I got baked proper ascending The Gap
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48445798231_fc715b5f3a_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48445798231_fc715b5f3a_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2gNZnZi ]Cribyn[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/martinddd/ ]martinddd[/url], on Flickr
On the descent, my troublesome small seat pack finally wore through. My small frame & 29+ tyres clearly didn’t offer enough tyre clearance. I took most of the kit out & put it into my bum bag (I should have done this days ago) and carried on the descent without any more dreaded tyre rub. A rear rack is the solution I think, but ones for 3” tyres are hard to come by & pricey.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48445952307_b0c6056db6_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48445952307_b0c6056db6_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2gP1aMM ]Pontsticill reservoir.[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/martinddd/ ]martinddd[/url], on Flickr
The section after the work of art that is Pontsticill reservoir, was bizarre, an old quarry, set high up, huge, disused & a bit earie. A perfect rave spot.
The more westwards I got the opportunity for camping out high diminished, I though I’d just keep riding and sleep rough somewhere when tired, I kept going and made it home at 02:30.
Garmin says:
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48445955102_558b683f16_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48445955102_558b683f16_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2gP1bBY ]Final Count[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/martinddd/ ]martinddd[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48445955447_7c75119399_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48445955447_7c75119399_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2gP1bHV ]29" x 3"[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/martinddd/ ]martinddd[/url], on Flickr
Daily Stats:
Day1: 103 miles / 10222’ / 11h44m
Day2: 56 miles / 6293’ / 8h32m
Day3: 60 miles / 8142’ / 9h33m
Day4: 64 miles / 8309’ / 9h03m
Day5: 120miles / 10330’ / 14h19
Total: 403miles / 43296’
Washes: 1
Final thoughts:
All in a fantastic baptism into the world of bike packing, I enjoyed the weather, I didn’t mind the rain but if it was solid I’d have reassessed my options. The 29”x3” tyres rolled really well if I could keep it on the 34t chainring, but with my little engine as the powerhouse any incline of gradient or length meant dropping into granny & winching. Those huge tyres are dead comfy, and technical ascending like the Gap, and smoothing out rough fire road rocks was their strong point. Thank god for tubeless as all that gorse would have been so much worse. I wasn’t keen on the tent, a bit faffy to set up right & a low ceiling overhead, I might sell it on & try another. My 3 season bag was too warm, but I could only buy one & I made my choice. My poor Porcelain Rocket seat pack despite setting off with an anti sag Voile strap it just didn’t have the space it needed on the rough stuff, it cost me a lot of time faffing with it, its now a bit holey, definitely a rack needed for next time. On One Geoff bars were fantastic, I loved the multitude of hand positions & the ability to just strap a dry bag to their underside without the need for a harness. My arse suffered badly, it took 3 days to figure I needed my saddle further forwards, but by then the damage was done, thank god for Charlies bum butter is all I can say. I’m rather amazed my legs did what they did, I wonder what else they can do, but I think in these things its equally about mind. Voile straps are simply fantastic. I faffed a LOT, but that’s ok. My bike weighed a lot, a lot of fire road gates were locked and needed the bike lifting over them, it was a feat to do it especially as some are rather high. The Krampus took the whole added weight in its stride, it didn’t bat an eyelid, i’d like to take it unladen to the Lakes / Gap and try it there. If I were to do similar again I may look at 2.5 / 2.6 tyres, maybe. Really happy with my clothing purchased beforehand, they worked a treat. I absolutely loved the remote areas, particularly when up high & loved seeing the trail disappear on wards & upwards. I loved the simplicity of the daily challenge of just riding, navigating, eating, searching for camp spots. I like those big open spaces.
I got home at 02:30, I was still buzzing the next day until about 16:00 when fatigue hit me, more food sorted that (and beer), I’m having a few days resting now & allowing my butt chafing to recover.
Wagon Wheels are great.
Enjoyed that. Good write-up. And an epic adventure first time solo.
Awesome stuff. Thanks for the write up.
Excellent write up, well done.
Cheers for posting all that. I enjoyed reading it.
Well done dude, glad you enjoyed.
Cool trip! Enjoyed reAding that
Amazing stuff
Rather jealous tbh!
Good effort! I enjoyed that. I’m planning four days in that part of the world next week if it all comes together.
Would one of the Alpkit seat packs and their Exo-rail, or whatever it’s called, solve your issue?
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/my-first-bike-packing-trip-write-up-pics-part-1/
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/my-first-bike-packing-trip-write-up-pics-part-2a/
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/my-first-bike-packing-trip-write-up-pics-part-2b/
Thanks for taking the time to write up and post your pics. I thought I'd post up the links to the other parts in case that helps anyone find them.
I like your philosophy of treating it as an experiment rather than viewing start and end points as absolutes.
Cheezpleez - I'll take a look, but doubtful, I only have 15cm from saddle rail to tyre.
RogerMelle - the quote was taken from the late Mike Hall & it served me well.
Nice one. Good read.
Chapeau.
Enjoyed reading through the blogs and makes me think about doing something like that myself one day.
Nice one.
S