Forget the handlebar bag! Your list of items will create far too
much weight to mount that high. Keep the weight as low as possible.
If a low-rider front rack is not suitable, consider using a single-
wheel trailer, with or without suspension.

Gradually increase your training to 60 or 70 miles each day for 6
days per week with a load that will equal or exceed your actual
touring weight.

Jim G

--- In bicyclingadvocacy@yahoogroups.com, "conifir1" <conifir1@...>
wrote:
>
> my planning is 2 fold so to speak...................
> 1. i hope to do the GDT next summer ..in fact i was going to take
> several months to do the trail........
> 2. when they take your drivers licenses away from you when you get
> older ............and they can do that.................they cannot
> take away your bicycle..............that way i can disappear on my
> bicycle and just go......when i get too old and too crabby.....
>
> now i got that out of the way.............
>
> i have been looking at a handle bar bag that will hold my sleeping
> bag and hennesey hammock and my fly rod caddy(24 inches long x 1.5
> inches in dia.) (which i can tie down on the outside of the handle
> bar pack.....i figure the caddy for my fly rod will also work for
> carrying a couple of collapsible tent poles in case i might need
> them) i am leaning toward
> carousel design works handle bar pack system ........
>
> a frame pack that will hold my whisper lite international stove and
> space for other items
> such as food etc..(since i have a serious food allergy i cannot
have
> anything with gluten i need to cook my own meals)..what is nice
about
> the whisper lite international stove it will burn either white gas
or
> kerosene........again carousel designs works product
>
> a gas tank bag for daily items ... etc.....again carousel design
> works
>
> and the largest saddle bag for clothing and what ever .........here
> it is a toss up between
> carousel and epic still have not made up my mind which way to
> go......
>
> i am going to pick up some kind of water purifying
kit.......probably
> the katadyn hiker pro
> and this really neat item made by brunton a foldable solar
> charger ......so that it will charge my cell phone,my dinotte
helmet
> light and my little grundig am/fm/sw radio........this way during
the
> day as i am moving along i have my little solar panel strapped down
> to my handle bar pack doing its thing .with the battery charge in
my
> gas tank pack. doing its natural born thing....
>
> from what i can figure my bicycle a Trek Fuel weights in at 28.2
> lbs and my equipment that i am taking with me should be another
15
> to 20 lbs tops with food......so my total weight should be in the
> neighborhood of 43 to 48 lbs.......as long as i do not go over a
> total combine weight of (50 lbs) bicycle and equipment i should be
> fine........
>
> since i have a full suspension bicycle.............i have read
horror
> stories from others how their racks that they bought that were
> suppose to work with full suspension bicycle bust apart......and i
> donot want to be at a point along the trail having to abandoning
> equipment i need because of a busted rear or front rack.........and
i
> remember back in the dark ages that walking with a bicycle with
rear
> panniers can be a bummer.............
>
> on the water situation i am planning to fabricate some caddy's to
> mount on my front shock forks.........so that the lower caddy that
> sits near my crank can carry my stove fuel bottle.......
>
> i can probably fabricate two more water bottle mounts back along
side
> my rear tire frame......
>
> and one water bottle up on my handle bars for easy access........
>
> in a perfect world i am trying to keep from carrying anything on my
> back.......
> i can remember what it was like bicycling with a ruck sack .....how
> your shoulders would ache after a whole day peddling away.......but
i
> will cross that bridge when the time comes by doing some trial test
> runs as time gets closer for my departure.........
>
> since i go out bicycling about 4 days out of the week doing around
50
> miles in 5.5 to 6 hrs
> which is not bad for being 58..............i have experimented with
> my handle bars and comfort so that spot that is between your
shoulder
> blades don't start talking to you .........i had a extender
mounted
> on my stem to raise my handle bars 3.5 inches..............and that
> has made a world of difference in comfort........also on my handle
> bar ends i mounted the vertical uprights that make your handle
bars
> look like bull horns...
> that has helped in comfort.......but i also took 2 tennis balls and
> drilled holes through them
> and slipped them on ........so that i can change the position on my
> hands.......
> this has made comfort city big time................also taking
> another pair of hand grips and slipping them over the original hand
> grips on my handle bars made a difference for my hand grip comfort
>
> so as you can see this whole thing is a work in progress............
>
> i did pick up a copy of Michael Mc Coy`s "Cycling The Great Divide
> this i plan to take with me.............
>
> and you have to understand i lived for the longest time out side of
> columbia falls, mt. , jackson, wy. and truckee, ca. so i have
> some what of an idea of being in the high country...........
>
> but if you have ideas ..............want to shoot down any idea i
> have feel free too......
> i am all ears............this is a learning process that i am going
> through...........and i have found it help full from my experience
in
> asking others around you that have some knowledge in what you are
> planning to tackle
>
> hope to hear from you
>