Singing in the rain: memories of Gaspé 2003

(The Big Wild is hosting a contest 'Singing in the Rain' contest to celebrate outdoor activities enhanced (?) by rain. This recalled one of my wet cycling adventures.)

I was worried when I signed up for an August 2003 week-long trip of cycling 700km over the hilly terrain of the Gaspésie, along with 2000 other cyclists. It was going to be my first time cycling this much distance day after day, so I trained very hard in the prior months. Almost as anxiety-provoking, it would also be my first time camping.

Everything went well - beyond my wildest expectations. My legs were well prepared and I enjoyed pedalling through the beautiful, though sometimes challenging, terrain. Camping - with a borrowed tent and borrowed camping mattress - was fine too, and I slept well each night. The biggest surprise was getting used to showering in ice-cold water every day; our campsites weren't up to the task of providing hot water to 2000 people.

About half way through the week, though, it started to rain; and then it rained for about 30 hours non-stop, with the only variations being how heavy it might rain and how hard the wind might blow. So after cycling that first day of rain, I arrived at our schoolground campsite, body soaked and spirits chilled. I struggled to put up my tent in the heavy rain; the strong wind was loud enough to mask the chattering of my teeth; but eventually I got the tent up. Cold, gritty, and in a foul mood, I sought warmth and dry refuge inside the school, but I was too distracted by my anger even to want to take advantage of the hot water that, at the point, was still flowing in the shower stalls. I hung out for a while, warmed up a bit, pretended to be dry, regained my presence of mind, and noticed the organisers were converting rooms inside the school into emergency dormitories. The spaces were being claimed quickly by dispirited cyclists. I planned to transfer to the dormitory, so I returned to my tent to take it down, expecting to find a soaking mess.

But something wonderful happened. My tent was dry in mid-afternoon, it was still dry after supper, and it stayed dry all night. Some other tents blew down in the wind in the middle of the night. Some other tents leaked. Some others spent the night inside shared close quarters with hundreds of snorers. It would be another day before I saw blue sky even intermittently, but that night in my tent, I was dry and cozy as a symphony of wind, rain, and flapping nylon sang me to sleep.

Bone-chilling cycling

It was about -20C this morning when I set off and biked to work. Upon arrival at my office, I remembered that one of my winter cycling rules-of-thumb is not to cycle when it's colder than -18C outside. Hmm. Or rather, brrr.

This morning as I headed out the door, I was dressed as follows:

• pants and windpants (maybe should have worn long underwear instead of regular);
• cotton socks, cycling shoes, "booties" (nylon shoe-covers);
• undershirt, long-sleeve button shirt, thin wool sweater, long-sleeve polar fleece, down-filled vest, water-proof breatheable shell (yup, 6 layers);
• liner gloves, mittens; and
• face-mask, hat, bike-helmet.

I was on the whole warm enough. My feet were a little cold, but I wasn't wearing winter boots or woolen socks. The only problem were my fingers, and particularly my two thumbs. I wonder what I can do to keep my hands warmer. Pogies seem weird and I'm not sure they'd work on the handlebars of my bike. Maybe I'll have to stick to my "no cycling when it's colder than -18C" rule of thumb. It's just that public transit in Montreal in peak-periods is hideously overcrowded, so for now I'll eschew the BMW option* as much as possible in favour of my bicycle.

* BMW: take the bus and metro to work

Hiking in the Adirondacks: cross-training?

Last Saturday, I went hiking in the Adirondacks - more precisely, near Keene NY, on the Nun-da-ga-o Ridge from Big Crow Mountain to Weston Mountain - in a group of 10. It was beautiful! I found myself asking why it's taken me 15 years of living in Montreal to try hiking in the 'dacks.

This is a blog about cycling, so what's the connection to hiking? Well, I thought that from all the cycling I do, I would have an easy time when it comes to hiking. What I forgot is that when you move from one sport to another, even if the two sports use "roughly" the same muscle group, there will always be some small muscle that one sport fails to use. In this case, it was the outside part of my calves, which seems to have something to do with supporting the load when stepping down (as opposed to pushing up). I guess that makes sense, because in cycling you're always working at either pressing the pedals away or pulling them up, but not with absorbing your own weight. And I suppose that's why my calves still ache, 3 days later, but only when I go down stairs.

The other little downer was that my big toes were very sore by the end of the day. (My hiking shoes are a little tight there.) When I got home and took off my shoes and socks, I saw that I had two giant blisters, one on each big toe. The swelling has gone down but the blister spots are still a bit tender.

But blisters and aching calves aside, this hike was definitely worth it! I want to do more hikes before too long.

I've posted my photos on my
Picasa pages.

