I will conduct this writeup in the form of a question and answer session. Soundtrack: Avishai Cohen
Q. What is cycle touring really like?
A. Imagine you're riding your bike... Yep, that's it.
Q. What sort of bike do I need?
A. Whatever you have at present is fine. If it can't take a carrier rack, tow a trailer. Choose one of the popular ones.
Q. How much stuff will I need?
A. About 3 Kg's worth. What I have in my saddlebag on my commuter bike is what I take touring, plus a sleeping bag, tent fly and mattress. Because I have so little gear, I can load up on food, antique shop bargains, books etc and still have a light bike.
Q. How much stuff will I actually take?
A. Initially, about 3-10 times as much.
Q. What are the Three Stages of Caring as regards to how much gear to take?
A. I'm glad you asked. The Three Stages of Caring are as follows.
1. You fret about forgetting your warm jacket, the chain breaker, your phone charger and about having the wrong sunglasses. You spend a lot of time stopped at the roadside, repacking.
2. You fret about the stuff you brought but didn't use - the tent, the video camera, the extra pair of long johns, the spare pair of shoes, the jeans and the books.
3. You just throw some stuff into a bag and ride. After day 2 you post most of it back home.
Q. What should I wear?
A. Whatever you'd normally wear. If that doesn't sound reasonable, try smearing yourself in lard or something. After all, casual is in, right?
Just wear whatever you like and replace uncomfortable items on an ad hoc basis. I don't particularly wear helmets, but I always wear a hat koz I'm a baldie. I like Kangol cheesecutters, in a tropical weave. They let your head breathe but still retain some warmth. And the peak can be adjusted to keep the sun or car headlights out of your eyes. They're polyester, so machine washable. In the heigh of summer I'll wear a well ventilated straw trilby. The small brim won't flap around in the breeze and it won't get sucked off your head during fast descents because the ventilation holes let the air through and out.
Since you're likely to to get caught in a rain storm at some point, it's good to wear layers of something insulating, like wool or polyester. Fine merino wool is very nice. Polypropylene or polarfleece is fine, sartorial considerations aside. I like Kathmandu merino boxers to ride in. A thermal tee shirt or singlet is a good base layer.
Okay, listen up you young-at-heart types: Cotton hoodies are no good. They catch the wind, they're bulky, they soak up water and provide no protection from cold when wet. Worse yet, they have no collar, so you lose heat from your neck and face, even with the hood up. Very poor insulation for the weight and bulk.
Wool, unlike cotton and polyester, doesn't retain odours and being in some ways a living material it is to an extent self-cleaning. What this means is you can wear the same woollen clothes day after day, whereas you'd smell (and feel) disgusting doing that with cotton and polyester. Being able to wear the same clothes all day every day is great if you're touring, because it means you don't need to take a change of clothes. This will significantly cut the amount of stuff you need to take. And pack. Or lose.
Try a $40 merino tee shirt, with a brushed cotton bush shirt on top. It will keep the sun off your arms and neck (and now you don't need to bring as much sunscreen, choarce). For bottoms, I wear Dickies shorts. I like having my usual wallet, keys, coins, phone etc in their usual pockets. In cooler temperatures I'll wear merino pants, aka dress trousers. These are available everywhere at any price point you wish. Vintage fabrics will be heavier - match weights to temperatures. Again, keeping the sun off your legs is a good thing if it's not uncomfortably hot. Wear wool trousers with trouser clips, to keep the cuffs out of the chain. You'll find the crotch seam much more pleasant than you'd find riding in denim jeans (which also soak up water and are bulky and heavy).
I will often wear a wool bike jersey. It's good to have the pockets at the back for food, a camera, maybe an extra bottle. But then again, with a decent pair of pants, you may not need pockets in your jersey. I rode 40 Km over the Okahukura Saddle in a pair of gray flannels, single pleat, the pockets of which contained a hanky, my phone, spare phone battery, phone charger, camera, 2 spare camera batteries and (as I discovered once I got off the bike) a very large banana I'd bought in Taumarunui. I hadn't even noticed it was there. Normal clothes are normal for a reason. They're more practical than you might think.
I use toeclips and straps. My favourite shoes are leather dress shoes with thin rubber soles. They fit the pedals and the clips perfectly, and I can shuffle my feet around any way I like. I've tried everything else - rubber block pedals, BMX platforms, LOOKs, Times, many forms of SPD. Expensive SIDI mountain bike shoes with sprigs on them. I still find dress shoes, road pedals and toe clips with leather straps the best all-round choice for all-round riding.
