All my Southern Tier Gear

After the 2nd practice ride, I feel safe finalizing my gear list.  I have a spreadsheet with each item and weight, a total of 53 pounds.  I would like to go lighter, but don't know what else not to take.

All my gear and panniers 

My cook kit, mostly for coffee and boiling water 

My camera gear, Sony a6000 and GoPro with extra batteries 

My to-go day pack will have my wallet, camera and high value gear when I am not with the bike 

My repair kit, lots of zip ties and extra screws 

My clothing all shoved into the orange bag that is also my pillow.  I have a mesh bag for dirty.

Test Ride Comstock, MI to South Haven State Park and back

 Jim and I completed a test ride yesterday of about 120 miles over two days.  The weather could not have been better and the Kal-Haven  https://www.michigan.org/property/kal-haven-trail-state-park was a great ride.

We returned to South Haven for dinner (about 6 miles each way) and had a great meal and beer at the Black River Tavern.  

The view from the pier in South Haven

Our campground

The view inside my tent 

 

All my bags are packed

I am ready to go on a practice ride. My bike has the touring tires and liners and my panniers are ready for a 3000 mile

Getting ready to ride cross country

Last week I road over 300 mile as a final check on how prepared I am to ride San Diego to St Augustine. Today I feel great and am looking forward to the trip.

I depart Detroit on 9/15 via train and arrive on 9/17 in San Diego. We start riding on 9/19

Estes Park KOA

We were alone in the Ansel Watrous campground after all the other campers left.  Not feeling real comfortable, we decided to get a bit closer to Rocky Mountain National Park.  We drove into cell service and found an opening at the Estes Park KOA for ONLY $80. The site was almost as large as our camper. The staff was friendly and the place clean.  What made it worthwhile was some kids wanted to go on the "train ride" (carts behind a tractor) and Henry (guy who leads you to your site) took them for a ride (only officially offered on weekends).  This made the morning drive to Rocky Mountain National Park 20 minutes.

Fwd: Hiking Young Gulch

Near our Ansel Watrous campground was a nice trail with spectacular wildflowers.  We did a short hike and the only thing we missed seeing was a rattle snake that other people saw coming in.

Fisherman’s Corner to Grand Island KOA

The driver today was uneventful and changed from flat to rolling hills.  We made only one stop for gas and coffee. We arrived at the Grand Island KOA and I found out I had reserved for last night, they fixed me up and were very nice about it.  I have double checked the rest of my reservations and I think I am good to go!  

Grand Island KOA cooking dinner 

Our gas stop 

Us not stopping at the world's largest truck stop