2009 Kit list

At long last heres the list of what I carried in the event.

Camping
sleeping bag: Alpkit Devkit prototype. This is getting a few tweaks and will be available as, I believe, the AlpineDream system at some point in the future.
Bivy bag: Alpkit Epic prototype
sleeping mat: Thermarest Ridgerest
Stove: MSR Whiperlite International
Stove base: MSR Trillium
fuel bottle: 650ml MSR
Fuel: White gas
Pot: Alpkit MytiPot
Spork: Alpkit Tifoon
lighter/matches
Drinks bottle: Nalgene with insulated cover

Navigation
Maps: Downloaded from the internet, never used!
map case: Ortlieb
Compass: Sliva Ranger
GPS: Garmin eTrex Vista Hcx

Lighting
Main light: Exposure headtorch prototype, with triple cell piggy back battery.
Back-up: Petzl Myo XP, with Lithium batteries

Outer layers
Down jacket: Alpkit Devkit proto
Trousers: Rab Latok Alpine
Softshell Jacket:Mountain Equipment G2 Alpine
Waterproof: North Face Hydrogen

Mid layers
Thin: Patagonia R1 flash
Thick: Patagonia R2 jacket

Base clothing
long sleeve base layers: Endura BaaBaa long sleeve merino x2
Shorts: Endura FS260 shorts non bib x2
windproof tights: Endura Stealth lite tights non bib- Saved my ass (literally) when the hose on my Wingnut broke!
Tights: Endura Thermolight Tights x2

Footwear
Thick socks: Smartwool- Mountaineer x3 pr
thin socks: Smartwool- liner socks x 4 pr
Boots: Scarpa Mirage GTX w/ Superfeet insoles
Ice grips: Yak Trax Pro, I didn’t need these in the end but Jill’s account of the glacier convinced me they were worth carrying. Next time I think I’d tap screws in to my boots.
Gators: Neo Navigator (Awesome stuff, even if I did break the snow flaps on one of them)

Gloves/hats
fleece gloves: Mountain Equipment x 3 pr
windproof mitts: Mountain Equipment
Warm hat: Outdoor Designs- Toptur Infurno
Balaclava: Mountain Hardware Windstopper
Neck warmers: Singletrack Buff and a fleece Combi Buff

Misc.
Tools: Fat Spanner multi tool, long 6mm allen key (for my hubs), 8mm allen key shim, Leatherman Skeletool CX
Tyre levers: Michelin
Pump: Topeak Mountain Morph
Poggies: Epic Designs
Frame bag: Alpkit custom
Bivy roll: Adapted from an Alpkit Drydock
Saddle bag: Epic Designs Super Twinkie
CO2: 2x Genuine Innovations Big Air cartridges
Co2 nozzle: Genuine Innovations
Spares: 2 inner tubes, 2 spokes, 2 links of chain, Tip-top and Park patches, some Duck tape (wrapped around the seat post) and several zip ties .
Sunglasses: Gyro Havik with 2 lenses
Goggles: Oakley O-frame persimmon
Hydration pack: Wingnut
hose insulation: Camelbac- Thermal control kit
2 digital cameras
Dematone
6 handwarmers, 6 toe warmers
First aid kit
4 spare lithium AA batteries
whistle

So a lot has happened...

The build up to the 2010 event event is now well under way. I’m envious of those who will be there, but best of luck to you all. Especially good luck to Roger Leavesley who will be riding my Pug. He’s got some cool new ideas about kit which I’ll certainly be interested to see.

My mate Paul it off to the Arrowhead 135. He’s rolling on a set of good ol’ Snowcats that I had sitting about waiting to be built up as a “Mini-Fatty” for my wife. You can see more about his bike here. Good luck Paul!

As you’d expect, now I've lent out these bits it’s been snowing solidly here. Typical. I've made do with my winterised Trek Soho. OK, it’s just got Poggies on so not quite the same...

Also there seems to be somewhat of an arms-race going on in snowbike design. New Ali frames are available from Speedway and 9Zero7 and both have tweaked their Titanium frames. Speedway also have new lighter rims and some 100mm versions of the 15G cranks. I’ve been using the standard single speed versions of these cranks for a few months now, and they are going strong despite being around half a pound lighter than the Mr Whirlys. Tyres were historically one of the hardest part of a Fat bike to track down. Now the trusty Endomorph has been upped to 120tpi and the sidewalls have been toughened up. However there is also now competition in the form of its brother, the Larry (don’t you love Surly?!), and the, bargain priced Innova Spyder. All good stuff for progressing the fringes of the sport.