Take 2-3 pairs of socks and merino boxers. Wash the off-day pair in a sink when you happen to use public toilets, or dip 'em in a river (and have a swim too!) Dry them on the bike. merino and polypropylene can also be put on directly when wet - your body heat will soon dry them out. Oh, and take a balaclava, made of merino or polypropylene. They are cheap as chips and pack down to nothing but will keep you warmer than, well, a half kilo cotton hoodie, for starters. Very good on cold, windy days and when sleeping; it's a hat that can't fall off. I generally wear it all the time, with the hood pulled down, as a scarf. It's a good idea to keep your neck warm. If you have a warm neck, you can dispense with a layer (perhaps). Keeping your neck warm with a rolled-down balaclava is much cheaper and simpler than lugging around, say, a puffer jacket with no proper collar around its neck.
I have often considered taking a down puffer jacket. They have a very high warmth/bulk ratio - down is great as a sleeping bag filler. Problem is, down jackets are really only useful in a very limited set of circumstances - namely cold, dry conditions with little wind. How much of New Zealand has weather like that? Not Wellington, that's for sure. Your expensive puffer will just get rained on, ruining its insulating properties and turning it into a veritable albatross of cold and wet hanging around your exposed neck, like a cotton hoodie except more expensive - and not machine washable.
You can't really ride wearing a puffer jacket, because they don't breathe well enough to deal with the sweaty you inside it (unlike wool knit, the traditional material of bike jerseys). And they make you look fat, which should be a consideration but clearly isn't for most people. I've tried sleeping in mine, in lieu of a proper sleeping bag, but I found it uncomfortable around the armpits; body too hot, legs too cold. However, I would like to try a sleeveless down vest, but I've yet to find one with elasticated arm holes which would actually keep the heat in. Most puffer vests just ooze hot air out of the armholes, all the time. Doesn't have to be like that. These sort may be more practical to sleep in.
When it does actually start raining, I'll put on a Ground Effect rain jacket. Get a jacket which is cut closely to fit you, so it doesn't flap. Make sure it has a close fitting hood, where no wind can get in. Don't get one in fluro yellow unless you want to look like a fucking retard (evidently most people do, but that is no reason to emulate them). I've got some cheapo not-really-breathable rain paints from the Warehouse, $20. I hardly ever use them but they are in the pocket of the jacket if I have to do a long descent in freezing rain or something - or if I get stuck somewhere and have to wait it out. Keeping feet dry is always problematic. I've had good results from green rubber gardening overboots, available for about $15 from Mitre 10. They are 100% waterproof and windproof (until you rip them, but what the hell). I'd prefer it if they went a bit higher up the leg, but they're way better than nothing. Good for field hopping out in the crunchyside.
Remeber the old adage: if you're warm enough for the first 20 minutes of your ride, you're overdressed.
Finally, I'll state that in my experience, tight-weave merino gloves are significantly warmer and windproofier than polypropylene gloves.
Q. What time of year is good for cycle touring in New Zealand?
A. The so-called shoulder seasons of spring and autumn are ideal. Personally, I like cool temperatures. I've done midwinter trips through the central north island - carefully avoiding any signs of bad weather - which were very pleasant. The country is very clean and green when it's wet and as it's pretty much 5 degrees and raining all the time, you can just wear all your clothes and all your wet weather gear all day and all night and be comfortable.
I generally avoid high summer due to people, traffic, temperatures, humidity and sunburn, though it depends exactly where and when.
Parts of the south island are not navigable during winter, eg the Molesworth and Rainbow roads and much of central Otago. Even in mid summer, the top of the south can have cold nights and that means you need to take hot weather clothes AND cold weather clothes AND a warm sleeping bag, which all weighs more costs more and takes up more space.
Q. Where do you sleep?
A. Anywhere I like.
Friend's houses. Country hotels. Campsites. Beaches. DoC shelters. Tinpot railway stations in the central north island where trains never stops. The side of the road, preferably somewhere where, even if I'm quite visible, nobody can stop and bother me. In commercial pine forests, off the road. (If you're going to camp on private property, make it a commercial owner, not some poor soul who knows nothing of your intentions and will feel obliged to investigate, causing both of you unnecessary stress. Get off the road into the pines until you can't be seen. Don't light a fire in case you burn the place down. Enjoy the peace and quiet).
