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07-15-20 | 07:17 PM

#42

gugie

Bike Butcher of Portland

Joined: Jul 2014

Posts: 12,493

Likes: 8,061

From: Portland, OR

Bikes: It's complicated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Salamandrine

I'd imagine it always varied by individual, then as now. Now that you point it out, the ultra light crowd seems to have had a lot of influence in bike camping as well as backpacking. Still, there are those that pack everything: a laptop, a phone, a GPS, a camp seat, etc.

I definitely rode a lot from junior high through high school, but didn't try bike touring until summers while in college. I never broke anything, but I didn't do *that* much of it. The most epic one for me was about 24 days, IIRC.

For sure much of my own camping gear is lighter than the vintage stuff, but even BITD you could find light gear, if sufficiently motivated. Down bags were always light. Hoop tents were light, if you even bothered with a tent. Water purifier? What's that?

Actually I think tents have been going backwards the last couple decades, but that's pretty OT. In general though, yeah, gear was heavier. I did have one buddy who rode across the country on his Trek 720, and he had and used one of those Optimus suitcase stoves. It was hilarious. Must have weighed like 8 lbs.*

EDIT * Ha, I looked it up and they only weighed 28oz full. They looked like they weighed 8 lbs.

Just 5 years ago a buddy of mine and I were on a 6 day trip north of SF. We were coming down Highway 1 and stopped for lunch around Stewart's Point when a bike pulled in going south. It was diffiult to see the bike behind all the gear he was carrying. One item of interest was a cast iron skillet. He said he found it on the side of the road and couldn't resist.

BTW, a 24 day tour is a fantasy dream for me! It's long enough to forget that your other life doesn't exist, and you're new daily reality is riding a bike over hill and dale. Would love to sit down and share a beer and hear your stories of that tour.

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