Whole Wheat Sourdough

 

I've joined the sourdough bandwagon, and I'm getting halfway decent at it.   I make one loaf at a time, usually twice a week.   And I also make my pizza dough this way now.

 

Homemade sourdough does not taste sour.    Sourdough is a weird misnomer  IMHO.

 

Hands on kitchen time is probably < 30 minutes, but there are lots of 2 minute tasks spread throughout a few days, so I can see why people don't have the patience for it, especially if you're working full time.   This is more a retirement lifestyle thing.

 

The photos are from a 20% whole wheat recipe loaf I made today using this recipe https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2020/06/whole-wheat-sourdough-bread/

 

Main things I've learned.   

• Feed your starter 1 day before you start baking if you keep it in the fridge.   let it be around 70-75F for a day before you use it.   
• I tuck my starter jar behind my small beverage fridge when the house is too cold. The compressor/condenser in the back throws off the right amount of heat
• use a scale and weigh to the gram per the recipe(s)
• mix water with starter first (using a fork is fine), then pour it into a large bowl containing the measured salt and flour 
• hand mix with a danish whisk to combine everything.   
• 1st day,  do the quarter-turn folds and rise until doubled,  put in fridge overnight covered so it won't dry out. 
• 2nd day, remove from fridge, let warm for 30 minutes then do the two long folds/roll/ball technique twice at least 30 minutes apart while oven preheats.   
• the flour dusting and basket release seems to work a lot better by doing it the 2nd day 
• dough ball doesn't have to be fully doubled before baking, but should be at least 50% bigger 
• other than that, follow the directions and techniques in the video below

https://youtu.be/QkQLnrnzfKM?si=RXh_v2mfaUE65OTD 

 

bikepacking tweaks after 1st ride, prepping for Erie Canal ride

So I think I need to make a few tweaks before I ride the Erie Canal trail from Buffalo to Albany.  But I'm going to shoot for doing it during early September. 

eriecanalway.org/explore/cycling/cycling-resources 

https://www.ptny.org/cycle-the-erie-canal/camping 

Jacqui's been helping her folks go to some appts (relatively minor stuff, no worries), so I think I'll time things to drive out while she's already near Albany helping her folks.   So instead of driving home to Mass, she'll ride with me in the truck to Buffalo, we'll stay overnight, then she'll drive the truck back to her folks or her sister's place, she'll leave the truck and drive her car home to Mass, and I'll bike back to the truck just south of Albany.    There's a Hudson River Greenway I can ride to get down to her folks/sister's place from where the Erie trail ends, and it only adds 14 miles and 450ft of climbing, easy peasy (relative to the 360 miles I'll have just done).
 

One of the things I've learned after my Vermont overnight ride is that I probably carried way more water than necessary. For the Erie trail, I don't need the extra large 1.5 liter Nalgene bottle; at least, not when water is so easily found.  When the large Nalgene is full with water it weighs 3.75 pounds.      I'll still have two 20oz bike bottles and a 1 liter soda bottle strapped on the bike's downtube.    Reusing a 1 liter bottle has worked well, and it's light.   The few times I've hit a pothole hard enough to knock it loose (even though it's also strapped to the downtube), it's survived getting run over my bike's rear wheel.

  

 

 

 

I think I'll skip bringing the hammock for the Erie trail.   Can't depend on trees being near the Lock camping areas, and it weighs 1.25 pounds

So leaving the full nalgene bottle and hammock reduces the cargo weight by 5 pounds. 

I actually have a small ultra light chair similar to the Helinox style chair I mentioned in the previous blog.  It weighs 2.25lbs and it's rated for 325lbs, which I'm well under....WELL UNDER!!!!    The new Helinox one is just as strong but even lighter (1.4 lbs), and packs down smaller.   But, there's always something new and better.    I need to use what I already have.   I'm going to strap my little chair to the bike fork where the Nalgene bottle went.   It'll be nice to have a place to sit at camp or when taking a long break during the day, better than sitting on the ground on a foam pad.   

 

Here's a silhouette to give an idea of how small these kind of chairs are.  They're very popular with weekend backpackers.    You do sit low to the ground, so you need good knees to get up and down; not a problem for most backpackers.

 

 

 

Fitness, am I ready? 

So even though the 43 mile loop I just did in Vermont was tough,   it also had about 3,000 ft of elevation gain.    

