Derailer broke this morn in Wharfedale.  Single speeding it since then!

I snuck out of Hanmer on day 4 in the evening and stumbled upon Brian and Steve also heading up Jacks pass. I had moved my sser to hill climb mode, 24/34 so had no problems with the gradient. Riding the 1 km from the fast food shop to the start of the trail was pretty funny though. At the top I was able to move it back to a more usable 36/23 with the sliding drop outs to take up my chain slack, and we got stuck into about 20kms of headwind and corrugations. Joy. The relief at finding the hut was intense as the trail was completely hammering our trail worn butts. There was more of the same when we rolled out at 5.45 am the next morning but eventually the corrugations ceased and the Rainbow Valley was all good. I did elect to walk Island Pass! I got myself a bit confused as I neared the end of the Rainbow as the trail split into gravel and tarseal, and knowing the K-bros predilection for gravel I started down the gravel choice, then changed, then went back... then re-read the instructions and went back to my normal route. Twit.

I had lost the other guys when I pulled my rear wheel on a small riser, and it was all downhill at speed after that so it I didn't really expect to see them again with my limited gearing. The manic spinning, then standing up, in an inappropriate gear was having a bad effect on my right achillies. The North Bank section was particularly brutal. I'm not sure what I was expecting, the older trails were good enough, it was just this newly laid base course gravel, for logging trucks that was real nasty. I walked most of the Northbank climbs as my gear was just too tall. I passed aussie Troy who had changed over to the Brevette option, through the Northbank as he recovered from a double puncture. I soon had one myself that was to prove quite critical. The Stans goo failed to seal the tiny cut in the sidewall so I put in a tube.

Some time later Troy caught and passed me and I felt terrible. I was pedalling hard but going no-where into a head wind along the now more exposed North Bank. I stopped to look down at my drive chain. I think that when I reset it after my puncture it must have jumped up into a larger cog. There was so much tension on the chain It wouldn't go backwards and I couldn't even move it forward by hand. Twit. I reset the tension and it was like I was on turbo! I had been down abut 40% in power for the last 2 hours not knowing why. The things you do when your are tired : )

After a quick stop in Renwick for an icecream and drink it was head down for the final stretch home. The remnants of my team had only been there for an hour or so, so they must have been as blown as I was! It was great to be met by my family and have my first wash in 4 days and sleep in a real bed at the Voodoo Lounge. Will be heading down to Seymour Square soon to check up the guys. Go Team Voodoo Lounge. Simon Morton is having a blinder !

See below a few of the things that got me through my hardest Brevet so far.

The phone number of Ian at Arthurs pass Cafe who lent me a new toe-clip pedal

The sliding drop-out on the Surly Karate Monkey

Lezyne multi-tool for adjusting rear wheel tension and position.

A lovely note from my oldest daughter Ash, which I found on the front of my bike about 30 mins before we started at Seymour Square :)

Surly Karate Monkey

The Kiwi Brevet is an 1100 km cross country event designed to give people an experience similar to what its creator Simon Kennett had when he first did the Tour Divide. This years was the third, and possibly last unless someone else steps forward to organise it. There is also talk of a length of New Zealand (LONZ) Brevet in 2016 if there is interest.

In the past years I have ridden with a group of friends and had an amazing time. Laughs aplenty and time to take heaps of photos and even do a bit of blogging on the run. This time I was keen to go a bit faster, and if necessary ride by myself. I found this idea a bit scary but you don't know if you don't try. The other main difference this time was that I was riding my drop-barred 29 inch Surly Karate Monkey, instead of my 26 inch Santa Cruz Superlight full suspension bike of the two previous Brevets. How would it stack up? Rollability of the larger wheels vs the comfort of full suspension.

Team Voodoo Lounge, Calum, Tor, Simon, Thomas, Andy, Jeff

On the way over from Wellington on the Blue Bridge ferry Michael Norris and Kirby Knowles introduced themselves to me. They'd over come from New Castle in Australia and were on fullies with some pretty flash but light-weight kit. I warned them about day one and what the KiwiBrovet guys from 2010 said about the Port Underwood climbs. They were not scared as they had done plenty of big hills in Oz, and Kirby was a highly ranked 24 hour racer back in Oz. We ended up having them around for Pizza and beers at the Voodoo Lounge on the friday night. We had a full house with Andy King, Tor Meulengracht-Madsen, Calum Chamberlain, Thomas Lindup and Simon Morton. We'd opted for a big cooked brekkie that morning and everyone pitched in, with Simon making an amazing coffee brew with his "coffee in a billy" style skills.

Heading to Port Underwood, day 1. Calum, Andy, Jeff - Photo from Bike-Fit Marlborough

Day 1. Blenheim to Wakefield Domain
I was outside Bikefit Marlborough picking up some last minute things when I noticed a small note my daughter had hidden on my kit. It was a lovely way to start the day. After the usual photo ops we were led out on the way to Port Underwood. I watched Dave Sharpe make his move and opted to hang back and catch his followers later when they blew up! Ha ha. I don't think many riders there knew what Dave was capable of. I hit the bottom of the hill and poured on the gas. I was riding with Simon Kennett, Steve Halligan and David Drake until Davids tire went bang in a most spectacular fashion. I carried on and diced with Steve for some time until I got away on the last tarseal decent, 4 very steep hills later. I was cruising through Waikawa Bay when I saw the Red and Black livery of the Revolution Cycles crew. It could only be Thomas.... I gassed it up and screamed STRAVA!!!! into his ear as I blew past. When I finally stopped laughing we continued riding to Picton where we did a very quick stop and picked up some extra water and drink. Apparently international adventure racer Nathan Faave cruised by while we were restocking.

Thomas and photo-ops at foot of Mangatapu

Thomas and I worked together through the Queen Charlotte Sound and Havelock where we passed Cliff Clermont replenishing supplies at the foursquare. We got to Pelorus and stocked up some more just in case. The Mangatapu was in great condition and we reached the 750 metre summit at around 7.30 pm I think, with Cliff catching us on the way. He was climbing really well but we nearly recaught him near the summit.

Thomas and I were both on rigid bikes so the very rough decent into the Maitai Valley before Nelson was less fun that it might have been. As we carried our bikes over the final gate we were joined by David Drake, Steve Halligan and Brian Alder. Brian said he knew where we could get good Kebabs if we wanted to follow him. Great idea. We put our heads down and I had a bit of a crash where I wiped out on the gravelly centre line of the road and went into the bank. No major problems, but my first crash of many.

While eating my Kebab I could see that Brian had similar plans to what I had. Press on a bit further and get a bit of a jump on the rest who were likely to be staying in accommodation offered by locals who were doing the Brevet but wanting to stay in their own houses. I was thinking of Golden Downs, as apparently was Nathan Faave, but we opted for the relatively known luxury of Wakefield Domain where we bivvied out and had a good nights sleep with a toilet and water tap nearby. Somehow we had cranked out 199kms since lunchtime in Blenheim.

Day 2. Wakefield to Big River hut Waiuta
I think we rolled out at 5.30. And we quickly got into the groove. We started pretty hard actually,  and Thomas, who had not had a good nights sleep in his bivvy sack, (no sleeping bag) and is not a morning  person by any measure soon got dropped on a roller. I felt a pang of sadness as I looked behind to see him disappear into the background, a lot like Sandra Bullock looking at George Clooney disappear in Gravity ; ) We got to St Arnaud and were just about to leave when David Drake and Russell Shanks turned up. Russell quickly fueled up and joined us while David went looking for a coffee. Russell (from Pleasant point Timaru) was a tank on the flat and we all traded turns until we hit the Porika track which was a really good gnarly climb. I am pretty sure Steve cleaned the entire climb while I struggled a bit with the last couple of hundred metres. My descending sucked as my rigid bike tended to bounce off the trail which was particularly rough this time on the run down to the Braeburn track. In the previous Brevet, running in the opposite direction, Dave Sharpe had all but cleaned this side of the Porika with only one dab.

By the time I got off the fast and fun Braeburn Track the others were gone so I switched on my GPS and followed the coloured line. I was riding by myself and loving it. It was very hot and I was keen to get back to the group so as soon as I got to Murch I grabbed some food, downed a 600ml bottle of iced coffee milk and took off again. I rounded the corner and heard the others yell out at me from a nearby cafe. They were having a sit-down lunch. I tried to join in but I suddenly felt very queasy as the milk sat heavy in my stomach.

Nothing much happened as we rolled out through the Matukituki, on through the Maruia and Rahu saddles and descended into a head wind into Reefton. Compare this to previous times where we were chased by a baby deer, and were treated to Jonty demonstrating how to clean his teeth while riding while the others sparked up their cleats on the descents! Maybe we were too old and boring? The average age for the 4 of us was 45 after all! We had a good stop at Reefton for fish and chips before we went into the Waiuta with the aim of reaching the Big River Hut. I admit to sucking quite badly on the final push into the hut. I was really missing the added traction control you tend to get with a fully and I was completely bushed when we snuck in at around 11pm. 270+ kms that day. A pretty tough day with a fair bit of climbing I reckon.

Day 3. Waiuta to View Hill Domain

Steve, Cliff and Brian at Ikamatua

We had a late start and snuck out at 6am because as Brian said, it would be difficult to see well in the bush. I rode for about 4 metres before doing a classic endo down the bank which started the day with a laugh. It was a shame to be riding the Waiuta so early in the day with poor visibility, its just so beautiful in there,  but the track was in great condition, especially compared to the first Kiwi Brevet in 2010 where it was many people's worst nightmare. We got through the Waiuta ghost town with no major dramas and the guys seemed impressed that my grandfather was the butcher there and my mother went to school there. Just how old was I? Before long were were at the Ikamatua pub stocking up and checking in on our phones. It appeared that overnight Thomas had caught and passed us as we lay sleeping, and Nathan Faave had blown his rear hub and had detoured to Greymouth to get it fixed. We didn't know if he was ahead of or behind us. We were doing the gravel section between Stillwater and Jacksons and trying to guess who was responsible for the crazy tire tracks that were meandering all over the road. We found out eventually when we spied what appeared to be a bunch of old clothes on the side of the road. It was Thomas, sleeping on the roadside. He'd missed the Big River Hut where we were staying, tried to sleep in the bush which was too cold for his kit, and wrecked his tire bead. He was whacked. We tried to convince him to back track to Greymouth to get a new tire but he elected not to, wrapping his tire and rim in insulation tape and soldiering on. He eventually got as far as The Wharfdale before his wheel eventually broke.

Thomas wakes after a nap on roadside.

There were dramas aplenty in store for me as we were riding up the Viaduct in the Otira Gorge. It was a stinking hot day, but we had a cool tail wind, so not all was bad, until my left pedal sheared off. At first I thought I had unclipped but Steve pointed out that my pedal had broken off and lay centimetres from the edge of the drop-off. I slid it back on and pedalled while forcing my leg in so that it wouldn't fall off again. Obviously not a sustainable option. We pulled in at Arthurs pass. I was quite calm considering that my Brevet was about to come to an end. I guess I didn't have excess energy to waste on being angry. Probably the same feeling you get when you look out the window and you notice the engine just fell off the aeroplane you are flying in. I went up to the manager, Debbie and inquired about buses, and if she knew of any locals with bike nous or spares. She mentioned a local guy Ian who was out on a hike, but she would text him for me. I sat about, thinking that it was probably not going to amount to anything so concentrated on the idea of a hot shower and a comfy bed, and maybe cheering on some other riders until the bus came the next day.

An ex-pedal. Better to fail riding up than down.

In the mean time Nathan Faave had turned up, and he stocked up with fizz and icecream and all the other good stuff. That meant that up until then there was only Dave Sharpe ahead of us. Dave was in a class of his own and travelling light and fast. He was miles away and we had never thought for a second that we could match him. My team, Brian, Steve and Cliff said their goodbyes and I chatted to Nathan as he refuelled. I asked him about the feasibility of riding on a flat pedal, should I find one, and he said that in adventure racing they always take a spare pair of flat pedals for exactly that scenario.

After a while Ian turned up. He was the guy that Debbie had mentioned and he said he had a few bikes and he might be able to help. He asked if he had time for a coffee. I said we had all the time in the world as right now my ride was over. A short while later we were in his crib where he showed me a selection of three bikes which I could borrow the pedals off ! What a guy. I opted for the one with platforms and toe-clips and before long I was out of there. I was super motivated. It was great to have a second chance, and with a good tail wind I was smashing it. I'd done enough time trialling to know that one person can be almost as fast as a team of inexperienced ones and I had hopes of taking some time out of my buddies up the road. I actually met Nathan Faave at one point, stopped on the side of the road. It turns out he'd had a swim and was yapping to Coast to Coast legend, Richard Ussher who had been travelling the other way in a car.

I got to the Sheffield Pub around 9pm to find that the guys had only been there about 10 minutes. They got a bit of a shock when I walked in the door. After a burger and fries and jug of raspberry and coke we gently tootled off to our designated bivvy spot, the View Hill domain that we used in the very first Kiwi Brevet with Laurence and Guy from Ground effect.

Day 4. View Hill domain to Fowlers Pass hut
The View Hill domain was a great bivvy spot and really warm. The concrete toilet block had heated up like a giant heat sink, and the Wharfdale was in good condition, apart from some wind-throw at the far end of it. As usual Brian and Steve pulled away from me in the technical stuff, making the most of their fullies on a great track. We had left Cliff at the Sheffield Pub the previous night for a more civilized experience. Unbeknown to any of us, Thomas had nearly caught up yet again and found the "Hedgerow Hilton" shelter belt outside the pub and was bedded down in there for a while during the night.

Single Speed mode

More drama came about about halfway through the Wharfdale, the tell tale graunch of a trail-side stick being flicked up into my drive chain. I stopped pedalling straight away but the damage was done, my rear derailleur was now looking very sad, and there was a large section of twisted chain. There was only one sensible option. Single-speed it. I cut out a section of chain with my chain tool and rejoined it with my power-clip. The Surly Karate Monkey's horizontal drop-outs meant that it was pretty easy to take up any chain slack and I was also running slow-release bolt on skewers which meant I could nip them up pretty tight.  I was good to go in about 15 - 20 minutes I guess, and was impressed to see that Brian and Steve had come out looking for me, no doubt worried that I was over the bank, having seen me crash a couple of times already in their presence. I suggested that at this time we should cease being a team as I couldn't see myself keeping up with them with just the one gear.