Also consider camping inside hedgerows around well-groomed country parks. If the park is in good condition it implies it isn't frequented by hooligans at night, so you're unlikely to be disturbed. It's usually impractical to use a tent in these circumstances as it's a bit too visible, but I have camped in a hedge inside a bivi bag and I couldn't see my campsite from one metre away outside the hedge, even with car headlights shining directly at it.
I sometimes carry a tent, if I think I'm actually likely to use it. It's an Australian branded twin, single pole, a door on each side. Weighs 2 Kg and is very good for the price and weight. Most trips I've taken a tent and haven't used it, which is dumb. Nowadays I'm more likely to take a rectangular fly sheet with several tie-down points. Weighs about 300g.
I've tried a Macpac bivi bag, made of a waterproof breathable fabric. Weigs 1 Kg, which is great, but ultimately it doesn't actually work. If it's raining, you have to zip yourself up in it completely. You can't leave a gap open in the front flap by your head because it would let the rain in. But if you zip it up, the condensation is immediately noticeable, so you're still getting wet and more to the point you literally can't breathe. Conversely, when it's not raining, you can have the front flap wide open and breathe all you like. But if it's fine, why do you need to be in a bivi bag in the first place?
I reckon a better compromise is a tent fly carefully rigged to deflect as much wind as possible. It doesn't have condensation problems. It's also good as a sunshade and you're more likely to use it spontaneously than you would a tent. The biggest downside it it's draughty, which is bad in cold weather, and it doesn't keep out insects. A separate mosquito net could be justified in certain circumstances. Traveling without a tent means you need to be a little more careful than you might otherwise be in selecting a campsite. Generally down at sea level near water means you'll get sandflies. On a valley floor you'll get cold, as the cooling air falls down to the bottom of the valley. Up on a ridge means you'll get cold winds. Somewhere in between is usually good.
For bedding, I like the Thermarest Prolite 3, their smallest and lightest self-inflating mattress. Weighs about 380g. Worth the expense; check online auction websites. Yes, it's thin and doesn't have much insulation - you could stick some bracken or ferns underneath for more of both. It takes me a day or two to adjust to sleeping on a thin mattress, but I always feel great once I've acclimatised.
Sleeping bags, I'll usually take a super light 1 season synthetic sleeping bag, an Australian brand, weighs about 300g. A down sleeping bag liner would also be a good choice - light, compact and cheap. Although a heavy sleeping bag is more luxurious, it's good to be able to save weight and bulk, as you aren't using it constantly and if you're staying with friends or in a cabin you can probably get better bedding onsite for free or for a dollar or two. If you're prepared to sleep in some of your clothes (eg socks, long johns, long sleeve top, balaclava) you will be just as warm, almost as comfortable and maybe a kilo lighter.
Q. Food?
A. Read a few magazine article about cycling nutrition (so you get a sense of where the mainstream opinion is at), then just eat what you like. If it doesn't seem to be working, try something else. Or eat more. Or eat less. I've done a four day tour while fasting, consuming nothing but juice. This was around Motueka, where there is lots of fresh fruit juice available everywhere. I felt great and am looking forward to doing it again.
Inspect your food packets. Look at the amount of energy contained, per 100g, in various foods. Generally, carbohydrates - simple or complex - contain about 1500Kj/100g. Proteins contain about 2500Kj/100g and fats contain 3500Kj/100g. The point is, proteins - like beans, nuts and peanut butter - are very good sources of energy. Also, since most of us are overweight, why eat when we can just burn our own fat? Avoiding carbohydrates and just cruising along at an easy pace means our bodies will start turning body fat into glucose to keep us moving. If you just load up on carbs, your body will use them first (because they're easier to break down than body fat) and the fat burning will be stopped.
Q. What if...?
A. If? If? There is no if. If you have to get back to town in a hurry, just get off your bike and stick your thumb out. I did this in Tasman recently. First car I stuck my thumb out to stopped - a Ford Explorer SUV, room in the back for Africa. I was at pains to explain, "Thanks for stopping - there's actually nothing wrong with my bike, I'm just in a hurry to meet a yacht in Nelson...". If you get into trouble, get to a road. Roads have cars, cars will take you to civilisation.