And while the Erie Canal ride is obviously much longer, 360 miles, it only has about 5,000 ft of elevation gain during the entire ride.    So it should be far more manageable at my current weight.    Also, I'm somewhat likely to get tailwinds biking east too.   The main thing is being able to sit on the bike seat comfortably for at least 5 hours a day, and I've done enough biking this Summer I can do that.   Touch wood, all my joints currently feel good.    Nothing hurt on my Vermont ride.   I just have to not do anything dumb between now and Sept.

Gear changes...

As far as other gear I'm going to leave at home, I'll think I'm going to leave my kindle at home and just use my phone for reading.   A small Kindle doesn't weigh much, but it takes up valuable space with it's protective cover.    

I apologize now, but I'm going to join team Crocs.   They're ugly but light and functional.  A tick under 1/2 lb for the pair.   They'll make nice camp shoes, and I'm a big believer that the best anti-theft security is,  "If you have stuff no one wants, then no one will steal it."   I'll strap the crocs to the outside of the big red bag on the back of my bike.   I don't want to have to wear my bike shoes after I'm done biking for the day, and from what I've read, some of the parks at the canal locks have showers I can use, so I want something I can wear in the public shower area.

 

I probably need a better bike lock because I'll be biking through areas with a lot more people.   The one I'm going to get will add 2lbs, so with the chair, lock, and crocs, I'm back to the same cargo weight as my Vermont ride basically.   C'est La Vie.  

The lock below resists cordless angle grinders far better than the cheap $10 cable lock I've been using  (which you could literally cut with a pair of snip pliers).   I figure a good lock is probably a must for when I park in rochester/syracuse/etc areas to go into a grocery store/restaurant.   The nice thing is it folds up small and it's holder uses water bottle mount holes on the bike, and I have a spare bottle mount on the main seat tube.

https://a.co/d/0d3XWXc 

 

 

 

And last but not least...while i like the idea of making hot tea in the morning while waiting for my tent to dry off from the morning dew, I think I'm going to just leave my little butane backpacking style stove behind on this trip.  There will be plenty of food along the way, and it's not worth the burn risk or the space it takes up when I'll be passing diners and gas stations frequently.     I can pull my tent out quickly during lunch or an afternoon stop to dry off in the Sun, when I find a good spot to lay them out.

I also googled, it's not considered safe to filter water from the Erie Canal because it's contaminated with chemicals.   the Sawyer is basically a glass filter with tiny pores that block bacteria and viruses getting through, but chemicals (PCB's for example) aren't stopped.      

I'll probably bring the ursack, kevlar food bag to keep the chipmunks, squirrels and mise out of whatever food stash I have.   I'll probably eat more gas station/convenience store junk food than I'd like on this trip but that's bike touring sometimes.    In retrospect, I wonder if part of why I ran out of energy on my Vermont bike trip was because I didn't eat more.   In retrospect, I was still in diet mode and didn't pig out enough when I had opportunities.   

That's it for now.   I'll end things with an updated packing list.    yellow cells are new items i'm bringing.    crossouts are things I'm leaving at home that I took last time.   Definitely ping if you think I'm missing something.

I'll just keep updating this post as planning continues. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

First Bikepacking Trip

 

My kingdom for a pair of scissors!   More on that later.   Actually I'm ordering these fiskar ones to keep in my tool bag.     I trust myself with scissors but not a small knife in the middle of nowhere out in the woods.     https://a.co/d/6AycWwH     

The trip was fun and a success.   i didn't forget anything (see previous blog packing list); i've just realized having a small pair of scissors would be very useful for trimming tire plugs and opening stubborn dehydrated meal bags.

Sunday night

I camped in the truck's GFC camper at one of my favorite spots near where my bike trip was going to start.   I wanted to get an early start Monday morning which is easier when you're just a 15 minute drive away vs 3 hours.    And no I'm not posting online where my preferred camping spot is because it's mine, ALL MINE!!!!.    jk, but yeah, on principle it's silly to list your favorite spots online imho.     The sites are first come, first serve, so I don't really want more competition.   If you're a friend, that's different, ping me.

