On tour...

I'm on tour for a while. Please see my other site: http://www.panamericantour.net/

In Search of the Perfect Tent

I'm pretty picky when it comes to choosing new touring gear. This is especially true when it comes to tents. There are many different styles, colors and intended uses. The following list includes the most important features that I look for when choosing a new tent:

• Must be tall enough to sit in
• Fly-first pitch, or single wall
• At least one large vestibule
• Equal length poles
• Free standing
• Pole sleeves - not clips
• No bright colors
• Relatively light
• 3/4 season
• Stability

I'll expand on a few of these points. 

A big one for me is the fly-first pitch, or single wall design. The majority of tents have an inner mesh component that either clips to the poles, or has sleeves that the poles can be inserted into. The rain fly then goes over this and attaches at the corners and sometimes to the poles or mesh interior with velcro. This is all fine if it is not raining out. If it is raining, your inner tent is exposed to the rain from the time you start getting the mesh part set up to the time you cover it with the rain fly - the opposite is true when taking the tent down. Tents with sleeves can sometimes be covered with the rain fly first to keep the inner tent dry. This is more difficult on a tent that uses pole clips. On extended tours, setting up and tearing down your tent in the rain is a fact of life, why not make it as easy and dry as possible?

I never saw the appeal of a tent that uses pole clips instead of sleeves. There are may people out there who prefer clips, so like anything else, this is a matter of preference. For me, tents with sleeves are just easier to set up, especially for tents with a two-pole design. Why bother with multiple clips when you can just push a pole into a sleeve? This is also made easier when both poles are the same length - another one of my criteria listed above. The safest way to remove poles from their sleeves is to hold the closed end of the sleeve, and pull the rest of the sleeve toward it, exposing the pole. Pulling the pole out from the exposed end of the sleeve can separate the pole sections and stretch out the elastic inside the pole.

I also prefer free-standing tents. These tents do not have to be pegged down in order to stay upright, which is great when camping on hard, compact soil or rock. Most free-standing tents with vestibules do require the vestibules to be staked out, but in some cases, these can be tied out to a large rock or rocks if hammering stakes into the ground is too difficult. Free-standing tents without vestibules do not require any stakes at all in most conditions.

Lastly - no bright colors. Unfortunately, most quality tents are made for mountaineering, where visibility is very important. These tents are usually bright yellow or orange and can attract attention when you are not staying in campgrounds, either because they are not around, or you prefer to avoid them. In either case, a darker colored tent will blend into the surrounding landscape better and are more likely to go unnoticed by local law enforcement or potentially troublesome locals.

The Exped Auriga Mesh is a great example of a tent that meets all these criteria. Unfortunately it's a little on the heavy side, compared to newer ultralight tents, but it is roomy, durable and available in dark green.

Utah - Photo Report

A 300 mile tour in Southwest Utah, following Adventure Cycling's Utah Cliffs Loop for three of the days.

Alaska - Photo Report

A two week tour from Anchorage to Denali NP via Glennallen and Paxon, on Adventure Cycling's Denali Adventure.

Canol Road, Yukon Info

After Riding the Great Divide in 2005, I had to find another long, remote stretch of dirt road to ride the following summer. After some digging around on the internet, I came across the Canol Road in Yukon Territory Canada. This road was originally built at the end of World War II for an oil pipeline that would run from Norman Wells in Northwest Territory to Whitehorse, Yukon. Not long after it was constructed, the war ended and the pipeline was pulled up. Now all that remains is a dirt road that passes through the untouched wilderness of NWT and Yukon Territory. The road is divided into two sections, with the town of Faro between the two, a perfect place for a resupply. The North Canol Road runs from Norman Wells to Faro, but it is only considered rideable for 60 miles North of the Macmillan Pass. Beyond that the road deteriorates and there are several large rivers to ford - some requqiring rafts. The South Canol Road runs between Faro and Johnsons Crossing. The total ridable section of Canol Road is approximately 350 miles.