The rest of the Wharfdale was pretty slow with the fallen trees and the first part through the Lee Valley was very comfortable on my new gearing which was about a 36-23. It wasn't hard to keep in touch with the others and on the way out of the Lee and through McDonald Downs I tried to attack the hills in true single-speed style but didn't think that long term it was a good option. I still had a long way to go so ended up briskly walking the steepest climbs rather than break myself, or pull my wheel, or both. As always the long grovelly flat gravel sections that eventually hook you into Hurunui were mentally really hard. It was as hot as hades and I ended up getting water from a farm house to get me through. The others had been gone for quite a while as there was no way I could stay in touch on the fast downhills exiting McDonald downs.

Steve Halligan, on a hill, somewhere near you.

For the final run into Hurunui I had a massive tail-wind so stopped to re-jig my chain-line for some more top-end speed. It helped but I was still spinning like a nutter. My power link was too tight to undo to take out the one more link I needed to get my smallest gear. A stop for more food at Culverden and the final run into Hanmer was underway. You could have knocked me down with a feather when Cliff turned up behind me. He had had a cruisy nights sleep at the Sheffield pub, probably about an hour away from where we bivvied and blasted through the Wharfdale in an amazing time. He'd also picked up some "trail magic" from a farmers wife who recounted the story of another Brevet rider she'd helped out in 2010. It was James Dick who had torn off his derailleur in the Wharfdale! Cliff and I traded pathetic turns as we grovelled along with Hanmer as our next destination. That road from Culverden to Hanmer I hate with a passion. As in 2010, none of the locals actually knew how far it was to Hanmer. 20 mins in a car was about the best you could get out of them.

What, me, scared of dehydration?

Arrival at Hanmer was a relief. I think it was about 8.30 pm and I must have been in a confused state. I saw lots of riders walking around, all cleaned up talking about big meals they had just had, or were about to have. They all seemed in good spirits and I couldn't understand why. I had thought that they were pulling the pin, but they were just finished for the day! I was keen to go on as there was heaps more riding left in the day once I had a feed of chips and restocked. It turned out that Brian and Steve hadn't actually been there that long and purely by chance I ran into them again as we started on the steep Jacks Pass climb. Reunited. One thing I will say about Brian. He had done his home work. There were about 3 huts that he and (local) Steve knew about in the next 20 or so kms after the top of the pass. He had reccied the Maruia Saddle in his wife's VW Polo and he also knew a lot about photography. There was an amazing sunset above Hanmer as we spun up Jacks Pass and I suggested we stop to take a photo. "Nah, the best time to take a photo is about 6 minutes before it looks good to the naked eye" said Brian. I asked him to keep an eye out for any further opportunities that he might observe later on ; )  I changed my chain from the 24-34 back to the 36-23, slicing the end of my finger in the cluster as I did so,  and that's the gear it stayed in for the rest of the Brevet. The undulations were nasty but it was worth it to get half of them out of the way that night. The Fowler's Pass hut, as rudimentary as it was, was a welcome stop at about 11pm.

Day 5. Fowlers Pass hut to Blenheim

Rainbow Valley

There was more of the nasty corrugations when we left at 4.45 am the next morning but eventually they ceased and the Rainbow Valley was at its finest. A truly beautiful spot, but best done on a fresh butt. I had to walk Island Pass but it wasn't that much slower than riding.

I eventually lost the other guys when I pulled my rear wheel on a small riser, and it was all downhill at speed after that, so I didn't really expect to see them again with my limited gearing.  I got myself a bit confused as I neared the end of the Rainbow where the trail split into gravel and tarseal, and knowing the Kennett-bros predilection for gravel I started down the gravel choice, then changed, then went back... then re-read the instructions and went back to my normal route. Twit.

The manic spinning, then standing up, in an inappropriate gear was having a bad effect on my right achilles. The North Bank section was particularly brutal. I'm not sure what I was expecting, the older trails were good enough, it was just this newly laid base course gravel, for logging trucks that was real nasty. Big fist-sized goolies that really hammered you, and without the scenic aspect to distract you from the pain! I walked most of the Northbank climbs as my gear was just too tall. I thought about changing it, but foolishly believed respite was soon to come! I passed aussie Troy Szczurkowski who had changed over to the Brevette option, through the Northbank as he recovered from a double puncture. I soon had one myself that was to prove quite critical. The sealant failed to seal the tiny cut in the sidewall so I put in a tube.

Somewhere in the Rainbow

Some time later Troy caught and passed me back and I felt terrible. I was pedalling hard but going no-where into a head wind along the now more exposed North Bank. I stopped to look down at my drive chain. I think that when I reset it after my puncture it must have jumped up into a larger cog on the back. There was so much tension on the chain It wouldn't go backwards and I couldn't even move it forward by hand. I had been pedalling in squares and it felt like something was going to snap.What a twit. I reset the tension and it was like I was on turbo! I had been down abut 40% in power for the last 2 hours not knowing why. The things you do when your are tired.

Steve Halligan - Rainbow

After a quick stop in Renwick for an icecream and drink it was head down for the final stretch home. That last 10kms from Renwick into Blenheim seemed like the longest 10kms I had ever travelled. The remnants of my team had only been there for an hour or so, so they must have been as blown as I was. It was great to be met by my family and have my first wash in 4 days and sleep in a real bed at the Voodoo Lounge.

The Kiwi Brevet is a hard thing to quantify. Each of us it had done it differently. Dave Sharpe had a demanding plan that he had to adhere to to make the finish. He travelled fast and light with pre-booked accommodation  and averaged over 340kms a day. You have to have faith in yourself to ride like that. Nathan Faave had the confidence to go long and hard into the night and sleep where-ever he landed when the big hand hit twelve. 6 hours a night compulsory sleep is like a school camp for an Adventure racer like Nathan. Brian, Steve, myself and for a large part of it, Cliff rode as a team, not by design, but because we met up at the gate at the end of the Mangatapu and were able to ride at a pace that we could all deal with for 18 hours a day. Other riders take great pains to ride alone as they don't want to benefit from the efforts of others. That's their choice too. Brian and Cliff had both just come off the Great Southern Brevet. I am not sure how you recover from that. I am not sure how I would recover from one Brevet, let alone two. Nathan Faave covered 276kms a day, we covered around 264kms. In the past when I have travelled with my buddies, rising late, taking lots of photos and riding side by side, talking the whole time, we have covered around 200kms a day. I can tell you it was a lot more fun, but this time it was about going for longer, not necessarily harder, just longer.

A Karate Monkey looking for TLC !

Brian was on a Scott 650B fully with aeros and Conti tires, Steve was on Specialised 29er fully with fast rolling Scwhable Mondials, Cliff was on a Cannondale Scalpel and I was on my rigid drop-barred Surly Karate Monkey with Stans Ravens. I have used Ravens in all three of my Kiwi Brevets and this was the first time I have punctured.They are a great tire but they are very light. I have never been a big fan of tubeless tires and when you spend all that time setting them up properly and you get a tiny side-wall tear that wont self-seal then you wonder why you bother.

There were at least 4 of us present who have done all three Kiwi Bevets. Pat Hogan, myself, Nathan Mawkes and Peter Maindonald. You can learn a lot from guys like Simon Kennett, Nathan and Peter who have now all done the Tour divide. I was impressed with Peters set-up which seemed very comprehensive but also very light. He runs UST rims with heavier UST tires, without sealant. They air-up with a mini-pump and look fast and robust. There were a few cases of tires delaminating on the ride - not what you want, and there is a good chance that tubeless sealant is the cause. Some tires dont play well with sealant.

For me the jury is still out on rigid 29er vs 26er fully. My butt came through in the same state as it did on my fully, not pretty. I do know I had 4 crashes in this Brevet compared to 1 in the last 2 combined, maybe it was fatigue? I am keen to try a Brooks saddle though. I didnt see anyone with a Brooks owning up to bad "butt-trauma".

So thats about it for another Kiwi Brevet. I think the take home message is, "its what you make it". If you are keen on the idea of the "LONZ" length of New Zealand Brevet then you should get in touch with the Kennett bros and express your interest. Thanks again Simon for bringing this concept to New Zealand.

Pengu says, see you next time!

Post script. Kirby and Michael from New Castle pulled out when Michaels back flared up. They detoured to Greymouth I think and went touring in a rental car. In typical Aussie style they "did" half of the South Island in about a day. I hope you come back another time guys and do it a bit slower. It was nice to meet you : )

Here is some gear geekage and ramblings from my 2014 Kiwi Brevet, recorded in no particular order. A few people have asked for a list of kit, but lists are pretty boring so here are some of my views on different bits.

Ayup with the large battery

Lights
I used the older Ayup lights with the weaker bulbs and run them with the multi-strength battery (on low) to draw even less power. If Ayup made a light with a single bulb I would probably use that instead. For the 4 and a half days of this years Kiwi Brevet I used only 1 and a half of the smaller Ayup batteries, although I also had another of the larger batteries spare. This was riding to the letter of the law and having 6 hours a day resting. Lighting demands for Bikepacking are not great, because generally you are not going that fast. If you had to have only one light, as I did, its best mounted on your head as it can be a big help when setting up and breaking camp in the dark, as it often is, when you are riding 18 hours a day : ) In a world where the electrical items you buy can often end up as landfill within months, the Ayups are the most resilient piece of electrical kit I have ever owned. The lamp and large battery above was purchased in 2008.

GPS

Garmin Etrex 20

My Garmin Etrex 20 was great and with judicious usage I only went through 1 set of batteries which died in the last few kms of the last day. The Etrex 20 was recommended to me by Geoff Blanc after the 2nd Kiwi Brevet because:
1 - It has the longest burn time of any modern GPS, (25 hrs).
2 - The batteries are replaceable, (I used 2 x lithium AA's, the same as my camera took). It is not the most intuitive GPS at first, and it does not have all the flash online connectivity of the later models, but it does the basics well. The best comparison would be like comparing your old Nokia bar cell phone to a modern smart phone. You know which one is going to have the better battery life and be the most robust.

Spot trackers
The spot tracker I had used the AAA lithiums and for me lasted the whole 4.5 days. I had another set spare.

Camera
A simple one bought from Cash converters running on AA lithiums, same as the GPS.

Phone
Samsung Galaxy S2 with a spare $35 chinese battery bank, good for maybe 1.5 charges. Probably for weight and bulk reasons a couple of spare phone batteries would be another option. The phone was really there for social media purposes, email-to-blog/FaceBook/Twitter and got very little usage.

As you can see there are a lot of batteries in there, and batteries are heavy. If you were not interested in recording your trip you could save a fair bit of weight. Maps are also heavy and take up a lot of room as well, so if you have faith in electronics then you can save on some bulk. I think Thomas Lindup went fully electronic with an Iphone with solar powered battery-pack, as did Simon Morton, and a few others experimented with solar charging with differing degrees of success.

The bulk of it
Look at a loaded bike, visually at least half of the luggage you are looking at is your sleeping kit.

Sleeping bag, bivvy sack and bedroll on the front. The rest on the back.

Tent/bivvy sack, sleeping bag/liner and sleeping roll/mat. Its a lot of bulk and usually takes up one whole end of your bike. If you are confident in your pre-booked accommodation and your ability to get there  (be wary of accommodation anxiety - stress caused by trying to meet a predestined location at a certain time)  you can drop all this kit. That is not something I would do or recommend, but for a seasoned campaigner in a hurry, or a novice on a cruisey schedule it is definitely an option. Part of the allure of Bikepacking for me is the idea of being self sufficient, but that's just my take. If you are not as fit, then credit-card touring is a great way to get started. Even if you are traveling light you should still have an emergency blanket, rain coat and a puffer jacket in my view.

Luxury
I have a bit of a phobia about getting saddle soils (a boil) so I always take spare shorts, and a top, and antiseptic soap, and wash the used clothes each evening alternating with fresh ones. Some people don't bother, but many of them have their own special "procedure" to insure that nothing untoward happens in the nether regions. Apparently there has been a lot written about this area but I haven't come across it yet, if I find anything I will link to it. Veteran Endurance record holder Jay Petervary did the Tour Divide on the one pair of shorts..... I also met several people doing the Kiwi Brevet who did not even use any chamois cream !

Saddles

The famous Brooks B-17 . Is it all it's made out to be?

How much you enjoy your bike packing experience can often come down to how well your butt reacts. It's pretty hard to train for the kind of a work-out its going to get, because issues don't really start until after a couple of days. Unless you are doing two-day training rides you are not really going to know what to expect. One thing that seems to be consistent, 95% of the people using the Brooks saddles seem to have minimal problems, if any. Either that or they don't want to admit that the expensive heavy saddle they bought is a dud!  It appears the most popular Brooks saddle is the B-17. The weight of these saddles is what puts most people off them, and not surprisingly, at around 500 grams that's about double the weight of most saddles. But put another way, its only about the weight of a small water bottle. And if it means you don't get a sore bum then I'm pretty sure at day 3 you'd be happy to have one.

Brooks saddle owners do tend to rave about them a bit and Brooks try sell the whole Olde Worlde british culture of the bicycle thing. It's a bit like having pet Seamonkeys. You have to feed them the special Brooks proofide and put on the special seat cover in the rain etc. I'm not sure how many people actually do this  : )  Everyone has a favourite saddle but in my experience so far, after 3 days most bums are mincemeat. I will be trying a Brooks next time. I recently brought a Brooks Swift, and after the breaking in period, going back to my original brevet saddle, a Specialized Toupe, I couldnt believe how terrible the Toupe felt, and that was my second favourite seat to my Fizik Gobi !

Bikes
Rigid vs hardtail vs fully. I have have tried both extremes, twice in the Kiwi Brevet I have used a 26inch full suspension bike, (Santa Cruz Superlight) and this last time I used a rigid drop-barred 29er (Surly Karate Monkey). No matter what you use, at some stage, someone else will always be on a better option. They all have their pros and cons. As I get older I am thinking the plushness of a fully has its advantages, and next time I will be on a fully 29er, although a hardtail 29er would probably be just about as good.