Eric, from the one-man, one dog sweatshop, Epic Designs is being forced to change his company name. As, apparently, his handmade bags may somehow be confused with a range of full-suspension bikes from a big company. He’s running a competition to rename the company on his website at the moment. I hope it all works out as Eric’s kit is top notch and he’s a great guy to boot.

And so he is off...

Thanks again to everyone who has wished John well, he really appreciates all of the support and good luck wishes he has received.

He left yesterday morning bright and early. His kit looks really ace. I've been quietly(ish) and jealously observing as packages have turned up over the past few weeks containing all manner of treats that even the most restrained geek would get excited by.
The amount of precision which went into the food for the drops was also an astonising thing to observe. Working out exactly numbers of calories per bag, and looking at the calorie to mass ratio...I now know that wasabi beans have a significant calorie to mass ratio...interesting stuff.

I received a text message last night to say that he had arrived in Houston with no problems but due to incompetence at the airport, had almost missed his connecting flight to Anchorage. He should now be there.

Bill Merchant send an email earlier today saying...

Every year the trail throws something unexpected our way. Part of the "fun" is trying to guess what unexpected suprise we will find each year and be prepared. I was watching the news tonight and Mt Redoubt which has been quiet for several days is blowing off steam again. Never had a volcano blow up during the race before but a dust mask might be a good addition to everyone's kit. On the bright side ash in the air makes beautiful sunsets.

Sounds super exciting, I hope someone gets some good photos if it does erupt.



Posted by Mel

Final post before the start?

The last week has been really manic and today was horrible. I phoned my credit card company to tell them I was travelling and they told me the card had been canceled because of suspected fraud (probably a surge of payments to hotels and bike shops in Alaska...). I don't have another card that works in the US. It took a long time but it seems to be sorted now! After that stress and too much to finalise at work I got car-doored on the way home. Thankfully the Merc came of worse than me. Phew. Anyway, I'm now packed and I hope everything is done! It's typical that after months of planning I'm still up a couple of hours before I have to leave. Such is life...

On a brighter note, some highlights of the week:

My new, improved Alpkit frame bag and EPIC bivy bag are here.
My pedals no longer freeze up and they have some Power Grips added.
Gore cables have been fitted.
Some lovely Giro glasses have been added to the kit list.

I have a few bits to pick up in Alaska- new tyres, pogies and some food but then I think I’m good to go. The kit list isn’t 100% finalised but it’s just a matter of deciding what I don’t want to carry, rather than finding new things.

I’m a bit nervous now, but I think it’s healthy manner. I just want to get out there!

Speedway Cycles are having a party on Friday so I’m looking forward to meeting all the other racers just in time to join me for a birthday drink.

Quite a few people have asked me about updates. The Iditarod Invitational news page is going to be updated twice daily and (click, click, click) MTBcast (is on the air) is hosting podcasts again.
The MTBR Alaska and Endurance racing forums might be worth checking as well. Mel has the keys to this account so when she hears from me she’ll let you all know.

Finally, a big thanks to everyone who called, emailed or texted me best wishes. It is much appreciated. Also Phil the Horse, Anya, Jon, James and Gareth deserve a big thanks for surprising me with a bottle of Whisky older than me. I look forward to a dram when I get back, hopefully it wont all be gone before I see you all.

Take care, I will :-)

Geek

This weekend we were talking today about music. Specifically The Desert Sessions. While I'd love the original vinyl versions, copies of the CD are perfectly good enough to listen to, and much easier to upload to my iPod. A real geek wouldn't stoop that low though. I think most people like getting rare stuff. It got me thinking about some of the cool kit I've got for this trip.

I've got a load of prototype stuff from Alpkit's Devkit division. This includes a new down jacket, a -40 degree sleeping bag system and the frame bag. All top stuff.

The latest bit of kit is this prototype head torch from Exposure. It weights a bit more than the Petzil I was going to take as my primary light but it is a lot brighter. The other two prototypes are already seeing some abuse- and going strong!