Cyclostravaganza 2008: Photos

I've recently finished posting my trip pictures in my Picasa web albums.

Cyclostravaganza 2008: Distances and stats

Date	Route	Distance	Time	Max	Average
7/1/2008	White River: VIA station to hotel	1.41	0:06:40	24.0	12.7
7/2/2008	White River to Wawa	92.30	03:55:55	47.0	23.4
7/3/2008	Wawa to Agawa Bay	91.62	04:52:07	45.7	18.8
7/4/2008	Agawa Bay to Pancake Bay	63.75	03:12:15	44.9	19.8
7/5/2008	Pancake Bay to Sault Ste. Marie	73.20	03:21:38	43.6	21.7
7/7/2008	Sault Ste. Marie to St. Joseph's Island	71.01	02:57:14	53.1	24.0
7/9/2008	St Joseph's Island to Spragge	137.22	04:56:18	53.5	27.7
7/10/2008	Spragge to Espanola	72.65	03:13:51	42.6	22.4
7/11/2008	Espanola to Tobermory	117.71	05:02:22	48.8	21.8
7/12/2008	Tobermory to Owen Sound	122.43	06:04:31	42.2	20.1
7/13/2008	Owen Sound to outskirts of Shelburne	98.83	04:21:52	60.2	22.6

Total distance: 942.13km

My average speed was usually between 19 and 22 km/h depending on terrain and wind - and maybe my condition and mindset? Two days were much faster:
(1) Sault Ste. Marie to St. Joseph's Island - D. had picked up my bags in the Sault, so I was riding without those extra 50 lbs of gear.
(2) St Joseph's Island to Spragge - the tailwind that day was nothing less than phenomenal.

Cyclotourist musings: on bugs, blueberries, and biodiversity; and on packing light

On my July 2008 cycling trip, the mosquitos were really quite bad. Mosquitos seem to like to land on my socks to bite through the fabric to my ankles... or on my spandex bike shorts to bite my posterior (sneaky buggers). At one stop, I watched a mosquito land on my spandex and try to bite the sensitive male... er... anterior. "Oh no you don't!" and I shooed it away. This led me to a later musing: biodiversity is important, but would the world really be worse off if we could just get rid of four kinds of flies: mosquitos, horseflies, deerflies, and blackflies? Apparently it might. I was told that blueberries rely on blackflies for pollination. Egads! This may be false, and if it's true then what's with apiarists marketing blueberry honey, but nonetheless, a world without blueberries would be sad indeed.

My luggage for this trip weighed just over 50lbs, including panniers, but not including the bike. Given the number of items I carried, 50 pounds of luggage translates to an average weight of a little more than 100g per item I packed. 100g is the size of a respectable chocolate bar - i.e., not very heavy at all. It's amazing how it all adds up. So the next time I pack, and throw in one more thing thinking "But it weighs nothing!", I will recall the story of the Everest mountaineer who removed the packaging and string-which-makes-it-easy-to-fish-out-of-your-cup from each teabag he packed.

Cyclostravaganza 2008: My packing list

This is my packing list for my 2-week, ~1000km trip.

Some notes about my trip and packing style:
* This was a camping trip, which meant carrying tent, sleeping bag, and more. That took up one large pannier (15L), and a small amount of stuff in other panniers.
* My gear weighed slightly over 50lbs. Many of the long-distance cyclists I saw actually had more baggage than me, often with a "bob" trailer.
* I like to be well-prepared. A more minimalist camper could shave off a lot of items from this list.
* Although I ate most of my meals in restaurants or by food in grocery stores, there were some stretches of my trip with no services for more than 100km, so I had to bring enough food and food-preparation equipment for that. I chose food that only required boiling water.
* These remote stretches also dictated some equipment and safety items I might not have needed in other locations.
* Other than some of the tools, spare parts, and safety/first aid items, there were very few items I did not use.
* Some of my campsites were in locations with bears or other wildlife. I had food and other items that shouldn't go inside the tent. The best option I could figure was to leave them in the dry sacks outside my tent, either on the picnic table or (better) hung from trees when possible.
* Astonishingly and very gratefully, I had no flat tires on this trip.
* One of the few areas where I was almost minimalist was with clothing. I only brought one jersey and one pair of cycling shorts. I hand-wished my laundry almost every night and hung it to dry (sometimes with a bungee cord rigged on my bike). It was usually still damp in the morning, but no problem, it would dry after I put it on during breakfast or while riding. For wet underwear or towels, I clipped them to my backpack or rackpack with the carabiners, and they would dry while riding (as long as it wasn't raining). Wet socks went into a mesh stuff sack, which I could attach as above.