The hard-core bikepackers tend to favour fully rigid 29er bikes because they are lighter, and potentially simpler, but New Zealand has some terrain that is a lot more fun on a suspended bike, and I personally have never felt that having a heavier bike slowed me down in any way. I think there has to be a pretty big weight differential between two bikes in order for it to make a difference. While there are some steep pinches in the Kiwi Brevet, its not like you are grovelling uphill for 3 hours at a time in your granny gear. One way of limiting weight is to not carry so much water. This is the exact opposite of what I do. I will have 3 or 4 bottles and they will be full most of the time. Not that intelligent, but safe. This contrasts with my Kiwi Brevet riding partner Brian who would take minimal water on, because he was confident in his ability to pick safe streams to drink out of, and would even go as far as to not full his bottles up at the bottom of a climb if he knew there was a stream on the other side. Knowledge is power : )

See below some bike weights from Team Voodoo Lounge. All of these guys had done at least one Kiwi Brevet before except Calum, and Simon, and Simon doesn't muck about and did hours of gear testing, research and tire squeezing.

18 kgs. Thomas, rigid, carbon
20 kgs. Andy, hardtail alloy
21 kgs. Jeff, rigid, steel, drop-barred
22 kgs, Calum, hardtail, alloy
22 kgs, Simon, hardtail, alloy
27 kgs, Tor, rigid alloy.

These weights are "dry" for bikes, minus the full water-bottles and and back-packs people might have been wearing, but with all bags attached. From memory all the bikes were 29ers. Compare these weights to Dave Sharpe's disc equipped Carbon Cyclo-cross Hakkalugi which weighed in at 12.4 kgs. It takes a very motivated person to want to ride hours of gnarly single-track on 33 millimetre tyres though. The plus side is when you hit the gravel or tar-seal its game-on!

Bars

Salsa Woodchipper, trimmed .

I think Tor and Simon were running Jones H-bar styled set-ups while everyone else was on more standard flat-bars, except for my Salsa Woodchipper drop-bar. If you were to ride 1000kms in 4-5 days with just a set of flat bars, then there is no doubt you would do some damage, at least temporarily, to your hands in the way of numbness. A sensible bare minimum is a flat bar with bar-ends, but a very good addition is an aero bar which can also be used to tie a front bag onto. Basically you just need a couple of different positions to rest your hands. A drop-bar or a Jones H-bar offers many positions and the Jones bar has plenty of mount points for electronic gizmos and bags. On a drop-bar you will have to run road-style brake/shifters while on a Jones you can run standard MTB stuff. There are a lot more variations in handlebars out there today than there were a couple of years ago. For drop-bar usuage SRAM is actually the best in my view, as all their road kit has the same cable pull as their MTB stuff. Shimano on the other hand seems to have gone out of their way to make stuff incompatible between road and off-road on their later stuff.


Tyres
Tyres are a very personal thing and can be the cause of much frustration.I saw several people who suffered catastrophic tire delaminations. This shouldn't happen, but if it is ever going to happen, it will happen on the Kiwi Brevet where you are exposed to all kinds of wildly varying terrain. Be wary that some tyres are not supposed to be used with tubeless sealant in them. I was very very happy with my Stans Ravens which are a very light tire that roll amazingly fast. To look at them offers no clue as to their speed and grip. I wouldn't choose a tire based on weight, but rolling resistance can be a big thing. My only gripe was that I spent so much time making my non-tubeless rims, tubeless-ready, and to then suffer a sidewall pin-prick puncture in the North Bank rock garden. Remember that tubeless tires only really self-seal on punctures that happen on the "bottom" of the tire, not the sidewall.

One set-up that really impressed me was that of Peter Maindonald who ran UST rims with burly UST tires that he could air up with a hand-pump. No risks there. Obviously you always take a couple of spare tubes and a pump that wont unwind your tubeless valve-cores when you undo it. Either that or you make sure the cores are done up tight. Some people will take one full size tube and one a 26er which are a lot smaller and lighter but will fit in an emergency. I always take two tire boots made from old road tires and usually end up giving one to someone else.

Peter Maindonalds rig. Well-specced and it felt very balanced and light.

The unforeseen
I had a few issues, some of which were possibly my own fault. I used a set of pedals that were not really up to the task, and when one of them imploded while riding up the steepest sealed section of the course I was very lucky to salvage my ride due to the kindness of a local at Arthurs Pass. Had I been riding shimano SPDs I could have just plonked on one of his, but I wasn't. I was on Crank Bros Candys so I was more than happy to throw a flat pedal with toe-clips on my left side and get moving again. The next day in the technical single track of the Wharfdale I was unlucky to flick up a branch which snagged in my drive-train and mangled my rear derailler. Fortunately my Karate Monkey had horizontal drop-outs, so I was able to single-speed the frame and do the next day and a half in one gear at a time. If I was on my Santa Cruz Superlight, I would have just torn off my hanger, which is a sacrifical point on those frames, which would have saved my derailleur. I always travel with a spare hanger. You'd be silly not to if you have the option. The adaptability of the Karate Monkey definitely saved my butt for sure. There are emergency derailler hangers that can also be packed.

Injuries
For the first time ever in the Kiwi Brevet I got really bad Achilles pain. I still dont know why. I was probably fitter than I had been before but there were too many variables. An extra 70kms riding a day. Different pedals, a different bike, different shoes, different bars. It started on day two so it wasn't the toe-clip or the single-speeding to blame. It took me 3 months to recover fully, doing stretches twice a day, so you don't want to go there.

Old tried and true stuff
The bullet-proof  Freeload rack. Unbreakable. The 3/4s Thermarest sleeping mat was rock solid, although I lusted after Steves one, which looked like this. It was insanely light and looked as comfy as hell. Brian pointed out that his cheap foam bedroll was a lot lighter than mine, but it also stuck out in the air a fair bit creating a bit of drag in my view.  My simple bivvy sack did its job but we were lucky to have good weather.

See below Simon's tent which folded down to nothing and did not stick out in the wind too much when packed on his bike.

Simon does a tent test pre-brevet. Tor and Thomas give advice. It looks a lot more luxurious than my bivvy sack : )

Til next time!

If you want to know more about the event that inspired the Kiwi Brevet, (the Tour Divide), then follow the trackers here as it the main event is happening right now. 27/06/2014. There are currently a couple of Kiwis in the top 10. The gossip can be found on the forum here.

If you are interested in doing the full length of New Zealand equivalent to the Tour Divide in 2016, then go here http://touraotearoa.blogspot.co.nz/

This is not a tale of epic endurance and sleep deprivation, far from it. Its a story about 6 over 50s casual (very) riders doing the Hauraki Rail Trail.

We had a lovely holiday earlier this year with our friends Janet and Colin who now reside in Tasmania. They are great travellers and are always looking for a reason to come back to NZ. Janet is from the Arnst family down south which has a great cycling legacy associated with it. Janet and Colin have recently acquired electric bikes which has enabled them to cover parts of Tassie with less effort than would normally be required. Our plan was to spend some time with them chilling out at Hahei near Whitianga, and get started on the  Hauraki Rail Trail and meet up with Janet's sister and brother in law part way through.

Hot-water beach.

Hahei beach

We had almost a week together resting up at Hahei sampling some fine Wellington Craft Beers which I brought, and Colin obviously didn't have access to in Hobart. In fact there wasn't much sign of Craft Beer anywhere we went up there, so be warned! Hahei was lovely and a very nice warm change for us as Wellington was already starting to get colder. The accommodation was well appointed but each day we got a new surprise at the cockroach's new hiding places. They kept us on her toes. They like the warm. There were critters everywhere actually. Big black crickets in the grass, massive tiger slugs and on different days there were quail or pheasant walking just outside our bach.

New Chums beach near Whangapoa

In typical Coromandel style, the day we tried to leave for the start of our Hauraki Rail trail experience it bucketed down, trapping us in Tairua. No worries. There was still  plenty of accommodation and the road was cleared early the next morning.

The next day we tootled in to Thames and collected Colin and Janet's bikes from the Rail Trail HQ and we were away. We left the car there as I was intending to ride back to get it after we got to Paeroa, our day one destination. The trail was fast and well manicured. It skirted the edge of Thames for a while and then on to Kopu, Matatoki and past Puriri, where I once lived, (our house was gone) and on through Hikutia and on to Paeroa. The trail, to me, pretty much resembled a very well maintained cattle-race with views best described as "rural New Zealand", not really anything like you would see on the Otago Rail trail. Lots of green grass and the hills of the Coromandel just to the left.

Janet Kay and Colin somewhere between Thames and Paeroa.

 The people that "organise" the Rail Trail have done a great job at promoting it, and getting locals to open up their homes as Bed and Breakfasts and making visitors feel welcome. We stayed with a semi-retired couple of a similar age to ourselves. Apparently there just wasn't a lot of accommodation in Paeroa as it was, so it has been great for stimulating the local economy. Paeroa, apart from the large concrete Lemon and Paeroa bottle is mainly known for its Horse Racing and Motorcycle street racing event.

I rode back to pick up the car while the others relaxed and thought about where we were going to have tea.

The next day in Paeroa we met Janet's Sister and brother in law, Jennie and Rob  and we hit the trail to Waihi via the Karangahake Gorge. Our accommodation in Waihi was a very recently built home that we had all to ourselves for the night. As per agreement, our gear had been dropped off by the shuttle so all we had to do was ride there.

Waikino on route to Waihi

The famous five.

Ooh! A rainbow at the trail's end at Waihi.

Martha Mine in down town Waihi !

The next morning Colin and I jumped on our bikes and did a lap of the Martha mine which is pretty damn impressive. It was of particular interest to Colin who when we worked together years earlier, had done some work in the area. The last time I was in Waihi was for the Waihi to Waihi time trial and I had no idea the giant hole in the ground was even there. We did our loop and and hit the gravel back to a point on the Rail trail where we were to meet the others who had taken the "train-option". Its not sure which is faster, bike or train. Probably the bike I suspect. The train goes from Waihi to Awakino.

The Cornish pumphouse.

 We regrouped and continued on the trail until we got to the Karanghake Gorge again where we did the "Windows walk" through the old Talisman and Crown mining operations. It was well worth a look and even a typical Coromandel apocalyptic down-pour didn't dampen our spirits too much. There is a lot of info on the Karangahake Gorge here.

It rained a lot, for a very short time

Doing the "Windows" walk. It was a high-light for me.

We grabbed some lunched and headed off to our next destination which was Te Aroha, basically just hang a left when you get back to Paeroa !

Some random cycle tourists on cross bikes

A lone wheel barrow full of free feijoas in the middle of the trail from Waihi to Paeroa

Heading into the Karangahake Gorge

The Victoria battery

 It got a little bit wet at times and there was some pretty serious flooding left over from the previous day's downpour. One last stop for scones and tea on route and we rolled into Te Aroha and found our cute little "Miners cottage" which had underfloor heating in the bathroom. A great way to dry out our wet gear. Janet's bro-in-law, Rob, and I got shuttled back to Paeroa and we brought the cars back.

Ye Olde Gold Miners Lodge

It was a fun trip and and would score highly for those who live towards the sedentary end of the "Couch Potato" scale. The hire bikes used were reliable, if a tad heavy. Not that there were any hills. It's a much more achievable ride than the Otago Rail trail for the less athletic adventurer. The organisation of the shuttles and accommodation via the Rail Trail people was faultless.

If you were in a hurry (and a bit fit) you could no doubt do the whole thing in one day but it would probably be best to do that kind of thing mid-week. On the weekend when we were on the return leg from Waihi to Paeroa the trail was very popular with lots of young kids out amongst it. There were also alot of middle-aged people out there like ourselves. Janet's brother in-law was hammering away on the last day trying really hard to catch up to some people out in front of him. When he finally caught them he realised they were 60-70 year old ladies!  We got chatting to them as we waited for a shuttle at the train station and it turned out that I had ridden the first Kiwi Brevet with one of the lady's sons, Nick. It's a small world. Lets hope we are still getting out in it like these ladies were, at the same age.

Stats
Thames to Paeroa = 33km
Paeroa to Waihi = 25km
Paeroa to Te Aroha = 21km

Map borrowed from here.

Jonny in the early 90's

Return to Mount Climie - With pix by Ricoh Riott.

A couple of weeks back I was looking through some old piccies from back in the day. I found a goodie of local rider Jonny Waghorn descending Mt Climie on his state of the art (at the time) Yeti so I scanned it and posted it on Facebook. A a bit of banter ensued and a few weeks later Kim Hurst announced a project she had been mulling over for a while, a fundraiser to help get her favorite wrench and world renown botty grinder (Ricky Slack-boy Pincott) overseas for some hi-end wrench-action at the World 24 Hour Solo MTB champs. The plan was to create a grass-roots homage to the original Mt Climie Hill Climb/Downhill event that used to precede the Karapoti. There have been some pretty famous riders take part in these events including David Weins and Dave Cullinan from team Diamondback. The Climie uphill/downhill combo was also used to great effect in the two-day Tour De Tunnel stage race that the Kennett bros introduced in the early 90's. The 610 metre climb is a beauty but you are very lucky if the weather at the top is good.

Lower Climie

Some people really got into the spirit of it dragging out their old retro bikes and trying to relive the day. Jonny was on his still original Yeti with admittedly a bit less travel than he had back in the early 90's, and Simon Kennett had also recently just come across a new (old) bike which was the same as the one he campaigned the nationals on in the infancy of the New Zealand MTB scene.

Simon and Jonny discussing gear selection

The Downhill guys were also out in force obviously although I didn't know many of their names. Upper Hutt local Ed Banks was there. Ed is always up Climie, anytime there is a chance of snow he's up there like a rat up a drain-pipe.

The last time Jonny would look over his shoulder and see Rob's "race face".

Its worth the trip to the top for the scenery.

You could ride each event separately or together with lowest combined time winning the Mountain Ninja Class.

Ed togs up in pants that have been banned in many countries.

Steve Bale was taking it pretty seriously forgoing handle bar grips for skate-board deck tape. It must have been fun descending on his 8kg rigid bike with those. Hopefully he had some well padded gloves.

Steve Bale

Lee Campbell

One of the most exciting rides I saw was from Lee Campbell on his Specialized Fat-bike. He had been terrorising the Cyclocross fields for the previous few weeks on this machine and despite having no suspension as such I think there were only about 3 riders in the "Mountain Ninja" Class that descended faster than him. He went past me in a blur like an out of control Monster Truck on nitrous. When asked if he had any "moments" he said, "about four".

A rider getting some air shortly after the start.

Ricky Slackboy Pincot himself won the Downhill proper with his home made rear disc wheel and we were all treated to some exemplary home-brewed beer from Ricky's Mud Cycles cohort, and home-made baking back at base-camp.

