New Adventure, New Equipment

The first big adventure with Hidalgo took me from the Pacific to the Atlantic, starting in April of 2016. Hidalgo had already been modified to swap out the standard road gearing ratios and derailleur to a mountain bike rear derailleur and some lower gears for mountains. The rear rack holding the Ortlieb panniers had to be held in place on the frame with some special clamps and bolts. By the time I touched the Atlantic, Hidalgo was on his 3rd set of tires and a replaced chain.

In 2019, I did a solo ride from Canada to Mexico along the Pacific coast. The major change was that I now had a GPS and better lights. The GPS bike computer was an especially nice upgrade from the simple bike computer that displayed speed, distance, average speed and totals. I had a simple bubble compass to help with direction and had to check my phone to see if I was still on the right track. When the wheel sensor died and/or had no cell signal, I wasn’t sure where the adventure would take me!

On my solo ride in 2019, I had broke a spoke on the front wheel and a total of 3 spokes on the rear. I had to have the rear wheel replaced outside Los Angeles. By the time I joined Ron on his Canada to Mexico adventure in 2021, I had also replaced Hidalgo’s front wheel. Hidalgo broke his rear derailleur in those 2 years and I decided to gear him even lower to make the climbs easier.

Now, 10 years from the first ride and five since the last, there are even more changes. I have added wider tires – from 700×25 to 700×28, which is as big as Hidalgo can hold. Some of the clothing and gear have just worn out over the ten years. The buckles on my shoes broke off, my convertible rain jacket was disintegrating on the inside, got a new pair of gloves, improved lighting, and a new helmet and sunglasses. I’m taking a borrowed GoPro and have been using a helmet mounted rear view mirror since 2019 in place of one attached to the sunglasses. I have a new tablet along with a mini keyboard and mouse.

Of course I have a new phone, but I also had to replace my watch!

I want to thank Terri and Joel Presley for the Route 66 token and my good friend Pete Miller for the St. Christopher medal given to me before the first ride. I always take my Dad’s dog tag from WW-II for good measure on these trips.

I’ve got lots of new equipment, a good riding partner, but an even older body. I feel like I have even more support than ever on this ride. I believe that will carry us from LA to Chicago on Route 66!

The Lone, soon to be Not So Lone Rider