Bicycle Touring

**mtndragon** · 05-28-2011, 21:41

Eric indeed made the bag. I sent a deposit in November, and got my bag in March, although I delayed sending him the tracing, so that increased lag time a bunch. Revelate has been getting a bit of press lately, and I think he is getting buried in requests for custom bags.

As soon as I received my bag from him, I got in the queue for another bag for my mountain bike because, well, his stuff is just that good. I had really high expectations going into the whole Relevate frame bag thing, and I can say his product significantly exceeded my expectations. Revelate, like Warbonnet, is one of those cottage products that just absolutely rock in every way. It never leaves my bike, and it has really made my bicycle much more functional.

In short, it will be worth the wait.

**MedicineMan** · 05-28-2011, 21:43

I don't mind waiting except for carrying the excess metal but the minimalists racks aren't that bad in the mean time. I'm hoping Salsa (or anyone for that matter) puts some minimalists out in Ti.

**FalconRider** · 06-21-2011, 05:55

Just got back from a 6 day bicycle ride from Pittsburgh to Cornwall, PA via the GAP, C&O, and of course, highways. Happy to report that I successfully camped with my Hennessey every night. Medicine Man, I believe you were asking me to post where we camped. We stayed on the trail four nights: Roundbottom primitive campsite, Husky Haven (private campground in Rockwood, PA, $10/person), then two primitive sites on the C&O. Our final night was in the back yard of someone who offered it up when we couldn't find a campsite/motel in Central PA.

**Crash** · 07-24-2011, 13:59

Last year when I retired, I dug out my mtn. bike (Raleigh) and 30 yr old panniers (Cannondales- hardly used). I rode and camped along the Greenbrier river Trail & the C&O Canal trail. Biking & hammocking go perfect together cause sometimes you never know where you are going to stop for the night.
And sitting on a bike all day my back needs a real rest. The comfort of a hammock makes the ride so much nicer. One real hot day I set my hammock up for an afternoon snooze to recover. Easier than a tent and mattress setup.

**Crash** · 07-24-2011, 14:11

I'm heading back out to the Greenbrier River trail the first week of August. The trail is great for the many campsites, privies, and water pumps they have. We may then ride the West Fork Trail nearby.

I put a rack on the front of the mtn. bike with a small bag to hold food & drinks. The front suspension rack was $16 @ the bike shop. The sleep bag is in a waterproof bag on top of the rear rack. The H-hammock takes up less room on the bike than a tent & mattress.

The Ortleibs are on my wish list - bigger capacity & waterproof.

**Lost_Biker** · 07-24-2011, 17:22

All I've had for the last 7 years is a bicycle. I now have a van for doing my work, but the bike is my preferred form of transportation. First pic (left) is from 10 years ago going across America and the second (right) is my more modern steel steed going across America again last year. I love cycle touring.

**mtndragon** · 07-24-2011, 18:20

Here are a couple of pics from my trip this week. I think I will be able to make 3 day trips with this load; I was very happy with how it pedaled up hill and the hammock sure makes the camp part of touring nice.

**myles to go** · 07-24-2011, 19:47

This is the setup I used for a trip this weekend with my son, I carried all the gear so he could go light. Nothing fancy but it got us out there

**hutzelbein** · 07-25-2011, 06:07

I'm touring as well. Did ~9 weeks on North Island, New Zealand this year on a steel bike I built up myself.

I'm curious: when you guys cycle tour, do you only take a hammock? If you do, do you use camp sites? If so, where do you leave your panniers and stuff? Especially when you stay longer in one place, and maybe do daytrips where you don't want to take all of your stuff?

I took a hammock and a tarptent on my tour, and I was happy I did. I was able to hang far more often than I had anticipated, but I always set up my tent as well, as a place to keep my stuff. My motto is: out of sight is out of mind. The camp sites often were quite busy; travelling by bicycle attracts attention; using a hammock attracts even more attention - people stroll by an oogle, and I think I would have been worried had I left my panniers under my tarp - easy to see and casually take for everybody who comes along. I know, I know, a tent is not the most secure place, either. But I think the threshold to take something out of a closed tent is a lot higher.

Anybody ever got anything stolen from under the tarp?