Greetings Monkeys,
I will be through-biking the Colorado trail, from Denver to Durgano this summer. As this is one of my first long-distance, solo camping adventures with my bike, I have a lot of questions that maybe you can help me with.
First and foremost, has anyone here through-biked the trail in this direction? If so, please send me a PM or post your experiences here-- they would be greatly, greatly appreciated. I have found a few blogs around the interwebz that give me a good idea of what it will be like, and I have been hiking and camping all my life, so some solid time with my maps has given me a pretty-solid picture, but I'd love some first hand advice.
I'll be trying to keep the weight in my panniers less than 25lbs total if I can manage it-- my first question being, besides the obvious (tent, stove, sleeping pad, tubes/pump etc.) what would you consider essentials for distance-biking? It should probably be noted that I'll be stopping in 4 towns over the course of the 500 miles, and will be taking my time (probably looking at 18-20 days, including some days off of biking to hike a few 14ers). I have some ultralight gear, including my solo-tent and stove, but also have a fair budget to invest in anything that might be deemed necessary.
Finally, if any Monkeys want to meet up along the way, I'll be stopping in some major locales and would love to spend a day riding trails without my gear if anyone wanted to meet up for some good riding and a beer. As of now, I will be stopping for maildrops and possibly a night in a real bed in Frisco/Breckenridge, Buena Vista, Lake City and Silverton.
Any and all advice is welcome, thanks monkeys
I will be through-biking the Colorado trail, from Denver to Durgano this summer. As this is one of my first long-distance, solo camping adventures with my bike, I have a lot of questions that maybe you can help me with.
First and foremost, has anyone here through-biked the trail in this direction? If so, please send me a PM or post your experiences here-- they would be greatly, greatly appreciated. I have found a few blogs around the interwebz that give me a good idea of what it will be like, and I have been hiking and camping all my life, so some solid time with my maps has given me a pretty-solid picture, but I'd love some first hand advice.
I'll be trying to keep the weight in my panniers less than 25lbs total if I can manage it-- my first question being, besides the obvious (tent, stove, sleeping pad, tubes/pump etc.) what would you consider essentials for distance-biking? It should probably be noted that I'll be stopping in 4 towns over the course of the 500 miles, and will be taking my time (probably looking at 18-20 days, including some days off of biking to hike a few 14ers). I have some ultralight gear, including my solo-tent and stove, but also have a fair budget to invest in anything that might be deemed necessary.
Finally, if any Monkeys want to meet up along the way, I'll be stopping in some major locales and would love to spend a day riding trails without my gear if anyone wanted to meet up for some good riding and a beer. As of now, I will be stopping for maildrops and possibly a night in a real bed in Frisco/Breckenridge, Buena Vista, Lake City and Silverton.
Any and all advice is welcome, thanks monkeys
