Brompton Bicycle Touring Gear

I thought I would post a list of the gear I intend to take with me on my upcoming bicycle tour.

Starting in the upper left:

REI quarter dome UL tent
Big Agnes Yampa 40 degree down bag
Thermorest Neoair all season - fits inside the sleeve in the yampa bag
First aid kit in nice gray bag that the REI pack cover came in
Trangia 27-2 UL stove
Sea to summit thermolite reactor sleeping bag liner
denatured alcohol
bug repellent
Sea to summit collapsable pint cup and shot glass
trenching trowel
2 liters of water in nalgene bottles
olive oil, balsamic vinegar and spices
REI Flexlite camping chair
Thermorest medium backpacking pillow
Big Agnes sleeping giant pillow
Backpacking towel
Victorinox Pocket pal
REI stainless steel vacuum covered hot cup
Spyderco Cara cara rescue
Coghlans P-38 GI can opener
Multi tool
Sporks
Head light
Camp suds
Clothes pins

All packed in a Kelty Redwing 44.

Food, clothes packed in a compression bag, a Kelty Noah's tarp, bicycle lights, electronics, bike lock, ipad and kindle, waterproof jacket, rainlegs, Brooks saddle cover, rain covers for touring bag and for back pack, another liter of water and toiletries all are packed in the touring bag.

My Brompton Tool Kit

I thought I'd give you a view of what I carry for tools with my Brompton. Maybe I over do it? I haven't ever had to use any of these, except the larger of the two allen keys to adjust the tilt on the pentaclip for the saddle. The Park tool keys don't really reach well under the saddle. 

spoke tool

chain tool

allen keys (Park AWS-10)

13, 14, 15 and 36 mm spanners

small adjustable wrench

small reversible screwdriver (2 phillips heads, 2 standard heads)

tire levers (plastic unfortunately)

cable ties

puncture kit

Lezyne alloy drive pump

tire gauge

gloves

wrapped up in a rag

All fit in the mesh gear bag. Glasses are for size comparison. This fits in a side pocket of my touring bag or in the small Avenir seat bag.

I built this kit up based on the recommendations of Anatoly Ivanov.

Touring Practice Run

June 5, 2013

My daughter needed some papers. She's living and taking college classes about 5 miles away at Onondaga Community College. I had planned on a a shake out ride with my touring gear, so I strapped it all on and rode up hill to OCC. 

It's a 500 foot climb in less than 5 miles. And everything hung on pretty well during the short ride, although my daughter was less than impressed. 

Six Parks Ride

May 13, 2013

When I was a runner, before some serious injuries moved me to more serious cycling, I used to follow a great route that took me through 3 of the 6 major parks in Syracuse. The parks all sit atop hills around the city so the views and sights are lovely.

I decided to try a similar thing on my Brompton.

And started with Burnet Park located on Tipperary Hill.

A 9 hole golf course sits in this park near the Syracuse Zoo. It's also the site of the Tip Hill Shamrock Run that takes place in February. Everyone loves running the hills. :)

Next was Onondaga Park. You can see that the level of the lake is a little low.

This is a pretty little pool down on the lower section, also known as Kirk Park.

This ride gave me all the best of Syracuse weather - rain, sun, snow, and wind. I often say that if I waited for a nice day in Syracuse, I'd never leave the house.

Then it was up the hill again to the Syracuse University area. This is the Manley Field House, the old home of the Orange. I'm not sure what happened. I know I took a photo by the sign for the rose garden at Thornden Park, but now I can't find it.

Then back up the hill to Lincoln Park. In this photo you can just see the SU dome through the trees.

Just a picture of the sight over the trees to the next park, Sunnycrest.

Henniger High School is connected to Sunnycrest park. It shares the public ice arena, the tennis courts, and the 9 hole golf course. 

Here's a view over the golf course down over the football field and the ice area. No path for cycling up here. Had to push the bike.

Passed a sign for Eastwood, the section of Syracuse I used to live in.

Then arrived at Schiller Park and climbed to the top.

Where I found the statues of Goethe and Schiller.

Then I headed back down the hill and home. :)

I rode 22.3 miles and climbed over 1000 feet.