Light is right

Overloaded for sure, and this didn't end well.

When it comes to packing for a bike tour, lighter is usually better, because the less weight you have to haul, the easier it will be for you to pedal up all those hills.

If you own a basic backpacking gear set-up, you’ll already have much of the stuff you’ll need for bike touring. 

If your backpacking gear is dated, consider upgrading to the lightest versions of those items that you can afford. You may be able to cut several pounds from your overall load, for instance, by switching to ultralight versions of the camping basics: tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad and jacket.

When it comes to clothing, think basics and layering. Don’t forget the rain gear but leave the redundant items and frills behind.

I prefer to cook during my own rides so usually pack a lightweight camp stove, fuel, and a small titanium pot. Some bike-packers limit their trail diets to uncooked foods so they can leave the cooking gear behind.

There are a host of other weight-saving ideas to consider, including substituting recycled Smart Water bottles for the heavier and more expensive Nalgene ones, and using Tyvek home wrap or a Mylar space blanket instead of the heavier nylon ground covers generally used to protect the floors of tents.

Some of these ideas won’t make much difference individually. But all those little weight-savings add up.

Food and water will add to your load. But it’s a good idea to carry more of both than you expect to need in case you are delayed by weather or for some other reason.

You also will need to pack—and know how to use—a tire pump, patch kit and other basic bicycle tools. If you don’t know how to change a tire or do other routine bike repairs, learn how before you hit the road. Many bicycle shops offer courses on the subject.

Every touring cyclist should generate a customized packing list, to ensure that medications and other important items are not forgotten.

Here’s a comprehensive gear list you can use to design your own: https://www.adventurecycling.org/inquiry-forms/get-your-map-catalog/bike-touring-gear-list/.

Check here for additional tips about reducing your load: https://bikepacking.com/gear/josh-kato-tour-divide-pack-list/.

Virtually everybody brings too much stuff along on their first tours. Fortunately, there are plenty of post offices for shipping the deadweight home.

Don’t forget the essentials, but you’ll be a lot happier if you leave the excess behind.

Selecting a touring bike

Rack/pannier set-up for touring paved roads

If you just plan to ride a bicycle short distances over level ground, almost any bike will do.

But if you want to go on extended self-supported bike tours, you should get a touring bicycle, and one that has been designed to do the kind of touring you want to do.

Touring bikes, unlike road bikes, are designed to carry heavy loads, and to be comfortable for long days in the saddle.

Some touring bikes are intended primarily for tours over paved surfaces, while others are equipped with fatter tires and marketed primarily for dirt.

Both varieties usually accommodate front and rear racks for hauling gear and have attachments to enable you to carry several water bottles.

If you plan to tour, your bike should have a low “granny” gear to make pedaling easier up steep hills. Disc brakes will make it easier for you to stop and control your speed.

Before buying any bike, make sure it fits your body. If it doesn’t fit, it will not be comfortable to ride and you are unlikely to spend much time on it.

When it comes to carrying gear on a bike, there are two basic systems: traditional rack/panniers and bike-packing bags.

For touring on paved surfaces, I prefer the racks/panniers, because they’re easier to pack, load and unload, and they accommodate more cargo than bike-packing bags.

If I were racing off road, or doing an off-road route that had a lot of technically challenging parts, I would rely on bike-packing bags, because they’re more streamlined and stable than racks/panniers. Bikes equipped with bike-packing bags are also easier to push through a route’s hike-a-bike sections than bikes with racks and panniers.

For tours that stick to more moderate off-road terrain, I sometimes supplement a basic bike-packing bag set-up with a lightweight rack to accommodate additional cargo.

There is no law dictating how you must outfit your bike to carry your gear. Some touring cyclists carry their cargo in special bicycle trailers. My friend Dave uses panniers on the front of his bike and a homemade milk crate/backpack combo on his rear rack.

As a rule, however, the lighter your load, the happier you will be on a bicycle tour.

Basic bike-packing plus set-up

Dave and his milk crate

Grotesquely overloaded trailer from my first tour in 2011

Crawl before you walk

GAP trestle

Judging from the few hundred miles I did of the 2,512-mile Great Divide Mountain Bike Route this summer, I believe I will be able to finish it next year.

But it’s harder than any other bike touring route I’ve done, and not likely to be a good fit for everyone. The good news is that GDMBR is not the only gravel ride around.

Other easier off-road routes are readily available—including Missouri’s 240-mile Katy trail and South Dakota’s 109-mile George S.Mickelson trail. There bike-packers can test their gear and mettle, and train for harder rides. Some of these routes are of scenic and historic interest, and well worth doing on their own merits.

One of my favorite easier off-road routes is the 335-mile Great Allegheny Passage/C&O Canal towpath linkup. It’s easily accessible from Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh, PA, its end points, and other towns served by Amtrak’s Capitol Limited train.

