Hi!
To answer Mike and all the others:

I'm in Vancouver now and will start the ride tomorrow, 29th June.
I have return flight on 5th august, sorry, it could change only in case of
accident.

Food:
I never felt particular need for a stove. Maybe I'm just too lazy to cook and
clean. Most of my travels were in countries with cheap and frequent (cooked)
food options so there is also another reason. Or you just get used to cold food,
the way you get used to sleep on a bubble wrap. You don't think much about it
after that.

Rackless packing:
For a camping tour, I'm not in favor of this. A light rear rack (I have now
aluminium one of about 450 g) is IMO very competitive with the two or three bags
that you would need otherwise: if for nothing else than you simply have to deal
with one thing instead of three. Old style saddle bags (Carradice, eg) are
heavier than the rack and stuff bag, I'm sure. Tubus makes some light racks with
300 g. For a light load you don't need heavy duty racks. And it's so much easier
to pack things on a rack (and add things on it if needed). I am for now in favor
of this setup than an alternative of several bags spread over the bike, even if
there is a weight penalty.

Bottle cages:
I use ORDINARY aluminium ones. There are many type of plastic bottles, some of
them fit perfectly, others with a bit of squeeze.

Cheers, Igor

--- In ultralightbiking@yahoogroups.com, Mike Meiser <groups-yahoo-com@...>
wrote:
>
> I have been flipping through your trip blogs
>
> http://www.blogger.com/profile/08044746367328550812
>
> ...and your gear many lists.
> Some amazing trips.
>
> A tremendous amount of info.
>
> I'm inspired by your go light philosophy and the way you execute it.
>
> This philosophy is not anything that's overt or written about directly (that
> I've yet read), but scanning your trip blogs I'm just getting a sense of it.
>
>
> == less stuff more freedom ==
>
> My own attitude on packing light is "Less stuff. More freedom."
>
> This attitude is tempered by my the need to be self supported / self
> sustainable.
>
> It's a fine balancing act.
>
> I still carry a stove and cook kit. Most of the time anyway.
>
> But I am an opportunist and enjoy the occasional motel and and restaurant
> when I can.
>
> It's just about trying to find that fine balance of flexibility and freedom.
>
> It's always a mix of what you can find on the road (most often at the
> ubiquitous gas station) and what you carry. This varies tremendously with
> where you're traveling. Not just the country, but also whether off road, on
> road... or back roads.
>
> This balance also varies tremendously with your experience and creativity.
>
> A quick example of my own...
>
> When I first started doing long distances I recall an incident where I did
> near 100 miles with only two bottles of water, a headwind and and in 95
> degrees. It was a holiday weekend and my route somehow amazingly had NO gas
> stations or open stores. I was so focused on making time and just getting
> to the next big town I bombed horribly and had to call it quits for the rest
> of the day.
>
> Why it never occurred to me to just stop at a house, knock on a door or use
> a garden hose spigot is beyond me.
>
> Nowadays I don't worry about water as much because not only is every gas
> station and store is an opportunity for water, but also every house.
>
> This makes my point that the greatest obstacle to successful tourng is our
> own pre-conconceptions. The trick is to lift the veil of those perceptions
> and think of creative solutions that clearly appraise the situation.
>
> Reading through your trip logs I can see many many things that challenge my
> perceptions... having to bribe guards at checkpoints... dealing with the
> slow wheels of bureaucracy... a store owner that not only sells you food but
> actually prepares it for you.
>
> These also might be things like sleeping in a barn, or a strangers house.
>
> I can't really say I'd be comfortable with these things unless I was in the
> situation. Context is everything.
>
>
> == shedding pre-concieved notions / thinking creatively on the road ==
>
> A quick example from backpacker lore...
>
> I've heard thru hikers on the Appalachian Trail going from Florida to Main
> say that all notions of person hygiene go out the window on the trail.
> There's a term for this... something like trail sense, or trail hygiene and
