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Gear


 Its not a bike packing blog without a gear post!  

We are living in the golden age of mountain bikes. 10 years ago I never would have believed you could ride the original rampage site on the same bike as 100 mile xc races or go bike packing on.  




One bike to do it all: Freeride, XC, Bikepacking

I'll be riding my 2021 Santa Cruz Hightower C XT Build.  The bike has E13 TRS+ hoops I laced to Hadley Racing hubs, Fox DPX2 PE rear boinger, e13 cassette. I'm running a WTB Koda saddle (recently converted from a long relationship with the WTB Deva), ESI chunky grips, Cane Creek bar ends, Tag Metals 30mm rise bar + 45mm stem in 31.8, Tag T3 pedals, Pirelli Scorpion R 2.4 w/ cushcore xc rear, Michelin Force AM 2.4 front.


Bike all loaded up
All my gear including shipped drop

I'm running my trusty Thule Pak n Pedal rear rack with a dry bag on the back to hold my sleeping bag and a few layers. I'm using a Salsa EXP anything cradle to hold a dry bag on my bars.  In the bar bag I've got my tent minus poles rolled up in my vintage Thermarest Explorer sleeping pad. I've got assorted frame bags with essentials I want easy access to. I have the capacity to carry 9 liters of water but will mostly aim to carry 6.

For the start of my ITT I'll be running a Kelty backpacking bag which is Erin's family heirloom.  Using the 1 mail drop rule for the race I will be shipping a more traditional hydration bag to Flagstaff.

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Once I got south of Flagstaff it became pretty apparent that this route was much bigger than I expected.  The trail was also quite a bit more primitive and slower going than I expected. I had planned to night ride 2-4 hours most nights but it ended up being more like 4-7 hours EVERY night to keep a level of progress that could even give me a chance of finishing. While I would have really liked to make it to Mexico, in talking with other racers the zone south of Tucson was still slow going with tons of elevation change. Once I got to the Gila river I realized that best case scenario I would be riding until the day before we flew back and would basically jump straight back into work on top of having to get my bike packed up. I adjusted my expectations and accepted that Tucson would be the destination. The trail was so epic, I kept thinking about how much singletrack there was in AZ and how much variety of terrain there was. Gear: I had no mechanical issues or major gear failures but ...

Stage 3: Into the Canyon

I got up to cook breakfast and pack my things up. I tried to be strategic knowing I'd be attaching my bike to my bag shortly.  I killed the partial butane I had started with and broke out my brand new can, one less thing to carry through the canyon.  I ate with the rim hikers I had met the night before. I got to the permit office just a few minutes before 8. They phoned the South Rim and were able to get me a permit at the group spot in Bright Angel which was ideal. That meant I would hike the 7 miles down and 7 miles across today and save the 7 miles up for the next day.  I donated my left over shower quarters to the NPS to not carry a bunch of extra metal across the canyon. A few hundred feet in Bike Disassembly Once at the trail there was a small sign that said "No Bicycles". It took me about 40 minutes to pack my bike up.  The weather was overcast and drizzling which was ideal.  The bike felt heavy but manageable. I was very glad to have a proper bag to keep...

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