Bike

Cannondale Six Carbon 5 bike

Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheels

Continental Grand Prix 4-Season tires (but considering a Marathon)

True Goo Road PV48 self-sealing tubes

Genius 5 Pro Carbon shoes by Sidi

Keo Classic pedals by Look Cycle

Luggage

Most discussion on the logistics of luggage on a self-contained ride revolve around either 1) panniers or 2) trailers. However, since every other trip I've ever gone on has entailed carrying a heavy pack, that's what I intend to do on this bike ride; although I'll try to minimize the heaviness of it.

Backpack - Osprey is the maker of the finest packs the world over and I'll be carrying their Atoms 35. I'll have an assortment of smaller containers on the bike - a saddle bag and one or two small top-tube bags - but the bulk of the gear will be in this back pack.

Ibera IB-TB1 - The IB-TB1 from Ibera is a front-end top-tube bag that's like a mini-pannier; the rough evivalent of two conjoined IB-TB2's. The material feels very durable and it attaches to the bike via a single velcro strap while the bulk of the bag hangs securely below the top tube. The TB1 comes with a very adequate rain cover. I'll probably stuff some snacks, my phone, nano, headphones and wallet in here. If I can squish in a map without damaging the map, I'll do that too.

Ibera IB-TB2 - The IB-TB2 (also from Ibera, shockingly) sits on top of the top-tube and it can attach to either the front (stem side) or back (seat post side) of the top tube. Three velcro straps (one vertical, two horizontal), while *barely* long enough to wrap around the oddly-shaped carbon frame, do attach it securely - and when attached in the back it doesn't seem to interfere with my legs.

Seat Bag - The plainly named Arkel Seat Bag will have its place under my seat. Tentatively. It hasn't arrived yet, so I haven't had a chance to test it out.

Gadgets

Essential for comfort, communication and navigation, I'll have an assortment of gadgets with me which I will, nevertheless, try to keep to a minimum.

iPhone - The iPhone will be useful for mapping (when I have cell service) and infrequent phone calls. I anticipate turning it on once a day. Additionally, when possible, I'll get weather reports online. The iPhone doesn't exactly take AA's, so I'll bring along the cable for charging it and plug it in whenever the opportunity presents itself. With limited use I anticipate being able to easily go a week without charging it. Probably more. The iPhone will be my means for blogging en-route, although I can't imagine I'm going to have a lot to say. "Packed up the tent. Ate breakfast. Pedaled all day. Set up the tent. Ate dinner. Going to bed now."

Spot Messenger - I'll use the Spot Messenger for sending daily location updates which are magically posted to my blog, whereiscurtis and facebook. This'll serve to keep the folks back home apprised of my incessant pedaling. The Spot Locator runs on AA's, so it'll be easy enough to pick up these as necessary and it might not even be necessary to replace them at all. We'll see.

GPS - The Garmin Oregon 450 will show me the way. It's a pathetic replacement for the venerable 60CSx, which, unfortunately, is quite a bit larger than the Oregon. One day I expect that Garmin will get around to making a GPS as good as its older GPS's. One day. In the mean time, I'll load up the 450 with the NA Street Maps and each day I'll plug in the day's waypoints. With a sixteen hour battery life, two AA's will last me a little over a day. So, I'll probably pick up a pack of AA's every couple of days. Beyond keeping me going in the right direction, the GPS will track daily mileage totals, which I really want to know. The 450 will be mounted to the stem of the bike using Garmin's bike mount.

iPod Nano - Music will come compliments of an iPod Nano. It has sufficient capacity to keep the music interesting for the duration of the trip, and with a built-in FM radio tuner, it might serve as an alternate means of obtaining weather reports. The Nano uses the same charging cable as the iPhone, so there won't be any additional bulk on account of charging.

Camera - I'm thinking about trading in my Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 for the ZS7 which includes marginally better optical zoom, much improved video resolution and a gps. Geotagging the photos is essential if I want to know where they were taken (without having to estimate based on the timestamp). Additionally, the HD video support will obviate my desire to bring along the VholdR ContourHD 1080p, which probably takes superior video, but I'd also end up bringing at least one additional battery, cable and probably a bike mount.

      

Accomodations

I've learned to enjoy walking, running, riding and climbing in the cold and rain. I guess it's a state of mind. But at the end of the day I need to be dry and warm. To that end, if I pull into town and I'm completely drenched and the rain shows no signs of letting up, I'll probably fork out the money for a hotel (assuming one is available). Ignoring for the moment that one dire set of circumstances, the camping gear I've chosen should keep me happy.

