PLAN: Fly NYC to Aleppo December 16th and Cairo to back home January 31st. Along the way see Damascus, Palmyra, Amman, Petra, Mt. Sinai, Giza, Luxor. 900k in Syria, 650k in Jordan, 315k on the Sinai […]
Cycling adventurist, bikepacker, travel writer, photographer, speaker, professor of philosophy. Route designer of the VTXL, the Green Mountain Gravel Growler beer tour, the Silk Road Mountain Race course 1st edition, and many more.
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Bicycle Tour Planning
For years I’ve kept a notebook of places I want to visit. Sometimes just pen marked map scraps, sometimes drafts of speculative weekly itineraries, sometimes ideas from geography and history, or that have something to […]
Notes on bike touring the Dalton Highway
Among the many standouts of bicycle touring in Alaska, the Dalton Highway was a special treat. It’s rugged with majestic varied terrain, there’s abundant expansive aloneness, and the road and pipeline always themselves seem uncomfortable unnatural exceptions to the wildness of the place.
Superficially, the first few hours on the road can imply a wobbly blend of Into the Wild meets Mad Max. It’s true that the exquisite sense of vastness, solitude, and remoteness is every day periodically cracked by the rumble of truck traffic. The Dalton is first and foremost a haul road, and it owes its existence to the need to move material to and from the immense industrial arctic oilworks at Prudhoe. My overwhelming impression of the truck drivers was that they were polite, respectful, professional. I never once had a conflict or felt in danger as a cyclist. I was there well into hunting season, and I found the hunters, too, helpful, friendly, great to chat with.
In addition to the positive interactions with the community of the road, what stays with me is losing myself in hours of late-August orange, red, and gold paint dabs against a green canvas unfurling into skyline.
Gear for Alaska summer touring
(1) Tent (2) Tent poles (3) Riding/hiking shoes (4) Patagonia Nano puff pullover (5) Patagonia shell (6) Gore-tex shorts (7) OR rain hat (8) Rain booties (9) Sleeping bag (10) Utility cord (11) Stainless steel bottle (12) Howie’s merino ss shirt (13) Icebreaker merino ls shirt (14) Smartwool cycling shorts (15) Nzo Dobies cycling shorts (16) Two pairs merino underwear (17) Prana travel pants (18) Sandals (19) Pump/duct tape/spare spokes (20) Pot (21) MSR Superfly stove (22) Coffee filter (23) Soap (24) Plastic mug (25) Knife (26) Mosquito head net (27) Headlamp (28) Camera battery charger (29) Panasonic Lumix camera (30) Earbuds/recharge cord (31) iPhone (32) Leg warmers (33) Wool cycling cap (34) Gloves (35) Sunglasses (36) Watch (37) First aid kit (38) Mini deck of cards (39) Spare tube (40) Compass (41) Water purification tabs (42) Spork (43) Steripen (44) Big Agnes Clear View air pad (45) Waterproof matches (46) Pen and paper (47) Book (48) Photocopied maps (49) Garmin 705 GPS (50) Two pairs Smartwool socks (51) Travel towel (52) Toiletries (53) Blinkie (54) Cable lock (55) Tools.
In Anchorage add: bear spray, DEET, fuel cartridge, food.
24lbs./10.9kg, including rear panniers.
Alaska route
A bit later in the summer I’ll be heading out on a seven week cycle tour of Alaska (route in red).
Annapurna Circuit Cycling Notes
We had arranged our Annapurna permits in Kathmandu through friends at Pilgrim’s Guest House. Once in Besisahar, we registered with the conservation folks at the start of the circuit (i.e., at the end of town). […]
Inside the saddle bag
Tools for the Nepal trip. Mini pump, crossmax spoke tool, quick link, spare brake pads, 4 toe spikes (for portages on ice and snow), 10mm socket*, Stein hypercracker, chain tool, glueless patches, loose allen keys (3, […]
Nepal gear
Complete kit for riding in Nepal for a couple of weeks. Everything travels in the Osprey pack except for the clothes/gear worn, the SLR (in the chest pack), the sleeping bag (attached to the bars), the seat bag (attached to the saddle), and the bottle. Pack = 12.5 lbs./5.7 kg.
Vietnam cycling notes
Vietnam is an easy and wonderful place to pedal. It’s energetic, beautiful, and has a powerful history. Citywise, I liked both Hanoi and Saigon, though they are very different. Hanoi is laid back and cosmopolitan, while Saigon is more of the chaotic whirlpool that Asian cities can be. More broadly, the attraction of the north is that it’s rugged and hilly. The attraction of the south is that the riverways and ferry travel around the Mekong delta are culturally interesting.
A substantial part of any cycling tour is the serendipity that originates in not having a plan and simply getting lost. But here are some notes on tidbits that are worth doing.
Setup for Southeast Asia tour
This is the setup I used when I toured Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos in 2009. On body: ss wool polo shirt, cycling shorts (baggy), money pouch, sandals, cycling cap, helmet, sunglasses, p&s camera In […]
Long Asia Tour Packing List
This is the packing list that I used for an ’07-’08 cycle expedition tour in Asia (Pakistan/India/China/Tibet/Nepal). As I look it over now, it seems intolerably, unthinkably bloated. In my defense, I was doing a number of diverse things in addition to touring, including two stage races, one one-day race, several academic lectures, and research at Tibetan monasteries. But what on Earth did I need three pairs of underwear and two t-shirts for?
Clothing for cycling Tibet
Clothing worn every single day in Tibet, October/November 2007.