Mr. Burke's Bike Blog: Decisions, Decisions

70 Days
Until Departure
Bike Ride from Amarillo to the Mississippi River along Route 66

Decisions, Decisions

There is an awful lot of planing that goes into a multi day tour. Fortunately there have been many many people who have gone before me. They love to post about their adventures. I suppose that is why I am blogging my adventures too. I don't think anyone cares what I do and where I go, but it is fun to share with anyone that will read.

I haven't written in a few days because I have been sick and haven't done a great deal of planning. I have been planning on getting back to work rather than a long bike ride. I think this week, I would have been anywhere else than on a bike. Boredom does kick in, however. When I get bored, I get to thinking about my trip.

I sent my race bike into the shop to get it repaired from my recent "bike wreck". I was happy to get it back. I haven't rode her yet, but I intend to do so on Sunday, if I feel up to it. When I got it back I saw that there was no place for the panniers to fit. I posted on the Bike Journal forum www.bikejournal.com if anyone knew how to attach panniers onto a Specialized Allez Elite. I got several posts back. One post was to call this guy who owns a shop in Colorado. I did. He liked to talk a lot and had some great techniques that I already knew about how to climb up a mountain pass. In a nutshell, he said my bike was a race bike and was not meant to put panniers on it. I was disappointed, because I really wanted to take my nice bike on the trip. I like the way it rides and think that it is very comfortable. He suggested use a trailer which would OK except all my equipment cant go on just the trailer. Also, it is better quality so if it broke down, I could get it repaired with not too much trouble. Scratch that!!

This gives me two choices. One, use my old bike I bought from Walmart, which has served me well. Denali's are well worth their money. OUTSTANDING BIKE! But if it did break down, I don't know how easily it could be repaired. Two, buy a touring bike. Which would be great except that it would use up all my savings to buy the bike and leave nothing for equipment and for the ACTUAL tour! Maybe if I can find a cheaper used one for 300 or less.

So I am at odds again. At odds with the most basic thing for a bike trip. Which bike to bring?

I also have been thinking about what I need to buy for this trip.

Multi-Fuel™ Stove
Model No. 550B725
$89 bucks