Leaving on a Jet Plane
Posted by SCG on January 17th, 2013
by Alexander Tolchinsky
Whenever I start riding for the day the song “Leaving on a Jet Plane” comes into my mind, and I start singing away. However, after buying the KLR (Georgia), and slowly packing her with all the essentials, it feels less and less like leaving on a jet plane, and more like taking a Studebaker across the Sierra Nevada.
I am 5’7”, 165 lbs. This means that, as it is, the KLR is too tall for me to ride comfortably. But with a pair of boots, a low-cut Corbin seat, and a few hundred pounds of weight, Georgia comes down to where I can touch the ground with all of my toes. But with this new found “reach”, comes the burden and instability of the incredible weight. Though I balance her well through my packing, and though the Happy-Trail panniers allow a good amount of weight to be brought down low, whenever I leave the paved road it is only prayer which keeps me in saddle (and sadly that has failed me more times than I wish to recall).
As a note, however, not only have the 9” Tetons from Happy-Trail kept my gear dry and dust free, they have invariably saved Georgia from countless repairs. Every time I have taken a spill, or whenever Georgia decides to lay down for a rest, they have taken the full brunt of her weight with little more than a scratch to show for it. They have also made it significantly easier for me to lift her up as they, along with the enormous 10 gallon tank, have kept her off the ground entirely.
From the very first time Georgia tipped over after being fully loaded I have been on a mission to eliminate more and more gear. The process has been easy with the small extras (like extra toiletries and t-shirts), but almost impossible with what I deem to be essential. And just to make things more interesting I am now carrying two extra tires (because tire prices in Central and South America are beyond ridiculous).
Here is a list of the gear I have packed. If anyone has any thoughts on eliminating something, I am all ears.
A few weeks ago my friend decided to get married in Minnesota and flew me in to bear witness and stand by his side. This allowed me the opportunity to buy some tires, as well as what I thought was a lower shock by Progressive. I spent a lot of money to find out that the “lower” shock is still higher than the stock because of improved spring tension. So my efforts to alleviate the height and weight issue resulted only in improved suspension. So I am still where I was before: walking a very thin line whenever I get into traffic or go off-road.
I have faced the full wrath of mother nature, the discomforts of not having a home, hunger and fatigue … but it is the lack of confidence on anything other than a paved road (with no gridlock) which has been the hardest element to face. I even came close to selling the KLR and starting all over with BMW 650 (which has a lower seat height). But the thought of going back and spending the time to find and equip a new bike is keeping me atop Georgia for now. Let’s see what the jungle will have to say about this.
Trail Dust is a publication of happy-trail.com
January 17th, 2013 at 4:15 pm
Hey Alexander,
This is a pretty common problem for adventure bike riders due to the long-distance and unpredictable nature of our riding. People try to prepare for every eventuality which, while wise, can create other problems. This is even more pronounced for those riders who get to head out on huge international excursions. Seeing the pictures of your bike reminds me of IdahoSam’s bike on one of his first overnight adventure rides. He was ridiculed mightily for his “Beverly Hillbilles” luggage setup, including “Granny on her rocking chair” atop his pile of gear. Like many major conversions, most people decide to radically lighten their load after hitting some low point. For me it was the complete failure of my subframe, and the 5 hour ride home standing up with bungee cords running from my shoulders to my tail rack to keep the rear end of my bike attached. It looks like you’re finding your bottom too :)
I had a pretty dramatic weight reduction, from 35-40 lbs for a week-long trip down to 11 lbs and I haven’t looked back. I’m able to ride harder, longer and feel better the next day. My bike performs better in every way and so do I. I don’t have to make suspension adjustments between loaded and unloaded and my bike will always react and ride the same way. It takes some self-inflicted misery to go that extreme, as well as some good route planning to pull it off, but it’s possible for me in my riding.
