The Naked Bike

From Ryan:

Well, the essentials are finally on my bike. It took several weeks of ordering parts and riding 60 miles round trip to the bike shop to put on racks and fenders but my bike is ready for the road.

I figured I'd show you all that you will need many weeks to fix problems before you even leave. We've been talking about this trip now for months. I barely had the funds together a couple weeks ago and I started buying all the stuff I laid out. My shopping carts on 6 different websites remained open and my computer on for weeks while I saved up the cash I needed. I finally ordered it all but adjustments needed to be made. I ran into some issues. Immediately, I knew the saddle on the bike needed to go. It was uncomfortable beyond belief...$35 additional cash laid out. Then the front rack came in a week after the back rack and fenders due to an ordering problem. No big deal but I'm glad I got it this far away from our ship out date because it turns out it didn't quite fit with the hardware in the package. One trip to the hardware store and a small saw cured that issue. I'll show pics in my blog tomorrow. Long story short, the naked bike is ready to gear up. My gear arrives tomorrow and another blog will be up.

There are a couple things I should warn you not to skimp on! PEDALS!!!! Buy GOOD pedals. I bought economy pedals and both the pedals and cleats are awful. I'll be switching these out before I leave. A saddle is obviously important. It takes a couple rides to get accustomed to one...know if its going to be acceptable before the big ride. DO NOT skimp on clothing....I bought cheap jerseys and they itch and the seams are in terrible spots. I knew there was a reason they were $30... Shorts are the same thing. The difference between my pearl izumis and my falconis is huge...The pearls are fantastic...the falconis are not as fantastic.

So far, this trip has been an eye opener...I cant wait to actually get out there!