| By Dave, on January 30, 2010, 11:41 am Having mixed feelings about this page, but worth a shot. After all the saving and budgeting that has been performed, there is always deficiencies, and an opportunity to travel that much further. I’m employing the use of Advertisements on the site, which means that if you click some of them, and purchase from the websites in question, I will be able to gain commission that will aid in keeping me on the road. .Purchasing the books linked through this site on Amazon will also provide small amounts of income to further this trip. Of course there is always money – I have a PayPal account that is setup to take donations – all you need to do is simply click the PayPal button below. Any amount is appreciated, and I will thank all donators on this website, unless you wish to remain private. Now, it doesn’t stop there. Donations of Web server space is also appreciated, as hosting costs tend to get rather high to host a site like this with all the images. Nothing will be turned down. If you are a manufacturer, and interested in having real world tests done on your equipment with reviews posted afterwords, please contact me using the Contact page, and I can arrange a drop off location. Reviews will be unbiased, and will focus on value, quality of build, aesthetics, and usefulness. Gear will eventually wear out as well, so if you’d like to sponsor by replacing the worn out gear as it goes there would be no opposition. While wearing a sign may not be the most appropriate sponsorship idea while traveling, the website traffic should suffice for readership. Thanks in advance – Dave By Dave, on January 24, 2010, 6:07 pm Stanley Park, 74 Alexander St, Vancouver, BC V6H, Canada I’ve previously blogged about my concerns on riding solo around the world, and my fears still remain. There are lots of positives to riding solo – Your own pace, Your own route etc. while at the same time there are a similar amount of negatives – Inability to carry as much gear, No one to bounce ideas off of, lack of companionship, group memory building. Nervous anticipation of not being able to release any emotions or feelings to anyone may in fact do me some real damage in my head. It is a pessimistic way of looking at things, and I suppose those feelings will only change when the trip actually starts. Many friends have expressed interest in coming along for a short period of time. Most cannot imagine a long term bicycle journey, based on existing committments, or just the lack of desire to commit for an extended period of time, so I have been tossing around ideas on how you, my friends and family can come and join along. First – Location. You’d need to pick a place where you’d want to meet up, and for how long. With ample notice, I can arrange to be in a specific region of a country or continent. We’d work together to find a mutual agreeable time. This is the easy part. You can get an idea of where I’m planning on being from this post. Second – Equipment. It’s a no-brainer that you should have a bike that fits you and can carry at the very least a rear set of panniers and a trunk bag. I’ve got the majority of equipment already to do regular living – However, you’d be required to bring a few dishes, a sleeping bag, and your own tent. Sorry, but if you ain’t my lover, we ain’t sharin tents! Check out my Equipment page to understand what I’m bringing, and Third – Training. I’m not asking you to be able to do 100km days, but I would expect that you’ve done a reasonable amount of riding on your bike, with it loaded of equipment enough so that you understand the dynamics of your bicycle, and how to effectively manage conditions in rain, going up hills, and understand basic maintenance. I’ll only have enough spare parts for myself, but you can get away with a minimal set of equipment and most usually rely on bike shops wherever we travel. If your butt still hurts when you ride a bike, ride more before coming. On a budget end of things, you’d need to have enough money to survive on the road, deal with airfares, and purchases of equipment. This can be had for very reasonable costs. If interest is out there, I can help introduce various people together, and start organizing a communal purchase of equipment, which can be passed onto each other for a fee so that everyone gets to benefit. I’d really like to see a lot of you beside me on this ride to break the monotony and to reconnect. Think about making it happen and let’s do this! By Dave, on January 20, 2010, 10:22 pm Stanley Park, 74 Alexander St, Vancouver, BC V6H, Canada Things are accelerating rather quickly, I’m on the last week of tenancy of my apartment – and also the last week of employment. Big changes coming up in the rather near future. Lots of doors closing in a fairly sequential order leading into traditionally my worst month mentally, usually involving with me becoming hospitalized/sick. To say I’ve got some fear, would be the most truthful comment on this blog all year. I’ve unfortunately had to close another door in my life which changes the course of my direction in life drastically. Not by choice, but by following orders. My N in the INTP which stands for intuition is constantly battling the T thinking aspect putting things on a nice loop, while my perception is dealing with what I’m hearing and seeing with my eyes. Woo. Time to click my feet into the pedals and make a plan. I’m trying to figure out, based on weather, how the most efficient course of travel will be, and to support some of my other desires for 2010. Last week of March will see me go, rain or shine. Up in the air if I will go all the way up to Whitehorse, or if I will stop in Prince Rupert instead. I