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The mountain biker’s road trip, part 2
Now that you’ve decided where you are going and for how long, you can now move on to the second stage of your journey: trip preparation. Like the planning phase, it’s important to prepare for your trip properly, especially if you want to make the most of the time (and money) that you’re going to be spending while on the road.
Transportation
For our road trips, I always start my preparations by considering the types of transportation that are required. Since this part of the trip can make or break the vacation, I make sure that there is freshly-changed oil in my truck — something I do at least one week beforehand — and that I check tire wear, belt wear, windshield wipers, spare tire air pressure, and all of the other necessary fluids in my vehicle.
I do all of this in advance because if a hose or something is going to blow it will go at the least opportune time. Like when you are just about at the top of a shuttle hill or when you are 100 miles from the nearest town. As well, when you change the oil in your vehicle, you can spot any oil leaks in the gaskets and have them repaired by your mechanic before you have to take a day out of your vacation (and countless amounts of money) to have it fixed on the road.
Now that you have your vehicle covered, if you reread the first paragraph in this section, you’ll notice that I wrote ‘types of transportation’. The other ‘types’, of course, include your primary reason for hitting the road: your bike. Depending on your bike shop, I would give them at least a week to perform a thorough tune-up. Before any major trips, I like to have my brakes bled, wheels trued, and derailleur tweaked — just a good, thorough check over. Again, if you get this done ahead of time you can get your ‘good guy’ deal from your regular shop instead of the undiscounted ‘out of towner’ price from the shop that knows you’ll never see them again.
Emergency supplies
This category should cover road flares, emergency blankets, and tire jacks but I am thinking more about extra bike parts. Whenever Denise and I head out on a road trip, we always take the following:
- Tools. You can fit most of the tools you need to keep your bike running in a small tool box.
- Spare brake pads. There’s nothing work than the sound of metal on metal when you’re flying down a steep descent in the middle of nowhere.
- Spare derailleurs. You never know what kind of rock or twig is going to reach up and kill your beloved derailleur.
- Shifter cables and housing. If it’s muddy, it’s often easier to change your entire cable system than messing around with dirty cables and clogged housing.
- Hydraulic line for your brakes and brake fluid. Make sure you know how to bleed your brakes and bring the proper bleeding equipment to perform the deed.
- Spare spokes.
- 5 spare tubes.
Now you may be thinking, “That’s a couple hundred bucks you idiot!” To which I would reply, “Sure, if you pay for all of the stuff.” On my very first mountain bike road trip I was so excited that I was always at the shop talking about it. The shop owner made me a deal that went something like this: I had to make a list of what I wanted to take and he would give it to me at no charge. When I returned from my trip I would pay only for what I used and return the rest of the items (Greg’s Life Lesson #1272. Friendship and Loyalty have their privileges — create a good relationship with your local shop and it will pay dividends in the future). The same bike shop stocks pretty much everything I break on a regular basis and I usually leave on a road trip with pretty much every bike part imaginable excluding frame and forks.
Note: Make sure your entire group packs spare parts so that your ride doesn’t get ruined after you lend all of your spares to your buddy.
Packing
Your planned accommodations dictate how you have to pack. If you are camping, it’s important to pack for the weather that you expect to encounter before and after your days of riding. Make sure you have all of the necessary camping gear so that you don’t end up sleeping inside your vehicle with three other people.
When it comes to packing gear, I always remind myself how much I like to ride in the driest and cleanest clothes possible. By packing a couple pairs of shoes and armor I can let one dry and ‘freshen up’ while I wear nice comfortable dry ones. Aside from this — and I cannot stress enough — if you are taking a digital camera with you, bring along your notebook computer or, when you are researching, find the location of the nearest internet café so you can clear your camera’s memory card daily. It may just be me but I can fill a memory card pretty quick when out on a road trip.
Closing thoughts
It is always my objective to keep costs on my road trips within a pre-determined budget. To stay inside these limits I think about the stuff that can put a ‘flat spot’ on my trip and make appropriate preparations to reduce the chances of big, unwanted expenses. The road trip is a time for me to enjoy the moment and not for me to pay Mr. Plumberbutt to fix my truck. Proper preparation helps me avoid these extra costs and, if I want to spend a bit of extra cash on my trip, I can spend it on things at that local shop I was so wary about above.
Next week, I’ll write about the actual trip and suggest a few things that will help you get the most out of your time on the trails.
Unil then, Greg. OUT!!!
Freeride Dawgs: Offering mountain bike tours and skills coaching in Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, and the rest of British Columbia
1. Posted by Week 3 » The Biking Hub | 4:50 am, 27 January 2006
[…] I started the week with a brief review of the Race Face Garda gloves. My writeup was followed by a couple of detailed entries by Ashwin that discussed specific strategies for trimming weight from your bike. The second part of Greg’s road trip planning series went online Wednesday, and Dan presented five dreamy cross country rides the next day. Today, I humbled myself by talking about some of the worst crashes that I’ve had on a bike. […]