Sorry - poor photos. Rushing!

Getting there...

Apologies for the lack of posts. I’ve been super busy. Here’s some of what’s been going on:

Packed drop bags (more on that later).
Mr Whirly Cranks and lower gears have been added to the Pug.
The hubs and bb have been degreased and re-greased with low temperature grease.
I’ve replaced the old AC headset with a Chris King. It’s probably just as old but lasting much better. It also got the winterisation treatment.
Dismantled the pedals but couldn’t get the bearings apart. Hopefully they’ll be OK with normal grease.
Got some new clothing from Endura.

Still lots to sot out but getting there!

Extreme-itys

The two elements of kit that have been bothering me the most are those that protect my hands and my feet.

Strathpuffer destroyed my hands. The cold, wet and constant pounding got to them. Even after a couple of weeks they still don’t feel quite right. I’ve talked to a few people about this and the general consensus seems to be “Pogies rock! Don’t worry so much”. I’ve got a set of Epic Pogies on order.

Last week Jim had a big bag of Mountain Equipment Gloves for me to try as one of the Alpkit guys (Nick?) designed them all. The current plan is to take three sets of Windstopper gloves use underneath the Pogies and to rotate them so they are always dry. I’ll also take a set of warm pile lined/Goretex mountain gloves. I have a set of down mitts as well, but now I'm thinking they’ll be overkill.For my feet I’m planning on using:
Smartwool Liner socks
Smartwool Mountaineering Sock
Scarpa Mirage GTX boots
Superfeet insoles. (All from Snow + Rock)
Neos Navigator 5

I played around with a few set-ups at Snow + Rock but these boots fit really well. I’ve never seen Neos over here, but they are seriously good. The set-up was super warm even after trudging around in the snow for hours. The only thing I might change is the socks. I may change to sythetic/blended socks so they dry quicker.

Testing times

It’s snowed here for the last couple of days. That’s pretty unusual. I’ve commuted on the Pug, gone the long ways, and played in the parks. Great fun. Anyway, that’s why I haven’t written anything about the weekend yet!

Sometimes the weekend flies by. Straight after work on Thursday I was off to the airport. A couple of hours later I landed in Edinburgh and met Jim and Angus. Jim drove us up to Aviemore where we found the Old Bridge Inn was shut so, after playing with a big bag of Mountain Equipment gloves, we headed to bed.

Friday morning I rebuilt the bike and loaded it up as close to the set-up I’m intending to use in Alaska as possible. The plan for the weekend was for me to get some decent practice using the fully loaded bike and fine-tune a few items of kit. Angus was along to film me for the Trad Film competition.

We headed up to Cairngorm Ski Centre- the highest area around. Heather, the Ranger on duty gave us some suggestions of where to find the best snow, without annoying too many skiers and Snowboarders. The winds were pretty strong (80mph?) and the push up the hill was pretty strenuous, but just as I’d anticipated. It was pretty much a white-out so the filming will hopefully make me look tough. Although it’s more likely it was just un-usable… After several hours of pushing, only broken up by small sections I could ride, we ran out of time. The descent was great though! I even overtook a couple of snowboarders!

We then shot down the hill to meet Carl, the mountain bike guide at Glenmore Lodge. He had a play on the Pug and gave us some good tips on places to ride, as well as planting the seed for a new adventure… We also tried to get in touch with the local dog sled centre as one of them is heading out to run the Iditarod (dog race) next year, so would have been interesting to talk to. Unfortunately they weren’t answering their phone.

Saturday we drove to the Lecht ski area and headed up to the plateau at the top of the hill. Compared to the previous day it was quite a bit brighter but the snow was deeper. I did a load of loops and played about in the drifts and trying to wall ride the frozen banks. Loads of fun. After a late lunch Angus interviewed me a bit then we sorted ourselves out and headed out. We parked in a forestry car park, ignoring the “no over night parking” sign and all the mobile homes, grabbed our bikes and headed out in to the dark. After a couple of miles ride in to the forest we headed off in to the brush in the vague direction of a secret bothy spot. It took us a while to find but when we finally spotted it we were pleasantly surprised. Once inside we did a little more filming, enjoyed a couple of beers and played some Pass the Pigs (an Alpkit favourite). Jim and Angus slept inside but I slept outside in my new hot pink prototype bivy bag and –40 rated Devkit sleeping bag. Both preformed exactly as predicted: The sleeping bag was far too warm and the bivy bag was not breathable enough! The sleeping bag system is awesome. Basically, there is an inner down bag and an outer synthetic layer which means the bag will be a lot warmer when it’s damp and the dew-point will be outside the down so it should stay dryer anyway. The next bivy bag is going to be made out of Event fabric so the breathability will be sorted. It’s good and light and the ideal size to fit around the sleeping bag allowing the down to fully loft but not to big in order to minimise weight.

