Quick training update and Tour Divide Gear Preview - Bike and Bags

Things have been less than active here lately. Apologies, there's plenty to write about but not a lot of time to write about it. Getting prepared for the 2015 Tour Divide is taking up most of my time outside of work, which has left me a bit of time for my family and even less time to write. Honestly, reading about the prep would bore most people. Figure 18 - 25 hours on the bike per week, with some weeks being more. I started adding in 24 - 48 hour riding/camping trips last fall and this spring as long as the temps were in the upper 20s or higher. Winter involved a lot of trainer time doing intervals of various intensities and lengths, with an eye on strength and endurance. This meant a lot of big ring, high power/low RPM stuff on a road bike to simulate climbs or riding into headwinds. If you want the boring details, friend me on Strava and you can see every workout/ride I've been doing for the last 18 months. I'd be happy to discuss if anyone is really interested.

I am going to write up a series of short posts describing my bike and equipment over the remaining few weeks before the race. Everything is pretty much sorted now, other than some minor things. Today I'm going to start off with my bike and bags.

Bike - 2014 Salsa Fargo (size L) w following modifications

• Stages X9 power meter crankarm
• SRAM 39/26 chain rings
• Ashima 180mm front/rear rotors
• Avid Sintered metal brake pads
• Salsa Regulator Ti seatpost w 25mm offset
• Brooks Cambium C17 carved seat
• Specialized Roval Control SL 29 carbon rims
• Continental Race King 2.2 tires (tubeless)
• SP PD8-X dyno hub
• Profile aero bars

This is pretty much a classic Tour Divide rig any more. I had a lot of miles on both a Gen 1 and a Gen 2 steel Fargo and found it to be a really comfortable, stable bike. TD was a good excuse to upgrade to the Ti model. A week riding the GDMBR in late July led me to adjust the rings down from the stock 40/28 pairing. It will force me to spin and give me a lower low, which I wanted at the end of the week. The Stages crank arm was bought mainly for training purposes, but being able to glance down at my power on occasion will help me more accurately regulate my pedaling effort during the race. The larger rotors are a bit of insurance for descents, with both them and the pads being utilized for less fade and better wear in bad conditions. 

The Regulator post and Brooks saddle are there for additional comfort and because they can take a beating. I love the independent adjustments for the seat angle and fore/aft on the Regulator. It's made getting the seat dialed in a lot easier. The Cambium is the 4th saddle I've had on this bike and it's finally one that doesn't cause any chafing or other issues on my backside. I went with it over a traditional leather Brooks for durability in wet/muddy conditions. 

I've had the Roval rims for well over 2 years now, but they were purchased with the race in mind. The Race King tires roll fairly fast and set up tubeless easily. I went with the Black Chili Compound and ProTection casing options. The SP hub is one of only two thru-axle dyno hubs on the market right now. It's almost half the price of the Schmidt and has proven itself to be mostly durable. The first hub I purchased was sent back for replacement under warranty after it quit putting out the appropriate amount of power. I was told that some of the first hubs had some issues, which is what I hope was the cause of the issue. The Profile aero bars are a must for any distance event IMO. They allow me to stretch my back, get some weight off of my hands, as well as give me a few more places to mount lights, etc. 

Bags

• Porcelain Rocket cuben fiber frame bag
• Porcelain Rocket Mr. Fusion cuben fiber seat bag
• Porcelain Rocket MCA handlebar system w cuben pouch
• Revelate Designs Feedbags (x 2)
• Revelate Designs Jerry Can
• Blackburn Design Outpost top tube bag
• Adventure Cycling map case
• Aloksaks

I've been buying bags from Scott at Porcelain Rocket since I first started getting into the bikepacking thing a few years ago. He will do fully custom bags and has taken a lot of cool trips himself, so he has good ideas on what works and what doesn't. I went with cuben to save a few ounces and because I like the way it looks. The frame bag has a vertical pocket along the seat tube that was originally going to hold a bladder. After living with it for a week on the GDMBR in July, I decided to move the bladder to the main pocket and use the vertical pocket to hold tubes, rags, my water filter, and other smaller, less frequently accessed items. The full length slender pocket on the right hand side holds anything small or flat (maps, pump, wallet/phone, etc)

I upgraded from my stock PR Booster Rocket seatpack to the Mr. Fusion so that I could quickly remove my gear from the bike and put it back again in the morning. My seat bag has most of my on and off bike clothing in it. Being able to quickly throw the entire bag into the bivy in case of bad weather was important to me. Being able to put it back on the bike without fighting seat mounting straps was just as important. I've been super happy with this decision as it has taken a decent amount of frustration out of camp prep and packing.

I had been using an older Revelate sling for quite a while, and while it worked, there were a number of things about it that made it a pain to use on my setup, mostly having to do with the strap locations and their stability. I sent Scott some photos of my cockpit area, marked up with some measurements and he custom sewed a MCA system just for me. The straps are a lot easier to tighten down since they don't interfere with the aero bars, and they don't slip. The front pocket has some extra loops on the outside and a divider on the inside, so I can quickly find my spot tracker or some pop tarts among all of the cliff bars and other food I keep in there. The MCA is home to an Outdoor Research 13L Event compression drybag that holds my sleeping system. I've been really happy with the MCA thus far. Everything sits solidly in place and the straps don't slip.

With the feedbags, one is currently tasked with holding charger cables, an external cache battery, my charging circuit and spare batteries. I'll go into the whole electronics/lighting thing in another post. The second bag is currently empty but has been used to hold a bluetooth speaker, food, trash, bottles of soda, and beer. The small mesh pockets on the outside hold bug spray, sunscreen, electrolyte drops, etc.

The Jerry Can is a good portion of my tool box. It holds a lot more stuff than I originally thought it would. Some of that is due to design and some of it is due to good packing skills. The Blackburn Outpost bag was purchased as a replacement for my Revelate Gas Can. It has a mesh pocket on top, and a couple of extra pockets on the outside. I haven't had any ride time with it yet, but that will be taken care of soon. Right now, this bag is mainly home to my camera. I'm not sure what I will put in the smaller side pockets, but I'm sure I will find something. The map case will be home to my cue sheets (if I decide to use them), along with some note sheets regarding resupply points, etc. The Aloksaks will be used to keep my phone, wallet, passport, and some other items dry when they are being stored. 

Feel free to ask questions in the comments section and I'll do my best to reply.