Gearing Up to Head on Down

January 1, 2018

Will we lack shelter and water in Tourist heaven?

This will be our 19th tour, and by now we have a reasonable idea of what gear to take and how to set up the bikes. But every time out is different because each place is different and even we are changing year by year.

This time, Dodie's Bike Friday is in bike hospital in Oregon, after having joined her in being hit by a car in Netherlands. Most of Dodie's injuries have healed by now, but the Friday still needs surgery. They are going to hack off the bent and broken bits, and make and weld on new ones.

So we have dragged a fairly reasonable Schwinn out of the barn, and have been busy grooming it for its turn in the sun. Part of that is figuring out how to get the maximum number of water bottles on. Google Maps tells us to expect long stretches in open sun with no services. Our last sortie in an undeveloped land like that was in Saskachewan, in our own beloved Canada. That time, we had 14 litres of water on board.

As usual, the peace and order of our dining room is sacrificed as it fills with gear and bikes.

Part of our problem, no doubt shared with all other Canadian tourists who go South in Winter, is to have both hot and cold weather gear on board. We plan to cycle out of our driveway and to make for the Vancouver airport. It's not that far, no more than 50 km considering the ferries and possible buses involved, but in possible rain or freezing temperatures and snow it's worth it to be prepared. Then in Yucatan it will surely be very hot, but also as we read in several blogs, quite cold at night. We boiled all that down to this table of possible clothes:

One special piece of gear is a repellent impregnated bug shirt. We are never sure if we will really need something like this, but hey we bought them one year and they have to come in handy sometime! Besides, I think it is rather stylish:

Also in the style category is Dodie's new green/yellow helmet. Her old one got dented in the crash, and at first she bought a flashy red and black one. But when she saw the yellow, she had to have it. After all, our friend Kathleen Classen has one!

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jk FloyI have that Giro helmet too which I like a lot. Be warned that the color will fade with use. Be sure to adjust it to cover your forehead.
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6 years ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo jk FloyAh yes, the power of the sun's UV is great and if you cycle a lot you really see it. Dodie had a fluorescent yellow sun shrug from Terry that eventually turned pure white. They replaced it, but the new one is fading too.

Good spotting about the forehead. Dodie claims she was still adjusting it when the candid photo was taken.

We have since also removed the visor, to be replaced by an also yellow DaBrim.
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6 years ago

jk FloyTo Steve Miller/GrampiesYou mean like this (Niagara Falls in the background taken from the Canadian side)
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/pic/?o=1mr&pic_id=2436075&size=large

and this
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/pic/?o=1mr&pic_id=2440110&size=large&v=1

The helmet has faded since these photos.
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6 years ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo jk FloyYes, exactly! I seems like if the helmet would be faded bit it would be a better color match for the DaBrim.
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6 years ago

Jacquie GaudetWhat happened to Dodie's new Dutch bike?
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6 years ago