Johnny Isaak | Adventure Cyclist
A compendium of adventure cycling chronicles, travel lore, tips, techniques, and tactics for the adventure cycling perplexed.
Our Kiwi Odyssey in New Zealand is fast approaching, only three weeks away. We are busily reading ourselves and gear for what promises to be an excellent adventure.
Building on adventures to Japan last summer and fall, we’re making a few upgrades to our bikes in preparation for our Kiwi adventure. In conjunction with necessary bike inspections, routine maintenance, and tune-ups, each of us has made a couple of upgrades to our bikes.
One of the most often asked questions I receive from the people I meet along the way and on my blog is, “What and how do you carry all of your stuff?”
To share with other riders who are interested in how other bicycle travelers, or at least how one other traveler sets up their/his rig, I’ve put together a few points on the kit I travel with, how I carry it, the basic method I used to determine the two in the hopes other riders will benefit.
I recently nabbed a pair of Ortlieb’s Gravel Pack panniers to replace a pair of front Ortlieb Roller Plus panniers I’ve been running on the rear of my Divide for the past couple of years.
Still, with years of life remaining in the Roller Plus panniers, they’ve found a new home on the rear rack of my wife’s touring bike. Ever since last summer’s cycling trip to Hokkaido, she’s adopted then as her own and I’m sure they will give her with many years of trouble-free service.
Here’s my initial take on the new bikepacking lineup offer from Ortlieb…
“Do you want to ride? It’s a long way, close to 100 miles of cycling two days in a row. Are you really up for it?” Mia nodded her head confidently. “Dad,” I want to ride. “I can make it.” Give your children a taste of adventure and they will rise to the challenge.
Our family was traveling out to a small cottage on Sanshan Dao, a small island on Tai Lake, for Golden Week to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival and the Chinese National Day. The holiday would consist of a simple family dinner of local fare, a little exploring on the island, followed by a night mahjong for those game. The next morning, we’d all return to Shanghai for a final family dinner in the city.
[Read more…] about Mia Rides: Double Century Adventure to Tai Lake
Tweaking my bike’s set up is almost as fun as taking long bike rides. It’s a never-ending evolutionary process of trying to build a cleaner, more reliable ride produces the purest, hassle-free travel experience. Each cycling journey provides me with a few ideas on how I can improve the Divide’s set up. Last summer’s family cycling adventure around the island of Hokkaido, Japan was no exception.
After using some of my bike’s kit to outfit my wife and daughter’s bicycles for our trek through Japan’s northern most island. I was in need of a couple of new bags and pouches for the Divide, plus some minor tweaking to sweeten the ride. Here’s a quick rundown of what I came up with.
Just about wherever you go nowadays chances are someone’s already been there. You’d be challenged to find many places on this planet where humans haven’t already been. Virtually everywhere you go, someone’s been there before you. And worse yet, if it’s a really cool place, somebody’s probably put up a fence around it and is charging admission.
The world is changing. Adventure travel isn’t what it used to be a hundred, even fifty years ago. But that’s no reason you shouldn’t go. If you travel to where you never been, it will be your first time. The journey will still be a rewarding adventure if you approach it right. And in a sense, we are all explorers in our own right.
Exploring South Korea by bike in late winter was a different journey of sorts. Bicycle travel through a land deep in hibernation was filled with crisp foggy mornings, temperatures sucking the mercury down to well below zero Celsius that until midday, and minimal precipitation. Most days, the sun was bright, the air was cold, and there was no snow or rain to speak of — thank goodness. Being off-season, following the Four Rivers bikeways, I usually had the bike paths to myself. It was pure solitary cycling bliss.
