Today I started getting the bikes ready for spring. Both bikes had winter tune ups when I returned from Baja. A new set of Vittoria Mezcal 29X2.6″ tires was waiting for Hobbes, so I took off WTB Ranger 29X3″ tires that came stock.b. The Vittoria tires sealed up easily with no real mess once I wrangled them onto the rims.
Frankly, the stock WTB i45 front rim is a bit wide for these tires, but I think that it will be fine for the riding I do. I have my eye out for a set of 35mm internal width rims at some point in the future, allowing me to run even narrower tires when I don’t need the width and suspension of 2.6″+ tires.
I also tried to upgrade to a smaller chainring, but I bought the wrong version and need to wait for a new one to arrive. Next week I’ll have a new 28T chainring, giving me slightly lower gearing. Once the new ring arrives, it will be mounted and Hobbes is ready to ride again.
Finally, I used my REI 20% off member coupon to pick up a brand new 20 degree F quilt, the Thermarest Vesper. It is warmer than either Kammok quilt I own, and it compresses quite a bit smaller, too. I look forward to trying it out soon.
Next up, I have to patch a rip in my tent that I created in Baja…
On January 1, I left on the morning flight to San José del Cabo. I was incredibly anxious about my bike – will it make it on the flight? Would it be damaged en route?
When I arrived in Mexico, I noticed the bag had been opened. The TSA had searched my bag. I’m fine with the bag being searched, but I’m displeased that they tried to remove my framebag, and broke a few pieces of padding between the franebag and frame, and left the bike unsecured in my bag. I have no idea what they were looking for – nothing was removed. Thankfully, nothing was damaged in transit.
I called the Cactus Inn Hotel where I was staying, they directed me to the area just outside the terminal where the rental car agency folks wait. They had a representative there for their car rental business (Cactus Rentals) who drove me a few miles to the hotel. I checked into my simple, bare bones room before heading off to buy groceries and get dinner.
Tacos at Taqueria el Fortachon.
Well fed, I headed back to the hotel to rebuild my bike, repack my bags, and head off the next morning. Tequila was involved, so building the bike took longer than expected. (More on this in two days…)
Off to bed early for my first day of riding in the morning!
(Nota bene: All posts for this trip are being back dated to the date that they occurred, even if I’m writing a few days later.)
I’ve packed and unpacked my bike twice now – I’m feeling confident that I have the tools, padding, etc. that I need to pack safely for the trip to and from BCS. Over the weekend, I put the bike together again, mounted all of my bags, water storage, etc. and headed out for a ride through the neighborhood to see how my bike handles fully loaded. As expected, my Bombtrack Beyond+ ADV is a great platform for riding weighed down with racks, bags, food, water, clothes, and camping gear. Unloaded, the bike weighs ~30#. Fully laden with 5L of water, I estimate the loaded bike is ~70#. (Update: 74 pounds / 33.5 kg on my travel scale… yowza.) That’s a lot of weight to move uphill! My granny gear (30×52, 0.58 gear ratio) is going to get a workout on steep climbs.
Over the next two weeks, I’ll be doing a lot of fully loaded hill climbing around my neighborhood. Although North Seattle doesn’t have any long climbs, there are plenty of short, steep climbs, and a few longer sustained climbs such as Golden Gardens Drive, . A few can be strung together for a ride that has very little flat terrain. Too bad the weather in Seattle is likely to be cold and rainy until I depart. The only thing I can’t prepare for is the heat and sun in Baja California Sur.
What goes up, and up, and up, must come down… I spent about 2 hours climbing to the top of the ridge and about 10 minutes descending the other side all the way to my car. Forest roads, single track, banked turns, and steep drop offs – this was exactly what I needed after a hard climb.
I apologize in advance for the NSFW language toward the end of the video. I smashed the fork into a rock, chipping the paint beneath the thru axle as I tried to navigate between a gate and some rocks. This is simply the first of many stories that will be told by the wear and tear on my bike. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The past six weeks have been a whirlwind. I’ve been from Seattle to Orlando, Atlanta, Seattle, Mountain View, Seattle, San Diego, and back to Seattle. There hasn’t been much time for biking.
I did sneak away to ride part of the Teanaway River Link Up in mid-September. The winds were challenging, as were the climbs, but the part of the route I did was worthwhile. I learned a lot about how my bike handles with a full load.Overall the fit and ride were dreamy – I was comfortable during two days in the saddle. There may be minor tweaks in the future to the fit, but nothing significant.
Bikepacking the Teanaway Community Forest
Since then I’ve been refining my camping kit and rethinking how and where I store things on the bike. I’ve purchased a Rockgeist Loop Bar Harness – my original plan didn’t work out, so I didn’t carry anything on my handlebars during the Teanaway Link Up.
Looking at the size and weight of the tubes that came with my bike I realized they are twice the weight (almost 450g) and size of a Schwalbe SV19F tube. I replaced the spare tube mostly for the space savings. Riding a small frame mountain bike means I have limited framebag space. With a 3L Hydrapak Seeker bladder in the framebag, I can now fit a much smaller tube and mount the Lezyne Micro Floor Drive HV pump inside.