Bike basics
* Bicycle
* Racks
* Fenders
* Cyclometer
* Heart rate monitor
* Rear-view mirror, handlebar mounted
   Bought while travelling
* Water bottles
* Pump
* Helmet
* Reflective tape on bike, helmet
* Lights for night-time riding
* Reflective ankle strips
    (for when occasionally riding at night or in pants)

Bike tools
* Wet ones
    For hand-degreasing
   [link to item description]
* Hand cleaner (de-greaser)
   This stuff is great - but did not use; Wet Ones were enough.
   [link to item description]
* Spoke wrench
* Chain tool
* Patch kit
* Spare tubes, 3
* Tire levers
   For removing/replacing tire in case of flat
* Multi-tool
* Additional allen-keys
   For racks, mirror
* Spare bolts and nuts for racks
* Chain lubricant
* Rags for cleaning chain
* Presta-to-Schraeder valve adapter
* Wrench, ratchet action
   For fenders

Baggage
* 1 medium pannier (rear), 15L
   [link to item description]
* 1 medium pannier, waterproof (rear), 18L
   Same actual volume as item above
   [link to item description]
* 2 small panniers (front), 21L
   [link to item description]
* rackpack (converts to backpack), 11L
   [link to item description]
* "wedgie" under-seat tool bag
   [link to item description]
* "bento box" (gel box) for camera, cell phone
   [link to item description]
* backpack, 13L
   Backpack made shoulders sore, back sweaty
   [link to item description]
* hydration pack for backpack
   Very convenient; for water only (no sweetened drinks)
* rain-cover for backpack
   [link to item description]
* Map-holder
   Mounts on handlebars

For packing bike
* Electrical tape
* Foam pipe insulation
   Use this to pad frame, derailleurs, pedals, and anything that sticks out. Cut to shape, tape in place.
   [link to item description]
* Pedal wrench
* large duffle bag, 136L
   For transporting bags on trains, buses.
   [link to item description]
* Bike box
   Buy at bus/train station
* Utility knife

Stuff sacks etc.
* 3 (mesh) for sorting clean/dirty clothes
* 2 (mesh) for towels
* 2 (mesh) for cosmetics
   [link to item description]
* 1 (mesh) for first aid items
* 2 dry bags for food, 10L each
   [link to item description]
* many ziploc bags (bring spares), various sizes
* compression dry-sack for sleeping bag
   [link to item description]
* Nylon foldable reusable bags, 2
   For groceries, laundry (not essential - but so small!)

Gear: bike
* Bungee cords
   For securing bags; also as laundry line
* "Turtle" lights, white and red
   For night biking AND for lghting tent
   [link to item description]
* Bike lock and cable
* Spare spokes
* Spare brake pads

Gear: shelter
* Sleeping bag, down-filled
   [link to item description]
* Sleeping bag liner (sheet), silk
   [link to item description]
* Inflatable sleeping pad (plus patch kit)
   [link to item description]
* Pillow, down-filled, small
   [link to item description]
* Pillowcase
   Brought 2, only needed 1
* Tent (plus poles, pegs, storage sacks)
   [link to item description]
* "Gear attic" for tent
* Ground sheet for tent (plastic vapour barrier)
   Buy at hardware store -Tyvek brand if you are fancy
* Seat cushion / trail seat, inflatable
   [link to item description]
* Tent whisk & dust pan
   [link to item description]
* Earplugs
   Campgrounds can be noisy

Gear: cooking
* Camping stove (MSR Pocket Rocket)
   [link to item description]
* Gas for camping stove
   [link to item description]
* Kettle (GSI)
   [link to item description]
* Pot gripper/lifter/handle
   [link to item description]
* Mug, lightweight
   [link to item description]
* Bowl, stainless steel - for eating or cooking (MSR)
   [link to item description]
* Plastic cutlery
* Waterproof matches
* Coffee filters, 1-cup (Coghlan's)
   [link to item description]
* Sponge for washing dishes
* Dish detergent (very small container)
* 2 small dishcloths (for padding metal items)

Gear: laundry
* Small scrub brush (also good for cleaning nails, etc.)
   For scrubbing stains
   [link to item description]
* Flat sink stopper
   [link to item description]
* Nylon rope (fine) for laundry-line
* Stretchy laundry line
   [link to item description]
* Clothespins: 12 standard, 12 tiny
* Laundry detergent, liquid (e.g., Zero)

Gear: misc
* Headlamp
   For campsite at night. Handsfree!
   [link to item description]
* 2 carabiners (for strapping and hanging things)
   [link to item description]
* Leatherman knife
* Plastic grocery bags
   For garbage at campsite.
* Plastic bag, heavy-weight, large
   Can be used for doing campsite laundry if sink unavailable
* Plastic tie-wraps
   For securing loose things (did not use)
* Combination lock
   For swimpool locker-rooms; for locking bike with cable when bike lock doesn't fit

