03 Aug 2022
On yer bike!
This is an adventure in which we will have to carry pretty much everything with us on our bikes. Weight will be an issue!
My chosen ride will be my Open UP gravel bike. And it’s appropriate too as it’s the bike I designed and had the parts shipped, as I lay in my hospital bed. It was something to look forward to.
The bike weighs a modest 8 kg, or so; I’m hoping to be around 15 kg fully laden. Time will tell!
The idea is to run gravel tyres (relatively small tread in the middle, with bigger blocks on the outside) at low(ish) pressures (around 30 psi). This increases the footprint of the tyre, making progress more efficient. The low pressures also give some relief from the road and gravel as the tyres absorb some of the bumps in the road (the bike has no suspension).
The other benefit of having no suspension is more space of luggage. I’ll be carrying dry bags in front of the handlebars and under the seat, a “cockpit” on the top tube and another bag filling the frame triangle. That should give almost 30 litres of storage, which hopefully I won’t need …
For water, I’ll use a 2-litre backpack and I’ll move the bottle cage to underneath the down tube for cooking fuel. Apparently, it’s best to place heavy items as low as possible!
For the technically minded, the bike was a little project I undertook while in hospital, as I said. I was surfing the net and ordering the various parts for my ideal bike:
- Open UP Gravel Plus carbon frame and forks
- 3T Superghiaia carbon drop handlebars and stem
- Enve carbon seatpost
- Selle Italia SLR Boost Superflow Gravel saddle
- Shimano Ultegra Di2 (electronic) running gear and disk brakes
- Wheelworks OG Carbon, 29” wheels (from Wellington), with Maxxis Ravager gravel tyres
- Wahoo Elemnt Bolt bike computer and GPS
It’s a beauty and hopefully, this will all hold together!
I’ve been riding the bike since I was discharged from hospital, and it has run flawlessly. The only slight concern I’ve had is running the tyres tubeless – if I get a puncture, hopefully the sealant (inside the tyres) will work. Tubeless gives great advantages in efficiency and climbing ability, but you do need to pump them up from time to time … I think I’ll need to carry tubes, just in case!
If you wish to support this adventure, and the Leukaemia and Blood Cancer Group, its easy. Just go to the fundraising page, here.