> it's part of a larger issue of how hikers behave and act differently after
> they've been on the trail for days or weeks. However, I don't think that we
> loose any sense of societal notions... I think we GAIN a sense of societal
> notions becoming more aware of them because we step seamlessly outside of
> them and back again. We gain perspective on them.
>
> We do this most obviously when we travel in foreign places of course but
> even within the same country it's possible to experience vastly different
> culture.
>
> Because I ride I'm more aware of American car culture... both the negatives
> and the positives.
>
> Because I encounter so many people from so many backgrounds and in so many
> situations I'm more aware of and value more highly the 'pleasantries' of
> human interaction.
>
> Alternatively dogma, ritual and things that don't matter fall away.
>
> It's all about changing expectations.
>
> Some might say it's about lowering expectations, but they're not lower,
> they're just different, and in many ways they're raised.
>
> Each time we come into a town we change our expectations, each time we
> change from a back road to a main road we change expectations.
>
> These could be how we great one another, how we dress, how we deal with
> motorists, pedestrians, weather, perceptions on person hygiene and
> appearance. The range is infinite.
>
> In Mineapolis, Minnesotta an upstanding musician at the local civic / opera
> center was tasered and arrested merely for riding his bike to the airport.
> There were no laws against it, but some cop had it in his mind that
> cyclists didn't belong anywhere near the airport.
>
> It's a war of cultural perceptions.
>
> Often we ride through it with fludily.
>
> Is it ok to walk up to someones house and use the garden hose / spigot if
> they're not home? What if you're severely dehydrated?
>
> There's a huge host and variety of perceptions we have about of how things
> should or shouldn't work.
>
> Our ability to identify and creatively adapt / interact in these situations
> is directly proportional to our enjoyment while touring.
>
> In fact if you look at adversity as a creative challenge then it becomes an
> enjoyment in itself.
>
> One of the things I enjoy most of all is the changes... changes in weather
> (rain, snow, temperature), changes in scenery, dusk/ dawn, cultural changes.
>
> The adversity is the draw.
>
> But back to something more concrete... i.e. the simple issue of food.
>
>
> == the issue of food, specifically the stove ==
>
> One of my favorite things to do on tour is to stop in the early evening at a
> grocery store, just as I'm most hungry and thinking about stopping for the
> day.
>
> This opens up the door of possibilities for eating tremendously allowing me
> to grab things I normally couldn't.
>
> Opportunities includes things like fresh bread, fresh meats, fresh fruits...
> even breakfast foods, an occasional canned good or a beer.
>
> Grocery stores not only provide more variety then a restaurant, but also at
> a tiny fraction of what it costs to eat at a restaurant.
>
> What's more I could generally eat at least twice what a normal restaurant
> deems a healthy portion when touring.
>
> To accommodate opportune grocery stores I always like to make sure I can
> accommodate an extra 20 or 30% more goods on my touring bike if only
> temporarily / for a few miles.
>
> I usually eat like a horse at dinner*... sleep on it.... get rolling as
> early as possible in the morning without eating... and then stop as
> opportunity allows for some sort of quick breakfast or lunch... most often
> at a restaurant / fast food, but sometimes I just stop and prepare what I'm
> carrying if there's no restaurant along the way that suits my fancy.
>
> *I should say I eat like a horse all the time but specifically so at dinner
> since I have the evening and night to digest it. When you travel like a
> horse... you eat like a horse. :)
>
> Because of this opportunistic approach to food I only carry basic food
> staples... ramen, grits, creame-of-wheat, rice, mac and cheese, packets of
> chicken noodle cup of soup... that sort of thing. These will get me by for
> a day or two if need be, but mostly they're just reserves.
>
> The food staples are for sustenance what a multi-tool is for mechanical
> work. The staples are in essence a set of multi-use tools which can be
