The bike.: Light and fast makes Kelly a happy camper.

Here is my quick and easy packing system for a hotel trip. A Ziplock baggie for every group of items. Housekeeping has never been so easy! The handy seat bag holds snacks and items I want to access during the day.

My current touring bike is a RANS Stratus XP in Aluminum. It is all stock except for the Rotor Cranks (in concession to my cranky knees). It is surprisingly light for it's size. I have tried to make lightweight choices on gear so as to not load it down.

It took me eight years to convince Jacinto he needs to see the Icefields Parkway. He likes being cold about as much as he likes getting up early in the morning. Jacinto says there is nothing appealing about the name Icefields - it just makes him feel cold!

Certainly we won't be camping and cooking as I was in the top photo. I felt very self sufficient to know that I had everything with me to stop at any bend of the road and spend the night. There is definitely an appeal to fully loaded touring.

Credit card/hotel touring also has it's appeal. It is so nice to go flying down the road on my lightweight recumbent. One ziplock baggie of clothes, another of foul weather gear (hopefully never to be opened). Toiletries. A baggie of tubes and chain cleaning items. Heck, I can easily live for a month in what fits in two lightly packed panniers. Just keep the credit cards handy!

Woohoo! Look at this! I have new wheels from Sugar Wheel Works in Portland. Phil Wood touring hubs ($40. extra each for the stylin' pink color), Sapim CX Ray double butted spokes, brass nipples, Velocity Aeroheat rims. It seems that most riders now have disc brakes, or larger wheels. The selection of 26" rims for rim brakes is very narrow.I think owning a Phil Wood wheel is kind of like owning a Cadillac. Back in the day Phil Wood was ‘the’ dependable, long lasting hub. Now there are many brands of good hubs. But if you are of a certain age (ahem), you go with what was desirable when you were younger. Like the lottery winner here in town who bought a Cadillac. You can’t believe the number of people who questioned his choice. But for him, owning a Cadillac meant he had arrived. Me? You can tell me all day long why this hub or that hub is the best. But it’s never going to sway my opinion that Phil Wood is the best.

I think my bike looks sleeker with dry bags than with panniers. It certainly weighs less!

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