Pitt to DC: Gettin' Ready to Ride!

Cali and I typically have pretty cool vacations. We've traveled to Seattle, Paris, and Las Vegas. The last two summers we've been able to visit Utah for a month to see family and play. This summer we weren't so lucky. (Remember how most jobs don't give you the summers off?) Nevertheless, we wanted to have an adventure. Well, do we ever have one planned!

We are going to bike from Pittsburgh back to DC. That's right 350 miles along traffic-free rail/canal trails. We leave tonight for Pittsburgh and should arrive home on Tuesday, averaging about 70 miles a day. We did a practice run over the 4th of July by bike-camping along the C&O Canal trail; it was a pretty fun trip despite the rain. (See full trip report here). You can be certain I'll post up when we get back.

In the meantime, let's talk bike prep. Here's the rundown on our bikes:

Cranky's Bike: Singlespeed (40 x 16) 29er mountain bike with semi-slick tires and rack with panniers. The gearing is nearly perfect - light enough that I can cruise, tall enough to travel pretty fast. The tires have some knobbies for the C&O Canal trail; it's mostly gravelly double-track. I estimate I'll be carrying about 30 lbs among all the bags. The rear end is so heavy that the front seems awfully light and a bit squirrelly. (I could wheelie like crazy on this thing.)

Cranky's Weapon of Choice: Ready to Roll!

Mud Flap, for when it gets messy

Cali's Bike: 1x8 mountain bike with slicks and a seatpost-mounted rear rack. Cali'd been running her mountain bike as a single speed, but wanted a few more options on the trip. So I set her up with a rear derailleur and an 8-speed cassette. The suspension fork posed some real problems when I tried attach the clip-on fender. I gave up (eventually) and mounted the front fender to the back of the rack. It works beautifully, some of my best make-it-work cobbling. Let's hope it doesn't rain too much, though. Otherwise she'll miss that front fender!

Cali's Rig: Lookin' Sharp!

Rear Fender Attachment: Fender is easily detached and stowed when not needed.

Other Notes: On a trip like this I worry a bit about, well, everything. I put together a pretty thorough tool kit. (Cali's got another on her bike.) Let's hope we never need to use 'em!

Only thing missing: extra spokes!

One of my big bike decisions was to run flat pedals on this trip. Ever since I went with Speedplay pedals on my road bike, I've never ridden without being clipped in. (I ride Crank Brothers Candy's on my mountain bike.) At this point, it simply feels strange to ride flats. BUT, I wanted to travel light on this trip, so I installed some quality flats and have been "practicing" all sumer long with them. So, if you happen to be on the trail and see a tall, skinny cyclist pedaling along in Crocs, that's me! Give me a wave!