Some technical notes (including snacks)

Heads up that for some folks this is going to be like that chapter in Moby Dick about knots. Like, “okay, why did we need to know that? And can we get on with plot movement?” And it’s a long post! But I’m including snacks here for more general interest; skip to the end if you came for the snacks. This is not intended to be a comprehensive run-down of my tour set-up; no one wants that. But I have Thoughts and Opinions on some of my equipment and choices that might be of interest.

Tires: I already knew I was lucky to have a bike mechanic as one of my closest friends, and Steve has always set me up right. But I have never been more grateful to have such a knowledgeable buddy than when I hear about all the flats other touring folks are getting on these glass-strewn shoulders. Many folks were sold the wrong tires for the job (gravel tires look knobby and tough!), but when Steve York in Sandpoint looked over my bike he nodded approvingly at my Schwalbe Marathons and pronounced me in good shape. I know I’ll get a flat eventually, but I’m beating the average by a lot.

Padding: I have given it up entirely and am, so far, thrilled with the change. Joyce announced on Circle Tour last summer—brashly, I thought—that padding is for people who don’t ride bikes. We’d both stopped using gloves, which didn’t seem to do much and sometimes made my hands hurt more. But Joyce had been experimenting with unpadded shorts and was not having (more than normal) butt problems. And padding takes up a lot of space and longer to dry! So I tried unpadded shorts for my longer rides over the fall and spring and was confident enough that I was into it to bring two pairs of unpadded and only one pair of padded shorts this tour. (It helps that it’s nearly impossible to find decent women’s cycling shorts. Do better, bike apparel manufacturers, distributors, and retailers.) Waistbands matter a lot to me—you’re leaning all the time—and I ultimately went with yoga shorts, Athleta’s 7” Stash shorts. I gotta say they’ve been kind of a dream. The legs ride up, but that’s true even with bike shorts that have that sticky stuff, especially as your legs change shape over the course of tour. And the inseams may not hold up the whole 11 weeks—they’re pilling and fraying a bit from the saddle. But I can’t blame them for that: this wasn’t what they signed up for. They’re so comfy, dry relatively quickly, don’t feel like diapers, and even with the hot days I have not had any butt problems. I ordered two additional pairs for Andrew to bring me when we meet up in Michigan, and I’ll send home the padded pair I brought and maybe swap out the old ones for the new. I’m really only using two pairs right now: I wash one each night and wear the other, but it only takes one day of not being able to dry them to wish for a third pair, so I’m going to hold onto them for now. As of a year or two ago I go commando; no seams is the name of the game.

Bear vault: Though some folks on the Adventure Cycle forum counseled against a bear vault, I am cautious by nature and decided to bring one anyway. It was kind of a pain to lug around bungeed to my pannier, and I admit I remain unsure whether it was worthwhile. It certainly gave me peace of mind a couple of times, but nearly every campground I stayed at in bear country had its own bear-proof food storage container. If the Midwest turns out to be as raccoon-infested as that one year they ate a hole through the tent, I may ask Andrew to bring it back, but otherwise I’m good with leaving my food in my panniers outside the tent.

Insulated water bottles: I mean, I guess, okay, if it’s not really hot. But they don’t do you much good after 80 degrees, when you care most about cold water. I’d say at most have one, and put your cold stuff in it and drink that one first. No point in saving it for when it’s warm. I’m still annoyed at myself for letting the guy at REI persuade me it was worthwhile when I knew better from my own experience.

Devices: I have two devices. One is a Wahoo ELMNT for navigation, mileage, elevation, and the like. After some initial glitches with the navigation in Seattle, which Wahoo customer service did a nice job of helping with, it’s been pretty great. The companion app is a terrific interface, and with some work at the front end creating cue sheets for the ACA routes in RideWithGPS (the ACA GPX data sets do not come with cues, and the service point data are not compatible with the Wahoo), it’s been so easy to use the routes. The nav does get a little confused by tricky turns (me too, device), but I have both my own eyes and a paper map as back-up.

The second device is a Garmin InReach mini. It serves as back-up communication when I don’t have cell service; I preset messages before leaving so I can send Andrew romantic nothings like “Arrived at camp, but no service. Xoxoxo.” It is also an emergency SOS. But most importantly so far, with the monthly subscription service it is a tracking device. I put on tracking each morning before I leave, and Andrew can watch my progress on a map via pings it sends out every 10 minutes. He showed me how he can tell when I’m climbing because the dots get real close together, and then when I descend they start spacing out again. It also means if I don’t have service he can still see that I’m moving and okay.

Safety vest: Joyce and I have never used them, but I had been considering whether I should when Steve last-minute asked if I had one and then dropped his off at my house the day before I left. 🧡💛🧡 I feel like a total dork in it, but I also don’t know if I’ll tour without one again. I feel like a much more visible dork, which is a good thing in this case.

Water bottles: I have four, with a two-liter Platypus bladder for back-up. I have gotten through three before refill possibilities, and it’s only going to get hotter and less populated, so I will likely start strapping on a Gatorade bottle or filling the bladder when I get to ND.

Snacks. Okay, I’m ready to talk about snacks. They are, despite a lot of mouth noises I made before departing about needing real meals, mostly what I eat. Without Joyce making coffee and staying in a lot of motels the last week or so, I don’t bother heating water in the morning, so I tend to eat a bar of some sort. I’ll have lunch at Subway if I happen on one at the right time or at a bar & grill if I arrive to a motel night town early, and then I usually won’t bother with dinner. But I want to be clear: I am eating CONSTANTLY. On my bike, standing next to my bike, huddled in the shade of my bike … I am always eating. It’s dreamy.

There are several categories of snack, and I think it’s important to have at least two of each kind in my trunk rack bag—which is 80% snacks—all the time.

First is the sour chewy type. The form has to lend itself to being eaten on the roll, so strings and tiny pieces usually aren’t ideal. My main selections in this category include sour strips, chewy Sweet Tarts, sour gummy bears, any of a variety of single flavors/shapes of sour gummy (worm, coke bottle, etc.). I am usually eating these while riding; one often lives in my bar bag.

Then there’s the savory carby snack. You know what I’m talking about: Cheez-Its (white cheddar, hot & spicy) and Snyder’s pretzel bits (Hot Buffalo wing) are the leaders in this category. I also like the occasional fun flavor of Chex Mix, but it’s gotta be something that can be eaten crushed.

Chocolate/rich/fatty snacks: So much good stuff here. Caramel M&Ms (share size my ass), Rollos, Cow Tales, occasionally Reese’s products (mainly for eating with bananas) … this is kind of a new category for me, so I’m still exploring. I would put energy bars in this category; though they’re not as tasty as candy, they’re nuts and chocolate and sugar. Same with those two-packs of Pop Tarts. A new addition this trip is the salted peanut roll, which I bought because it looked interesting and then kicked to the bottom of the snack pile for days. Then I was short on fatty snacks one afternoon and ate it reluctantly and discovered I’d been a fool. It’s got caramel! And some kind of vanilla nougat! I have been buying them since. Trail mix also goes in this category, though it’s a good transition item to the last snack category: “real food” items. What is real food on the road? Hard-boiled eggs, cheese sticks/bars (either solo or wrapped in/accompanied by a meat), pickled carrots or green beans, yogurt, apples, bananas. These are usually the hardest to come by, and I grab them when I see them.

You asked about snacks, and I have answered the call and then some! When you’re passionate and knowledgeable about a topic, the words just come, I guess.