My long running fascination with the adaptability of the Surly Karate Monkey reared its head again recently and I made plans to revisit my earlier attempt at the unofficial Karate Monkey World Land Speed Record. The previous attempt resulted in a fairly pedestrian 35kmh average on a "sporting" course to use the parlance of the Time Trial crowd.


This time I was going to go all out and use my HED 3 trispoke (in honour of the late great Steve Hed), and my rear power-tap wheel with disc covers, that way I could use my power-tap for monitoring speed, (and power) plus it was easier to strap the PT harness on than going online to try and work out how to change the wheel diameter on my insufferable bike computer.



At the last minute the battery in my Power-tap hub died so I was going to have to race the time trial totally by feel. Not that that would be a problem. I've probably done more laps on the 5.9km Liverton road circuit than most people. Even so, I got a surprise when I glanced down at my watch to see that I had done the first lap in under 8mins 20 (which equates to about 42kmh). I had no idea what top speed I was doing with the 9kmh tail wind, but the 48-11 had me spinning a good cadence that was neither too high nor too slow. Just right, and proved to be a good governor to stop me blowing out my legs by pushing too tall a gear. I just needed to try and keep it together on the undulating return legs into the southerly.

I hadn't done a time trial for almost two years as I was injured the previous summer after the Kiwi Brevet and that particular pain that you get when TTing was like being reunited with an old friend. Pain is your friend.  I was very happy to come in at 4th place with an average of 41.4kmh, surely a new SURLY Karate Monkey land speed record?

What a cheeky monkey

The Iconic HED3 trispoke

 The next week I took my "proper" Bianchi time trial bike out and raced, knocking a massive 7 seconds off my Karate Monkey time over 23.4kms. Which goes to show, dedicated time-trial bikes are faster, but the aero position did some damage to my nether regions which took 3 days to come right. Speed has a cost! The Brooks saddle on my Karate Monkey was like an armchair by comparison.

My proper TT bike, the Bianchi D2 Chrono is a real chick magnet

I replaced the batteries in my Power-tap for the 2nd run on my dedicated TT bike and got an average of 276 watts. A long way from the 302 watts that I once maintained for a 45kmh average on my Bianchi (in good conditions). I'm keen to try it again on the Karate Monkey (with power) and see if the more relaxed position nets me more power, which in turn gets soaked up with the poorer aerodynamics. If I find that the power is similar, it would imply there are a lot of things I don't understand about aerodynamics.

Once again, it appears the Karate Monkey is the do-everything bike, although I believe that if you want the same bike today you have to buy the Ogre. The new Karate Monkey Ops loses the canti studs and bosses.

The day after the TT the Karate Monkey was back in commuter mode, and the next weekend was in full Dirt Brevet mode for an over-nighter with my wife. Try that on your Specialized Shiv !

Back in commuter mode

On the Rimutaka Cycle Trail

More Karate Monkey ravings here,  here, and here.

Contact me if your Karate Monkey is fast or faster and we will start a leader board.

If you think I might be in need of medication, check out this guy. He is the UK 12 and 24 hour Time Trial champ and his bike is a custom made MTB that he commutes and tours on.  It's so similar to my Karate Monkey I couldn't believe it when Andy Kerr sent me the link after my latest TT.

Andy Wilkinson's Dolan time trial bike >>

It's 11am on a Saturday morning at Jville Cycles and a guy walks in off the street with a flat tire. A mum shopping for junior's first bike is asking a multitude of questions and the people who have turned up to drop off and pick up their bikes are starting to fill up the tiny shop. For me it would be like being the first medic at the scene of a plane crash but Francis Hoen is as calm as the Dalai Lama. It's what he has done for years. The subconscious load balancing and priority setting is a skill that only comes with experience.

Francis tweaks a wheel that has seen better days.

I first met Francis in 1987 when I had mostly weaned myself from my motorcycling addiction. I had tapered down to a 1973 Yamaha 350 that was so old it had two sets of ownership papers. My attempts at keeping it roadworthy had me visiting a place in Lower Hutt called the Bike Spot.

Bike Spot was run by a guy called Al Heinie with the front desk being manned by Francis. A few years later as the mountainbiking scene hit critical mass in Wellington I was to come across Francis again as the proprietor of Johnsonville Cycles. The scene in Wellington back then was like the wild west with shops popping up all over the show as the local appetite for mountain biking exploded. The Kennett bros and Brent Hoy's Muddy Trails made sure that there were events on continuously pretty much throughout the year. Wellington differed from most places in that the events were managed outside of a bike club which worked well for a long time.

I asked Francis for sponsorship help in 1996 before the MTB Worlds in Cairns and have been a Jville Rider ever since. Francis manned the shop with a fiery red haired sidekick called Blair for many years until Blair went off the grid and moved down to the west coast with his lady where they still live. I recall a rumour that Blair would hide the "Jville Cycles" sign that used to sit on the corner of the street, to stop a steady stream of punters coming in to hassle him.

Unlike most of the other local bike shop owners at the time Francis was a competitive MTB rider and was usually on the podium, winning the master 2 category outright in 1993 and podiuming many other times. This is no mean feat as a bike shop operator with all the travel that was involved at the time. With the best 4 results from 6 races from all around the country counting, it was quite a commitment. Francis raced at the MTB Worlds in Vail, Switzerland and Canada from 1994 to 1998. He also has the record at the Karapoti Classic of 25 finishes on the full course.

The bike industry went through hard times with online sales but somehow Johnsonville Cycles   survived. A few helpers came and went over the years, but eventually Francis went back to working by himself for the most part and has reached that delicate balance. Some days he is run off his feet and other days he has time to sneak in a bit of work on his beloved VMX (Vintage Moto cross) bikes.

His old school approach is the antithesis of the modern "concept store". His solutions often don't come in branded packaging but more likely from a greasy box in the corner of the workshop. I can't count the amount of times I've seen him give a pre-loved item to a customer with the line "Nah there's no charge for that" when he could be selling them a new high dollar item off the rack instead.

A home-made tool for a job that needed doing.

He's not someone to have the latest high-tech gizmo-tools but he will find a way to do what those tools would do, using alternative techniques. I have seen him using what I presumed was an antiquated technique on something and said, "There's a tool for that now Francis". He goes "Yeah I've got it, but it doesn't work as well as this home-grown method".

When I see him dealing with a mum who would otherwise feel out of place in a shop staffed by youngsters I know his concern is bonafide. No matter what kind of newbie questions she is asking she gets his full attention. A client was telling me one day how when she first came in to see Francis she was well over 100 kgs and since she had been biking and working out she has shed about a fifth of her body weight. Another woman I met on Sunday while helping out on "Bike the trail" told me she'd go back to see Francis at Johnsonville because he was lovely. She was a solo mum riding with her daughter and didn't know I was a Jville rider.

It's a hard way to make a living and there has to be a fair bit of passion involved as the financial rewards aren't great. I'm sure Francis's BA in Philosophy was a great help as he weighed up his decision to soldier on in the face of online competition. He adapted his business to excel in the areas that the online competitors can't compete in; service. His wife Kathy is also a small business owner; this is one very hard working couple. Francis is a very rare person, a business owner with socialist leanings who would give you the shirt off his back.

Like so many things that come and go under the guise of improvement, the bicycling industry is full of hype with products that fail on release, as the consumer beta-tests them to short-term destruction. If you want to know what works, and lasts, check out what Francis runs. The Jville Cycles "shop rides" go rain or shine Wednesdays and Saturdays and if a component fails it will likely fail on one of these rides, and it won't be used again. So if you are keen to ride some trails around Wellington in places that you didn't know existed, give Francis a bell or pop in to 11 Burgess Road and join the shop ride. Everyone is welcome at Jville Cycles.

An awesome CX derailer and will even got to 36 teeth.

Do you like using drop bars off road?
Do you like using large rear sprockets?
Do you use Shimano?


See below my favourite derailer. Its my favourite for many reasons.

1. It is very robust
2. It has a lot less moving parts than the more recent designs that have (a) clutches and (b) sacrifical mounts that don't actually sacrifice themselves because the derailer construction is too light to actually take a hit anyway, plus they introduce two much thinner areas to develop play in instead of one wider more robust one.
3. It works on a wide variety of drive trains.
4. It works with large sprockets on the back, up to 36 teeth anyway.
5. Its cheaper than a more high-end MTB derailer (which isn't road compatible anyway; dynasis 10 isn't) and you might well find one in your LBS's bin, you will have to look hard though because there will be a pile of shimano shadow derailers on top of it !!

These are the three bikes I am using this derailer on currently with indexing.
An 8 speed MTB
A 9 speed cyclocross bike with 9 speed durace road shifters
A 10 speed MTB with 10 speed durace road shifters

It will also work on a 5, 6, 7 and 9 speed MTB setup.
So 5-9 MTB and 9-10 road.

Why  is the 9-10 road important?
Because if you are a tourer, or monster-cross or cyclo cross rider and you like big hills you may want to use a derailer that works on sprockets up to and over 34 cogs. This derailer will do that. It came out in 1999 but was supersed with the bottom normal derailer in 2003. That flopped, and with egg on their face Shimano relaunched an identical 1999 derailer again in 2005.  Another good to reason to use one is because they are dirt cheap, and even though I have used them for at least 3 years of cyclo-cross I have never come close to tearing one off. How many people can say that?

Most people matching MTB derailers to integrated road brake/shifters (Americans call them "brifters") use SRAM, because for 10 speed at least, SRAM road talks to MTB, and you can go 1x with a clutch derailer on the back. I think this compatibility may have changed with 11 speed. Other people spare themselves the grief and use friction bar-end shifters which may suffice for touring but would suck big time in CX.

Best derailer ever. 255 grams.

This guy also makes a 9/10 speed long cage derailer for touring.
http://sunxcd.net/rearder/

Read what Sheldon Brown said about derailers and marketing hype.

 The following is a brief story of my introduction to the Internet and its impact on the Kiwi Brevet via social media.

My first introduction to the "Net" came in the late 80's where I became aware of email at my work-place, and then the Usenet. The Usenet was a bit like a series of  "bulletin boards" where there were topics of interest for people to join, or even create, like rec.bicycles.tech and alt.binaries.misc. There was a strict etiquette and FAQs, and pecking orders with a user-base that was either from an educational, science or military background, as these people were usually the only ones with access. This lead to the idea that the  people using this "thing" were relatively intelligent. There were no trolls as such, but there was the odd bit of "flaming". FAQ and Flaming were probably terms that came out of the Usenet.

The Mosaic Browser home page

This content was all viewed on the command line... you know, white or green text on a black background. The first web browser wasn't yet available and most people were viewing this stuff on monitors hooked into main-frame computers because there weren't that many PC's about.

Many workplaces eventually shifted to PC's and in 1993 the first web browser "Mosaic" was available.

In those days the world wide web was so small that there was a list of new websites each week, and even an Internet yellow pages was published annually.

VORB forum

Out of the world wide web came web-based forums, and Paul Kennett started the NZ mountain bike forum on mountainbike.co.nz  and later on Tama Easton started VORB. These forums were a lot more accessible and easier to use than the cryptic Usenet or bulletin-board type affairs and the Internet soon became frequented by people less likely to be nerds, but still keen on sharing and learning new things.

In 1999 I discovered Pyra's Blogger, and used it as a CMS (content management system) for a few sites. Kashi Leuchs (NZ's top MTBer) and the Wellington Vets Cycling Club to name a few.

Blogger by Pyra, before Google

Blogging became a bit of a "thing" but I didn't start doing it myself for quite a while as I didn't think I had anything to say that anyone else wanted to hear. Eventually my fear of strangers knowing stuff about me passed but I still didn't put anything on it about my family.

Web-based Forums on any number of themes ruled for many years, and then in 2004 a thing called Facebook arrived. Most people didn't "get it" to start with and figured it was a place where "people without actual lives" could hang out. In 2006Twitter was the new kid on the block and once again it took a while to figure out just how to use it and how to get the most out of it, as a "reader" or "poster" and the delineation between the SMS part of it and the internet part of it added another layer of confusion.

All of a sudden no one was worried about privacy anymore. In 2007 the Iphone launched and then in 2010 fortunately Instagram appeared on the scene as an app to enable Iphone users to share their images. Android users had been able to share photos since 2008 but there wasn't a personal "stream" available for them, and Instagram for Android followed later.

With the advent of tablets (the Ipad) in 2010 the emphasis shifted totally from a web base to an app base with increasing numbers of the people using phones and tablets to get their information fix instead of their desktops. In early 2014 Mobile internet usage passed desktop usage in the US.

Blogging was being replaced by Tweeting, Instagramming and Facebooking and SMS texting was being replaced by snapchatting, vibering and gchatting. The line between cellular and internet based networks was becoming blurred. In a few years time I imagine the new users wont know how to distinguish between them.

1993 Mosaic web browser launched
      1999 Blogger
           2004 Facebook
             2006 Twitter
              2007 Iphone
                 2010 Instagram
                 2010 Ipad

Q. How useful are these new "media" as a record of our lives; who holds the information and is it accessible by us, our friends, or only the clients of the "media platform"?

I can go back to the Usenet archives and find every silly question I asked in the late 80s; I am sure I could  go to the Vorb forums and find similar things. (NB, Google seems to be looking after the Usenet archives at the moment. Maybe we should be worried.)

In 2002 Google brought Blogger from Pyra and it became part of the massive Google information gathering empire. Every thing I ever posted on Blogger is still out there and probably by virtue of its association with Google it is all completely searchable. Blogger have dropped the ball as far as keeping up with their "Blogging" competition but they were probably thinking that Google + wasn't going to be so slow to catch on.

How searchable is your content?
How searchable is Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram? I've heard Facebook is used as an example of poor usability so it is possible that I am just not skilled enough to find something I saw an hour earlier on FB, let alone a week later. There is no doubt that Facebook itself knows where everything is but that is for them and their clients to know. Maybe that will change?

On Twitter, it seems it is searchable using tags, and you can just scroll down a person's feed for as long as you can be bothered until you get to the end of their timeline. Instagram is similar although Instagram is an example of the shift to a complete mobile (phone and tablet) focus. You cannot (officially) upload photos to Instagram via the desktop, or search Instagram via the web directly, although you can browse a persons "stream". Currently there are 3rd party sites (like ICONOSQUARE) that will allow you to search Instagram, but that's not to say that this feature will remain if Instagram pulls their card, like Twitter did to companies using their API. You can search Instagram via hash tags or users on the mobile app, but not on the desk-top.