Anyhoo, the site is actually small (2 vehicles max), no views, but it usually has a nice breeze, there are no bugs, and there's great 5g reception for my phone.  I did pass the brook site Jeff likes, but some aholes left 5 bags of garbage by the road next to its entrance.    I didn't want to be near the potential bear/racoon bait.     They also left their fire going with everything super dry.    Absolute Morons.  Grrr!!!    Took me two trips from the nearby brook with my 5 gallon bucket to put the fire out.   2!!!   It was throwing off tons of heat when I was trying to decide if i wanted to risk camping there.    A circle of stones won't do anything to stop embers from flying off if the wind kicks up.

Future jump...Tuesday drive home side note: 

On the way home after the bike ride was over, I drove back to see if the garbage was still there, and it was.   I put it all in the back of my truck.     At least they used the expensive hefty flex bags or I wouldn't have risked it.     When I got home, I put on some heavy disposable gloves and pulled out all the recycling.   there wasn't actually that much garbage other than left over corn on the cob.   So the 5 garbage bags were reduced to just 2, most of it was recyclables.    Apologies to Jacqui for a stinky garage until next Monday.      But I'd like to say here, what stupid aholes!     Who does that?    There is no Trash Fairy (except me I guess).         Maybe we need drones that check the sites daily, so when people do dumb stuff like this, there are consequences.   I fear by helping with litter cleanup I'm just sending the message to the aholes that it's ok; someone else will clean up your mess.   

Anyway, back to Sunday night,  I setup my hammock for the first time to make sure it was worth bringing on my bike.  It's just a cheap one from Amazon for $30.    packs small and only weighs 1.25 pounds.   I liked it, so I brought it on the ride.   That had some funny unforeseen consequences, but more on that later.

Monday morning

 slept well in the truck and used the truck camper's inverter and LFP batteries to run the induction cooktop for some pancakes (carbs) and eggs.    I haven't been eating carbs for breakfast, but wanted to fuel up for the ride.

After breakfast, packed up and drove to the starting point.

Here are some photos of the parking lot setup before I headed out.  I left my truck at the trailhead parking for the appalachian trail.   I figured the truck would be safer there than leaving it alone at one of the dispersed sites.    start and end point is near the red marker at the top.

yeah,  and I'm not too proud to admit it, the empty gatorade bottle on the back of the bike is for the tent later.    Pee jug ftw!

Starting the ride, it was mostly downhill the first few miles (good warm up), but then I hit the hardest part of the day.   I planned for this.   I wanted to get the hard part over with early.   After getting on rt100 South, it immediately starts a 3 mile long, 1000ft climb.   My bike computer also warned me, and helped track my progress up the hill.   Took me about 50 minutes 

Hamming it up at the top of the climb.
 

 

After the climb,  rt 100 is mostly downhill all the way to Wilmington Vt.   So that 10 miles goes pretty fast.    Through Dover there was an interesting looking pizza place that was tempting,  American Flatbread.    But I had my heart set on trying The Village Roost in Wilmington Vermont.    In the future, I could bike to Wilmington from Somerset Airfield when I'm camping there with Jeff.   Roundtrip is just 20 miles and not too much climbing.   The road noise on rt9 does kind of suck though.

https://www.villageroost.com/ 

I got their vegan sandwich, some chips for the salt, a water, a beer, and a slice of carrot cake.   The vegan sandwich used their homemade sourdough bread, tasty.   It also had pickled beets, hummus, shredded carrot, bean sprouts, and caramelized onions.  It was awesome.    I need to steal some of the ideas for my health kick at home.   It hit the spot.    And the main thing I'm noticing about vegan/healthy food is that you don't want to crawl into a dark corner, curl into the fetal position, wishing for death after inhaling your food.     A burger and fries would have been tastier, but I still had to bike another 15miles in the afternoon heat and sun.   Not worth it.

They have this nice room to sit in too.    They give you a little number placard for the table and bring you your food when it's ready.

 

After the Roost, I headed west on rt9, until the turnoff for Forest Road 71, about 5-6 miles from town.   Before the turn off for FR 71, you cross these brooks/rivers.    The water was shockingly low.   They've not had a lot of rain

 Didn't take photos of the forest road, but I went past the old airfield camping area.   The old field is  popular with campers that have large rigs/trailers or stargazers like Jeff.      I forgot to take a photo, but found one on google.   just one of the site areas,  this goes on for about 300-400 ft, with occasional trees to break things up.   When I biked by, someone had a giant schoolbus converted into a camper.