In the morning we woke up and immediately realised just how obvious the bothy was… Oh well. We rode back to the van and headed up to Cairngorm again. We did a different loop this time, the ground was really icy and it was really windy again but it was a fun ride. After that there was just time pack up and head of to our respective homes. I got back at about 11:30.

From my point of view the weekend was a great success: everything worked as expected, I felt fine carting the bike around, and, well, it was fun! Hopefully the film turns out well!

As an aside: Since I’ve had it the Pug as been a big conversation piece. It gets weird looks and everyone is fascinated by it. The funny thing this weekend was that a lot of people “got it”, I guess, the weather up in Aviemore is sufficient for it to make a practical bike, while down here it only comes in to it’s own a couple of days a year (including today…). On that note I’m going to get it built up again and go and play in the snow!

Like a good scout

I'm heading up to Glenmore Lodge tomorrow thanks to Alpkit.

While I always try to be prepared, packing for this trip took me off guard. All the new Snow + Rock kit I've been deliberating over was in a box, ready to go. I thought I was sorted.

Mid-layers aren't dry.

Socks aren't washed.

Pugsley doesn't fit in to my bike bag.

Clothing doesn't fit in to my biggest duffel bag.

Almost everything is sorted now (I hope) but I'm about to head to bed . Tomorrow (err, later...) I'll be sporting Neos and boots as well as a totally overkill Alpkit prototype ("Devkit") jacket. If you see me sweating in Bristol airport feel free to buy me a cold drink!

It's all about the bike...

The Pug is finally back in one piece. It’s not quite done yet but I’ve built new wheels, replaced the tired parts and fitted racks. The rear rack will be coming off once I get my Super Twinkie through from Epic Designs. The Bontrager post I got was too short, so I had to fit a Thomson from another bike. It’s silver. Oh, the humanity.
Cranks will be changing to Surly Mr Whirlys and I have an XT bottom bracket and a King headset packed with low temperature grease. Gore cables will be fitted, but I want to keep them as clean as possible. I’m undecided about whether I should fit Powergrips or not.
The first test ride took me all the way up the hill to the Off-licence. Nothing fell off, which was reassuring. The Alpkit frame bag did a grand job of carrying the beer home. The second test ride was, deliberately, more of a push than a ride. Mel and I went out for a couple of hours in the local woods. She walked and I pushed the Pug up and down the steepest hills we could find. I get the feeling I’ll be pushing for a long way so I’d better get used to it!
This Thursday I’m off up to Glenmore Lodge with Jim from Alpkit and Angus to do a bit of filming for the Trad film competition. More importantly it’s a great chance to get some practice in on proper snow and to test out the majority of my kit. I’m looking forward to it.

Happy new year!