Tent - I'm a fan of tents from Black Diamond (they have the *worst* website, but, fortunately, I'm not buying web site design services from them), Mountain Hardware and The North Face. However, Black Diamond has won out with their HiLight tent. It is similar in nature to all of the other tents I considered with the exception that the tent poles are affixed from within the tent instead of outside the tent. In other words, I can setup and take down the tent from within the tent. If the clouds open up as I arrive at camp, I can dive into and zip up the tent and take my time with everything else. At least in theory.

Sleeping Bag - An important contributor to the "dry and warm" thing is the sleeping bag, and I have the Marmot Helium EQ 15F. There are a handful of similar sleeping bags from various manufacturers and this one had the most attractive combination of "features": light weight (2 lbs 6 oz), 850 fill down, and I'd swear that it had a water resistant shell, but I can't find that mentioned anywhere now. A +15F bag is a little extreme for what I anticipate encountering, which isn't always a good thing. Trying to get to sleep in an excessive sleeping bag is nearly impossible. I'll probably end up sleeping on top of it as I approach the West coast.

Mattress - Every bit as essential as a sleeping bag is a good mat and to that end I have an Exped DownMat with an integrated pump. The integrated pump isn't as necessary when you're not at altitude (where it comes in very handy), but these mats are, as the name implies, filled with down and they're also very thick while at the same time being of an acceptable weight. All of that adds up to a reasonable chance that I'll sleep well at night. And if I don't sleep well, the trip is going to suck, so this added weight is essential.

Food

I'm in the great situation of not liking coffee, not particularly caring for tea or various other hot beverages and not requiring hot meals twice a day. Maybe that sounds boring, but it is also really simple. Unlike on a mountain climbing trip, I don't have to consider and obtain all of the necessary supplies in advance. However, I have been jotting down appealing snack food ideas whenever they occur.

If I do decide that the occasional hot meal (outside of a restaurant) is necessary, I'll bring along the JetBoil, but given its size and the limited capacity of the back pack, I give this a 1-in-100 chance of happening.

My diet will be at the mercy of the stocking whims of whatever store I happen to stop at. Igorning that however, I hope to regularly have access to: gu, power bars, candy bars, life savers, wheat thins, bagels, pringles, fig newtons, oreos, mixed nuts, dried fruit, jelly beans, pop tarts and cheese.

If this were a Summer trip along the Southern Tier, I'd probably have to find a way to carry at least two gallons of water with me at times. During the Winter I hope to be able to get by with two 1-liter nalgene bottles in the back pack and two 24-oz water bottles on the bike. I'll likely bring along some iodine tablets in case I have to retrieve water from some sketchy source - not the least of which will be small towns in the middle of nowhere.

Bike Maintenance & Repair

extra: tubes, tires, spokes, tools, pump

Lezyne Pressure Drive mini pump. Lacking sufficient upper-body strength, I can't get more than 80psi out of this pump. I'm keeping my eye open for a pump that somehow employs a lever or something that would increase the mechanical advantage. I want the full 100psi in the tires.

Clothing

shorts, shirts, socks, hat, gloves, jacket, pants, flipflops

Other Gear

bike lock, toiletries, sunscreen, lip balm, helmet, first aid, sunglasses, head lamp, front/rear lights, journal, [partial] bible, pepper spray (?)

The Blaze 2W (two watt) by Planet Bike arrived this afternoon and it is now securely mounted to my particularly fat (31.8mm) handlebars. I was almost immediately kicking myself for not verifying that this light would span that distance, but after removing the included spacer from the strap, it fit with ease. Mounted hanging below the handlebar the light isn't obstructed by the derailleur cable. The light comes ready-to-go, pre-equipped with the requisite 2x AA's, which'll supposedly last for five and twelve hours an the high and low setting, respectively. I've read complaints (observations?) that while the beam is bright, it is too focussed. I'll find out soon enough. Whether this light or another, I plan on placing two of them on the handlebar - perhaps one bright-and-focussed, and the other wide.

Travel

I live relatively close to the Florida end of the ride, so I'll get someone to drive me and my bike to St. Augustine. According to my local bike shop, it is a common occurence to employ a bike shop to pack-and-ship a bike. I'll do some shopping ahead of time and find the right bike shop and the right price. I'll likely have them ship it directly to my bike shop, where I'll have them reassemble and tune it.

I will also pack a box of clothes and other essentials (iPad, laptop?) and leave that at home to be shipped to my hotel in San Diego as I near the end of the ride.