An example of the rapidly changing face of Social media can be seen over the last 5 years since the first Kiwi Brevet.

The first Kiwi Brevet's web presence  started as a blog using the Blogger platform in 2009, and was promoted using the VORB Mountainbiking forum. For this, and the next Kiwi Brevet, riders shared their experiences by writing their own blogs, many of which are still linked to via the Kiwi Brevet blog.

For the 2nd Kiwi Brevet in 2012 there was less talk on the forums, but it was still the go to place for  information, along with the actual Kiwi Brevet blog which became a portal of sorts. More individual rider blog links were added. The event organisers used Twitter to share news and updates and riders were encouraged to tweet using the KiwiBrevet hash tag.

For the 3rd Kiwi Brevet in 2014 the VORB forum got a lot less use and and Facebook had taken over as the method of sharing progress during the event. With linked "apps" it was possible to post to a Blog, Facebook and Twitter simultaneously. The blog was also populated with news as it happened and riders were still blogging about their experiences afterwards.

For the 4th Kiwi Brevet in 2015 Facebook and Instagram had taken over pretty much from the VORB forum. Despite the unwieldiness of Facebook, it had the numbers and for the people who could figure out how to do it, they could follow their friend's progress, or befriend the organiser and follow his commentary during the Brevet. Instagram was also very popular using the KiwiBrevet tag, and the use of a 3rd party aggregator meant that people who were not actually on Instagram could also see the posted images that were uploaded. The blog was added to with news as it happened as usual.

The big losers in 2015 were the forums, and Blogs. So far in 2015 we have only 3 known blogs. In 2015 there were over 261 Instagram posts, but only 7 Twitter posts. It looks like people have opted for the quick and easy, formats Facebook and Instagram, with Instagram being the only one that offers a useful record from an outsiders view point, provided they know how to use a hash aggregator. It would be difficult to say how many comments or views Facebook has had.

There is an element of gear-freaking in Bikepacking so the rider/gear profiles have been very popular on the Kiwi Brevet Blog, although hits have come down over the years as people become more comfortable with finding their gear selections. Page views on the 2012 profiles are at 16,000 hits, which has dropped down to 5,600 for 2014 and 3,169 for 2015.

Year	VORB posts	VORB views	Blogs	Tweets	Instagram posts
2010	825	59,317	7	0	0
2012	465	33,480	8	85	0
2014	296	18,000	8	7	17
2015	30	3,174	3	8	261

The Blue-dots that the blue-dot junkies follow for 4-8 days in February!

One thing that has remained steadily popular and has done more than anything to spread the bikepacking phenomenon are the spot tracking websites that allow people to watch the rider's progress via the GPS trackers that they carry with them. The followers; known as blue-dot junkies, can share in the excitement as their loved ones ride on into the dark, or take wrong turns down no-exit roads! It also gives a level of protection to the riders as they are able to press a button on the device if they are in peril.



Without the spot-trackers the Kiwi-brevet would have had limited interest as a spectator sport. In 2015 a different spot tracking service was used to previous years.

Things change quickly in the Social media world and we don't know what is around the corner, but I cant help but think that we need something less cumbersome and more open than Facebook to build the community for these events, if you know of anything that is out there give me a comment or email me via the form. It would be nice to take back control of our content.

kiwibrevet Instagram tag in http://iconosquare.com/tag/kiwibrevet

In 2016 a 3000km dirt brevet called Tour Aotearoa will be held for the length of our country, New Zealand, and like many others I will be looking at what gear I will take, and how I will carry it.
This is a tricky one. Both these systems work exceptionally well on rough terrain with pros and cons. When on a full suspension bike you need to check that your seat bag has room when you bottom out on the rear. Too little room and your bag will let out a loud "zub" as the rear wheel starts to rub a hole in the bag's bottom. In a similar but opposite scenario with the THULE, the dry-bag may come into contact with the underside of your seat. Not a real problem unless you have something brittle in there. On a hard tail, with the THULE, there are no problems, with the Stealth you should have no problems either. For some people the early model Stealth bag was prone to slippage with aggressive riding on rough terrain. The new cammed clasps fix this and are a free upgrade if you send your bag back to Michael. The very narrow design of the Stealth bag gives it more wheel clearance than any other bag I have yet seen.
Feel

Four Freeloads at Murchison, Kiwi Brevet

Plus+ sizingThere is a big movement into "plus" sized tires. It started with the Surly Knard, a 3 inch wide tire 29er tire for their Krampus and ECR models and has now moved into 27.5 plus and 26 plus formats. These are tires from 3 inches wide upwards. Not forgetting the original plus format; FAT, which I think starts around 4 inches. Obviously these tires will not work with the THULE rack due to their width. Thanks Michael for reminding me of these formats : )

Bottom line
Both of these set-ups do the same thing, but are coming from completely different angles. The organised bikepacking I've done in NZ always has some fairly rugged stretches in it. You don't want to find yourself coming up short with broken kit. Both of these Kiwi designed systems will do the job very well, whether you are commuting to work or going all-out into the boonies. They are also systems that have a very high level of compatibility. By this I mean they will fit on 93% of bikes out there. The THULE because of its adjustability and the Stealth bag because of the narrow cross-section which gives superior wheel clearance for shorter riders.

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Disclaimer
This kit was collected by various means. Initially I borrowed a Stealth bag from a recent Kiwi Brevet rider, and then spoke to Michael himself at Stealthbikebags. He loaned me two bags for further evaluation. I also borrowed a Revelate bag from another rider for comparison and used my own Freeload racks for the other part of the testing. I also tested some pannier bags from Stealth bags as well in conjunction with the THULE touring deck and sides. I was very impressed with the way these worked but that's another story. Michael can custom build pretty much anything you need and is always keen on feedback so he can develop his designs further, quicker.

Links
THULE
Stealth Bike Bags
Kiwi Brevet
Tour Aotearoa

I have recently set up a bike with a dynamo hub for use in the Tour Aotearoa and while it's all fresh in my mind I will share the basics so you might find it easier than I did. There are many resources out there but a lot of them assume you know more than you do.

A few disclaimers from the start.

1. Dynamo lights are not magic, and as far as I know, they only come with bike mounts, as opposed to helmet-mounts. You cannot ride singletrack fast with a bike mounted light alone. Optimally you would also have a helmet mounted light for seeing around corners. Obviously for commuting a bike mounted light is more than enough. This post is angled at a "bikepacking" end-use (although commuting is a no-brainer for dynamo lighting).

2. When the going gets slow, your dynamo light will put out a lot less light than you would expect from a typical battery powered light, depending on your set-up and how fast your "slow" is, this is why people will often run a spare light-weight helmet mounted light.

How dynamo power is typically used

Lighting only
Requirements: Dynamo and light

Lighting and/or  powering
Requirements: Dynamo, light and usb converter (and a device to power; eg Phone, GPS etc)

Lighting, and/or powering and/or storing power
Requirements: Dynamo, light, usb converter and a power-bank/battery (and a device to power).

Handlebar switch from kLite

A fourth scenario is to have all of these things working with a switching system. Kerry at kLite builds these to order and probably knows more about dynamo lighting in relation to bikepacking than anyone out there. A switch means that you don't need to stop and unplug and replug devices.

Some jargon

What is a standlite?
A smaller battery or capacitor built into or attached to the light so that the lighting does not disappear immediately you stop moving. Many dynamo lights have them built in.

Sinewave USB converter

What is a USB converter?
This device changes the current from the dynamo from AC to DC so that it can be used to charge devices like GPSes, smart phones, cameras or power-banks (batteries). A very popular device seems to be the Sinewave for bikepacking needs. Another popular choice is the Ewerks.
A well researched list of hub-dynamo USB converters is available here.
Some very good instructions on building your own converters can be found here, and here, just don't ride too fast and make them explode. (This could happen - read ALL the comments : )

What is a cache battery?
It's just a battery/power-bank you run inline, after your usb-converter but before the device you are powering. Eg.If your GPS sends up a nag screen saying "lost power" because you are riding slowly up a steep hill and not generating enough power, the cache battery, (if it has some charge in it) will supplement the GPS and stop the nag screen. The rich kids will use an Exposure Diablo or Joystick head-light as it serves double duty as cache battery/power bank as well as its original use as a helmet light, should you get into some gnarly trail late at night. When looking for a cache battery/power bank its helpful to have one with "pass-through charging". This means you can charge the battery and use it to power other devices at the same time. Rob Davidson used a Plox branded one in his Tour Divide.

Some connection scenarios rendered in an "ascii diagram"

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( hub )  - - - -  * LIGHT *


( hub )  - -
                |
               USB-conv - - - - - { BATTERY }


( hub )  - -
                 |
               USB-conv - - - - - *] DEVICE [* - - - - - -


( hub )  - -
                 |
               USB-conv - - - - - { BATTERY } - - - - *] DEVICE [*


( hub )  - - - -  * LIGHT *
                |
               USB-conv - - - - - *] low-drain-DEVICE [*

Obviously some set-ups might let you charge or power, and use the light at the same time but its unlikely you are going to be making enough power to do both equally well, but it depends on the load. If you read Kerry at kLites info page you will learn that some devices are more power hungry than others. Cell phones vs GPS for instance. You may still be able to use your lights and power your low-drain GPS.

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A very good primer can be found here:
http://www.velorutioncycles.com/dynamo-systems-a-primer/

Some popular dynamo lights
I'm not sure how useful the bottom two are but the top two are very robust and proven in Bikepacking circles.
Exposure Revolution
Klite
Supernova E3 triple
B+M
Son Edelux



The best dynamo hubs seem to be the following. Some are just licensed versions of another.
Shutter Precision
SON Schmidt
Supernova
Exposure


It's my understanding that the Supernova and Exposure are licensed versions of the Shutter Precision (SP) hub. The SP hub is not user serviceable but can be overhauled for a reasonable fee after sending back to the factory. The SON hub is user serviceable, if you are keen. SP claim their system is more simple hence robust and therefore is not high maintenance. SON has been around for a long time and many people will say they have had no problems despite commuting 50kms a day through a monsoon for 5 years solid! The SON can cost twice what the SP hub costs but it is worth shopping around for prices. The Exposure Revo hub/light kits are amazing value if you can get one, as the Exposure parts, (lights) are incredibly expensive bought separately.

The best Dynamo lighting resources I have found are from Kerry at kLite, (in Australia) and the  Peter White Cycles sites (US).

Here are a few more real life cases where people are using dynamo lighting systems in Bikepacking situations.

Ollie Whalley.
Rob Davidson.
Composite MTB.
Mike Hall.

More to come as I discover it!

I had a bit of an epiphany the other day as I was commuting through the CBD on my bike. If I catch the first set of lights past the train station I can often make it all the way to Manners Mall before there is a red light. It seems like the lights might be phased for about a 30kmh average, if that's the way it works. The only other impediments to my progress are the pedestrians trying to nip across the road without looking.

A sheepish pedestrian

Some pedestrians remind me a lot of the sheep I used to come across when I was learning to ride my motorbike in the country as a teenager. When I saw a sheep on the side of the road, a chill went down my spine. The sheep might let you pass no problems, or it might do a 90 degrees pivot turn and spear across your path, taking out your front wheel, dumping you on the road and filling your school shorts with gravel. All of the accidents I had in my formative years were as a result of wandering stock on the road. Sheep, cows, even dogs. It taught me to expect the unexpected, and somehow I managed to make it through the next 17 years of motorcycling with no real accidents to speak of.

Now most pedestrians are not that bad, but with the "rogue" ones, there is a part of their behaviour that can appear as random as a sheep's, and there is often a bit of a herd psychology going on when one has a crack at a marginal road-crossing move and another one quickly follows because everyone knows there is safety in numbers.

Here is my question.
Why don't people standing around the "water-cooler", and in the Stuff "comments" bleat about the "Bloody pedestrians" as well as the "Bloody cyclists" ?

The simple answer. Empathy.
Most car drivers have walked at some stage in their lives. They can relate to pedestrians. It's likely that some of them may have even walked on that very day that were bleating about the stupid cyclist who jumped the lights. (Yes, it annoys me too). Maybe they even walked through the CBD at 5:15 pm when I am passing through and they are trying to sprint diagonally across the road on a 90 degree  corner that they cant actually see around, protected only by the imaginary force-field emitted by the cell-phone pressed hard against their heads.

When you can relate to someone or something you are willing to cut them some slack.

KEVIN STENT/FAIRFAX NZ

What is the answer to this predicament?
Get the car drivers on bikes. Grow them some empathy. Hmmm. There must be a downside right?
I haven't thought of one yet. Maybe some drivers will decide they like cycling and make the roads a less crowded place?

The  Greater Wellington Regional Council must have known about this empathy thing as they have been getting bus-drivers and cyclists to swap seats for a few hours to spend some time in the other guys shoes. Follow the link, but don't look at the comments. Stuff comments are written by the same people who scratch messages on toilet cubicle walls.

The other campaign we are seeing that humanises cyclists with pictures on the backs of buses, with labels on their shirts like: Father, Sister, Uncle, Son is also a move to create empathy.


I actually think something is working. The amount of times that I notice a car cautiously driving behind me, waiting for a safer opportunity to pass is on the increase from even 5 years ago. But if you are a cyclist, running the lights and hoping for the "Herd immunity" offered by other people doing the right thing, then you should think about this ad too. "Other people make mistakes". Potentially 50% of the people in any accident are without blame. You don't wont to think about what happens when both party's are ignoring the rules.


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Disclaimer. No pedestrians were harmed (permanently) in the writing of this blog-post. I have been known to pedistrate myself. Some of my best friends are pedestrians, even though I don't think any of them are paying road user charges for walking on our roads.

Is your old Tune hub looking sad and neglected cos you dropped her for some swanky new model?

No problemo.

1. Bash out the old axle  (on the right), using the closest approximation to the official tool that you have ; )
2. Bash out the old bearings. (15x28x7mm).
3. Bash in some NEW bearings. The same bearings that you get in a Hope rear hub.
(17x28x7mm). I got them from ShockCraft.
4. Insert the new oversized axle that you bought from Krischan at http://www.eightyonespices.com.au/

And whacko-the-diddle-oh chicken treat. You are good to go.

