Touring - First tour to Portland, Oregon.

First time poster in the touring section.
This will be my first bicycle trip that is more than one day.I am interested in touring up to Portland from Santa Cruz California next fall year which is approximatly 800 miles depending on the route. I am 18 going to be 19 when I start. I am interested in riding my Surly Steamroller with an easier gear ratio and possibly a free wheel. I am not quite sure about the route, if anyone has any favorites from Monteray Bay to Portland, post it!
I have several questions about panniers that would fit and and not cause disturbance from pedal strokes. The chainstays are shorter than unsual, they are 15.7cm. I am also looking into Rivendell Saddle bags and front bags. any recommendations would be much appreciated.
Since this will be my first I am not quite sure about what I need for the trip, such as clothing, food(vegan),water, sleeping gear(I will be camping out), stove, tools,etc.

also for all you fixed gear touring folk, what would be a nice gear ratio for such a long voyage?

Anything helps!

Dane

One speed? Wear comfortable shoes as you will be walking up some significant Hills, but you should realize that .

There is a good sized hill east of you, towards San Jose from Santa Cruz..
and the west has many coastal Mountains ,
practice going up that one for a training sample.

rear rack: Tubus Ergo has setback parts to fit on short chainstay bikes..
and the Ortlieb bag's Hooks can be adjusted so as to move the bags back on the racks. consider a waterproof Dry bag for the stuff on the top of the rack?

I live on the coast , I have Hubs with more than 1 gear in them.
I still walk the hills, in town, it's built on a Hill..

Oh and By the way, summer, the prevailing wind is from the north,
so Headwinds will be more common,
and the Ocean will always be separated from you
by a lane of south bound traffic, while you are northbound.

Oh and By the way, summer, the prevailing wind is from the north,
so Headwinds will be more common,
and the Ocean will always be separated from you
by a lane of south bound traffic, while you are northbound.

I know nothing about single speed touring but I did the Oregon coast in July and fietsbob makes excellent points. If at all possible I would advise reversing your route for a more enjoyable ride if you plan to hug the coast.

Yeah, everyone we met down there, who were doing your route, took the train to Portland and rode south.

Resources:
Bicycling the Pacific Coast
Kreb's maps
Adventure Cycling maps

All the tourers we met were running triples.

I've attached our list from our recent tandem tour. So divide this stuff by two and then subtract some more. You should be able to get it down below 20 lbs., including bike spares, tool, rack, bags, etc. Then maybe you can ride the hills rather than walk, if you have clipless and MTB shoes with soles that will do well on asphalt, so you can still walk when you have to. I'm old and 160 and can climb 10% in a 67" gear on my beater road bike, with 6% being pretty comfortable. Lower than that would be better. Our tandem climbs the steep stuff very nicely in a 21" gear. So it's all about getting the weight down.

Single speed touring? What's the point of that! That just sounds slow and painful, especially since it's not going to be flat. If I were you, I would reconsider doing it with a single speed and invest in a crank set, derailleurs and cassette.

By the way, I'm a 19 y/o who will be doing a transAM route next year and I'm just setting my rig up with rear panniers and a BOB trailer.

CamelDane -ah, Santa Cruz, I lived there for 13 years - loved it! To reiterate & add a few things:

Most people ride the coast - it's completely and utterly awesome. Adventure Cycling (mentioned above) has detailed maps with routing, mileage, hill profiles, locations of services.

On the coast, north to south is better due to wind direction. Ignore this if you want, but we're all going to say "I told you so" later.

There are a lot of hills, do some shakedown rides with your loaded bike around town before you commit to that plan.

www.crazyguyonabike.com for journals, search for Pacific Coast, also look at some gear lists.

Rivendell is heavy and expensive, (and ugly and retro, and functionally inferior, and I'm sure a bunch of people here will disagree, but whatever) -- if you want light and cheap and good enough, get Performance Bike and REI house brands. If you want high quality and can pay for it, get anything from www.thetouringstore.com (call and talk to Wayne). - he will be able to help you with rack selection too.

Lamabb - BOB by itself is more than enough, why take trailer & panniers?

Took a look at some Steamroller photos online. One bottle and no braze-ons for racks or fenders, eh? And tighter than road bike geometry? Sounds like a 60's 10-speed for under $100 would work better. Might work if you can get everything into a rack-pack, one handlebar compression sack, and a frame bag. Figure 15 lbs.

I have ridden 100 miles to monteray and back on my steamroller comfortably with people power(bike activist group). I would flip my stem upside for more of a upright position and get brake levers for a better climb. I need to figure out a good ratio for hills and a decent speed, any ideas? I would get a similar freewheel if I needed a rest on my knees.
For the maps, ,can. I purchase them at any lbs?

Also thanks for pannier recommendations, ii will be lookin Around pretty soon for a good rear and front.

Check your measurements on your chainstays. 15.7 mm is only 3/4 inch.
Chainstays are between 40 and 45 cm. The 45 cm chainstays are great for giving heel clearance on your panniers when you are pedalling.

I ment 15.7 cm not mm. woops