Electronics
* Digital camera plus charger and cables
* Cell phone plus charger
   Doubles as alarm clock
* iPod, headphones, cables
   For bus/train rides; also doubles as address book

Clothing: cyclist
* Shorts (cuissard)
* Jersey, short-sleeved
* Arm warmers
   [link to item description]
* Leg warmers
   [link to item description]
* Wind vest
   [link to item description]
* Wind jacket
   [link to item description]
* Bike gloves, 2 pairs
   1 pair would have been enough
* Socks, bike-style, 4 pairs
   more would have been better

Clothing: non-cyclist
* Swimsuit + goggles
   For swimming
* Silk long underwear, 1 pair
   For sleeping or camp-lounging, when cool.
   [link to item description]
* Boxer shorts (for sleeping), 1 pair
* Pants, lightweight, fast-drying, 1 pair
   [link to item description]
* Bandanas, x3
   2 would have been enough, but 3 better.
* Sun hat for when not biking
   Could have done without
* Small toque (knit cap) for chilly evenings
* Socks: cotton style, 1 pair
   Not necessary, but nice for rest days
* Socks: woolen, 2 pairs
   1 pair enough. At campsite, mosquitos can't sting through wool.
* Underwear, 3 pairs
   2 pairs would have been enough
* t-shirt, cotton, for sleeping, x1
* t-shirt, synthetic, x1
   for daytime when not cycling
* tank tops, synthetic, x3
   both for not cycling and for layering with jersey when cold
* snap/button shirt, short-sleeve, synthetic, x1
   for daytime when not cycling
* long-sleeve zippered fleece, thin, x1
* light-weight fast-drying shorts (nylon), x1
* Flip-flops for showers, campsite

Toiletries etc.
* Soap
* Razor plus spare blades
* Shampoo
* Deodorant
* Nail clipper
* Sunscreen
* Insect repellent
* Contact lenses (plus spares)
* Contact lens solution + eyedrops
* Sunglasses
* Moisturiser
* Essential oil of lavender
   For making washed clothes (and me) smell better
* Toothbrush, toothpaste
* Dental floss
* Small synthetic towel (for after shower)
   [link to item description]
* Small face-towel
* 1 travel-size pkg kleenex
   Pick up napkins from restaurants en route
* Anti-histamines
   Also reduces reaction to insect bites
* Analgesics, anti-inflammatories
   Do not use while cycling ("listen" to pain)
* Calamime lotion
   In case of poison ivy, etc.
* Q-tips
* Waterless hand sanitiser (e.g., Purell)
* Vitamin C
* Anti-fungal cream
   Was recovering from athlete's foot from last trip
* Bag balm (small container)
   For saddle sores
   [link to item description]

First aid
* Small bottle iodine
   For disinfecting wounds OR drinking water
* Various sized bandages (band-aids)
* Tape for dressings
   For larger wounds
* Non-adherent dressings (such as Kendall Telfa)
   [link to item description]
* Gauze pads
* Gauze roll
* Triangular bandage
* Scissors
* Compression bandage
* Sam splint
   [link to item description]
* Antibiotic ointment (polysporin)
* Latex gloves
   Also useful for handling greasy bike stuff
* Emergency blanket (aluminized)
   [link to item description]

Paperwork
* Book
   For bus/train rides.
* Address book
   Hard copy of essential contacts and bike shop info.
* Maps, guides
   Heavy - discard or mail home when no longer needed
* Pens, sharpies, highlighter
* Small notebook
   For recording memories
* Emergency contact info
   Store in ziploc bags. Keep several: on bike, in bags

Food
* Ground coffee, 400g
* Canned milk
* Instant hot chocolate
* Instant oatmeal (just add boiling water)
* Nuts and raisins (for oatmeal)
* Ramen noodles
   Discard seasoning; add Thai tuna and peanut butter
* Canned tuna, Thai flavour
* Peanut butter, individual containers
   Liberate these from restaurants
* Energy bars
* Dried fruit bars
* Cheese
   Baby-bel (wax-wrapped) keeps well
* Canned fruit or ready-made jello
   Individual portions, easy to open
* Salt, pepper, sugar; individual packages
   Liberate these from restaurants
* Scones, butter tarts, muffins, etc.

Should have brought
* Spare tire
   Was biking in remote locations
* Can opener
   Could only buy canned foods that didn't need an opener.
* Rear-view mirror, helmet-mounted
   Limited view from handlebar-mounted mirror
* Something else instead of backpack
* Better pump
   Hard to get enough pressure with mine.
* Tweezers
   In case of ticks, splinters.