A birthday, and Kiwi Brevet final preparations

Friday Feb 5: 

The girls had a great first day of school today.  Here's a pic on there way to school with Claire's birthday cake--9 years old today!  We walked with Sawyer and family, who is in Eleanor's class, and mom is an Axford fellow too.

I packed up the bike for the ferry trip to South Island, and will catch the 6:30pm Ferry today, and ride 30K or so to Blenheim after docking tonight in Picton.  Tomorrow there is a meeting at 10am for all riders, then off at noon for the big event. 

You can follow my progress on the Kiwi Brevet site, or use this link to follow the "Leaderboard," which will update each rider's position during the week from our SPOT tracking devices. 

Here's a few pics of my bike setup for the trip.  I'll comment regarding changes from my rather traditional USA road riding brevet setup.

Surly Traveler's Check bike, loaded for bear.

 

SON dynohub and Edelux LED front light--a proven combo.  Nitto M12 rack holding up the Berthoud front bag.  Front crank is an old shimmano triple moutain, 44-34-24.

Brooks saddle, and thudbuster post for a bit of extra Butt cushioning.  Acorn rollup toolbag, with all the tools I can actually use.  Extra tire and spokes in the front bag.  Stuff sack with camping gear--one pound sleeping bag, siltarp, bivy bag, and down vest/pillow.  Also extra underwear and shirt and socks.  Camping kit comes in at 4 pounds.  Tool kit about 4 pounds.  Front bag about 10 pounds.  Total weight of bike and kit and water--about 50 pounds.

42 mm tire, about as big as will fit in my forks. Despite the bit of tread, it seems to roll pretty well on pavement (sealed) roads.

Maps and compass and cues.  I hope I won't regret not going down the GPS path. . .

My usual Fenix penlight for cues/roadsign reading.  Added mount for backup Dinnotte 200L light for mountain bike track downhills.  I'm hoping not to do much 'outback' stuff at night--we'll see. 

OK, the ferry leaves in an hour or 2, and I'll post a few pics and comments next week after the ride.  "Hey!" to all the NC randonneur crowd--watch out for the black ice!