Rowan

Thanks!

shipwreck

A friend of mine once had some spare glasses mailed to him while we were in New York state, it was nice not reading him menus anymore.

I tried the winter gear switch once, when heading north and it was getting later in the year, late October in Kansas. Heavier sleeping bag, down vest, gloves, wool socks and sweater. Seemed like a neat idea but as I said it did not work out. My package was there, but no one could find it nor did they know what general delivery was. If there had been vital medications in the package, I would have stayed an extra day to try harder to pick it up, but instead I decided that being the level of jerk it seemed I would have to have been to get results was not something that I wanted to do, and rode on.

One thing I used to do is leave various items that could be mailed to me in an emergency, like tires, some parts, various camping gear and even a spare wheelset with family(listed everything by number, so they would not have to identify some strange bike part based on a conversation from a payphone). Now that amazon and a smart phone can get you things in the middle of nowhere where there is no bike shop, I don't do that.

And this is not a usual thing for the average bicycle tourist, but might be interesting. Once rode to a Comic Con, and shipped two huge boxes of artwork and displays to a nearby post office. Also in it were street clothes, comfortable shoes, and various nerd paraphernalia I wanted there, but not to ride with(it was all about 25 pounds). When the Con was done, I gave all my displays and lights away, gifted some heavier stuff to friends, then mailed everything left home and picked it up at my home post office ten days later. With the money I made at the Con I treated myself to a luxury tour home, with more motel nights and restaurant meals than usual.

shipwreck

Those front bags are huge! Something about a Trucker though, they just look good with tons of stuff on them.

robow

Yea, I think you can see the kitchen sink peeking out from that one front pannier. And this is why touring with the Mrs. and carrying half her gear is so much fun......not really.

saddlesores

perhaps if on a long, extended tour through someplace with limited
infrastructure, few if any bike shops, non-availability of suitable
gear......maybe crossing africa or siberia, although nowadays?

maybe you pick two points along the way that you know you
must pass through..........mail yourself a package "poste
restaurante" or to a hotel/guesthouse that will hold for you.

mail what? stuff you know you will need to replace at sorta
known intervals that you can't find locally.......tires, tubes,
chain, chainrings, cassette....

Doug64

Looks like a nice setup—v-brakes and mountain crank?

sexy cyclist

Ah, gotcha. I wouldn't want to do that either, half the fun of touring is the freedom that comes with doing what you want when you want, not being bound by a schedule like in day to day life. I think thats something everyone here can agree on regardless of pack weight

staehpj1

I don't use general delivery too often, but have found it useful. Things I have had sent from home include stuff like bike parts, different clothing, different gear, and a small care package of baked goods. Sometimes It is just a matter of deciding that a choice I made was less than optimum so I have one item from home sent and send another home. For example I might decide that I wish I had taken the bug bivy instead of the regular bivy. Some times the change may be because of a geographic or season change or that the weather was just not what I expected.

I'd also consider having something sent out for an activity in one place on the trip. Hiking shoes for a week in Yosemite, fly rod for a few days or a week near a great trout stream, even backpacking stuff for a side trip ,and so on. I have not actually done this, but might consider it. In Yosemite I was considering it but just bought a pair of trail running shoes instead.

I don't routinely have food sent from home, but once our group of three was given a large amount of dried and freeze dried foods. We divided it into multiple boxes and forwarded them to destinations along our route. It worked out OK, but turned out to probably be more trouble than it was worth. If I had it to do over I might just take a few items for immediate use or just say no thank you.

I have traveled with others who needed prescriptions that shouldn't be kept for months in the heat. Fortunately they were OK with shorter term ambient storage so they had some shipped every few weeks. A couple people had daily wear contacts shipped every few weeks to keep from carrying a 3 month supply. Quite often I have been with someone who needed a part or tool that they could wait long enough to get it sent from home rather than seek out a local source.

BTW, someone mentioned a post office not knowing what general delivery was. I can say that in quite a few instances of my using general delivery while backpacking or touring I have never had a post office act like it was anything other than normal business as usual. When I do use it, if I have a choice I try to pick a town big enough to have a real post office (often not possible when backpacking) and small enough to only have one post office. Still even when the post office was a closet in a general store or the town had multiple post offices it still worked out.

