Gear

I have a pretty steep learning curve when it comes to gear for this trip. I've hardly ever been camping and i've only ridden road bicycles and a fixed gear bike around new york city.

After reading many good reviews, I decided on the Surly Long Haul Trucker for my bicycle. I've known a lot of happy surly owners in the past and the price of $1100 for the configuration seemed liked a great deal. The name says it all. This bike is built like a truck. The steel frame has a low bottom bracket and long chainstay for extra stability while carrying lots of extra weight. The bar end shifters add to the big-rig feel, making you get your whole arm involved in shifting action (reminds me of the stories my dad told me about driving split shift semis). I added the front and back Cro-Moly Surly racks to the bike, along with three bottle cages, some fenders and a set of Schwalbe Marathon XR tires (700 x 35). These tires are supposed to be bullet proof. We got this recommendation from the ginger ninjas, a group of musicians bicycling around the world.

One of the most important gear decisions is the saddle. The majority of tourist choose a brooks saddle, which is what i went with. I chose the pre-aged Flyer, which is a sprung version of the b17. The pre-aged version comes partially broken in and noticeably more flexible out of the box compared to the standard models. I had immediate misgivings about it, but have slowly gotten adjusted to its feel. A trick it seems is to set the correct tension. Too loose and you are feeling the metal anchor on the back of the saddle, too tight and your sit bones ride high off the leather. It should continue to get more comfortable as time goes on.

I bought a set of Ortleib panniers to store all of my gear. Bike-Packer Plus bags for the back and Sport-Packer plus for the front. I also have an Ortleib Handlebar bag, but may leave it behind. I bought the bags as a set from Wayne at http://www.thetouringstore.com/, a really helpful will steer you in the right direction. Like my tires, the bags are from Germany and heavy duty. They are fully waterproof and have lots of pockets. After using panniers for the past week I can't see myself going back carrying a backpack.

What's in the bags:

Clothes:
2 wool t-shirts (wool is the miracle material, naturally anti-microbrial, wicks well, and doesn't trap odor like synthetic alternatives)
1 wool long sleeve shirt
3 Pairs of wool socks (two short, one long)
2 pairs of high end pearl izumi bike short (i almost skimped on these! get the best you can get!)
1 pair nylon shorts (I plan to use these for riding/swimming/casual settings)
1 pair of hiking pants with zip off legs
1 Marmot rain/wind jacket
1 pair Marmot rain pants
1 pair biking gloves
2 pairs of boxers
2 pairs of cheapo sunglasses (hey, i live 2 blocks off st. marks)
1 Sea to summit micro fiber towel
1 Brooks saddle cover
1 pair of Specialized Tahoe MTB shoes
1 pair of Merrel water shoes (for off the bike)

Camping:
Mountain Hardware Ultralamina 32 sleeping bag (I went expensive here to carry less weight and bulk. Many nights i won't even need to be in it i hope)
Thermarest inflatable sleeping pad (go with the cheaper/better Big Agnes model if you can deal with the smaller dimensions)


Tools:
Park bike pump
Alien multi tool
Small Crescent wrench
Small 10 wrench
Combination lock
Brooks tension spanner
3 Spare 700x35 tubes

Tech:
Iphone 3G
Powermonkey eXplorer Solar charger + battery
Nokia MD-6 portable speaker (this thing rawks for its size)
Canon S90 point and shoot camera, charger, extra battery, extra SD card, SD card reader
Head lamp (i'll use this for a front bike light as well)
Bike Planet Cycle computer (the odometer only goes up to 999 miles. I'll flip it 4 times!)
Adventure Cycling Trans-America & Western Express map sets

Toiletries:
Dr Bronner's Magic Soap
Sun screen
Advil and Aleve
Toothbrush
Floss
Lotrimin
Neosporin

Misc:
Spindle of thin nylon rope (for hanging clothes / food)
3 small stuff sacks for organizing gear
10 Liter dry bag
1 disc craft frisbee (plenty of time to practice my forehand)

Weight:
I took all of my packed bags to my local laundromat to use their scale.
Grand total 32.5 Lbs


This seems light to me, which may mean I'm missing stuff. I will be adding a cable to lock my bike which should add another 2 lbs or so and will have varying levels of food and liquids as well while I'm traveling.