2 weeks and counting... the guys are gettin' ready!

Yes, time is fast approaching for when we hit the road in Alaska...!

We're all training and gear sorting hard... Well, I know I am, and you can believe it too: http://t.co/ehn9tF7qzR

Will is as well, as shown by his bike ride upload on Endomondo...

But as for Tom... well, we're all just gonna have to take his word for it, as he's still mobile-phone-less. (So no GPS-enabled whiz-bang smartphone to track his training...) 

Of course, those of us who know Tom, know his dedication and tenacity, so there's no doubt he'll be prepared too!

He's been busy with some handiwork, customising his bike to have a new carrier on top of his front rack.

Tom's inner MacGyver got busy makin' stuff!

Toms new tent, riding up front this time.

The faithful basement table-tennis table has been put to good use again, with a bunch of gear paid out on it, ready for weighing, evaluating... and re-evaluating.

Roadwarrior-Candidate Will is riding sweet on his new Surly Long-Haul Trucker, which he took delivery of a few weeks ago, having previously been training on his old bike.

How long he's gonna stick with that leather pebble of a saddle remains to be seen though... Or perhaps, how tough his ass really is, is what remains to be seen..! 

Clean, new n shiny...

Loaded up, for the familiar 'leaning on a tree, bike and gear' shot... 

The Bearded Bandit, rides again!

My last ride was in the buckets-of-sweat-dying-of-cramp-at-the-end category... I hit the road for most of yesterday, trying to remember to take it easy, and knock out a solid 25 to 30 miler. It ended up almost a 50-miler.

OK, 50 miles is a pretty standard, even short day, compared to the rides we've done before... I think our average is around 60 miles a day. We've done short 30 miles to town near-o days, and sometimes big, 'gotta get to town!' days, such as a 120 miler on the CDT, and a 110 mile day on the Northern Tier.

So yes, a 50 mile ride yesterday (OK ALMOST 50 miles) might seem less than enough... but did I mention that the humidity was pushing 80%... and the mercury was nudging up to the 100F mark? Yeah, it was roasty-toasty out there, so although my ride time was just over 4 hours, I was out for around 6, as a few shade-breaks were called for!

The far-flung bus stop at Krangi was a good shade break.

Must. Get. Cold. Drink!

Today is going to be spent sorting gear, preparing my big cardboard bike box so it makes the airline specified dimensions (it's too big right now, so I need to get handy with some box-cutters and hot glue), sorting my gear for the 50th time... weighing it again too... and doing an hour or so in the pool to prevent the otherwise inevitable stiff and sore muscles that would make my Monday less enjoyable...

More news coming soon...

Cheers y'all,

RWK.

OUT!

Setting up the gear...

Ok... The first post was a success... The main website has been updated and is currently uploading... So now it's time to set up the mobile devices, and then I'm set for journal updates from the road.
5 weeks to go, and the training and preparation is still in full swing.
I'm pretty sorted for gear now. Unless they bring out the much anticipated and expected iPad Mini 2 with Retina Display... In which case, that'll likely be the last bit of gear I'll be buying.
The GPS side of things is taken care of... Tom has his Garmin, and I have a spanking new Suunto Ambit, which is awesome. And it's my watch!








It should come in pretty handy for easy-to-glance navigation, and we have one known "off the beaten path" route to 1) find, and 2) navigate... And I've got it programmed in already. If we miss it, I'll be as surprised as disappointed!




Another new bit of kit is the panning clamp I've fitted to my little lightweight CF tripod, so we should have no excuses if we don't get nicely level, even panoramic pix...
Lastly, new sunnies round out the new gear...




OK, that should do for a second "lets see how well I remember to do this, and does it work OK?" post...

As we do a bit more training, I'll add a few more posts, but the main good stuff is still around 5 weeks away, once I begin to head State-side...
So for now,
RWK.
OUT!

- Posted using BlogPress from my awesome iPad Mini.

Location:Hougang Street 92,Hougang,Singapore

Preparation time again...

Two years have passed since the last Roadwarriors adventure... one that I manage to look back on fondly, even though most of it was spent in a considerable amount of pain... 

The pain was definitely physical for me, as I suffered 2 herniated discs from being clipped by a car in northern Vietnam... But for Tom, more a sympathetic pain, as seeing me suffer can't have been any fun for him.

This year, after lots of training, chiro work and swimming, I'm now feeling much better.

The weather has been on and off, with a lot more heavy rain than ideal, but when it's let up some, I've been out on some great training rides... great aside from a stupid accident (stupid being the other people who caused it!) which left me a bit cut and bruised...

My awfully coloured bruised hip.

A nicely split elbow... which swelled up like an avocado!

Out riding in 35 degrees... so a nice shady spot to take a break is great.

Enjoying the cool weather one evening. 

So, on June 13th, I am flying over to MN to meet up with T-Rex again, and after a few days at his place, we are flying to Anchorage, AK, to meet up with Will, and hopefully Rob, to begin the next marathon mountain-biking adventure... 

5000+ KMs (3000+ miles) of riding, though some amazing Alaskan, Canadian, and north American scenery.

The roughly mapped out route will see us leaving Anchorage on June 18th, and begining to ride north through Denali NP, to Fairbanks. After that, we head SE towards Whitehorse, some 590 miles away.

I'm sure we will spend a few days in Whitehorse, as there's some hot-springs nearby, so I reckon a good soak will be order by then.

After that, we push onwards 2500+ kms, towards Calgary, stopping just beforehand to visit friends Kat, Mike and their new baby, in Canmore.

Once we head out of that area, the route is less decided, as we may stay in Canada, and ride pretty much due east towards the 'Peg (Winnipeg) or we may make more of a bee-line down through the Dakotas, then on to MN... That's part of the fun of the ride though... we don't have, nor have to have, a fixed regimented schedule... other than making some good miles most days.

So this will be the official ride-journal, which we will post to as often as possible.

For now, it's more gear-sorting, weighing, and re-packing, as well as plenty of training!

The new ultra-light long bike lock cable I made.

A nice evening for a bunch of miles... Seletar Dam rest break.

Keep watching this space!

Cheers y'all.

RWK.

OUT!