Full Load Test Ride
3 plus hours today in -12 degree temps. A combination of beach, snow, ice and road with hills. It was a solid workout, with my winter clothing performing flawlessly. I am not concerned in the least about that portion of the trip.
I posted today that the loaded bike, sans Food and all of my fuel, came in at 64 pounds. I need to recheck that number because it seems a bit high based on weights of individual components. What excites me the most is that my 'Base' winter weight is right around 13-15 pounds. That is the weight of the minimal amount of kit that I need to set off on the trail w/o food, fuel, and water. Why does that excite me, well beyond the fact that it is a very light weight, it means my summer weight will be approaching 10 pounds!! Now that is light!!
I will have a detailed gear breakdown later but for now here is a bit of info for you gear geeks :-)
Note: This is not how I will completely load out the bike, but with that said, the Handlebar Bag and Right Pannier are exactly how they will be loaded.
Handle Bar Bag - 6.5 Lbs (Trip Loading)
- 0 Degree Sleeping Bag
- Synthetic Insulation Pants
- Synthetic Insulation Parka
Right Rear Pannier - 6.4 Lbs (Trip Loading)
- Shelter
- Stakes
- Pole
- Bivy Sack
- Neo Air X-Therm Pad
- Ground Cloth
- Spare Clothes (VBL Socks, Camp Socks, Buffs, Gloves, R1 hoody, ...)
- Synthetic Insulation Vest
- Fuel Bottle (Empty)
Left Rear Pannier - (This will be food and cook, but was not weighed)
- 2 Full Nalgene Water Bottles in insulators 5.8 Lbs
- MSR Stove/Cook Kit
- MSR Large Fuel Bottle - 3/4 Full
Rear Rack
- Thermarest Pad
- Carbon Fiber Tripod
Frame Bag
- Empty Fuel Bottle
- Storm Pants
- Pump
Seat Post Bag
- Emergency Ditty Bag (Knife, tools, string, tape, fire starter, light...)
Handle Bar Camera Bag
- DSLR
- Spare Lens
- Nano Puff