I’ve ridden the entire length of the trail twice, and have ridden long laps over sections of the trail on two other occasions, for a total of more than 1,300 miles. I think that this a trail that could easily be on most bucket lists.

It’s a great venue for an introductory multi-day bike tour, because it’s gently graded or virtually flat, offers easy access to lodging and camping facilities, and is never too far away from civilization, for if and when riders encounter issues they can’t readily resolve on their own.

Great places to start planning a tour on the trail are gaptrail.org and nps.gov/choh.

If you prefer to leave the planning to others, several organizations, including the Adventure Cycling Association, offer guided group bike tours of the C&O Canal and GAP trails.

To find rails-to-trails paths in other areas, check TrailLink.com.

C&O Canal campsite

Canal towpath trail

Eastern continental divide on GAP trail

Where C&O links with the GAP in Cumberland MD

Endo ends Great Divide run

Hand-drawn card from Estela Serena

Endo ends Great Divide run

My effort to ride my bicycle from Canada to Mexico over the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route came to an abrupt halt on day seven of the adventure this summer—after I flipped over the handlebars while speeding down a gravel road in a remote wilderness area northeast of Missoula, Montana.

I suffered five fractured ribs and a separated shoulder in the crash, which occurred after two bolts supporting my bike’s front rack apparently rattled loose.

When the bolts let go altogether, the loaded rack dropped, jamming the bike’s front wheel, and I shot over the handlebars like a human cannonball, landing in the dusty road on my upper back and left shoulder.

In the impact’s wake, the left side of my body was sore, and my left arm less than fully operational. But the bike, a Surly Troll, was fine.

Dave, a riding companion, and I reattached the rack with spare bolts from my tiny toolkit, and we rode eight miles into Seely Lake, population 1,322, the closest town.

It was 5 pm by the time we arrived in Seely Lake, and the town’s medical clinic had closed for the evening. 

So Dave and I checked into the Double Arrow, a very nice lodge with a great restaurant, outside town.

My hope was that no serious damage had been done to my body, that the pain would subside, and that after a couple of days of rest, I would be able to complete the 2,200 miles remaining of my planned ride to the Mexico border.

But the following day, the pain had become so excruciating and disabling that I hitched a 60-mile 911 ambulance ride to Missoula, the location of the nearest hospital, where I was soon apprised of the adventure-ending nature of my injuries.

A mechanic for the Whitefish MT Glacier Cyclery bike shop, which agreed to ship my gear and bike home to Virginia for me, told me that the GDMBR’s rough gravel and dirt surface is notorious for shaking loose critical bicycle connectors, even ones that have been torqued carefully using Loctite, a thread locking adhesive, as my rack’s bolts had been. “You have to check them constantly,” the mechanic said.

Had I been following the mechanic’s best-practices procedures and checked and tightened the bike’s bolts that morning, the accident would not have happened.

Having to throw in the towel on this year’s GDMBR adventure one week and 286 miles into the adventure was a disappointment.

But on the other hand, I know I was lucky that the accident hadn’t been worse.

In the future, I won’t be using the same rack while riding on gravel, and I will be checking my bike’s bolts and other critical connectors regularly, with religious fervor.

One “endo,” as mountain bikers refer to these over-the-handlebar flying somersaults, is more than enough for me.

Received great care at Missoula's St. Patrick hospital

Loved the cards from the grandkids

Great Divide x 3?

When it comes to getting the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route done, hopefully the third time will be the charm for me.

After almost a year of planning and preparation, I was forced to postpone my first effort to complete the 2,500-mile gravel ride in 2018, when a last-minute family illness required my attention.

I managed to start rolling on the route at the Canada border in the summer of 2019, but had to call it quits seven days and 286 miles later.

That’s when I flipped over my handlebars, broke five ribs and suffered a shoulder separation after a couple of critical bolts on my bike failed.

The GDMBR is now on my to-do list for 2020.

I’ll start training in earnest again, once I’ve recovered from my injuries, and some friends are asking me why.

I don’t pretend to know all the reasons.

My girlfriend thinks the GDMBR has become some sort of rite of passage for me, akin to an Aboriginal walkabout initiation.

I have always enjoyed a good challenge, and the GDMBR is certainly that.

But for me, the GDMBR also has just seemed like the next logical long-distance bike tour for me to do.

I’ve already traversed the US by bike west to east, mostly via the so-called Northern Tier route between Anacortes WA and Bar Harbor ME.

The Northern Tier follows paved roads.

So now I want to traverse the US north to south.

Part of the appeal of the GDMBR to me is that it mostly follows very lightly trafficked dirt and gravel roads through some very beautiful country.

While gravel is harder to negotiate than pavement, there’s far less automobile traffic to worry about on the gravel.

Despite my injuries, I feel like I’m still in good enough shape to complete the ride, and realize my window of opportunity won’t be open forever.

I’m 66, have already had both hips replaced, and who knows what is going to fall apart on me next.

It’s time to get it done, and hopefully three will be my lucky number.