 

 

 

I pedaled past the old airfield camping area, heading north, looking for more solitude.     Immediately after the main camping area, there's a 1 mile stretch that doesn't allow camping.    Right after the no camping section ends, there's this spot by the brook.   It's not an official camp spot.    I setup my hammock and hung out for a couple hours.   I brought my jammer swim trunks (they look like bicycle lycra shorts, but they're thinner)  They pack small and are lightweight, and I didn't want to get my bike short's chamois pad wet.    The brook was low, so I sat in the water for a bit, but it only came up to my belly button.   Lots of little fishes.    Felt weird when they nibbled on my legs, but it didn't leave any marks so I let them be.

 

I did make one big mistake, I laid in the hammock watching some previously downloaded TV episodes on my phone after cooling off in the water.   Having my legs up felt great, but i didn't eat a snack or drink any electrolytes before sitting and I probably sat too long with my legs elevated after biking so much.   When I got up an hour later, I got a wicked charlie horse in the right leg and then the left leg joined in and down I went.   The cramping kept going, so I literally crawled over to my bike fished out a LMNT electrolyte packet, dumped it into a water bottle (while laying on the ground),    drank down the 20oz and moaned for another 5 minutes until the muscle cramps stopped.    I had the swim trunks on still, so once I could stand and walk again, I went down to the brook and washed off the debris from crawling around.    So idk, maybe the hammock is a bad idea.    Draining the blood from the legs for an hour was probably dumb.    Maybe I'll just bring a zrest foam pad to sit on and lean against a tree.   I'm still too heavy for the lightest helinox ultralight chair, but they do have a new model that would work.   I'd have to leave the large nalgene water bottle at home, but not sure I need it anyway.   another advantage to the chair would be sitting in the brook with it.   https://helinox.com/collections/ultra-lightweight-chairs

are ultralight chairs worth it when backpacking?   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZgYxiS8d3E 

     

The hammock spot didn't have anywhere large enough for my tent (except for one spot with a rock right in the center of where i'd be sleeping), so I packed up and pedaled onward.    Found a decent site with better cell signal further up.

After finding my camp spot I finally stopped the bike computer.   I'd biked 35 miles and almost burned a pound of fat worth of calories (which is 3500 btw).     I was pretty spent by the time I stopped, and while I "only" biked 4 hours, it felt like I'd biked longer.

 

First thing at my site for the night, I set up my tent.   I forgot to take a photo, so stole this one from online.   The site wasn't scenic, just an open flat spot amongst the trees, no views.   but this is what my tent looks like, and it actually looks similar to the camping spot I'd found.   The tent is big enough for me, no guests.   Sorry Jacqui, I guess that means you can't go bikepacking with me (lol, I crack myself up; my wife isn't the outdoorsy type)

 

All my food and the cooking setup fit in this kevlar ursack bag.    The idea is you tie the bag to a tree and the critters can't get into your food.    I mostly bring it for the mice, chipmunks and squirrels that are often surrounding camping spots.     I think bears can still rip it open though.    hence the "resistant" verbage.     It basically only slows the bear down enough so you can run away or scare off the bear with some bearspray.    I believe you still have to use the heavy, hard plastic containers in areas that require bear vaults.   I wasn't in an area like that, but when I drove in Sunday, I did see a very small black bear cross the road in front of my truck.      Anyhoo, ursack.com   if you're interested

 

It was around 6p.m., dinner time.   my cooking setup fits in this reflectix bag I made.   I brought a dehydrated meal.   You boil the water amount they recommend on the bag, pour boiling water into the bag, mix, reseal the bag, and then I put it in the reflectix bag and it stays nice and warm while the hot water reconstitutes things.    Lukewarm dehydrated food is kind of yuck, and heating it back up in the pot makes a mess you have to clean, so the homemade reflectix bag avoids all that.

  

 

And this is when I made my Blood God sacrifice for a successful trip (no blood actually...the Ouch/Owwie God?).   

I've used this little stove a few times, but I must have never boiled water with the burner running wide open.       It actually threw enough heat that even the tip of the extended handles were scorching hot too.    And I'm always careful to grab the very end of the handle furthest from the flame.   Burned my left hand's thumb and forefinger.    But not bad enough to lose sleep, probably mild 2nd degree burns.   

