Everybody
Yesterday i was able to escape the heat for a day and got myself up to Flagstaff. It was a perfect 75 up there. I took all my gear on the ride, I was half planning to get lost and camp out for the night somewhere out there but that did not happen. I did get to test out my new butt bag and handlebar burrito bag. They both worked well, but i did find some areas to improve the design. To boot, i got rained on. It was friggin cool! I did not know the extent of the rain until i got home. Turns out some folks got flooded out below the shults fire area. The trail was like riding in a small river. It was cool. There were a bunch of closed trails due to the fire, but i still got myself a great ride. On my way out I stopped at the outdoor surplus store. Got myself a Big Angus air core sleeping pad for a great price. If you are looking for a sleeping pad dont waste any time or money on anything else like i did. In fact.. check out Big angus sleep system. They have a built in pad and is super lightweight. I was looking into building a similar system. I will write up a sleeping system comparison sometime. Also, the spot tracker page worked well, check it out, click on jims personal spot tracker link on the main page.
For your entertainment.... Pictures from Flag. I wanted to take more, but the water fogged up the camera about an hour into the ride and i was unable to take more.
What saddle bag is that? Homegrown? I have to refine my bag and get around to making a full frame pack.
ReplyDeleteRhino
ReplyDeleteThe front and back are home made, the triangle is from CDW. They both worked good. The lessons learned were that the front bag and the rear should be made from one piece of material. I was adding a lighter piece for the stuff sack part, but the rain soaked through and i worried about ripping the stitching when cramming it full. I have since made a new front bag. My current thinking tells me that getting your entire sleep system, jacket and rain gear into the front bag is the hot ticket. This leaves plenty of room for all your other stuff in your other bags and makes a good balance on the bike. bag, bivy, pad, 2 jackets, tarp, and rope weigh about 8 lbs. IMO the bike handles well with the extra weight on it. I am sure i will change my mind on my next trip though.