hxe@rayssd.UUCP (04/12/85)
I'm contemplating taking a 300-mile bike trip at the end of the
summer and I haven't got the foggiest idea of what one brings on
one. (I'm a reformed backpacker and runner due to knee surgery.)
The questions I have are these:
1. What's the best thing to wear? Do the skin shorts really make
a significant difference? How about riding gloves? Of course,
I would wear a helmet, but is there anyone who has any arguments
against them?
2. What gear is essential? I assume a full repair kit and a few
extra tubes would be necessary. Anything else?
3. What about food? I don't mean full meals - I would fix those at
a campsite or go out to eat locally - but high-energy snack food
for during the ride.
4. Anything else I should know?
Any advice from experienced bike-trippers would be greatly
appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
--Heather Emanuel {allegra, decvax!brunix, linus, ccice5} rayssd!hxe
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I don't think my company *has* an opinion, so the ones in this
article are obviously my own.
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"Ain't life a brook...
Sometimes I feel just like a polished stone"
--
--Heather Emanuel {allegra, decvax!brunix, linus, ccice5} rayssd!hxe
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I don't think my company *has* an opinion, so the ones in this
article are obviously my own.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
"Ain't life a brook...
Sometimes I feel just like a polished stone" -Ferronwagner@uw-june (Dave Wagner) (04/19/85)
Heather Emanuel {allegra, decvax!brunix, linus, ccice5} rayssd!hxe
asks the following questions about bike touring:
>
> 1. What's the best thing to wear? Do the skin shorts really make
> a significant difference? How about riding gloves? Of course,
> I would wear a helmet, but is there anyone who has any arguments
> against them?
Well, you've asked a lot here. Let's examine articles of clothing, one
by one.
The best shorts for touring is anything that DOESN'T have a real chamois
in it. Real leather chamois takes too long to dry out after it's washed.
Also, not washing your shorts every day is a serious mistake, ESPECIALLY
with real chamois, as there are all sorts of little microbes that just
love a moist, warm piece of leather to grow in.
There are many brands of shorts that have synthetic "chamois" liners;
these are either cotton terry or polypro. Some skin shorts fall into
this category also; however, one disadvantage of skin shorts is that
you can't throw them into a dryer at a laudromat. (Also, polypropylene
can melt if thrown in a hot dryer - although it dries out fast on its
own.)
Gloves: a MUST. In fact, if your tour is going to last longer than
a week, some kind of handlebar padding is also a must. I prefer Grab-ons
over Spenco HB bads.
By the way, while we're on the subject of clothing, let me mention that
I've recently RE-discovered polypropylene! When I first tried polypro
a couple of years ago, I didn't like the way it felt against the skin,
and I was sure it would never replace wool. Well, they are coming out
with some polypro fabrics nowadays that are absolutely terrific! Since
I've bought a couple of Bellweather polypro jerseys, my wool jerseys
never leave the closet. (Incidentally, I think the Bellweather is
superior to any others I have FELT.)
> 2. What gear is essential? I assume a full repair kit and a few
> extra tubes would be necessary. Anything else?
>
> 3. What about food? I don't mean full meals - I would fix those at
> a campsite or go out to eat locally - but high-energy snack food
> for during the ride.
>
> 4. Anything else I should know?
>
There's too much to cover here - I recommend that you buy any of the
excellent bike touring books on the market. If you're travelling in
the Western U.S., I highly recommend that you get "Bicycle Touring in
the Western United States" by Karen and Gary Hawkins. (They also
have a volume that covers Europe.) In addition to lots of good
advice, they have some excellent route descriptions.
Bikecentennial (P.O. Box 8308, Missoula, MT) offers a wide variety of
how-to-tour books if your local bookstore is lacking them. Prices
are slightly under retail for members.
Dave Wagner
University of Washington Comp Sci Department
wagner@{uw-june.arpa|washington.arpa}
{ihnp4|decvax|ucbvax}!uw-beaver!uw-june!wagner
"Oh no! I've got . . . . . HAPPY FEET!"