The problem with really small town post offices is that they may have really short hours on limited days. Big towns may have confusion as to which PO the package is at. It has never been a huge problem though.

BTW, it is possible to stop in any post office to arrange for a package at another to be forwarded ahed to somewhere further down the road. This is handy if you go through a town when the PO is closed or just are not ready for the package.

shipwreck

Two of the post offices were large hubs, absolutely huge compared to a small town post office. One in Wichita KS, and the other in Collinsville IL. Quite possibly the least competent postal workers I have ever dealt with at both. I ship a lot for my business, and probably know more postal regulations than anyone I talked to at these places. Two other smaller post offices, on in Geneseo IL and another in a small town I cannot remember in TN also had no idea why they had a package, and I had a hard time convincing them it was mine.

Only once, at the only post office on the Ozark Highlands trail where we picked up a food resupply did the post office manager know what was up.

I have to wonder if the post offices you used while backpacking and riding an ACA route were more familiar with it because of just that, near a backpacking point and on an established cycling route where it happens enough for familiarity.

Or else I have just been incredibly unlucky in post office selection, which is possible.

Squeezebox

Do you think calling ahead to the post office would make any difference? Would contacting someone through warm showers work? The calling an LBS is sounding better. Glad this mess doesn't happen very much.

shipwreck

I would never bother a bike shop to help care for me on my trip. They may be easier to get into than an embassy, and more of them, but unless I plan on dropping some money with that shop, as in a mid super long tour rebuild I would leave them alone. But thats just how I roll.
As to medications, it might be easier to have it filled at a pharmacy on route than doing a mail drop.

Seriously, all this crap like shipping supplies, its nice to know is possible but not worth worrying about the logistics of unless and if you actually do something that warrants it. And its always best to carry enough to cope without relying on some support network of "people you called". And sometimes that calls for being, as you have put it in the past, "stupid", and carrying a little more.

sexy cyclist

I think this is also a point in favor of carrying easily replaceable gear. Stuff you can purchase on the road VS specialty items you can't. Obviously you have to draw the line with certain items, but for certain things like socks, sunglasses, cordage, tire widths etc. I find its good to go with commonly found goods.

Leebo

Pack List? I'll try, 5 day summer tour, New Hampshire. Around Lake Winnipesaukee.
Bike, Karate Monkey, front sus fork, 35 mm rims, 29x2.3 " tires, disc, 3x9 mt drivetrain
Storage setup: 2 small rear panniers, small frame bag, small duffle bag for front bar bag. Plus a handlebar bag.
Sleep set up: Eno double nest hammock, bug net, closed cell foam pad, silnylon tarp, put diagonaly, fits the hammock perfect. 45 degree bag.
The hammock has carabiners with 2 metal decending rings on each end. 15' or so light weight 3/4" straps go around the trees to adjust quickly.
On bike: helmet, bandana for under helmet, sunglasses, 1 pair short gloves, 2 each short sleeve and long sleeve shirts, poly pro and wool, 2 pair
mt bike shorts. Keen sandals and 2 pair thin wool socks.
Off bike: wool sweater, thin wool long sleeve shirt, poly pro hat, sun hat, wind pants thin tights, flip flops, 2 pair shorts( one for swim), rain coat,
Helmet cover, thick wool socks.
Supplies: small towel, dish soap mixed with shampoo( cleans all) wash cloth, toiletries, spare contacts and glasses. 2.5 gallon ziplock for washing
clothes.
Tools: multi tool, small pliers, swiss army knife, tube, pump, patch kit, duct tape, small bolts, zip ties, small bungies, lots of clothes pins and small binder clips( to close up the bug net at night. Plenty of para cord too.
Cooking/food: trangia 27 alcohol stove, clickstand to hold, 1 lt. pot, 1 spoon, SS cup with coozy and a sierra cup. 16 oz of denatured alcohol for stove. Lighter+ matches, small paring knife, spices, instant coffee, .5 oz creamers,( 20) oatmeal, raisins, trail mix, dried apricots, dried salami. 500 ml container George Dickel TN whiskey. Gatorade.
Other? Cell phone for" map my ride", paper maps( never out of range) front and rear usb rechargeable light, small charger to fit all to plug in at lunch stop or store. Flashlight. Note book( 5x7 spiral bound, pen fits in the wire spiral. Wallet stuff too. 70 weight sunscreen and lip balm.