cooking stuff. This is usually for really local stuff, like Grose Head south, or a sneaky national park run.
For 2 nights or more, (which is as rare as a rare thing these days), I'll have the above setup and I'll also whack the Freeload rack on the back and load that bad boy up. The Freeload has side things to support panniers, but I just use the rack top and strap stuff to it. I'm not a fan of carrying a backpack while riding, but if you need to, you need to. This is also a good setup for heading out overnight with a kid, as you can carry a fair bit of extra stuff.
Beth and I did a fair bit of multi-day hikes and rides before we had kids, so we have a lot of stuff. I've been slowly tweaking our gear to be more bike friendly. The biggest conundrum was in the shelter department. Our tents are 15-20 years old, cost a million dollars ( $600-$800ish) and weighed a ton (3-4 kg's). Today you can get a really light tent for $300that weighs 1.5 kg's. Or be a tight arse like me and buy a 2 man thing from Anaconda for $19, weighs 1.8 kg's and does the trick. The only thing is I just fit in if I lie diagonally. I've left it out in the rain for a week and it didn't leak which was good. If you are buying a tent, I recommend getting the next size up. For example, if it's just for you, get a 2 man. The extra space will be a bonus to store all your shit in and have a bit of room to move.
If you want to check out some of the gear I have let me know.
Char, if you're heading out drop me a line. I'm keen.
I'll eventually be keen to come along ... working on some steel crossers for touring ... just don't have dates.
Al
Rory,
that 6 ft track ride is pretty good, lots of fun places to camp, good spot out near the suspension bridge, although a fair bit of bike walking to be done on this one, lots of uphill on the way back too!
http://jakpak.com/home.aspx