As stated previously, Phil and I rode The Ghost Town Trail last October. In preparation for that ride I replaced the front tire with a Panaracer Pasela- the knobbiest tire to fit my bike that I could find at the time and also had the bike checked out and tuned up by Dave Roberts (used to own and operate Trailside Bicycle in Vintondale, PA).
The Ghost Town Trail ride was just a simple one day ride carrying almost no baggage, so the preparation of the bike for this upcoming ride has to be a little more thorough and focused on being able to carry the baggage. I have decided to stick with my existing rear rack which was an el cheapo discount store rack which held up fine on my first trip on the C & O canal. I did get new hardware (highest grade nuts and bolts available at Lowes) and double-nutted the racks top mount. I have also JB Weld'd the hinge point where the rear supports attach to the rack (by rivets) just for some added assurance. Even though this is an el cheapo rack, I've found similar ones listed online (probably the exact same rack) and believe I even saw it rated to carry up to 50lbs (which is hard to believe when looking at what other better looking racks are rated). Here is a photo showing the rear rack (prior to the JB Weld and prior to my new rear tire):
You'll also notice in the photo that I have fenders front & rear. These were a recent addition and were really a pain to mount. I also added a new rear reflector, since I apparently lost the original. Since this is a touring bike, I have three water bottle mounts. That front fender comes very close to the water bottle. I also bought rear panniers (bags that mount on the left and right of the rack for those that don't know the term). I shopped around and settled on these Nashbar ATB rear panniers which I like. I feel they were the best for the price. They are not waterproof, but should be highly water resistent, especially after being treated with silicone spray. I still need to test ride with them mounted. I'll just throw some weight in them (random items) and ride The Ghost Town Trail. I'll probably get some looks since that's not a trail to ride multi-day and pack much gear. On the top of the rack I'll use my old duffel bag (same bag I used on my first ride). I bought some "dry bags", one for the duffel bag, and another for the sleeping bag. It was cheaper to do this than buy a waterproof duffel bag.
I almost forgot. I replaced the seat last Fall with a Sunlite Cloud 9 gel seat. I really like this seat! My old original seat didn't have any gel, and had been bent (the mounting rails underneath).
I just got a really nice knobby rear tire for my bike - the Tioga Bloodhound. This was one of the knobbiest tires I could find for a 27" narrow rim. I actually moved up in width from a 1 1/4" to a 1 3/8" tire. I was concerned about the clearance between the frame (sides of the tire) and the fenders, but it clears fine! Here is a photo of the tire itself:
And a photo as mounted on the bike:
Wish I'd have found this tire last fall for mounting on the front!
Before going on about the front of the bike, here is a photo for reference:
The front rack is new and is a basic Sunlite Gold Tec rack bought from Niagara Cycle (which I love buying from by the way). It's rated to carry 40lbs and I intend to use it to carry my sleeping bag. This was also very fun to mount since it didn't come with instructions and the mounting holes didn't line up for me. I ended up drilling new holes in the bracket (the bracket can't really be seen in this photo). I also moved the front reflector to the front of the rack (with a homemade bracket). I replaced my old cruddy discount store handlebar bag with a decent inexpensive Sunlite bag which holds its shape much better.
Another thing I must mention is my flashlight headlight system. We'll need a headlight for the few tunnels we'll go through as well as the unexpected night time riding (ie. someone gets a flat that holds us back and requires us to ride in the dark to get to our intended stop). Gotta be prepared! I got my idea for the mounting system which uses 2 conduit clamps mounted back to back here. Here is a photo of my mount:
The bottom clamp goes around the handlebars and the flashlight slips through the top clamp. The clamps are just a couple bucks from Lowes, another couple bucks for a little more hardware, and a couple bucks for 3/4" heatshrink to wrap the clamps in (worked out really nice!). I've chosen to use the Lowes 3 watt LED flashlight mentioned in the previous link for a "highbeam" light and a Rayovac Sportsman Extreme light for "low beam" (directly in front of bike) light. I've also picked up this inexpensive flashlight from www.dealextreme.com which is rated the same output as the Lowes light, but only runs on 3 AAA's instead of 2 C's (less bulky). I also learned a lot about LED flashlights during this process and I tell you what - if you have never seen a high-powered LED flashlight, you MUST check them out! The old style "standard bulb" flashlights are pretty much obsolete! LED flashlights can blow away the standard bulbs in every aspect - brightness, runtime, and reliability (since they don't have a filament to break when dropped and last 50,000 to 100,000 hours). The only real downside is that they throw a tight beam (spot) and don't have much side spill (flood).
This pretty much ends the preparation of the bike itelf. I will have Dave check out and tune up the bike again just before leaving. Here's a final photo showing the bike as it is now (photo taken Sunday April 10th at the Ebensburg end of The Ghost Town Trail):
Stay tuned for my next blog entry: "Preparing Myself".
- Garry
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