I have also spent time thinking about my packing strategy. I always overpack for bikepacking trips. I need to reduce the volume and weight of my gear, especially since so much never gets used! I’ve trimmed down my clothing for Baja to a little more than half of one 13L Rockgeist Microwave pannier, leaving the remaining space for toiletries, and first aid. The other pannier will primarily serve as a food bag, with the hydration kit (filter, 2x 2L empty Hydrapak bladders, etc.), and an electronics kit (Kindle, battery pack, cables, 120V USB charger, GoPro charger, headlamp). Ultimately, I’ll try to balance the weight left to right in the pannier bags, nothing is fixed in place.
The heavier food, such as bagged cooked beans, peanut butter, etc, will sit on a fork leg, with the cooking kit on the other fork leg. My cooking kit consists of a Snow Creek Titatnium Mini Solo, Trangia alcohol stove, Firebox Nano X Case Kit w/ stainless grill grate, Toaks titanium cutlery, and a pair of titanium tongs. This set up allows me to cook over the alcohol stove using the Firexbox as a windscreen, or with sticks, twigs, or charcoal to build a fire inside the Firebox Nano to boil water or grill on top of the fire. Or I can just make a fire because I want to sit by the fire and enjoy the evening.
Finally, I’ve made a few route updates. I met a former bike industry executive through Facebook. She lives in Todos Santos and has offered me a place to stay for the night with a shower and hot breakfast. Bonus: She runs a dog rescue… lots of cute doggos!
My proposed route, starting from San José del Cabo working clockwise. Each color represents a planned riding day.
Second, I’ve decided to cut out the trip to La Paz, saving myself ~30 miles of highway riding. Instead, I’ll route from el Triunfo via Los Divasaderos to La Ventana, where I’ll spend two nights to get cleaned up and restock the bike. I found a cute AirBNB there which should be perfect for my needs. Then I’ll to Enseneda de Muertos (it has been renamed by entrepreneurs as Ensenda de Sueños to appeal to property buyers…) for a night, before starting down the coast past Los Barriles, through Cabo Pulmo, and back across the mountains to San Jose del Cabo.
Last night, I wrapped the Jones bars and set up the harness with a dry bag. Everything is starting to come together. I may replace some Voile straps with hypalon straps and Austere Manufacturing buckles – mostly because I’m a sucker for the really beautiful design.
I’m not happy with mounting the pump on the fork – I need a better long term solution.
Next weekend I’m going bike packing in Roslyn with the new Bombtrack. This might be my first and best shakedown ride before heading to Mexico. I’ve been working on minimizing how much stuff I carry with me on a trip. At the same time, I’m expanding my carrying capacity for longer journeys like the Cape Loop. Inevitably, if there’s extra space, I’ll probably fill it. Using a MLD medium dry bag under the Jones bars, and a pair of Revelate Polecat bags on the forks opens up a lot of possibilities to move bulky, light items to the bars, and heavy items, such as a 64 oz Klean Kanteen, low on the bike helps to maintain a low center of gravity.
My new bike arrived from The Pro’s Closet in late August. For months I had been eyeing the Bombtrack Beyond+ ADV. When I saw it on sale for 50% off MSRP, I couldn’t pass it up.
Since receiving the bike, I’ve built it up with a mix of on-hand and newly purchased parts: 1
I’ve ridden ~50 miles or so, including about 7 miles of trails at Big Finn Hill / St. Edward State Park. The trails were a blast! Riding on 29X3″ tires reminded riding BMX bikes on the dirt trails along Cypress Creek, jumping makeshift jumps, riding up, down, and around dirt berms on the edge of our developing neighborhood. This is going to be fun!
List updated 11/17/2023 based on changes/additions since initially writing this post. ↩︎
In December 2022 my family and I spent a week in Los Barriles, Baja California Sur, Mexico. We stayed at a house near the beach just up the hill from the Baja Divide route. At the time, I had been bikepacking for two years. Through the pandemic I watched a lot of bikepacking videos, including Ryan van Duzer’s series on riding the Baja Divide. On our trip home, I said to my wife, “someday I’m going to ride the Cape Loop of the Baja Divide… maybe next winter!”
On the beach at Punta Pescadero along the Baja Divide route. (December 2022)
Fast forward a few months. I got lost in travel, work, and family. I completed a few bikepacking trips over the summer, yet I had made no meaningful progress toward riding the Cape Loop. I didn’t have an appropriate bike or even a plan to tackle anything longer than an overnight trip.
In late July we returned from our family summer vacation in Europe. I turned 50. Suddenly, I had a lot of time to think about the upcoming year and what I want to do. At the same time, a friend became quite ill, reminding me that you’re never guaranteed tomorrow. This was all the inspiration I needed.
Sign along the beach road north of Los Barriles, BCS. (December 2022)
“Steph, I want to buy a new bike, fly to Mexico, and spend 10 days riding and camping across the desert and mountains of Baja California. Alone. What do you think?”
She said, “Yes!” Over the next four days I purchased a brand new 2022 Bombtrack Beyond+ ADV, and a round trip ticket to San Jose del Cabo for early next year.
Let’s do this!
Street sign outside of Los Barriles, BCS. (December 2022)
Bikepacking for Nerds 
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