If you’re dedicated to lightening your load, ideally you’d do it over the course of a lot of small test-runs. Having taught several clinics on packing light, my best advice is to keep close track of your gear and pay attention to your *needs* vs your *conveniences* and give up the latter as much as humanly possible. Another good solution is re-using gear for different purposes. Friends joke about me borrowing things in camp because I only carry a “snuggie and a box of pop tarts” while riding, and it’s true that occasionally I don’t have the things I’d like to have, giving up some creature comforts for performance but for me it’s necessary.
The first thing I notice is your clothing list… I always dramatically overpack on clothing and it’s taken a lot of mental adjustments to get used to living with less in this area.
My clothing list looks like this:
2x UnderArmour (or similar) underwear
2x thin wool riding socks
1x “riding” long sleeved UnderArmour (or similar) shirt
1x “off the bike” shirt – ideally a log sleeved synthetic Rayon or Nylon for packability and wrinkle resistance. You get the added benefit of some mosquito protection.
1x Thin Nylon pants for casual wear. I have some Patagonia zipoff pants that are extremely compact and lightweight. I also use them as swimming trunks. It looks weird, but cuts a fair amount of bulk out of your bag.
When necessary, some thin polypropylene pants as a baselayer.
1x small mesh bag – this is used for daily washing of socks and underwear, as well as strapping to the top of my pannier to dry the clothes while I ride for the next day.
1x Balaclava (in jacket pocket). Can be rolled up like a beanie hat for off bike-cold weather excursions.
1x Bandana around neck, or face if riding is very dusty
1x Down Vest (a coat would work, but with slightly more bulk) – this is re-used as a pillow most of the time, unless it’s FREEZING cold, then I throw my riding jacket or pants under the head-end of my sleeping bag as a pillow.
1x Teva foam flip flops
While admittedly not fashionable, riding jackets and pants work very well as rain gear, as well as cold weather gear. Do you have jacket and pants liners in your current gear? Re-using this would help in shaving off weight and bulk
In terms of your camping list, I’d stick with either the tent or the hammock, not both. The hammock might not be overly bulky but every bit counts when you’re trying to shave weight down. Also, what size tent are you using? A 4-6 man dome tent designed for car camping can weigh 10-15 lbs and be the biggest piece of gear you’ve got. You might laugh, but I know a lot of people who do this then complain about their bike not handling well. I used a Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight for several years and liked it, but I eventually gave it up in favor of a Kelty Noah’s Tarp as it’s less than 1/2 the weight and about 1/4 the packed size. This is a somewhat extreme move on my part and not practical in a lot of places in the world – I would definitely not like to see you get Malaria or stung by a scorpion, but there are options out there that could save you quite a bit of weight. The best, most innovative tents I’ve seen on the market are from Tarptent. I think their Moment model would suit you well… http://www.tarptent.com
Also, I don’t know what kind of sleeping pad you’re using but the Big Agnes inflatable pads are amazing for their small size. They’re not the lightest thing on the market, but they’re very sturdy and have a tremendous warranty.
Bag selection is also very important. I use an REI 15 degree down bag I bought on closeout a few years ago. This bag compresses to about the size of a football and only weighs a couple of pounds and if you’re a warm sleeper it can serve as a 4 season bag. I really like mummy bags in the 15 degree range for their versatility and packability.
Your cooking list looks good, although you could certainly get something smaller than a Jetboil. I use mine for car camping with my family, but I use a Primus Express stove with a GSI Soloist pot. It’s almost as efficient as the Jetboil but half the size and significantly lighter.
Your Hiking/other gear is an area where you should be able to shave quite a bit of weight. Admittedly when I go hiking I go hiking, and when I go riding I’m focused on that and believe me I understand the desire to double up on some important things, but it might help to ditch some of your doubled up items like your backpack/camelbak, your camelbak and three water bottles. Are you using your gaters much? If they’re knee-high gaters, maybe consider dropping down to ankle high versions? I don’t know how much hiking you’re doing in the snow, but since I don’t see crampons I’d think not much? I totally get using them on hikes but are you hiking enough to warrant packing them along for your ride?
Just some thoughts to get you started…