Just 99 miles to go

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

First camelback ride thoughts.

The wife bought me a camelback for xmas and Saturday was my first chance to use it.
I really didn’t think I would like it.
I think that most people really over use them anyway, I mean come on, we’re going on a 10 mile loop and you won’t be more than 4 miles from your vehicle. Do you really need that much water or gear? If something breaks on the bike that requires the use of that many tools or parts to fix, I’m not doing it on the trail. I’m going push the bike back and fix it on the truck.
Saturdays ride was what I consider an epic. I’m guessing at the farthest point I was 11 miles from my truck.
I started to worry.
As I watched my fellow riders have mechanicals one after the other I started to think about the things that I don’t normally carry with me.
-power link or spare chain pin, what’s really ridiculous is that I carry a chain tool. It doesn’t do a lot of good without the fore-mentioned.
-duct tape for fixing ripped sidewalls. I saw this come in to play on the ride. They say you can also use a dollar bill. The only thing in my pocket was one $50.00 bill. Do you use it? How bad do I really wanna ride?
-rear derailer hanger-I have one sitting in my garage. As small and light as it is, and as much as I wreck, this thing is going in the saddle bag immediately.
-an allen wrench that fits my crank bolt. What’s the main bolt that comes loose on everyone on the trail? As far as I’ve seen its the crankbolt. I carry an allen set but it doesn’t have the size for my crankbolt.

Anyway, about the camelback.
I’m funny about the way my clothes fit. I hate things that fit snug, thus thought I would hate the camelback.
It really wasn’t bad.
After the first 10 minutes I forgot I was wearing it. It didn’t flop around a lot on the bumpier sections of trail, and it is pretty cool having water that accessible. I actually evan drank some while riding.
I still won’t be using it on short loops but I’m definitely glad to have it.
seeya

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Form follows function baby...I think a lot of people worry about the way a camelbak looks. I realize some just like to feel unencumbered, but for me...I'm from the school of don't make me think. I don't want to think about my shoes, clipping into my pedals, or my hydration. When I'm thirsty...its just there...I don't have to think and reach for a bottle at an inoportune time during the ride, etc. Also, I always seem to get the horseshit on the mouthpiece of a bottle. Not good!

Unknown said...

I much prefer tha e Camelback myself, but then again, I often get quite a ways from home! I generally at least have a handlebar and underseat bag, often a racktop trunk as well! Remember though, on an average ride for me, I could be 25 miles from the house and in a no service zone for the cell phone when I hit the turnaround point.