Sell your old axle to a weener on http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/

Some people think that the Tour de France is at the bleeding edge of tech as far as the bicycle goes, but I suspect that apart from wider tires and rims, TDF tech probably plateaued at least 5 years ago. To me, most "advances" seem to be adding complexity and trying to fix problems that weren't there in the first place. Electronic shifting and a multitude of bottom bracket standards don't really trickle down in a useful way to the man on the street. Aero frames won't add that much value to your commuting day. Maybe disc brakes will be adopted soon in the peloton, although I cant see the average roadie actually wanting to bleed the brakes on his road bike. I know I hate doing it on my MTB's, and they are not even the "problem-brakes". The difference in performance doesn't actually look that big in this test with GCN, until it gets wet. (Video).

Kogel Bottom Bracket chart.

It seems to me that there is useful technology, and there is tech-for-tech's-sake, which is mostly just there to sell new widgets. I am as much a geek as the next person, maybe more so, but sometimes I ask myself if this stuff is good for the cause of the bicycle, which is in essence an inherently simple and elegant device.

The owner of this narrow wide 1x sprocket was cutting them out in 2 to 3 weeks. He changed brands which helped a lot.

You might say that taking an MTB drive-chain down from 27 or 20 speeds to 11 speeds by eliminating a front chain-ring is simplifying the drive train, but it would be a shame if the trade-off was advanced wear in shifters, chains, front sprockets and added weight and complexity in the derailer, and the fact that you could either ride to the trail at a decent pace OR actually ride up the hills, but not both. Not a problem if you don't ride in hills, or on the flat I guess. Where I live we actually ride to the trails. 1x11 is a Race Day Only compromise in my view. Why did we need 1x11? To save weight for XC racers? Why did we need narrow-wide chain-rings and clutch derailers? To stop the chain dropping off because we removed the front derailer. Fixing a "problem" that created several more actual problems.

I guess this is what you get with design. The more you hone a design to excel in one area, the more unsuitable it becomes for general usage. A Formula 1 car will cost a bomb, and will go like stink, but you wont want to drive it to work. This is where your Carbon road bike is right now, light, fast, and mostly uncomfortable. I used to own a Moto Guzzi Lemans, and while I loved that throbbing V-twin on the open road, it was a pig around town, where I preferred to ride my Honda CT90 postie bike.

Ideally the marketers want us to have many many bikes (N+1 is the number) rather than one bike that will do most things. New niches are constantly being created for the latest thing, Enduro, Gravel grinding or Bikepacking or what ever people have actually been doing for years anyway, but without a label. People used to ride their old steel road bikes off road, now its a "thing".

It would be interesting to see what people think the biggest recent "real" tech advance in cycling is. I suspect that its not electronic gears, maybe wider rims? The 650B wheel format that has been the norm for randoneers for years has been rebranded as 27.5 to create more confusion for the poor people who have only just changed from 26 inch to 29 inch wheels, (29ers just being 700c rebranded anyway.) If you think about it logically why would anyone make the move from 26 inch to 27.5 inches. The difference is too small. From a marketing point of view you would be better to go from 26 inch to 29 inch, then back down to 27.5 inch, which is the way it has panned out.

 Listen to a very  interesting podcast here on frame building and 650B vs 700  and how in this chap's view a 650B might serve most people better than their 700c roadie. It gives a bit of background on how 700c bikes got to where they are today.

This is a great piece with a similar angle on Why Are Bicycle Sales Declining  where the writer asks the question:"Imagine if car dealers only sold recreational cars. Cars for racing and off-roading. Cars not really suited to daily use". It's probably the most relevant read I've seen for years and answers the question of why my road bike sits unused in my garage even though it's probably the fastest, lightest and most efficient bike I have.

I think its really sad to see the adopting of bad designs or the creation of unnecessary designs. Company A comes out with a new bottom bracket standard called SPF3000. Company B says its rubbish and A will regret it. Buyers flocks to Company A like moth to a flame, and before long Company B is losing so much market share that they have to adopt the same standard or come out with their own new bottom bracket, PFTT 50210. This is probably what happened with Shimano going to 1x11 speed. Purely conjecture on my part though.

Now we are in the amazing situation of having our shifting available in electronic, wifi and hydraulic forms. Was there really anything wrong with cable shifting? There is a lot more fun coming up with the new axle standards too. I am not following it too closely, given that most of my 7 bikes run 9 speed I cant really be called an early adopter.

In Bikepacking circles (also known as Bike Trekking or Cycle Touring) there is a thing called MYOG, make your own gear, where people are building their own luggage systems. This is an example of something that is needs based, not "marketing-based". Some folks get so good at it that they go into business, like Revelate or Porcelain Rocket. Now some of the big guys are jumping on the bandwagon for a piece of the action, big hitters like Thule or Blackburn. Whether they can react to demand like the way the small guys can is yet to be seen. 2014 Tour Divide winner Jefe Branham still builds his own gear, such is the culture of DIY or "self-supportedness" in that scene.

Lael Wilcox. Image from Revelate's Instagram

To check out some "useful" tech in action look at some of the Tour Divide bikes.  Lael Wilcoxes bike has a carbon fibre frame with a state of the art luggage system with an internal skeleton. A dynamo hub that powers lights or charges GPSs, phones and spare batteries. On this bike she was able to cover over 260kms of wilderness riding each day to finish the 4418km Tour Divide in 17 days. Tour de France riders average a paltry 160kms a day and take 21 days to cover 3360 .

Did technology enable her to ride faster for longer? Possibly, but there are pros and cons. Her press-fit bottom bracket failed her and was replaced mid-route, as did Jay Petervary's. (Jay's Bike). Jay is a legend in Bike Packing circles having won most of the major endurance events of that genre and he was riding the latest hi-tech offering from Salsa, the new carbon fibre Cutthroat, a purpose built Tour Divide bike. I'm not sure how long it took to replace Jay's BB on route when it failed, but the guy who won, Josh Kato only did so by around 20 minutes. 20 minutes after 14 days in a non-drafting race is as good as a sprint. What was Josh's tech level like? Not very high. Josh rode a 3x9 speed titanium Salsa Fargo with bar end shifters like you get on time trial bikes, with a "friction" option. Almost anti-tech. No fast wearing narrow-wide chain rings or overly complex clutched rear derailer for him. Instead, the much maligned XTR rapid-rise (my favourite). If your cable breaks it defaults to the biggest rear sprocket, and at 34, instead of a 42, its going to offer a lot more options if your front shifting is still working. Following his incredible (failed) attempt at the Tour Divide the year before (an amazing read) he was leaving nothing to chance and was probably hauling a lot more gear than most. He didn't use a dynamo hub for lighting or charging, but he did have a spare GPS after seeing his partner's one fail the year before.

Editor of Bikepackersmag Neil Beltchenko's rig.

Tour Divide drive-train placings
1st, 3x9, Josh Kato,
2nd, 2x10, Jay Petervary,
3rd, 1x11,  Neil Beltchenko


Australian Jesse Carlson has just finished the TransAmerica, a self-supported 6,800km race across the US. He finished in 18 days, 480kms ahead of his next competitor. Thats 377kms a day, double what the Tour de France riders do, but unlike the Tour Divide, it's all on road. Check out his bike, a plush titanium Curve with hydraulic disc brakes, electronic shifters and  dynamo hub powered lights. Don't look at his seat. Not much padding on a 98 gram seat.

Some of his gear is from the high-end German manufacturer Tune and some of it is from his own company Curve Cycling. Jesse's SP dynamo hub was not only charging his kLite lights, but also his, Shimano Di2's external battery and his Iphone and Garmin Etrex 30 GPS. Why an Etrex 30 and not an Edge series GPS? Safety.The Etrex series has a longer burn time than the more modern touch screened versions and it can take batteries from a gas station or convenience store on route as an emergency back-up should his charging regime fail. Did Jesses charging regime fail? It did actually. This year the temperatures in the race were so high at times that his USB converter, which alters the current from the dynamo to enable charging of his devices, got cooked in the heat. His GPS also suffered temporary thermal shut-down and his Iphone charging cable fried. With weather hot enough to cook cables he changed tack, deciding to do more riding in the cooler evenings, as the dynamo hub and lights were unaffected. He went to plan B for charging devices which meant a USB charger in power sockets. Always have a plan B where tech is involved. Specs on Jesses bike and kit.

Another one of these endurance events, which is closer to Henri Desgrange's original ideal of what the TDF was meant to be is the Transcontinental . It's another self-supported race that this year went from Belgium to Istanbul. Around 4239kms for the winner; you get to choose your own route. The winner Josh Ibbet cranked it out in under 10 days. 423kms a day. Here is something to think about when choosing a sleeping mat, a quote from Josh.  "Last year, I thought I was travelling really light with a lightweight air mat. After the first or second night I really couldn’t be bothered to blow it up". Now he uses nothing. That's low-tech. The fact that there is next to no time traveling in the wilderness means they don't need too much gear, but it's interesting the lengths he goes to for comfort while riding. 28mm tubeless tires, aero bars and hydraulic disc brakes like Jesse's TransAm bike. This is the kind of bike you could commute on, although he mentions that previous riders who used Di2 say the batteries flatten after around 11 days of constant use. Check out his kit list here for more details.

I will finish off this rambling diatribe with two (mostly) different approaches to tech. The 1st and 2nd place getters in last years 360 mile Oregon Outback gravel race. Jan Heine's almost retro looking rando bike and  Ira Ryans Breadwinner cycles custom rig.

I think it would be safe to say that the only thing they have in common is frame material and down-tube shifters. Yes down-tube shifters, like in the olden days, well, sort of like in the olden days. Ira's used a mechanism tweaked to accept 11 speed TT shifter internals, while Jan's is a two levered system. Nothing much to go wrong there. But they are both very usable bikes that are unlikely to let you down, which is what you want when you are out in the boonies.

RIDER	Jan Heine	Ira Ryan
Frame	Rene Herse steel custom rando bike	Breadwinner B-Road, steel
Fork	Steel, made by Kaiesi	Enve carbon CX disc fork
Wheels	650B	700 c
Tires	42mm Compass babyshoe Pass Extralight	38mm Panaracer Pasela Tourguard
Front rings	46/30 Renee Herse crank.	50/34 Shimano Durace
Rear Cluster	5 speed 14-22	11 speed shimano 11-25
Derailers	1930s Nivex rear, custom built suicide shifter front	Durace rear and front
Brakes	Mafac Raid centerpull (1970s)	TRP Hylex hydraulic disc
Saddle	Brooks Professional	Sella Italia Flight  (90's)
Shifters	Down-tube 2x5	Down-tube 2 x11
Bottom bracket	Press-fit (Edit) see Jan's comment in the "comments"	Threaded english 68mm.
Extras	Dynamo hub/lights and mudguards

*Most of this info was gleaned from CX Magazine. Ira's Bike and Jan's Bike.

Check out Jan's cluster. 5 gears, with a beautiful Rene Herse crank. Imagine how strong and light a 650B wheel with 5 sprockets could be. Read the links to CX Magazine or go to Jan's blog for a fresh angle on the bicycle.

It does make you think about how important the "technology" is on your bike. Is it an advance or a liability?

Jan Heine's Rene Herse custom. 2nd in the Oregon Outback. Image from Bicycle Quarterly

Ira Ryan's Oregon Outback winning Breadwinner B-Road http://breadwinnercycles.com/

Links from this post.

Jay Petervary - http://www.tetongravity.com/lone-mind-jay-petervary
Jays bike http://www.outsideonline.com/1990666/will-bike-win-tour-divide
Jan Heine's bike in CX-Mag. https://www.cxmagazine.com/gravel-grinder-bike-jan-heine-oregon-outback-360-2014
Ira Ryans bike in CX-Mag. http://www.cxmagazine.com/winning-gravel-grinder-oregon-outback-winner-ira-ryans-breadwinner
Breadwinner cycles http://breadwinnercycles.com/
Josh Ibbet pre-TCR http://road.cc/content/news/158332-qa-transcontinental-rider-josh-ibbett
Josh Ibbets bike and kit. http://road.cc/content/news/158492-transcontinental-bike-race-josh-ibbett-s-bike-and-equipment
Revelate Designs http://www.revelatedesigns.com/
Josh Kato interview https://www.revelatedesigns.com/blog/index.cfm/2015/07/17/Tour-Divide-Winner--Josh-Kato-Interview
Josh Kato's kit list. http://www.bikepacking.com/gear/josh-kato-tour-divide-pack-list/
Josh's Bike http://www.bikepacking.com/gear/salsa-fargo-ti-josh-kato-tour-divide/
Josh Katos 2015 TourDivide scratch. Amazing read.
Curve Cycling http://www.curvecycling.com.au/
SP Dynamo hubs (plays annoying music) http://www.sp-dynamo.com/
kLite Lights http://www.klite.com.au/
Road Bike Review - Do-disc-brakes-stop-you-faster-than-rim-brakes
http://transambikerace.com/

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Disclaimer: These are my own personal views, and opinions, and are no more or less valid than anyone else who has a blog's view.  They come from my experiences as a rider and consumer of cycling products across several genres: XC, CX,Track, TT, Road and Bikepacking. I have never worked in the industry. I do 95% of the work on my own bikes and would like to keep it that way. I currently foolishly have 8 bikes but if the zombie apocalypse comes the one bike I would like to have at my disposal would be my early model Karate Monkey. I am not afraid of technology, I have been using a PowerTap power meter for years and have recently brought a dynamo hub and all the accoutrement's.

I've just realised that I've been posting most of my Tour Aotearoa stuff on my Instagram instead of my blog, which is pretty hopeless as far as being a resource for anyone else who may be interested.

See below a graphic timeline for creating my "charging regime" for the Tour Aotearoa Brevet.

I started with an Exposure dynamo Light, I saw a great deal on Evans cycles and picked it up for around $350 NZ plus $20 shipping. A light AND the Exposure branded SP hub. That is very cheap. It was an impulse buy. It is a 9mm QR hub with 28 holes, possibly why it was cheap, with through-axle being more in demand these days for some people, and 28 holes being more suited to a road application than off-road.


I got a new rim and spokes and Francis at Jville Cycles built up the wheel.


It was great. I had free light for as long as I could pedal! But this was just the beginning. Nathan Mawkes told me what he did for his Kiwi Brevet charging regime, and as it was a very cheap option I followed suit. Even cheaper than Nathans option. I brought a 10 US$ torch, and an 8 US$ charger/power-bank, with a couple of 18650 (Chinese) rechargeable batteries thrown in.


I ran some tests. This torch is very bright. It has high, medium, and low modes plus a few more. It lasts for 3.5, 7 and 14 hours respectively.

18650 batteries are what is found in lap-top cases. I almost started a fire breaking one up. If you do this, exercise caution.


