As you read this, I am preparing to leave. Going “on the road.”
I’ve taken a lot of road trips. A fair number of them have been involved with carrying a bike somewhere else to ride it. While that is not the stated, or prime purpose of this particular trip, it is something I am doing. I’m traveling, and I have a bike with me. The bike will be ridden… extensively. But there will be other “fun and games” activities.
One of the more interesting aspects of traveling at this time of year is packing. One never knows just what to pack for. Mid-Fall on the Eastern Seaboard, the weather is being run by the Practical Joke Department. In other words, “Go ahead and put your request in, but be prepared for what you get.” It may be warm or cold, sunny or raining, or any combination of all of the above. So prudence dictates packing for anything. To make matters a bit worse, the traveling cyclist must pack for two! Yup, I said two. It’s as if we were two people. One of us is the athlete, and needs the specific gear to deal with all conditions. The other is the touring civilian, and needs “street clothing” appropriate to the full range of seasonal contortions.
Packing for the Bike: Yes, it’s necessary to pack for your ride too. Of course one prepares the bike for the trip. Tune it up, dial it in, get everything lubricated. But then we have to pause and think, am I carrying the necessary and appropriate tools and spares. Sure, the traveling cyclist can rely on local bike shops to fill in the gaps. They will have chain lube, and the most common spares, such as tubes, cables, chains, computers, bar-tape, etc.
But I see this in the shop all the time. Someone comes in. They are on a vacation in our fair part of the world. Something broke. I want to get them fixed and happy. If it’s possible, I will. But…! I am not going to have the special left-handed jim-jam that was only featured the seven bikes that Rufus Doofus hand built in March of 1992. The lesson? If it’s fairly unique, and it can stop you, you must stock it. Go ahead and pack it.
It might just be a good idea to know how to replace/install it too. Bike shop mechanics are an amazingly creative, inventive, and knowledgeable breed. But there are limits. Consider two cases 1) NASA just invented it, and the documentation hasn’t even been written yet. 2) It’s the proprietary push-rod shifter from your 1908 Dursley-Pedderson. Either of those cases(or anything remotely resembling them) just might be outside the experience and range of a local shop in East-Nowhere-At-All.
Fly or Drive?
Needless to say, packing for all of these eventualities requires space and lifting capacity. Trying to do so when one plans to take airlines to the destination is close to the definition of insanity. So the decision has to be made. If one is flying, does one really want to attempt to pack the one-of-a-kind WonderBike? Probably not. If flying, I try to pack dual purpose clothing, and plan to rent, or borrow a suitable bike at the destination.
I long ago worked out an equation for determining whether to fly or drive. Two factors are significant: 1) Distance to destination. 2) Duration of stay. For my upcoming trip, the fly/drive equation yielded a definite drive as an answer. So I’ve made my checklists. I’ve selected the appropriate equipment. I have my heavy lifter all loaded up. I’m going out on the road!
See you soon.
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