The holiday period was a nice break from work. I kicked it of with a Christmas eve dinner with my parents so I could free up Christmas day… I had a bit of a sleep in on Christmas day followed by a big breakfast. About 1pm I headed out on my cheapo touring bike- designation Glasgow. The trip was fairly uneventful but the sun was shining and the traffic volume was really low so the ride was quite pleasant. Unfortunately though, there was a reasonable headwind and I struggled to find water so the first day I didn’t make as much progress as I had intended. At about 140 miles, somewhere near Warrington, I snuck of the road and rolled out my new Alpkit Hunka and Pipedream 800 in a nice sheltered hole. I later described the location to Dr Jon, “Just off a main road, sheltered behind some trees. It was a narrow trench, about a foot deep and perhaps 7” long… so, err, like a shallow grave”. I’m sure it was nothing so ominous really! I got a good 4 hours sleep. It was more than I had previously intended, but I hadn’t drunk anything for several hours so it seemed sensible to only get moving when shops would be starting to open. The roads through Warrington and Preston were fairly cut up, but I made good time. Breakfast was a very fatty Subway and a Pepsi. One amusing incident was watching a fun run going in the opposite direction. The runner off the front was in an Elvis Catsuit. Good lad. By the time I reached Kendal it was starting to get dark and cold. The Climb over Shap Fell (?) was pretty tough so I tried to get something to eat in Penrith. All the pubs had stopped serving so I settled for a very poor steak and chips in a Indian restaurant. Serves me right I suppose. I tried to get my own back by abusing their bottomless coffee. About 7o'clock I hit the road again and headed further north. I got a bit lost around Carlisle before I realised I was navigation with a nine year old map and the roads had changed. Oops. By the time I cleared the Scottish border it was really icy and the roads were really pretty treacherous. I opted to stop at about 01:30 when my water bottles froze solid. I had a surprisingly comfortable nights sleep considering I was on the edge of my bags temperature rating, and was sharing it with two bottles of ice. 3 hours later, I was up and in to every piece of clothing I had with me. A coke, an energy gel and a Mule bar made up breakfast as I hurriedly stowed my kit. The remaining 50/60 miles were a lot hillier than I had envisaged and the road was still pretty icy so I made slow progress. However the miles slowly passed and I was treated to a great sunrise and plentiful wildlife. I met Dr Jon in the outskirts of Glasgow just as Mel’s flight landed in a different suburb.
I certainly could have done the route a lot quicker but the journey was more an excuse to test some kit, practice getting in and out of my bivy, eating lots, sleep deprivation etc. All-in it was pretty good way to spend 400 miles, even if it did confuse many of my friends and make for a rather surreal Christmas!


I spent the New Year’s Eve in Ardnamurchin with friends. It was a good chance to get some relaxing in.
I read Ghost Trails- it got me excited, very enjoyable.
I stripped my MSR Whisperlite so it should be as good as new.
I tested my new Alpkit Devkit prototype jacket on the beach.
I started to break in my new Scarpa boots.
I got some running in.

Snow + Rocking!

I realise I’ve been very quiet on the topic of my clothing selection, there’s been a reason for that: I’ve been trying to sort out a sponsor. At last I’ve got there! Snow + Rock are going to be providing me with clothing and much of the Survival gear I’ll be taking with me. I’m really excited! They have a store very close to my work and, even before this was organised, have been a great help at selecting kit. I’ll be getting a few bits soon (boots!) but I still need to deliberate over some other stuff so expect more news soon.

Gears of War

I got a little package through the post the other day. My gears are here:

On-one Stainless steel Chanring 32t

On-one Groove Armada Sprockets: 1 x18 t, 2 x 20t and 1 x 22t.

They are all very nicely finished. I’m especially impressed with the chainring. I suspect I'll get some more of these in the future. On the Pug I’m intending to run a 18 and 20 on one wheel and a 20 and 22 on the other. I'll space them outboard as far as I can, but space them a bit further apart from normal.

Is it still a single speed when I have 3 different gears? Does any one care? I suspect “no” for both.

Spoke and nipples also turned up, so, hopefully, I'll get the rims drilled, and the wheels built up this weekend. I’d better check I've got a suitable long bolt and enough spacers to dish the hub in the jig.

As an aside Brant from On-one completed Iditabike a couple of times and wrote some great articles about it in, now defunct, UK mag Mountain Bike Pro. He’s been a great source of information about how I “might not die”. Cheers Brant.

Currently I'm trying to sort out a big pile of old parts and clothing for tomorrows bike jumble at Mud Dock. Hopefully it will add a bit to my flights fund!

Cheers Griff!

I got a package from Uncle Griff at Trek. Thet's a big pile of Bontrager bits I need for the build kit.

Earl Crow bars, 25mm rise
King Earl post, 330mm
Race X Lite Stem, 110mm 7 Degree
Race X Lite grips
Bar ends
Inform RL saddle
26x2.20-2.50 tubes (lets see if they work!)
Trek Angel cage

Alpkit Frame bag is GO!

1st proto is drawn up...