> combined with other opportunistic food items along the way.
>
> A good example of this is mac and cheese or ramen. You can always use the
> cheese from the mac and cheese at some other time on something else... same
> thing with the ramen seasoning. The noodles can then be made with just about
> anything.
>
>
> == Packing without racks ===
>
> I find the similarities and differences between your gear and my gear most
> interesting.
>
> As they say the devil is in the details and there are to many details so
> I'll just start with the basics.
>
> I just posted on my latest ultralight touring setup here.
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmeiser2/3656893283/
>
> The basic similarities/ differences are pretty obvious when you compare the
> picture of your setup with mine.
>
> I need to remember to lay out my gear on a sheet or something and photograph
> it in its totality.
>
> Much of my basic packing inspiration comes from here:
> http://www.epicdesignsalaska.com/
>
> Erik's bag designs best summarize the "rackless" touring.
>
> The keys are
>
> 1) Handlebar bag / bedroll
>
> 2) seat bag / super twinkie (basically a well mounted stuffable bag behind
> the seat)
>
> 3) a frame bag for the main frame triangle
>
> There is also what's known as a "gas tank", aka. bento bag or stem bag. This
> is a bag that goes on top of the top tube and is braced up against the
> handlebar stem. Likewise some people use a bag that sits on top of the top
> tube and is braced against the seatpost.
>
> These systems have become increasingly popular for off road tourers because
> quite simply... racks are both heavy, and they break to easily. Frame bags
> are lighter, they don't swing around like pannier bags, they're central and
> inline with the bikes center of gravity, they disperse weight throughout the
> bike... and best of all... I've never heard of a frame bag failing, at least
> not catastrophically.
>
> You'll see a lot of people using frame bags in the GDT (Great Divide Tour)
> that's going on right now.
>
> Some pictures can be found if you flip through the individual blogs posts at
> the following url by clicking "read more". (Most of the posts are very long
> and most of the pics are on secondary pages.)
>
> http://tourdivide.org/racer-2009-updates/race_report
>
>
>
> == a simple gear recommendation ==
>
> Based on all my reading thus far I have one piece of gear I think you might
> find most useful.
>
> The Jandd top tube bag:
>
> http://www.bikepacking.net/reviews/bikebags/jandd-frame-bag/
>
> I cannot say enough about the utility of this bag nor it's value. It can be
> had for $25-30 and will fit pretty much any bike.
>
> Great for storing things you need throughout the day and need easy access
> to. I usually put things like food bars / munchables, wallet, camera, cell
> phone, saddle cream, map, etc, etc. in it. I have on occasion even stored
> things like my fuel canister and bike pump in it... both at the same time,
> and with plenty of room to spare
>
>
> I find your bottle cages interesting. I've used a Topeak Magna XL which is
> very similar in the past and will probably put it back on as it gets hotter,
> but I have found no others like it. I'd be interested in at least tracking
> down the manufacturer and some good pictures of the design you're using if
> you can manage it. I might like to buy a couple.
>
> On my regular touring setup I use another bottle rack behind the seat, and I
> sometimes carry a collapseable water bag for additional water in the
> evenings.
>
>
> Anyway, I'll likely continue to flip through your trip blogs.
>
> Your opening blog posts about your gear setup for each trip are most
> interesting.
>
>
> -Mike
>
> On Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 5:48 AM, musilijk <musilijk@...> wrote:
>
> > Hi all!
> >
> > I'm about to start the ride Vancouver-Ottawa-NYC. I weighed my stuff, it's
> > 5600 g (12.3 lb) of stuff and 15.8 kg (34.8 lb) with the bike. The setup is
> > the same as here:
> >
> > http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=3Tzut&page_id=87118&v=KD
> >
> > just 1 kg lighter. Since then I dropped 1 kg of stuff mostly in lighter
> > sleeping bag and clothes and have a lighter rear rack.
> >
> > I'll start in Vancouver on monday, 29 June and will hopefully reach NYC
> > around 4 August. Maybe I'll meet some of you on the road!
> >
> > regards,
> > Igor.
> >
>