Q. Is it worth taking a computer?
A. It depends. Your first priority should be keeping your phone battery charged. I've experimented with dynamos charging lights and phones via USB but have never got it to work properly; however that says more about my electrical skills and perseverancelessness than the validity of the concept. Smartphones with decent displays and fast 3G networks mean that convenient Internet/GPS mapping is a reality - but only if you can keep your batteries charged. And you need to keep everything dry, of course. I take a Kindle ebook reader with me everywhere, including and especially when cycle touring. I'd really like a tablet of some kind, primarily to use as a map. As of this writing (September 2011) there are a few products worth considering.
- Apple iPad - clearly nice to have but battery life may be an issue.
- Asus EEE Tablet Transformer + keyboard dock - a 10.1 inch Android tablet which clips into its own keyboard full o' batteries. Goes for days without a recharge. Looks good to me.
- A nice smartphone with GPS and maps.
Q. What about spare parts?
A. I take a small toolkit - enough to fix tyres, tweak spokes, remove cranks and tighten any bolts. I don't take tools to remove bottom brackets or adjust threaded headsets (which most of my road bikes have). I also take a hanky or two for wiping greasy hands with. A small spray bottle of degreaser is good for hand cleaning. Even better is a small quantity of washing machine powder, or dishwasher powder. These get your hands really clean without needing much water or feeling really soapy.
Q. How will I feel?
A. On the first day you'll probably feel quite good and be glad to get out of town. On the second and third days, you'll be feeling knackered and will have sore bits here and there. On the fourth day you'll be starting to get into the swing of things and after that you should have a rhythm going nicely. After that you probably won't want to come home and why should you!
Q. What about traffic?
A. Best avoided, of course. Explore the little back roads, even if they're much less direct than a state highway (this is why computer maps are good to have - road atlases and topomaps don't have the level of detail to label every singel road). Sometimes there's no option other than a highway - eg to get from Taumarunui to Wanganui you really have to take SH4. If you're concerned about traffic, why not ride that section at night? It's easier to see other vehicles as they'll have their lights on and if you start late you'll probably have an easier run than you would during the day. Commercial drivers - ie the big trucks - do these roads every night and have a much lower accident rate than the general population. I'll put on a hi-vis vest and do the Desert Road at night; not as much fun during the day, especially during holiday periods. Might as well get the highway riding done in the wee small hours when you can enjoy the night.
I often find that leaving city, if you live in a big one, can be more pleasant at night. Getting out of Auckland or Wellington starting from midnight during the week gives you a clear run to get out of town all night. Then you can stop and watch the sun come up, have a shot of whisky then crash out in the sunshine as they day warms up. There's no better way to sleep!
Q. Can I take my bike on buses/trains/planes/ferries?
A. Short answer is Yes. Long answer is Depends. Breaks down like this:
- Commuter buses - no, except maybe certain buses in Christchurch
- Intercity Bus/Naked Bus - yes, as long as you remove pedals and make a few other concessions for packing it in the luggage compartment.
- Commuter trains - contact the operators for details, as it's situation dependent
- TranzScenic trains - yes, book ahead, pay $10. I haven't tried taking a tandem with trailer, but I reckon they'd take it. Ditto a tadpole trike, a bikeish-looking moped or an electric bike. Very useful - you can get way out of town quickly and relatively cheaply.
- Planes - yes. Ask nicely at your local bike shop for an old cardboard bike box. Call a few days before you need it as many shops will chuck out boxes on a weekly basis. Remove your pedals, seat, handlebars and probably the front wheel until the bike fits inside OK. Pad it a bit with old newspapers or old cardboard boxes you don't need. Then tape it up. As long as it weighs less than 23 Kg you're fine. Just check it in with your 7 Kg carry-on bag - which is whatever you didn't manage to cram into the box - and stick it in the Weird Long Things part of the baggage handling system. You can buy bags from Ground Effect et al which are good too, but I like not having the weight and bulk of the unused bag with me while I'm touring. I just unbox at the destination airport and stash the box somewhere tidily near a rubbish bin. Perhaps you could leave it somewhere and come back for it and reuse it at the end of the trip.
- Ferries - most commuter ferries in New Zealand will take bikes free. The Interislander and the Bluebridge charge $10.
Q. Anything else?
A. No, other than to recommend you forget everything I've just said and make up your own rules and guidelines. May you never want to go home.
