Trek Cronus Ultimate carbon frame
Whiskey carbon wheels / DT 240 hubs
Ultegra 34x50 crank and front der
Shimano 105 shifter
XT rear derailleur
Sram 12x32 cassette
Bontrager race lite handlebar, RXL stem, carbon seatpost
Time ATAC pedals
WTB Happy medium 40mm tires
AVID shorty brakes
And of course a full compliment of Revelelate Designs Frame bags.
Nice. Can't believe how the bikepacking / adventure touring thing is taking off. New bikes makers I've never even heard of. Makes me happy to see so many Revelate Designs bags, drop bars, aerobars because noone has thought of something better for the bivy roll, fork mounted wb cages, disc brakes, no racks.
Drivetrains all over the place, single speed, internal hubs, belt drive, traditional mountain drivetrains.
From the September 13th to the 23rd myself and two other fine riders from the local bike club here in Toledo Ohio went out west purely based on one members goal of riding 100 miles or more in four states in his goal to ride at least 100 miles in every state. It was the sort of nobel idea I love.
The above pic was taken as we road out of Roosevelt National Grasslands park North into SE North Dakota. It was one of the most remote sections of our ride.
No paved roads. No cellular reception. No towns. Barely an odd farmstead at which to get water for 60 miles. Endless heavily washboarded gravel roads, endless headwinds, stark beauty, thousands of cows and a few grouse. We traveled through some beautiful badlands and crossed the Little Missouri River on a concrete wash bridge.
We ran into five people the whole day and stopped to chat with all of them. The most common greeting was "are you lost" and in a manner of speaking we were. We had no maps, no GPS, only a sense of direction and a nose for adventure. It worked out well as that evening we ran into our first and only bonafide trail angel of the trip in Golva North Dakota. I have a nice Golva Saloon beer cozy to remind me.
Though camping was available our trail angel offered to put us up in the town's recreation hall with carpeting, heat, a kitchen and bathrooms. She then offered to cook us a pizza at the local saloon which was closed, brought us eggs from her neighbor and some fresh tomatos from her garden.
Heaven sent after a long day of tough riding.
More pics to follow in the comming days / weeks.
Roman Dial's video from his trip with Mike Curiak, Doom "Steve" Fassbinder, Eric Parsons and Dylan Kentch bikepacking and packrafting down Alaska's lost coast from Yakutat to Glacier Bay in June 2011. It must be a really good trip because many of these guys have done it more then once.
By at least one new pair for your next tour or bikepacking trip and I guarantee you'll end up wearing them the entire trip taking them off only to wash them.
I came to this conclusion after riding the skyline and blue ridge parkway last January but somehow forgot the lesson while biking the NCT (north country trail) in Michigan the last couple weeks. It has been unseasonably cold and very wet.
Disclaimer: I am not a Smartwool rep, nor do I even sell them. I just love their socks.