want to have the change to go into every province and territory, however weather may not work well in my favor for this. There’s also the issue of hungry grizzly bears. I have commitments to meet someone in North Dakota in early July, to relax at a cabin, and find the ever elusive Bacon Lake in the process. I’ll also be celebrating by 32nd birthday around that time and figure that I should spend it comfortably in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where I spent 7 years of my life and want to reconnect and say bye to them yet again for an unknown amount of time. It’s also a great time for me to park my bike, and visit my left-coast friends on Vancouver Island for the Soundwave Music Festival. A 3 day festival in a beautiful beach setting with solid people, and a lot of memories and laughs sounds like a wonderful way to take a break for a bit. Once back in Manitoba, I’ll say my goodbyes and start notifying my friends in Toronto/Ottawa Ontario that I’ll be in their neck of the woods within the next 3-4 weeks. I’ll be taking the non traditional route across Ontario, where as some cyclists choose to ride through parts of the USA. That would be cheating. Once there, it’s another opportunity to park my gear with trusted friends and hop on yet another plane. This time to Nevada, to go to the Burningman Festival. It’s been 5 years since I’ve last been, and this year seems to be the one where the majority of my close friends are heading down, and well.. hey, why not. September and October are moderately good weather in the East Coast, getting me all the way to St. Johns, Newfoundland. I’m going to likely have to circle back to get out of there, and make the decision of where to go next. Europe seems out of the question, as their weather isn’t much better than some of Canada’s, so the logical choice would be to Cape Town, South Africa. It’ll be hot, but I’ll be able to stay away from snow. I’ve been tossing the Africa idea around in my head for approximately 2 months now and wanted to go about it a different route than most. I’ve had difficulties trying to find other cyclists taking a similar route, as most go down the east side, however this cyclist, Peter Gostelow who blogs at http://www.thebigafricacycle.com apparently is going that way, making me certain that it is possible. We’re into late Spring of 2011 by the time I would reach Spain, and head over to Ireland by plane. The east coast has always interested me, so heading north, before hopping into a short stay in England before taking in Scotland seems reasonable. Norway and Denmark apparently have wonderful cycle routes not to mention the Right to Roam. The rest of the summer should be spent in Europe, checking out some of the festivals, seeing the sites in the summer, before heading South again to deal with the cold. The two at Going Slowly seem to have the right idea, hanging out in Northern Africa in December and January. The world’s not going to blow up in 2012, which gives an excellent opportunity through the ‘axis of evil’ before heading through the ‘stan’s finally getting to one of the countries I’m strangely looking forward to – Mongolia. Really out of any of the ideas I’ve ever had, the plan was to ride a bike, and to get to Mongolia before September. Of course it’s possible. Likely the best course of action is down and keep going all the way to Indonesia, and figure out how to get to Australia. After visiting some friends it seems more reasonable to do the New Zealand thing for a bit, before heading back over to South Asia finally pedalling into India. India’s a great source of international flights, and be an excellent springboard to send me over to Argentina. Eventually going north will get me back into Mexico, putting me at the border again. Ideally it would be wonderful to fly over to Inuvik and ride the Dempster highway, before taking a ferry back to Vancouver. This is a pretty realistic route and approach to this all, considering I have no plan. The timings fall in sync with weather schedules and it seems very do-able with the funds saved up. Of course this could be done in phases later on in life if I decide to stop, but who knows – I can’t see past tommorrow at this stage in my life, let alone plan where I’m going to be in 3 years. By Dave, on January 8, 2010, 3:33 pm Stanley Park, 74 Alexander St, Vancouver, BC V6H, Canada Fine, I’ll admit it. I’m nothing without a cup of coffee in the morning. For that matter, some days it’s two or three to get me by based on my energy levels. Caffeine just seems to fit into my regular daily pattern of requirements. Hey, everyone’s got a vice right? The quest for a perfect cup of coffee on the trail, or while bicycle touring is a pretty important deal for me. Paying upwards of $3 or more for a cup at a retail store does have its benefits (free wi-fi access, ability to strike up conversations to other customers) but when traveling on a budget, it’s best to do it yourself. After a few failed attempts and products I stumbled on the Big Sky Bistro in hopes of finding the elusive best cup of coffee. It’s an all in one approach to the classic coffee mug that has a press integrated to cut down on additional components required to get that fix. At 205 grams, its fairly lightweight and has a capacity of holding 16oz / 470ml of liquids.  Operation of the device is simple. Remove the Cap/Press Device, and put a scoop of coffee in the bottom, and fill the unit with hot water. Next replace the lid and press the handle down a small amount to allow the coffee to steep for a few minutes. Finally, depress the plunger knob all the way to the bottom and you are ready to enjoy your coffee. Couldn’t get any easier.
