2.24.2011

T-Minus One Last Day of Snowboarding and Two trips to Denver

Things are finally happening!!! I've spent the last three weeks in Leadville, Colorado, the highest town in America at 10,200 feet, playing in the snow and hobnobbing with the locals, good people one might call friends. Maybe, just maybe. But don't tell them that. My time here has been great - I could definitely see myself returning this winter. But, for now, onward! Wheels are turning, only metaphorical at this point, but soon to be replaced by real spokes and tires, coupled with an exchange of four feet of snow for the sunny sub-tropics in just four days time! The bike is purchased and only a few more small things are still required. Now, to the nitty gritty.
In preparation for this trip I read a lot of blogs chronicling other cross-country bike adventures, mostly all of which were extremely helpful, especially in deciding what gear and how much of it I needed to bring. So, to pay it forward, I deem this entry the bike touring nerd's dream. Off the top of my head, here's a list of everything I'm bringing. Well, mostly.

The Bike and the things it holds that hold things:
-Surly Long Haul Trucker, 50 cm with 26" wheels - I'm going with the stock components and I'm too lazy to write them all out so you can find them here: http://surlybikes.com/bikes/long_haul_trucker_complete
-Brooks B17 Saddle
-Look clipless road pedals
-Surly "Nice Rack" rear rack
-Ortlieb waterproof panniers (saddle bags for bikes for all you non-bikers)
-3 water bottle cages with clean canteen bottles
-I'm trying to get away with only a rear rack since I'm packing pretty light but I'll probably end up buying this on Saturday:
-Surly "Nice Rack' front rack
-A yet to be determined set of small front panniers
-Cannondale Handlebar bag to hold essentials, like dog spray and maps and snacks to take care of those ornery fits of low blood sugar I mentioned a few posts ago.

Clothes:
-2 sets of shorts: one bib, one normal
-1 pair long bib pants
-1 pair bike tights
-3 Jerseys
-2 T-shirts
-Smart Wool lightweight base layer, shirt and pants
-1 pair zip-off quick-dry hiking-type pants
-1 pair rain pants
-1 rain jacket
-1 warm jacket
- 3 pairs of socks
-1 pair Tevas
-1 hat
-2 pairs of gloves- one warm set, one short-fingered cool set.
-glasses to protect my purdy eyes

Toiletries-meh, don't need to list these. It's the usual stuff, only smaller
-Ok, changed my mind. I'm listing the most important ones, as in DON'T FORGET THESE!!
-Sunscreen
-chapstick
-And MOST importantly, Butt'r, to fight the chaffe and reduce the number of times I complain about it- See, this is really for your benefit! (not really).

Camping:
-MSR Hubba Hubba Tent
-Thermarest
-20 Degree down sleeping bag
-MSR Whisperlite International camping stove
-MSR 22 ounce fuel bottle
-MSR Titanium Cookset
-Mammut head lamp
-Small cup for elixir of life in the morning
-Camping spork
-Tarp, to cover my beautiful new machine

Communication/Entertainment:
-Harmonica
-Journal and pen
-iPhone for blog posting/keeping in touch
-Small Am/Fm radio to check weather and local flavor
-book, cuz I kin reed good
-iPod for motivation over large hills and long days

Things for fixing broken things:
-I am taking a very minimal tool and parts kit in hopes that a) things don't break since its a brand new bike and b) if they do, duct tape can fix it until I can find a bike shop to do it up proper.
-2 26" spare tubes
-1 26" spare tire
- 1 patch kit
- 2 spare sets of brake pads
- spare spokes
- spare screws to replace the ones that rattle and fall out, never to be seen again except on milk cartons
- chain lube
-duct tape
-Park super intense multi-tool

Food:
I haven't really thought this one out too much. Except for breakfast, I figure I'll be eating out a lot because it's so much easier but here are some things I've thought of for snacks and breaky:
-Peanut butter. Holy cow, so awesome. Loaded with calories and super delicious
-clif bars and Luna bars. Yuck, I hate them, but they're pretty awesome for stuff like this.
-Oatmeal, oh yeah.
-Classy Ramen, the kind with no MSG.
-Bananas
-Gorp
-Mmmm, tea
-Cytomax, I think that's what it's called. The powdery stuff that lets you cheat and not get as tired.
-And anything else dense with calories. I'm open to suggestions.

Alright, I won't bore you with details any longer. The powder is falling from the sky and that means snowboarding tomorrow is going to be killer. But I am getting really excited for this trip, too. Are you?

Take care. Next post will be from the road!!

Cheers!
Jess