The Cycle Show

On Friday I got the train to London Village for the Cycle Show. I hooked up with Jim from Alpkit. We had a good chat about some future projects as well as the design of the kit I want for Alaska. Turns out, while he was at Peak, he made some frame bags for a racer, but couldn't remember who it was (Who was it? that intrigues me). He was super positive about the whole thing and I'm sure there are some good things in the pipeline. I'm keeping quiet for now, but the prototype stuff will be up here when I get it!

After that I ran in to Jimmy from Mule Bar. I originally met him, and Alex, at the TransScotland. At that stage, they were some of those guys pushing a new product that they really believed in but hadn't taken off yet. Thankfully, unlike most of *those* people, they had a really good product. This year they had a new Apple Strudel flavour, which is my new favorite. Although the Piña colada is still right up there!

Then Lunch with Griff from Trek. It seems like next year I'm riding for the same company as Lance, Mr Clean and some super good dh riders. The Athertons deny it's them. So no pressure! I'm just a step below them in the food chain, honest...

Then beer and schmoosing, the obvious choice was to find Chipps. Not only does he know everyone, he can smell a free drink from a quarter mile. After drinking all the free wine at the booth beside Singletrack we headed over to Continental who had some great wheat beer. At this stage it degenerated. Although it's interesting to know that both Nick Craig and I have worse looking legs than Chipps. And Martyn Ashton is very coy about how much he works out. Something new ever day.

Après pub bivy

Friday night we headed out to the pub for Kirsties birthday. A good time was had by all. When we got kicked out I headed to the woods, a couple of hours on my town bike had me ready for bed. I set up camp in an old quarry on a comfortable bed of leaf mulch. I got woken up a couple of hours later by heavy ran drumming down on my bag. I took that opportunity to put on thin fleece. I had decided to try using a Gore Concept Gilet (thanks to Matt Carr for the loan). It's an awesome bit of kit- essentially it works like a normal gilet but if you stop you blow in to a hose and network of tubes inflate to provide a remarkable level of insulation. However in this application it didn't work too well. Firstly, most of the tubing is on the shoulders and back, This works well while stood up or on the bike, and while this will provide an element of protection from the cold ground the front doesn't really hold heat in. Secondly, after a couple of hours the tubes deflated, not surprising really seeing as I was lying on them but the fact it I was then essentially just wearing a Goretex gilet, which isn't really the tool for the job. Shame, it didn't work its a piece of kit, just not for sleeping in.

Friday night bivy

In the name of kit testing and fiddling with setup I was in need of a good bivying trip. I opted to head out late on Friday, after a couple of beers and a film, Mel headed to bed and I went out the door with the Pug. Down the secret river singletrack, up through Ashton Court and in to Leigh Woods. About 01:30 I arrived at my planned location for the night. Within a minute my Bivy roll was off the handle bars and I had jumped in. I had a beer and played about with my Whisperlite for a while then got my head down for a few hours. I slept in an old Rab bivy with my Topbag and a bit of foil bubblewrap (loft insulation) as a sleeping mat. No good for Alaska but a great setup for fast and light missions in the UK. I slept like a log but woke up about 7, happy to wake up in the sounds and smells of the woods. It was a lovely bright day so I quickly packed up and headed out for another ride. As you do.

So how did the kit testing go? First up lighting. Normally I use the excellent Exposure lights but in Alaska i will be needing a greater runtime but I'll be able to get away with a lot less power. On this occasion I took a Alpkit Gamma and ziptied the Joystick to the top. The Gamma is a great bit of kit- With the Luxeon LED on low power there was adequate light to ride with and a 20hr burn time. However once in camp I switched to the low power white LED to preserve the battery. Another nice feature us the rear red LED. Build quality is great and they only cost £12.50! Brilliant. I'm intending to pack one as my spare for Alaska. Main torch looks likely to be a Petzl Myo XP belt unless the new Exposure head torch comes together in time.

Powergrips are not something I've ever used so I thought I should try them as they should work well over big boots. Better than I suspected, even if they do get a bit tangled in the undergrowth if you don't clip in straight away.

Kit, kit, kit...

...going round in my head. So I'll get some Neos. But what boots?

I need to re-build my wheels. Hope hubs I think. Should I splash out on 80mm rims in place of the Large Marge?

Too much to think about...

I love it!