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.