These are unprotected cells. Don't put them on charge and go out for the day!  The good ones are about $18.50 each NZ from MrPositive (if you cant gut an old lap-top without maiming yourself then buy the Panasonics).

You will need a way to charge these batteries, as your dynamo won't do it "out-of-the-box" . You need a USB-converter, the Sinewave one is good, but not cheap.  I got Kerry at kLite to build me a switch as well so I could easily toggle from lights to USB charging.

The plan goes like this:
1. Start with about 3 fully charged 18650 batteries.
2. Use one as a cache-battery inline between my dynamo and my "device" be it GPS or phone.
3. In the evening, I can also use one of the batteries as back-up in the spare torch which I can strap to my helmet.

The cheapie charger/power-bank allows "pass-through-charging" which you need if you are going to be charging and being charged at the same time.


The white thing inline here is just temporary. It is measuring the load from my GPS.


A rather crowded dash-board.


All of the gizmos will fit in here. A Stealth Bike Bags top-tube bag.

So far my testing has been pretty minimal. But I can say this.

It all fits.
I rode around the bays the other day and charged my phone from 5% to 72% in about 1.5 hours.

Isn't all this TECHNOLOGY risky?
Of course.

The fall-back plan
I will take a spare USB cable for my phone.
This is also spare for charging my power-bank device.
I will take a 3 pin USB plug and a tiny 3 port hub to plug into it, should my dynamo explode leaving me with no electricity, forcing me to charge in a motel or such-like.
I will take my original dynamo light harness as a spare in case my switch/harness gets damaged.

Basically if I have a "power-transmission" outage I will be USB charging my batteries, phones and light from 3 pin plugs. 3 x 3.5, 7 and 14 hours is a lot of light. This is what most people will be doing anyway, it's just my back-up.

That's the theory anyway : )

Bright but cheap torch
http://www.lights-box.com/ultrafire-wf-501b-cree-xm-l-t6-1000-lumens-5-modes-led-torch-1-x-18650-battery

Basic power-bank/charger
https://www.fasttech.com/product/1137904

Tester gizmo
http://www.dx.com/p/lcd-display-usb-power-charger-data-transmit-current-voltage-tester-capacity-tester-white-315314#.Ved5f5cUe80


PS. Don't burn down your house messing around with this stuff.
If I told you to jump off a cliff would you?
Exactly.

Trevor Woodward is doing another run of his revolutionary Woodward Mounty double-barrel-bottle-mount. Try saying that after 2 litres of Angry Peaches!

Trev only uses organically grown steel in his work and all of his machinists are of a legal working age.

Barryn with 1.5 lires of Garage Project on board in the middle spot. Barryn is approximately 7.5 feet tall and has no issues.

You can also mount another bottle in the middle. Potentially a very big bottle.  You can have all your bottles in the one place!  My current thinking is that I will use this and a frame bag. Otherwise I will be radiator-hose-clipping cages on the top tube and under the down tube for TourAotearoa .

As far as getting in the way goes, it is almost identical to a top-tube bag. If you don't like the way your leg can lightly brush a bag when you stand up and hammer it may not be for you. I will always brush my top-tube bag before I brush the bottles in Trev's mount. Everyone has different leg lengths though. The only time I DO notice it, is when commuting and I stop and wait at the lights, and sit on my top-tube a bit askew. It might be worth borrowing one to try it just to be sure though. Trev is asking 40$ for this bespoke factory-free item.

Contact Trev on 021-484-213 . Best you ring him after hours. He checks his texts once every two weeks and I cant recall him ever answering an email.

144 kms off road and gravel.

The Great Rimutaka Bike eXperiment #GRBX was a social media experiment that paid off in spades for the guys at Inspiring Riding, if empowering people to get out and ride into a stiff southerly is any measure of success! It was great. Around 50 people were there on all sorts of rigs, beta-testing all sorts of gear, some in anticipation of their next over-nighter, but many in anticipation of the TA (TourAotearoa) being held next February.

I was looking to trial my new dynamo set-up and I was pretty happy with the results. Mind you, according to Strava I averaged 23.4 kmh. That is not a sustainable Brevet/Bike-packing speed for any human I have heard of. And to prove this, I imploded at the halfway mark with the biggest bonk I have ever experienced. My latest special toastie pie recipe which was a special blend of Cheese and Smoked mussels was suddenly repeating on me and seemed less than desirable.

I managed to keep the contents inside my stomach, but my pace was so slow, as I rode the "Incline" that I wasn't pedalling fast enough to generate power from my dynamo to power my lights through the first tunnel. I could see lights alright, lots of small twinkly ones!

A caffeinated GEL at the top restored my mojo and I was shortly back to normal.

The latest iteration of the Stealth Bike Bag with a port-hole for cables and water resistant zip.

 I had purchased a top-tube bag off Michael at Stealth Bike bags a few months back but he said if I waited a while he would do the new one with the new slinky water resistant zip. He turned up with it at the start so I eagerly velcroed it on.

I was testing my dynamo charging system so aligned all the goodies inside the bag as well as I could and put it all in another plastic bag. There was the Sinewave converter, my little battery holder, and a 3100 mah battery, and my phone. Before I started, I estimated that the 3100 mah battery was mostly charged, and the phone was also mostly charged. With an average speed of 23.4 kmh I would have been generating a reasonable amount of watts (for charging) and at the end of the day, the phone was fully charged at 100%. The idea is that at the end of the day, this battery or one of the other 2 I will be carrying, can be put into my head torch, should I need extra lighting if negotiating slow single-track at night. They can also be used as a power-bank.



 I took the battery out today and it lasted for 6.5 hours in my torch, on the medium setting, so without getting all technical, that implies I didn't bleed too much power, overall. You wont see any photos from the ride. Why?

1. We were hammering too hard.
2. My phone was in a plastic bag in my top-tube bag ; )

The order of the bikes across the line, not neccessarily the fastest order, as people tended to leave at different times.

1, Hard-tail, 2, Fully, 3, CX bike, 4, CX bike, 5, Rigid MTB.

More "peer-reviewed" info to come when all the data has been analysed by the gurus at Inspiring Riding. Thanks guys. It was great.

For some of you preparing for a bikepacking event is a bit new.
3000kms is a long way, but the more prepared you are, the more fun it will be.
There is a saying that goes "any plan is better than no plan".

I have done a bit of training, and coaching over the years so I am happy to share my very basic plan. It's a safe plan with lots of recovery. If you are a harry-hard-out and are a lot younger, you can do a lot more and don't really need me to tell you how to suck eggs. This is a plan for people with limited time.

For this time of the year, when the weather is rubbish, in Wellington anyway, you need to start small.

Because I am an old bugger I believe in lots of rest. A recent study has suggested what I always suspected. The best recovery is actually not riding. Your partner will probably buy into this concept too.

Jonty and Chris Kiwi Brevet 2010. Molesworth.

Phase 1 Starting week.
-----------------------------------
M
T - 1 hour
W
T - 1 hour
F
S - 3 hours
S
----------------------------------




Can you see the pattern? Hard, easy, hard, easy, hard, easy. There is no improvement without recovery.

All of these rides can be on the flat, until your fitness improves.
Then as your confidence increases you can head for the hills. As Arthur Lydiard used to say "Hills are the short-cut to speed". You wont need speed, but the strength will help heaps.

As the weeks go on you will notice that 1hour is a doddle, and there is a lot more light available in the day. This is when you get out of bed earlier. Getting out of bed earlier is a skill that you can apply to other areas of your life. Just don't wake the family.

The 1 hour rides morph into 2 hour rides and the 3 hour ride becomes a 5 hour ride. Gradually....

Nick and Jonty Kiwi Brevet 2010. Maruia.

Phase 2 (A month later).
-----------------------------------
M
T - 2 hour
W
T - 2 hour
F
S - 5 hours
S
----------------------------------


You need to ramp up the hours slowly, because as you age, your testosterone levels drop off and recovery is harder. (I have noticed a lot of Bikepackers are over 40.)

If you get tired, you will become grumpy, and your family might ask you to move out into your own flat.

So before long you are doing 2+2+5=9 hours a week. 5 hours is a very good ride. 7 hours kinda feels like a days work, but if you go somewhere new to explore and you are not just riding around in circles then its all good. If you don't have typical family demands then you might be able to sneak out for some longer adventures.

A couple of times you might like to get up REALLY early and do a
3+2+5 = 10 hour week.

Then, if you are still married, and you encourage your spouse to head away for a trip with their best friend one weekend you can try doubling up. That means back to back rides, like you will do in the TA.

If you still have any friends at this point they will likely be cyclists so you can even do an over-nighter and test some of that fruity gear you have been purchasing all year.

So you might end up doing a 3+2+5+5=15 hour week . I don't think I  have ever ridden that many hours (training) in a week but if you are motivated and get a clean leave pass anything is possible.

Matt Jonty and Alex Kiwi Brevet 2012. Moana.

Phase 3 (3 months later).
-----------------------------------
M
T - 3 hour
W
T - 2 hour
F
S - 5 hours
S-  5 hours
----------------------------------

Every 4th week, have an easy week. Cut right back on your work-load. You could knock back your hours by 40% and do your rides very easily on the flat. Maybe do them with your kids or partner.

You do not need to do any racing to do a bikepacking event, unless you really fancy yourself at the pointy end. Even then its not essential. It wont do you any harm, but if you do, ride to the event, race, and ride home.

Group rides can also be good for motivation, especially the ones before work where you might struggle with the early morning starts. Riding before work is good because no one can tell about the strange double-life you are leading.

You don't need to ride a loaded bike all the time but its a good idea to do some loaded riding towards the end of your training so its not a shock to your system.

I am currently doing my long ride on a Friday night (leaving work early) while my wife goes to the pub with her buddies. It gives me a chance to test my lights and I have a whole weekend to recover and do useful stuff around the house.

Don't stress about kilometres. Its time in the saddle you need to experience. Sort out your nutrition and how you will carry your liquids, spares, tools etc.

Even though you could well end up riding 10 hours a day in the TA, its not as hard as you might think. You will have lots of breaks, and it feels more like you are riding two 5 hour days with total recovery in between. You will be surprised how easy it is without the day to day stresses of working for a living and training at the same time.

Some maxims

• If in doubt, leave it out.
• Don't do your easy rides too hard and your hard rides too easy.
• You can recover from being under-trained, but its a lot harder to recover from being over-trained.

To summarise. Build up slowly. Hard/easy. Test your gear, most importantly your saddle.

It will be the best holiday you ever had !
Does that sound mad?

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Disclaimer. If you are young and reckless and have youth on your side, you don't need to do any of this. Just eat lots of Kebabs ; )

Steve Halligan 2014 Kiwi Brevet. Rainbow Valley.

A link from bikepacking.net on training for the Tour Divide. You will find many useful resources here.

As I found out in my 2014 Kiwi Brevet, there is nothing worse than having Achilles problems on the bike. I had done two previous KB's without a hint of it. I couldn't pin it down to any one thing, because I had changed too many variables, going from a 26er fully to a rigid drop-barred 29er, Time pedals to Crank Bros, and different shoes. It didn't stop me from riding, but I could tell that I was doing damage that I was going to have to pay for. The one thing I did know, after 2 months of rehabilitation where even walking was a chore, I didn't want to go there again. Spending my tea-breaks doing eccentric heel-drops in the stair-well wears thin after the first month.

My fear of its return has prompted me to do a bit of research. I read a few ride reports and asked a few questions. If it's something that afflicts even the good guys then you know its not about physical preparation, although it could still be about bike fit.

As with many things in bikepacking, including saddle-tolerance, you really don't know what is going to happen to you until you have done more than about 2.5 good long days in the saddle.

I remember reading Josh Kench's book about his attempt at RAAM and how earlier in his build up he suffered from severe Achilles problems. His Coach recommended he shift his cleats back. In this years Tour Divide a local Kiwi rider Greg Galway, was one of the many riders to have a similar problem, once again, his coach, the same coach, Silas Cullen recommended the same treatment.

I aim to ask a few of these hardy riders of their experiences with Achilles pain, what they did and what they suggest, then I'll ask Silas for some of his ideas about what is happening and what he recommends.

For a bit of background on cleat placement, the following comes from Steve Hogg who is a bike-fit guru in Australia. I am not aware of him having any particular involvement in bikepacking but his ideas seem to be being adopted anyway. He has been promoting moving cleats rear-ward for many years, long before the Enduro riders had adopted it, for completely different reasons I imagine. When I say "Enduro" I mean guys who rip down hills fast on MTBs with 6 inches of travel. Read Steve Hoggs whole article here : https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bikefit/2011/04/power-to-the-pedal-cleat-position/ . My simple interpretation of his writing is that he says the foot is a poor lever, and the further back the cleats are, the less work the muscles have to do to stabilize the lower leg.

Some "case studies"

Simon Kennett brought bikepacking as we now know it to our part of woods after finishing the 2008 Great Divide in 3rd place. There was a fair bit of snow that year, and one thing that many people agree on, walking through snow is a killer. In fact hike-a-biking in general is really rough on your Achilles.

Simon Kennett Great Divide 08

Some comments from Simon:
Yes. At the end of day three of the Great Divide Race, I remember mentioning it to the guy I was riding with at the time. He asked if I might have to pull out, to which I replied there was absolutely no way I was pulling out of this race. Being stubborn can take you a fair way. Luckily there was no walking through snow drifts for the next three days. It came right. I took an anti-inflammatory pill, gave my calf a massage, and rode at a slightly easier pace for the first hour the next day. I vaguely remember 'icing' it with a cold drink at one stage, too.

Are there other things you did which you think helped?
Don't spend time pedaling hard while on the aero bars or drops until well warmed up.

Are there things that you would do, or recommend others do to make sure that they don't experience these agonies. Eg, a stretching regime, a professional bike fit, moving cleats back, certain pedals or shoes?
Stretching before injury is a good idea, but take care with stretches immediately after injury. Having cleats positioned just behind the ball of the foot should help with Achilles problems, as would a heel wedge in your shoe. While first warming up in the morning, just place the arch of your foot over the pedal and soft-pedal for a few minutes. Consider playing with your seat position. It's a good idea to include some walking in the weeks building up to the big ride. If you have a history of Achilles problems, look for shoes with a little bit of flex in the soles and big heel lugs.
http://www.kennett.co.nz/

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Ollie Whalley. Photo by Mike Israel

Another Kiwi, Oli Whalley broke the Tour Divide record in his rookie year finishing 1st.