 

I brought some neosporin, gauze, and leuko tape with me, so I wrapped up the blisters.     It was a PITA tearing up the gauze into small enough pieces with the flathead on my multitool, hence my wish for scissors at the top of this blog.    When I burned myself, I quickly let go of the handles and let the boiling water dump on the rock to minimize the burn time; some people end up dumping the boiling water on themselves too, so it could have been much worse.   When I re-positioned things for the 2nd boil, I discovered the red butane container was nice and cold (lowered the pressure in the container, so the fuel can temp lowered too.   PV=nrT baby).   It made a nice impromptu ice pack before I tried cooking again.

 

I'll post photos at the very end of the blisters, so people can skip those if desired.

2nd boil went fine, dinner was good.     The only other weird thing I did was use my teeth to chop up some leftover rye bread to mix in with the coconut curry chicken meal.    I probably looked like a deranged rabbit spitting bread chunks into the dehydrated meal bag.    I added a little extra water so it'd be a little soupy for the bread.   worked awesome and made the meal more filling.     I should have brought a small oil bottle for some fat too.    Dehydrated meals have almost no fat in them.    Fat goes rancid quickly if you try to dehydrate it (shelf-life wise), so a lot of thru hikers add some oil to their meals for the calories, and your body desperately wants some fat after hiking/biking all day.   

  

Before dinner, I set up the hammock again, and hung out for a bit before bedtime.   No muscle cramps this time.    I also made sure to let my legs hang off the sides every 10 minutes or so.    It was a nice hangout spot at the end of a long day.  No bugs.

 

Here's the tent from the inside.    It breathes well, so definitely not for Winter camping.   The photos hopefully show the tent's bathtub floor design and the gap between the walls with no-see-um mesh.   Helps the tent breathe well so you don't have condensation dripping on you early in the morning.    I remember buying the tent during Covid while suffering from a bout of cabin fever, dreaming of big adventures.   Sadly this was the first time I actually used it.   hope to use it a lot more now that I'm getting in better shape again.

 

 

I read a little bit and fell asleep no problem.    I did wake up hungry as heck at 3a.m., but I managed to fall back asleep without having to go find my feed bag.   And pee jug for the win (saved me from a trip at 10p.m.,  3a.m. and 5a.m.)    I stayed warm all night too, pretty sure temps got down to mid 40's, so the last thing I wanted to do was throw the warm goose down quilt off to go walk 100ft in the dark.   

 

I also brought my enlightened equipment torrid hood.   When I went to sleep it was 60F something, so I waited until I woke up with a cold head in the middle of the night to put it on.  Works so much better than trying to use the hood of your quilt/sleeping bag, and it eliminates the risk of you breathing condensation into your bag, getting it wet, and lowering the insulation. 

 

Tuesday morning 

 

After a good night's rest, I managed to cook some dehydrated peach cobbler without burning myself.    Walked down to the nearby brook to get some water to filter.    I use a sawyer filter and a 2 liter cnoc bag, which makes it easier to scoop up water and you can hang it.   https://cnocoutdoors.com.   I was able to rig things up, so I could do other stuff while the water filtered.   So the nalgene may be worth the extra weight for this reason.   But I could just use my 1 liter cooking mug and check in more often.     The water looks yellowish from the tannins in the water (mostly from dead logs).     When you buy a sawyer filter it comes with a syringe so you can back flush it with filtered water to push some of the debris back out.   I do that.   The filter lasts a lot longer then.    

 

The orange strap i used to hang it is from the Modl.com  kit I bought to strap stuff to the bike.

 

 

Before leaving the site i did some cleanup.    Some nasty girls must have recently camped there.   Wads of toilet paper left on the ground everywhere on the surrounding pee/poo trails leading away from the site.    Guys don't use TP after peeing, and there were no poo piles lying around, so that's why I'm assuming it was some ladies.     Previous campers also left a 5 gallon poo bucket behind too.    Aholes.    Amidst the garbage left out on the pee/poo trails surrounding the site,  I found a couple plastic shopping bags, so I used one of my small ziploc bags as a glove and went about picking up all the TP i saw.     The pee/poo trails were bad, the site itself was ok.    I dumped all the collected stuff into the poo bucket they left (which thankfully didn't have much poo, 1-2 liters probably).    When I drove back for the aforementioned 5 bags of garbage, I also picked up the poo bucket with collected litter.  I had some trash bags of my own, so I double bagged it.      I'm not going to try cleaning the bucket to recycle it.      I've done enough for Mother Nature on this trip as it is; it'll just go to the incinerator as garbage.

 

Finally it was time to bike back to the truck. 

