Cool Stuff

The count down is on… we will be on the road in a few days!

A lot of BS has come up this last week. Trying to keep my head screwed on about it all. Have had to cut back on training to deal with it all, but as my Bro likes to say, it is what it is!!!

Have been thinking about some of the cool “stuff” we will be taking on the road. And we will have A LOT of stuff to take. Concerned we will not be able to fit it all in the Prius V and on the cargo carrier.

Between all the biking stuff (bike, tools, bike bags, clothes, etc.), we have all the camping equipment (tent, queen sized double-high air mattress, Coleman stove, fuel, cooking & eating supplies, etc.) we of course have Woz and all his “stuff” (bedding, specialty diet, toys, etc.). Not to mention a 12-volt cooler!!!

I realized that things have really changed in the last 32 years since I did my almost cross-country bike trip. For starters, the analog bike “computer” (see below the Huret model with the wheel to the left that turned when the bike wheel rotated… with 5,009 miles on it I might add!!) that I used on my 1984 trip has been replace by a digital (real) bike wireless computer.

I will still be using water bottles, but have invested in a Camelback hydration backpack. I didn’t realize how easy it is to get a drink on the road! The water bottles will have sports drinks and the 70 oz. Camelback with plain ol’ H2O! And the bright green color won’t hurt with visibility!

I found some cycling sandals (yup, I did say sandals!!!) from Nashbar that are compatible with the SPS (Shimano Pedaling Systems???) clip-ins!!I have been a Look clip-in guy for ever, but have bought into the SPS technology… now that I can find the cleats! At least my feet will be cool!

And speaking about feet/legs, I had been having really heavy legs in the evenings after multiple days of long rides. After doing some research, several articles suggested compression sleeves. The tight wrap of my calves has made a big difference! And they look very stylish!

A while back I was getting too much sun on my lower lip and burned it. I was wearing a cap under my cycling helmet but it didn't provide me any shade. Many of the helmets come with a sun visor. Mine did not. But I remembered that I had a sun visor from an old helmet in the basement. I drilled three holes in my current Giro model and was able to snap on the sun visor from that older helmet. No more sunburned lower lip!

And how about a battery powered 10-inch fan? Found it at WalMart!!

And that 12-volt cooler will allow us to keep food safe at proper temperatures and for me to have cool drinks all day long!!!

And for those occasions when you need 120-volt on the road? I have hot wired directly to our Prius battery a 12-volt to 120-volt inverter. It is only 600 watt, but will take care of inflating our air mattress and other small needs when we are away from the grid.

Thought I would share with ya some of the cool things that will make the trip so 2016!!!