Ollie, I wonder if youv'e had any issues with Achilles pain in your adventures?
Yes, in the 2012 Tour Divide.

What worked to alleviate your pain?
I jammed my cleats back on my shoes. Fortunately the guy I was riding alongside, Craig Stappler also told me how I could strap my Achilles.
Are there adjustments that you made after the occurrence that you have stuck with to this day?
Yes, I now do all of my riding with the cleats back these days, and carry strapping tape in the big events.

Do you have any recommendations for up and coming riders?
Stretches are good, but strengthening is also important. 30 calf-raise reps on a step 3 times a week is what I do when he is in prep mode. Ollies Blog.

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Nathan Mawkes. Image from Chris Charles

Nathan Mawkes has done the Tour Divide twice, and while this is not meant to be just about the Tour Divide, it does seem to be a sure-fire way to mess up your Achilles.

Nathan, I wonder if youv'e had any experience with Achilles pain?
Yes, during Tour Divide in 2012, there was a lot more snow that year up north which resulted in a lot of pushing your bike through snow for quite a few hours at a time, narrow and fairly rigid XC oriented bike shoes are not the ideal shoes due to the lack of stability in soft snow, the minimal flexibility also resulted in the foot having to work harder to stabilise, and hence begin to fail.

What worked to alleviate your pain?
Pain killers and perseverance, enjoy the scenery / journey.

Are there other things you did which you think helped?
No, by the end I had worn away the protective sheath in both Achilles and was struggling to walk. but I could still ride.....

Are there adjustments that you made after the occurrence that you have stuck with to this day?
when I returned to Tour Divide again in 2013 I went with a wider soled shoe. with a slightly more flexible sole, this made any hike a bike sections, or even walking in town more enjoyable, since then I've used 4 different models of mtb shoes but keep gravitating to those with wide flexible soles, my current favourites are Pearl Izumi X-Alps

Are there things that you would do, or recommend others do to make sure that they don't experience these issues?
My Achilles issues were more the result of hike a bike, if anything the controlled motion of the bike was less of the cause.

Are you an advocate for strapping your Achilles in an event if it flares up and you know what to do? 
I do carry strapping tape but I would be unlikely to use it  unless there was a lot of time off the bike.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Geoff B from down south.
Although I’ve been lucky enough to have done quite few events and missions now (4 x 1100km brevets, 4 x 300km hilly Petite Brevets and the Tour Divide once) I still class myself as a novice in the bikepacking world rankings.

Have you had any experience with Achilles pain?
I’ve only had one occurrence of real Achilles pain and this was in my first long brevet and after a sustained hike a bike. Luckily the pain wasn’t major and it preceded a short rest time and then there wasn’t any more hike a bike so with a little “soft pedalling” the pain was manageable and then went away.

Do you think soft pedalling would work for most people?Yes, depending on how bad the pain is, I would think most riders can pedal through it, but they may have to ease off a bit, revise their expectations downward and follow the other suggestions below.

What other things did you do which you helped?
Icing and strapping can also be beneficial. Some riders are fans of anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen but I’ve personally stayed cleared of these, although I have taken paracetamol which has helped with minor joint issues as well. Every night in the TD when available my companion would beg, borrow or steal ice to ensure he could ice all his affected areas, I think this was probably a very good idea.

Are there adjustments that you made after your problems that you've stuck with?
There is a strong argument to having your cleats in the most rearward position,  and I always have them in that position anyway. But if you don’t and do experience Achilles pain I do suggest you try moving your cleats back.

Are there things that you would do, or recommend others do to make sure that they don’t experience these problems. E.g. a stretching regime, a professional bike fit, certain pedals or shoes?
We’ve always wondered why so many riders are affected by Achilles pain and other joint issues early on in events like the Tour Divide; one explanation seems to be the hugely increased mileages these riders are trying to achieve in the first few days compared to what they are used too. I think mileages need to be built up prior to the event and then slowly loaded mileage, hike a bike and loaded hills need to progressively added to a new rider’s program.

I’m sure that stretching would be very beneficial (not speaking from experience though) especially calf stretches, as would a upper body strength program as most riders wouldn’t believe how strong you need to be to manage a loaded bike for days on end.

Professional bike fits sound a reasonable suggestion, but I suggest caution in finding someone that caters to the needs of the bikepacker that may be different to those of an XC racer or road cyclist.

Definitely move cleats back; use shoes that are bigger than you normally would as your feet will swell; pedals should ideally offer some support,  although many of us just use standard XC race style pedals; shoes should be comfortable and able to be walked in (uphill pushing a loaded bike), I prefer softer enduro style shoes with good grippy soles now rather than carbon soled xc racer types.

Above all ride your bike (lots), experiment with different seats, aero-bars, supportive handgrips and bar ends, as this will give you multiple hand / seating positions that will help to spread load on not just your Achilles but hands, butt and knees as well. (Probably another topic here).

Are you an advocate for strapping your Achilles in an event if it flares up and you know what to do?
Personally I don’t strap unless I have too, although as I know my Physio well, I asked for instructions on how to strap my Achilles, ankles and knees before I started the TD. There was a huge amount of strapping tape used in the TD, not sure if it helped… looked good though and that’s important too ; )

One of the best solutions I heard of was from Katie and Sam (the tandem riders from TD 2014), they fashioned a rubber glove to form a stretchable strapping to take pressure of the Achilles, by all accounts it worked a treat.

Editor (GB was 4th in the 2014 Tour Divide at age 49).

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Neil Beltchenko

Neil Betchenko already has an impressive history in endurance events and came 3rd in his rookie year in possibly the most nail-biting Tour Divide ever.

I wonder if youv'e had any experience with Achilles pain?
Yes, lots of times. It used to be because of cleat position, now its because of over use. My situation is a bit more different however. when I was in middle school, I got surgery on my feet. They added an extra piece in my foot to give me more of an arch. Because of this, they had to snip and extend my Achilles (sounds gross). So in general, i believe my Achilles flares up more so then the next person.

What were your experiences and what did you do to alleviate it at the time?
The easiest thing I did was to push the cleat all the way back in the shoe. This inhibits excessive movement in the Achilles which will put less stress on it. It also does not effect your power all that much, although a power test could determine if it truly does or not. Other things I like to do is wear compression socks, this proves to delay the the "creak" of my Achilles.

Do you think this advice would work for most people?
Yes, both of those tidbits were given to me by bike fitters.

Are there other things you did which you think helped?
When I was on the Divide, I got some serious creaks in my right Achilles. I never considered wrapping them but I did put on two straps of Salonpas on each side every morning to deal with the pain. It worked wonders for me.

Are there adjustments that you made after the occurrence that you have stuck with to this day?
I just always put my cleats back and also use after market insoles, that give me more support when I'm walking. A big part of bikepacking is hiking with your bike, you need good insoles and good shoes, importanto!

Are there things that you would do, or recommend others do to make sure that they don't experience these issues?
I can't stress how important a bike fit is, and before you go into your fit, make sure you are using a shoe that is broken in, not new. But above all, experience is the most important, get out there, hike with your bike, ride 100 miles. do what it takes to experience the pain and work from there.

Are you an advocate for strapping your Achilles in an event if it flares up and you know what to do?
No, never have.
Neils site: http://bikepackersmagazine.com/

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2015 TD rookie Greg Galway
I’m new to this bike-packing endurance cycling and I’m learning all the time from others. I didn’t hear of many Achilles issues in my last TD, but knees came up quite often.

Achilles Pain: Yes I had a problem at this years TD. It felt like I was getting a blister where my shoe rubs my Achilles. At first I didn’t think too much about it (used a couple of plasters)  but it got worse. I had taken some strapping tape and  learn't how to strap it. Just like that the pain slowly disappeared (got to have shaved legs) :)

Knees: Major problems, this could also have contributed to my Achilles as well (don’t know).
Move your cleats back"MOST IMPORTANT”
Cleats are back to normal at the moment but will move them back early in the new year for a couple of longer training rides.
Stretching: Knee on floor, foot against wall, straighten body up. This is from my coach Silas Cullen of Smart Coaching. Once I did this I was problem free for the rest of the TD.
My coach also recommends a lot of high cadence in training. Go for a ride then spin at 100+rpm for last 10-30min with no load (as many muscle contractions as possible) This can be harder than the ride itself. It also helps with endurance training. Hopefully this can help others.

So I forwarded the above stories and a few questions to Silas Cullen and Steve Hogg to get some ideas on what is actually happening, and to see if they could make any recommendations, short of obviously getting a proper bike fit. Up front these guys will tell you they are not bikepacking bike-fit experts, but they are very experienced in related issues. Read more about them and what they do here. http://www.smartcoaching.com and https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/

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Achilles pain in Endurance Riders
Comments by Cycling Coach Silas Cullen

Who it affects
Achilles pain can affect any rider, but it tends to come on more frequently with endurance riding and even to riders who have never experienced it before. Endurance riding is incredibly demanding on the body, so it’s not surprising that it starts to complain if things are not set up right.

Overuse injuries or “repetitive strain injuries”  need two things. Firstly “many repetitions” of the same thing, that’s why they’re called overuse… Secondly with “poor range of motion” or too much load in one specific area, that’s why there’s an injury.

What Causes it

1. Tightness in the back
The back feeds all of the electrical signals to the muscles. It must be in good health for the body to work properly. When riding all day typically the hip flexors tighten creating that well known “duck bum” or sway back posture. This can pinch the sciatic nerve which can cause pain all the way down the back of the legs including the lower calf area. This won’t cause pain in the tendon directly but certainly in the connective muscle around the tendon. If range of motion is changed then the tendon may then become inflamed. If a rider also has a tight sensation in the hamstrings then this is almost certainly the cause.

2. Movement at the foot
Within the pedal stroke riders have varying degrees of movement where the foot may rotate slightly externally or internally within the pedal stroke itself. This might normally be ok but when faced with many hours of riding and the load associated with the fully loaded bikepacking style of endurance  riding, inflammation can occur.

How to prevent it
To prevent the sciatic nerve being pinched through poor posture we stretch the muscles which are tightening and causing this problem - the hip flexors! These powerful muscles are not easy to stretch and concentration is needed to perform correct technique. Posteriorly rotating the hips and stretching the upper thigh. If the back is swayed during a hip flexor stretch, then the hip flexors are not being stretched. It is easy to get this wrong. Link here.

Secondly, maintaining general back mobility will help a lot. Gently twisting, extending and flexing the back and maintaining range of motion is essential for a healthy spine and is a good idea to do anyway.

To prevent movement at the foot being the cause, we can decrease the load through the foot by pulling the cleats back as far as they’ll go. I have had many athletes re drill holes in their shoes to get there cleats even further back. This may seem extreme to some people, but so is riding for ten hours a day for a month on a 25kg bike, or riding for forty hours non stop as fast as you can go…

The other thing we do when moving the cleats back, is that for the same angle change at the foot within the pedal stroke, the heel moves a lesser distance. For example if the foot changes angle by 2 degrees to a more toes out position at the top of the pedal stroke, the heel will move in (closer to the bike) a given distance. The further back the cleats, the less this distance will be. This decreases any twist slight twist through the Achilles which may also help reduce inflammation.

What to do when it happens during a ride
Move the cleats back on your shoes as far as you can to alleviate the pressure put through the calf on each pedal stroke. It may also feel good to put the seat forwards just a few millimetres at the same time. This because then the cleats go back the hamstring and calves may feel ever so slightly more stretched out. By moving the seat forwards we bring the body forward as well as the foot (cleats back means foot forward), maintaining the same balance. Be aware that this will slightly increase the load on the arms and hands, but an endurance setup should always have plenty of options for hand placement - to move around.

Bikepacking endurance riding has one key element and goal - “keep going”. If we can eliminate the pain and cause no other discomfort, then we eliminate the problem and a rider can continue uninhibited.

Silas.

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Steve Hogg

I mentioned Steve Hogg earlier. He really is one of the top bike-fitters in the world and has been nice enough to contribute to this discussion at short notice, with some very useful advice and links on bike set-up. See a few bullet-points on common issues, and links to more info on his site. You could spend a week reading all his stuff.

Steve Hogg:
I see a reasonable amount of Achilles tendinitis in first time fit clients and the aspects of bike fitting that play a part in the problem are, in no particular order:



1. Seat height. The majority of riders sit too high. The typical unconscious response to this is to sit less squarely on the seat so that one leg reaches okay to the pedals and the other side over reaches even more so. It is typically the less favoured leg (the one the rider hangs away from) that feels the onset of Achilles tendon problems first.  For a simple method of accurately setting seat height, see this link.
https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bikefit/2011/02/seat-height-how-hard-can-it-be/

2. Cleat position. The shorter the foot as a lever, meaning the more rearward the cleat position, the less likelihood there will be of developing Achilles tendon issues. If you want a 'rule of thumb' for bike packing, move the cleats as far back on the shoe as they will go. More info here.
https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bikefit/2011/04/power-to-the-pedal-cleat-position/

3. Arch support. The need for arch support is under appreciated. Humans have not evolved to apply force to rigid cycling shoe soles for long periods of time. Additionally, there is no brand of cycling shoe that comes standard with arch support insoles that will properly do the job for a majority of riders. More info here.
https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bikefit/2011/02/foot-correction-part-1-arch-support/

4. Tight calves. The tighter the riders calves, the greater the chance of incurring an Achilles tendon injury.

5. Pedals. Trail / AM style clipless pedals with a platform of sorts around the pedal (think XT/XTR Trail, Crank Bros Mallet etc) offer greater foot on pedal stability than do straight out XC clipless pedals

6. Seat setback plays a part and I'm of the view that many mtb's have too slack a seat tube angle which is why many mtb'ers run zero offset seat posts. If seat setback is too great when climbing really steep off road trails, then the entire rear  kinetic chain (gluteals, hamstrings and calves) is overworked. If the rider has other risk factors (poor cleat position and / or too high a seat and / or etc, etc) this can be enough to push them over the edge in to an Achilles tendon injury.

Editor: Wow. Looking at that, I suspect I failed in at least 4 of the 6 bullet-points outlined above in my last Kiwi Brevet.

I think there is more than enough in here to make us realise how vital it is to have our positions sorted out as much as we can when taking on these kinds of challenges. Hopefully there is something in here to help make your next event as pain-free as it can be. Thanks heaps to Silas and Steve and the guys who shared their real-world experiences.