 

I didn't have much biking left to do, only about 7.5 miles, but there was 750ft of elevation gain.    In theory, I could have done it all the day before, but i would have been miserable doing that last climb.    My legs were shot when I got to the campsite as it was.   43 miles round trip doesn't seem that long in my mind, but I was pedaling with another 20-25lbs on the bike, and I'm still heavy, even though I've lost ~30lbs since May.   The long term goal is to lose 40lbs more.  The terrain was challenging for me with the loaded bike for sure too.    Glad I broke it up into two days.      

 

At one point an Ambulance zoomed by on the forest road; they chirped their siren before passing.    It's a wide vehicle, and they took care to not run me off the narrow forest road.  Good to know their services are available out there, but i prefer to plan as though they aren't.

 

Got some nice views on the ride back to the truck 

Once back at the truck in the Appalachian Trailhead parking lot,  I met a couple of nice thru hikers passing by while i was packing up.   Gave them my leftover tahini rum chocolate chip walnut oatmeal cookies.    Continuing the trip's theme, I took their garbage for them (i offered).   They didn't have much but it saved them the hassle of continuing to pack it out.  It was just empty dehydrated meal bags for the most part.    It was early in the day so they didn't want a beer or food; it was 9a.m. ish..     They had a mt to climb, so they didn't want the beer weight either (I offered them a can each to take with them), don't blame them.   And I think maybe they were going to be in Stratton soon anyway, and could get a cold beer there.

 

The younger 20 something lady asked me about WeBoost vs Starlink when she saw the antenna on my truck.  At this point I said I'd probably do the Starlink if their camper's battery system can keep up with its bigger power draw (20-40 watts vs 8-10 for the weboost).    And yeah, pretty much no one wants to give money to Musk right now, but the limiting thing with the WeBoost is not only do you need a weak cellsignal to boost, you also have to keep the transmitter puck close to your phone, and it's on a 10ft cord.    With the starlink you just need some open sky, and it transmits a wifi signal for multiple devices (just like home), so you can move more freely around the campsite with your devices.   You can do temporary monthly plans for a reasonable cost.   Roam is $50/50gb per month right now.

Welp, I've put it off long enough, here are the blister photos, stop now if you're squeamish at all.    And no I don't need to go to the doctor.    The skin and blisters are intact, the leuko tape will protect the blisters while the skin heals and and it'll minimize movement.   I'll change the tape and gauze daily for the next week or so as things heal.  Sadly, not my first rodeo burning myself.   I've done worse cooking at home.   I could fully extend and curl the fingers, so no under all the skin layers damage.

 

 

Bikepacking prep

Going to be a rest day after my 28.9 mile ride yesterday.    Not sore at all, so that's a good sign (fingers crossed).     Even though it's a rest day, I have lots of puttering to do to get ready for Vermont tomorrow.     I'll still have Sunday morning as well to do last minute stuff.   No point leaving before Sunday afternoon because most of the camping spots will still be occupied by the weekend campers.   It's only a 2.5-3 hour drive, no need to rush up.

First task done already today.   I loaded my gear on my bike this morning and just pedaled over to the town's cemetery to test ride.    Everything stayed put nicely and I managed the uphills just fine.     I'll have to bike over there again later after adjusting the rear derailleur; I won't bother loading the gear again though.    I haven't been able to get the shifting right, so I think I have to adjust the hi/low set screws and re-index.   If I don't, it's going to be annoying on a 42 mile bike trip as it is.    Before I go, I also need to deep clean the bike and add more sealant to the tires.   Probably should clean the gears before I fix the shifting.

--update 1:45 p.m. Sat 8/16--   bike is clean and shifting fixed.   basically followed this youtube video, click here

I will say, after adjusting the set screws,  I also needed my park tool cable puller/tightener  https://www.parktool.com/en-us/product/cable-stretcher-bt-2

And I noticed the rear derailleur cage was bent and twisted a little, so I straightened it back with some adjustable pliers.   I have a pair that I wrapped the teeth with duct tape so when I squeeze, they don't mar the surface of whatever is getting compressed.   Worked well, the powder coat on the derailleur cage wasn't damaged.

 

Anyhoo, here's some photos showing the setup.    The big red bag on the back is a 20 liter Sea to Summit dry bag.    I used MODL straps to cinch things down, love the 4 way connector over the rear red bag.     The rear rack panniers, frame, feed, and water bottle bags are all Revelate Designs, as well as the handlebar harness holding the tent and poles.    Now that i have some sewing skills, I'll just make my own bags as things wear out (assuming I bikepack enough for things to wear out).