There is a small sip hole, and I didn’t notice any issues with the plunger knob hitting my face while drinking. The is big enough for your hands to fit through even wearing gloves, however it is so thick I’m unable to get a standard Biner or Clip to attach to it, which limits my portability options. It also is too big to fit in any car holder for those of you wanting to use it on the office. In fact, after I realized this and it was unsafe to drive with it in my lap, I had to empty out all the tasty goodness inside! Visually, my personal taste says it’s the ugliest looking print to ever have on a coffee cup, and I fully intend on covering it up with stickers, however the plunger components look sharp with their Stainless Steel post and Mesh filter. The filter is surrounded by plastic, which gives me a bit of unease with durability concerns, based on a friends experience with a GSI coffee press, that repeatedly snapped. I am able to keep the coffee warm enough (i.e. drinkable) for a good hour and 15 minutes indoors which definitely proves the mug has insulation. Because the inside is so wide you can easily clean this mug with brushes, and I’ve even thrown it into the Dishwasher. It is unknown if this mug contains any BPA and poses any safety risks from leeching this organic compound from the plastic. All in all, I think this product is a win. It’s large bulky size does make limit its applications, and I’m going to have to rethink how to attach it to my panniers/trunk bag, but it’s flexibility to utilize for coffee, teas, yerba mate with its included press allowing you to get the full flavour of your intended drink is second to none. Finally, I can enjoy a good strong cup of coffee. You can pick up this unit at Amazon.com, or Mountain Equipment Co-Op. By Dave, on January 7, 2010, 8:10 pm Stanley Park, 74 Alexander St, Vancouver, BC V6H, Canada The new year has brought change, of a magnitude that I never even dreamed of making me feel like I am in a pinball game, being jostled around from the bumpers, not knowing if I should continue to keep hitting the bumpers for the high score, or just let gravity decide and go into the gutter. I’ve been spending my new found spare time with cleaning, packing to leave this place, and going through the touring gear, re-evaluating how I could do things better (more on this later) and more efficiently. I’m a problem solver, and have been all my life. It must be the fact that I’m an INTP for those of you who have ever followed the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicators. I do and they peg me pretty bang on. I architect a solution to a problem, or a task at hand, and execute it with uncanny levels of speed and precision. I’ve always given my 110% to something, but on the flip side, that is also my downfall – as I sometimes am unable to see the telltale signs of stress or upcoming bumpy roads. It’s always been a strain for me to be in public situations where I’ve thought far too much about the situation at hand, by not fitting in, relating to other people, or just not belonging. It’s worn on me over the years and I’ve been working at it over the past year and a half to get that out of my system. As they say, it’s hard to teach an old dog a new trick. I struggle, when I see problems that I am capable of solving and not being able to, in order to remove weight off of others shoulder’s, partially as as gift because problem solving comes so natural to me, but also out of care and pride. I am at peace with spending time with myself, but generally happier spending time with a small core group. I’m starting to come to a stark realization however.. I’m afraid to go around the world alone. I accepted the fact that I’d be going around Canada for a period of time alone and being met up with along the way when other commitments permitted. It’s pretty apparent that won’t be the case and I’m left wondering, ‘Do I even want to do this on my own?’ Phase 1 was short and with a partner, Phase 2 was 10 times in distance and time from that one done solo, and Phase 3 is going to be 6-8 months time with an unknown distance (8000km?) solo, with many stops along the way of good friends who I’ve met along the way in my life, helping break the silence and loneliness of being on the road. Phase 2 brought a definite desire to share memories with someone at the end of the night, cook better meals other than the typical solo fare, and share feelings/emotions when times were incredibly tough. I envied many of the couples I would meet touring, whether on Tandems, or on their own independent bikes, explaining that soon would be me. The thought of going into Phase 4 and it’s foreign countries not knowing the language, or have any comforts from home is downright frightening. It’s a one way message with me blogging outbound of my experiences, really forcing me to get out of my 1% of Earth Population INTP shell and adapt to the situation, and FAST. Considerable anxiety is approaching over this fact, where I fully intended on touring with a partner. When I say partner, I don’t mean random guy from Crazyguyonabike I mean someone who I fortify a relationship with a spouse, making these memories etch permanently in the part of my brain that gets released at 7pm nightly when putting little ones to sleep. Yeah. Those paternal sirens are sounding, dully, but amplifying as time goes on in my 30s, with my subconcious nagging at me to face the fact of .. Where am I going with my life? What’s next? How can I plan this out? Structure! I’m feeling a bit exposed here with the stark realization that I may have architected a castle made of quicksand on a remote island, further distancing me away from society, making me miss the subtleties of life, and not being able to fall into my long term plans in life. I suppose this is part of the reason why I wanted to do this cycle tour in the first place is to put myself into an environment completely foreign to me, but at this stage, I am deathly afraid and contemplating shortening this trip, however knowing damn well, that I have nothing to come back to in Vancouver, since all of my possessions are sold and have gone so far down a man hole it’s too dark to see that there are any ladders left, further alienating myself from achieving my desires. This is heavy stuff and I lie awake over this frequently over the past few months, questioning my sanity, ideals, reasoning, mental state, and well being. My friend network has been incredible, propping me up in ways that I wouldn’t even imagine, and I have to thank each and every one of them every time I converse/spend time with them that I am extremely lucky to have them in my life, and feels wonderful when they relay the same message. I always thought that the first decade of your life was guided by your parents, followed by the second “teen/young adulthood” provided by society/government programs, and the third decade, the 20′s to be all you, fumbling, utilizing the skills you learned from the previous teachers. The next decade, your 30′s – I’m not sure what it is? You with everything in alignment, heading towards those long term goals with determination, confidence and stability, however at 31 – I’m failing to see that this is the case, yet the entire opposite. Sorry for the rant. I’ve made a few more purchases, one being a more efficient way to provide caffeine intake – which I will post a detailed review in the coming days, and some additional dry/stuff sacks. I was able to pick up some Merino wool sweaters from MEC for under $50 a piece which I snapped up in a second to have as extra layers in the cold. Something about this wool, just makes me feel so wonderful, cool, and warm at the same time. The fact that it doesn’t stink goes along way as well. With these stuff sacks, I will use them to compress my clothes a bit further. In Phase 2 I traveled with a minimal set of clothes, and I’d like to bring additional shirts/pants on this one, so compression will be essential. For the record I brought a suit with me on Phase 1, but that’s a whole other story altogether. I’m also looking for some cargo netting, to go over the trunk bag and to use as a laundry drying device when riding on a warm day, which will be far and few in Canada at least for the first 3 months. I would also like to fashion some sort of contraption to hold additional
goods on my front rack, specifically the MSR Dromedary water carrying device. I was at the bike store the other day picking up some Kool-Stop Salmon brake pads, and checked on any available stock of the newly discontinued Marathon XR tires. This makes me sad. | Post to:
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