Mike’s Bikes of Palo Alto has agreed to sponsor this ride by providing major discounts on their gear and building me a discounted rear wheel.

    I have found that the strength of a rear wheel is perhaps the most important component on a touring bike. Many times I have seen spokes break while riding (for instance, this time), and it is probably my least favorite part of bike touring. A wheel’s strength largely depends on the skill of the person building it, not necessarily its components. For instance, I built a rear wheel once, and, well, let’s just say I had to carry lots of extra spokes when riding.
   I have heard very good things about the wheel builder at Mike’s Bikes (the store used to be named ‘Wheelsmith’), and I’m excited to have them build the wheel for this trip.

   I have spent the past few days putting together this web log and picture viewer, and here are the results. If you click on the photos in this log, you will enter the picture viewer (which is powered by Gallery 2). This web log is powered by wordpress, which is open source blogging software.

   As I travel, I will type a journal on my palm pilot and folding keyboard. When I get to internet access (I would guess once every two weeks or so), I will load the semi-daily journal entries to this blog. Once a month, I will write up a bigger summary of events, and I will email that to the email list. (In other words, this semi-daily blog will be for those of you who just can’t get enough). I will also post here all my interactions with schools.

   Anyway, here is the blog! I will do my best to make it enjoyable.

   I approached tarptent for a gear sponsorship because I think that tarptents are the best lightweight weather-proof bug-proof shelter on the market. They weigh no more than 2 pounds, are better ventilated than two walled tents, and handle very well in rain according to a friend of mine who hiked the Appalachian trail in one.

   The designer and owner, Henry Shires, also lives just down the road from me in Redwood City. I stopped by his house today to take a look. He has a new product, the Tarptent Rainbow, which, if you have trekking poles, is a 2lb freestanding tent. He plans to release the product in December or January, but may have an early test version ready for this trip. Otherwise, I will go for the well tested cloudburst.