 

 

 

 

 

 

here's a google link to my packing list.     You can't edit it, but you can grab a copy and edit that.  (click on File, then Make a Copy)

 

bikepacking list link

 

 

The Feed Bag i mention in the most horizontal photo is for snack food while riding.   It's easy to flip open and grab stuff.

 

 

And last but not least,  my planned loop.   I'll be starting at the red marker at the top and returning there.   Going clockwise,  when it starts to head South,  that'll be the worst part of the ride.   It'll be paved, but i have a steep 1000 ft climb in just 3 miles.   I plan to eat in Wilmington at "The Roost" at the bottom right.   Halfway down, there's also West Dover, multiple places to eat and a bike shop in case the climb is brutal and I need to resupply early.   Depending on how early I start, West Dover will probably line up with lunch better, idk, but's that's the joy of bikepacking.   Figure it out as you go.

 

 

 

 

  

West Boylston to Rutland ride

Good ride today.   My plan was to see how 30+ miles would feel on the new i30 rims and the larger 29x2.2 (700x55) teravail sparwood tires.   To spare any suspense, no issues with the new wheelset other than the 2nd largest gear in the back felt ever so slightly crunchy when I used it.    It worked, but it was just annoying enough to make me want to shift into a different gear ASAP.   It did seem to be getting better and not worse as the ride progressed, so maybe there was just a small defect on the new rear cassette and the chain will slowly grind it off.

Definitely a ride I'll do again.   It's more enjoyable than riding around the reservoir, way less car traffic, and food options were good in Rutland.   Nothing high end, but good enough for sure.

 

Parked at the big lot in WestBoylston, north of the Stone Church on the north side of Wachusett Reservoir.    This would be an out and back ride.    I rode to Rutland MA to meet Jacqui for lunch at the Maple Diner.   Timing worked well.   Jacqui only waited 5 minutes maybe.

I did forget to pack one of my biking button down shirts before leaving the house this morning.   So i did the ride out in my sleeveless tank top.   Luckily most of the ride was shaded so i didn't get burned.   I did put plenty of SPF sunscreen on before starting the ride.

Jacqui brought me a couple shirts and a couple towels.   Useful for wiping the sweat off before going into the diner, and I brought one to sit on so the people using the table next didn't have a sweaty seat.

I did miss one small section of rail trail on the ride out and I tried a thru trail on the way back, but that turned into No Trespassing at the very end,  I just snuck the last 100 ft rather than double back 2 miles.

I've already tweaked my route on Ride w GPS for next time to fix those mistakes.   

 

Here's a brief summary of the ride, 

When you start at West Boylston the first 3 miles are on a wide gravel path that's well maintained and heavily used by walkers and joggers.    Occasional nice views of the river on the left and swamp/brook on the right.    I usually see more ebikes than bicyclists.   People don't like the steady climb I guess.   It's not bad, I was able to go 5-8mph all the way up.

You come out on River St, which has almost no vehicle traffic.   Tons of beer cans along the road sadly.   then for a half mile you're on a busy road until you get to the next section of Central Massachusetts Rail Trail.   Basically an old railroad bed converted to gravel path.    That 2-3 mile section is barely used, probably because it's not scenic.   Gets you away from the cars though. 

You end up coming back out along a lightly used paved road by this beautiful pond

 

 

 

Then it switches back to barely used paved road that's for the state waterworks workers.  

Very cool barn by the road

hell of a climb though, but it's short.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and it turns into a cool shaded path

 

after that there's a bit of road sections.   Rt 68 has super wide shoulders but it's heavily trafficked.   Then I turned left on Wachusett and that road was the worst.   Steep climb, barely any shoulder, and enough traffic to be annoying.   Between rt 68 and Wachusset St, there's almost 3 miles of steady climbing, until you get to the next 2 mile section of rail trail. 

Should have taken photos of that section of rail trail.   Some nice wetland, woods, and pond views.  Only lasts 2 miles.     Nearing the end, it's about 1 mile of road to climb to the center of town and you're in the center of Rutland near the diner.

 

After lunch, just doubled back.   Doubling back is downhill to West Boylston most of the way.   So don't worry if the ride to Rutland was tiring, definitely easier doubling back.