Friends, in order to complete a bicycle tour, one must in fact be on a bicycle. But, like many things, it is not so simple. Grandpa's Schwinn Le Tour probably isn't going to cut it.
If you were say, going on the Great American Roadtrip, you probably wouldn't do so in your pickup truck, but you'd probably choose a vehicle such as a convertible, or perhaps an awful wood paneled station wagon. Something particularly suited to wide open expanse, quick getaways, and space to throw a backpack and case of beer in the back. Similarly, that same convertible probably wouldn't be ideal if you decided to go into the Alaskan wilderness. Maybe that truck would come in handy?
Similarly, when one plans to ride 2700 miles on gravel roads, dirt paths, and up and around mountains, it's prudent to have a ride worthy to the task. And unfortunately, amongst the many two wheeled contraptions in our garage, none are very well suited to off road touring, bikepacking, or mountain biking in general. Which means we get to partake in one of the favourite activities of any good outdoorsperson - gear shopping!
Having today off of work, I decided to roll down to the local bike shop and test ride a bike that was actually designed with the Great Divide route in mind. That would be the Fargo, a bike made by Salsa Cycles, which is headquartered right nearby in Bloomington.
And voila, behold the same machine fully loaded, as we will likely be when we start this adventure in three years' time.
The first thing you might notice is that this doesn't look like a mountain bike (at least not to me), due to the peculiar addition of dropped handlebars, which you typically see on road bikes. It has big 29' inch wheels, which are nearly three inches bigger than your typical bike wheel, and a steel frame. We are looking to buy bikes that have either steel or titanium frames. Why? Steel is a classic frame material that absorbs vibration well, and maybe most important for our purposes, is easily fixed by nearly anyone with a bit of welding experience. Titanium is more expensive, but it is lighter, soaks up more vibrations, and is corrosion free.
Having never ridden a real mountain bike, the most noticeable thing was how the larger wheels and tires inflated at a lower PSI soaked up all the little cracks and undulations in the road that my commuter bike would typically rattle and skip over, with every one more noticeable than the previous. As one of the bike shop employees asked when I returned, "Doesn't it ride like a big, cushy, magic carpet!" I couldn't disagree. Whether it was pavement, the poorly maintained softball field nearby, or my rudimentary efforts to jump a few curbs, I was amazed at how easily the thing moved over, well, anything.
I liked the drop handlebars, and they were much higher than they would be on a road bike, so you didn't feel quite as hunched over. I understand that on long trips, it's critical to be able to have lots of hand positions in order to reduce fatigue, so that's good. It took a little bit to get used to the disc brakes as well, having never used them, but I was really impressed at how quickly they stopped the bike, which was much bigger and heavier than I was used to.
Anyways, it's not really that interesting in and of itself to chronicle test riding a bike, but if the purpose of this blog is to chronicle the transition of an idea to reality, even the most uninteresting parts showcase the gradual transformation. The bike is both the most essential (duh) and the most critical piece of equipment to "get right," and it felt good just to be able to get a taste of what riding one of these mountain bikes was like.
