Getting It Together
Bike touring sounds as simple as "Just go ride," but there's a lot of preparation to be done before that happens.
For one, you need a bike! This wouldn't normally be a problem for me, but the route I had in mind necessitated a type of bike I don't have.
Last summer, while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, I took a day off and stayed wit...
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May 24, 2019
Borne of the Desert
For the third time, The Hub bike shop in San Marcos saved my butt days before a tour began. With my rear hub gone kaput four days prior, there wasn't enough time to have it warrantied. The only option was to get an entire new wheel built, without the possibility of using any of the parts from the old wheel. Since I had to go with whatever they h...
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May 30, 2019
The First Stuff Is the Steepest
Day 1, right off the bat, started with a 1,700 m (5,600 ft) climb. Set the tone for the next few days.
At the beginning of the climb, the hills were covered in saguaro cactus. Up close, they look like they do in roadrunner cartoons. From farther away, it looks like the hill has stubble and needs to shave.
...
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Jun 02, 2019
Moving Up
After the route went up and stayed up, the riding got more pleasant. My clothes were a lot drier at the end of the day. My bottles were less so.
One particular road, which went along a ridge for 60 km, would’ve been incredible riding if not for my nemesis - washboard. There’s no good way to c...
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Jun 04, 2019
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