One potential route would be to start in Whitehorse, ride to Carmaks, then to Faro, and fly in to an airstrip at the Godlin Lakes, North of Mac Pass. Another would be to fly into Norman Wells, then fly south to the airstrip. When I was researching the trip, Stan Simpson of Ramhead Outfitters was charging $1400 to take two passengers and bikes from Faro to the lakes. He was charging $1000 for a flight from Norman Wells. Ursus Aviation or NWT had similar pricing.

Links coming soon!

Great Divide Mountain Bike Route Links

Here are a few Divide links. I'll update this list periodically.


Paula and Scott's 2004 ride along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route

THE GREAT DIVIDE MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE: A JOURNAL

GDMBR 2002

Great Divide Mountain Bike Route - Yahoo! Group

boundaryzerochris - Great Divide Mountain Bike Route Tour 2007

Checkpoint Tango - GDMBR

cziclix GDMBR Photos

Trek4fun Mountain Bike Trips

Dave and Angela GDMBR

Outside Forever - Great Divide Mountain Bike Route

Adventure Cycling's Great Divide Route Page

Great Divide Bicycle Route Summer 2000

Links to other information about the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (POPUP ALERT!!!)

Wikipedia's Great Divide Mountain Bike Route Page

Iceland - Photo Report

A two and a half week tour through the interior of Iceland and the Snaefellsnes Peninsula with Simon and Chris. Summer 2007.

Yukon - Photo Report

I rode for one week from Whitehorse to Faro with Matjaz before knee problems forced me to quit. For the second week I rented a car and drove to Skagway (Alaska), Kluane National Park (Yukon), and Atlin (British Columbia). Summer 2006

Great Divide - Photo Report

Two and a half months on the GDMBR with Adventure Cycling. Summer 2005.

A flat tire in the Chihuahuan Desert

Imagine you’re on tour; It’s a long day - 80 miles through the desert and you’re somewhere in the middle on a road that may not have seen a car in days, maybe weeks. Suddenly you hear a loud pop from behind you. Yes, your riding partner has had a blowout and yes, he is out of spare tubes.

After digging through his repair kit, he manages to find a patch. He fixes his tube, mounts the wheel, inflates the tire, and then... breaks his Presta valve in half while removing the pump. The situation looks pretty bleak. You have spare tubes, but their wide Shraeder valves will not fit through the hole in his rim, which is only wide enough for a Presta.



You contemplate the idea, but then decide against riding off without him. So there you are in the middle of a desert, you have a broken valve stem, no spare tubes and an overdeveloped conscience. What do you do?

This is the story of such a problem, narrowly averted through an unconventional fix.

After quite a long time and quite a bit of brainstorming my friend (let’s call him Joe) and I had a solution. We’ll cut a slit in the sidewall of his tire, sew up the ends of the cut so that it will not tear under pressure, insert the Shraeder valve and inflate the tire. Then we’ll wrap the whole thing in duct tape.

There were two reasons for the duct tape; One: we had to keep the valve stem from hitting the frame as the wheel rotated, and Two: duct tape must be a part of every good field repair.

"It’ll take a miracle for this to work" I said as we realized how desperate the plan was. "I can’t believe I just cut a hole in my tire!" said Joe as he shook his head. But now we had passed the point of no return. We had to make it work.

As I unpacked my emergency sewing kit and began the repair, I thought for the first time that those long hours in my mandatory Home Economics classes may not have been a complete waste, and how proud my teacher, Mrs. Ford, would be if she had been there to see me.



After several minutes and a number of finger-pricks the repair was complete. Joe pushed the Shraeder valve through the hole and we both held our breath as we inflated our odd-looking creation. We decided that 40psi would be enough, so we stopped there and he repacked his bike.

We held our breath again as he mounted his bike and neither of us spoke for the first several miles, not knowing if the stitches would hold.



As the miles passed, we began to have more and more confidence in the tire, but we were also amazed that our fix had actually worked. We were even more surprised that it held all the way to camp, and for an additional 46 miles the following day.

It was quite an adventure and gave us a good story to tell, but please - next time you are on a tour, make sure you have spare tubes!