Kitting up for Bike offroad touring, What Should I Take
I've done a few overnight trips and a few 3 or 4 day trips where I've meet up with my aunt and her other half at camps over night
But I want to do some solo trip's 1500 to 2000 km's one's My goal is befor winter next year is to do the Mawson trail 900km's one way, start at Town ride out to Blinman then ride back to Town 1800 or so km
in 10 days doing about 200km's a day. I also want to do a trip over to Kangaroo Island and ride around it trying to keep to the coast as much as I can
I've got I good Idea of what camping gear I'm going to buy (sleeping bag, ground roll and tent) which will mount of the front of my bike off the bar's 10kg's all up with 5 L of water included as well, which means my back rack can hold 30kg
I'll be camping where I stop for the day and not using camping site (town's) eg pulling of the side of the trail. So that 30kg will been something like 15kg food / cooking stuff, 8 L water, 5kg Tool's spares light 1st aid ect and 2kg of ridding gear (clothes) my stuff
So what should I take with me ??? What have you taken ??? What do you wish you had taken with you??? What cooking gear should I look at ???
Cheers Tim
Tags: Island, Kangaroo, Solo, mawson, offroad, touring, trail
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Julia on -
Have you thought about using a BOB Yak - there is a suspension version (ibis) too?
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Permalink Reply by Slammin on -
I did a solo ride from Hobart to Adelaide many moons ago and only used two back panniers and the top of the back rack. This included all sleeping gear and tent, cooking gear etc. 30kg sounds like a lot, you could reduce the 15Kg of food, there are plenty of places along the Mawson for food.
Best thing to do is put everything you WANT to take out on the floor in front of you, then weigh it. If its too much start taking out stuff you don't need or modiifying it. A friend of mine cut his toothbrush handle in half to save weight!! Where possible use tools that have more than one use. Travel the Mawson in Spring or Autumn, this will save on carrying too much water
Depends on how fit you are, but I did no more than 120km a day when touring. 200km per day sounds like an epic, especially on the Mawson.
Goodluck, sounds like an adventure awaits :)
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Permalink Reply by Jilden on -
The Coleman pressure stove is very light and you can purchase unleaded petrol to run it on, so you only need 2-3 days reserve fuel. I use a 500ml fuel bottle as reserve, cooks for 4-5 days including cuppas. Food mainly instant pasta meals, nut bars, instant packet soup. You will be too tired at the end of a day's riding to mess around with complex meals. Buy fresh fruit etc. wherever you can. Spare tyre a must, keep tools to a necessary minimum. You are never that far from civilisation. 200km a day is for superman, fully loaded I doubt you'll manage anywhere near that on the Mawson. In damp conditions some parts of the track can get quite soft. Lithium throwaway batteries for a couple of LED torches/bike lights. They are very light although expensive.
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Permalink Reply by Tim Loft on -
200km a day is a goal and is not set in stone no point in saying I'll do 80km a day and end up doing 120 - 150 km a day just a way to push my self
The coleman pressure stove sound like it will be getting a look at can it burn other fuels at a push??? I know it will not be 5 star cooking lot's of 2 min noodles instant pasta packets maybe a few tin's of soup and if I want a complex meal that's what the Pub will be for Spare tyre is a must have in my book's
If I can't work out how to chage my nite-light batteries phone gps CB I'll go with throwaway batteries
cheers Tim
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Permalink Reply by Andrew Prior on -
I did 3100km in March; 200km would be heroic!
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Permalink Reply by Michael Murray on -
I don't know how isolated that track is so maybe this is a non-issue but have you got a plan for what happens if you have a serious mechanical that stops you in your tracks or an injury and need help ?
Michael
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Permalink Reply by David Southern on -
EPIRB?
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Permalink Reply by Michael Murray on
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Yes that crossed my mind. I looked at Paddy Pallin
http://www.paddypallin.com.au/equipment/hiking-equipment/gps-electr...
$500. Their not cheap. You could probably pay someone to drive a 4WD behind you for that!
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Permalink Reply by Luke on -
I'm using a SPOT Messenger It records your GPS position every 10min on a web site so family and friends can follow your progress. You can set up e-mail and SMS messages like "I'm at Lat/Long I'm OK but I need your help" and you can alert emergency help if the worst happens. You can also mark positions of interest by pressing a button on the unit.
The units cost about $275 from Paddy Pallin and there is a yearly subscription of $168'ish for the tracking and emergency service. It weights next to nothing, clips onto backpacks etc and works surprisingly well under tree cover.
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