My Gear

As I have written in the last Blog entry, there is not too much preparation that I have invested in my trip. Still there are two or three things I did. First of all, I have serviced my bike, which is a 2009 BMC SLX 01 which I absolutely love. With 85 kg distributed on 182 cm I am not exactly what you would call light weight. So the bikes composite construction of Aluminium and Carbon, which gives it extra stiffness, really suites me super well. The rides always feel very solid, yet also smooth. I own the bike for some 3 years and have put some 12’000 km on it.

To prepare for my trip I have put a new chain on the bike, degreased and re-olied all the parts, changed the brake pads and had the spokes re-tightened.  

I have long hesitated if I should rent a bike in the States instead of taking my own over the Atlantic. The Pros of renting are mainly that I have not to hassle with the transport and that I could change bike from time to time. However I really wanted to have my own bike on which I feel super confortable. Yet I had to organize for the transport. First I needed a bike transport suitcase, to prevent damage I opted against a simple bike cardboard box. I found a relatively affordable solution with the suitcase from Radon for 195.- Euro. 

The quality is not super high (the metal fittings are rather cheap), yet it makes a quite solid impression. I will keep you updated how the transport went. 
The transport of the bike is considered by Swiss as bulky goods and costs me an extra 100.- Euro per way. As I want also to travel a bit around the bay area with “the bike on board” during my time, I rented an Sport-SUV for my stay. So there was no additional cost regarding this item. This means that the Bike transport will cost me something like 400.- Euro. Renting an equivalent bike for 5 week to that price is certainly not possible.             

I also refurbished my emergency kit. 

As you can see I ride with Mountain-bike SPD-type shoes, which will be considered sacrilegious by true hard core road bikers. Yet with the Shimano PD-A520 pedals and the Sidi Genius 5 Pro Carbon shoes I have really what I look for. It is comfortable, you can walk in it, it is super adjustable and the sole has sufficient stiffness also for road bike use, at least on the level I ride. Another Pro is of course that I can use it for my Mountain bike and Trecking bike too.  

Looking Forward to the trip

Two years ago, on a trip through California with my two nephews Björn and Yannick, I was envying all the time the cyclist that I encountered on Highway number one. It became clear to me, that some time I will treat myself with an extended bike trip around the San Francisco area. Now the time has come to make this dream come true. Saving holiday from last year and “investing” my 10 years workplace jubilee gift (2 weeks of extra holidays) and shifting duties to open a larger time slot in my agenda,  I will spend 5 weeks in Santa Rosa to enjoy myself on the road bike.

After booking a little flat in Santa Rosa, booking the flight from Zurich to SF and back, arranging for the rental car and procuring a bike-suitcase for the transport, the date of my departure is drawing nearer and the (joyful) anticipation is climbing. For the preparation, starting of a Blog seemed a good idea to me. For one it is a great archive for keeping a trip diary and also share the experiences with others.

Preparation wise actually I have not made much planning, other than stated above. The larger part of the preparation time may be I spent with getting hold on everything that I could find on the web regarding cycling the Bay Area and Sonoma County. Somehow that is the good thing of an extended trip of a few weeks. I do not need to worry about the weather as I will have a bit of everything for sure, I do not need to stress to “efficiently” plan every day in advance and adopt rather an attitude of planning things on the fly. Problems are best solve when they occur and not before.

What I certainly did, is to identify some cycling clubs to join training rides and meet the local affectionistas, looking for routes and bike stores for spares and repairs. It looks that with choosing Santa Rosa (Half moon bay and Pacifica were the other options) I really hit the sweet spot, the SRCC (Santa Rosa Cycling Club) seems to offer everything I am looking for (great web side, check it out here http://srcc.memberlodge.com).

You might ask who I am. Well I am Oliver, 44 years old (or young depending how I feel). For a living I am a researcher in surface science and nanotechnology and cycling is a passion for me since almost 30 years, although I really picked it up again after a long hiatus about five years ago. I live in Switzerland which is (not only) a paradise for cycling of any type. On my profile (http://www.bikemap.net/user/gol127) on bikemap you can explore some of the routes I usually like to ride and already some I will do in the states.

So that is it for now and the start is made (of the Blog that is)… It is as if my trip has started right now!  

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