state meet qualifying course conversions to state meet

The below numbers are the relationship between the state meet and state qualifying meet courses, expressed as a median. They are based on comparisons of state meet time to the state meet qualifier time of every finisher from each section from 2005 - 2010. The information in bold is the ratio for each course resulting from the 2011 state meet. 

Crystal Springs (C.C.S., used 2005, 2007, 2009) historically ran 2.9% faster than the state meet. In 2011 it ran true to form at 2.83% faster.
Woodward Park (C.S.) historically ran 0.9% slower than the state meet. In 2011 it ran true to form at 0.88% slower.
Pierce College (l.A.C.S.) historically ran 4.2% faster than the state meet. In 2011 it ran much slower at only 2.83% faster.
Hayward (N.C.S.) historically ran 2.6% faster than the state meet. In 2011 it ran much faster at 3.51% faster.
West Valley (N.S.) historically ran 0.3% faster than the state meet. In 2011 it ran relatively faster at 0.79% faster.
Joaquin Miller Park (O.C.S.) historically ran 12.0% slower than the state meet. In 2011 it ran relatively faster at 11.39% slower.
Morley Field (S.D.S., boys) historically ran 3.4% slower than the state meet. In 2011 it ran much faster at only 1.98% slower.
Morley Field (S.D.S., girls) historically ran 11.2% faster than the state meet. In 2011 it ran much faster at 13.03% faster.
Golden Gate Park (S.F.C.S.) historically ran 3.1% slower than the state meet. In 2011 it ran much slower at 4.32% slower. 
Willow Hills (S.J.S.) historically ran 3.9% slower than the state meet. In 2011 it ran much faster at only 1.25% slower.
Mount San Antonio College (S.S., n.i. 2010 due to rain course) historically ran 1.5% faster than the state meet. In 2011 it ran much faster at 2.24% faster.

2 state qualifier courses ran much slower (l.A.C.S., S.F.C.S.)
2 state qualifier courses ran true to form (C.C.S., C.S.)
2 state qualifier courses ran relatively faster (N.S., O.C.S.)
4 state qualifier courses ran much faster (N.C.S., S.D.S., S.J.S., S.S.)


The state meet results were not nearly as fast as historical norms suggested they would be. The most obvious explanation for this is the relative warmth as the day progressed. Below shows the race-time temperature for each race (according to wunderground.com; temperatures are for Fresno) and the factor by which each race was off of historical norms. The d. 4 girls and d. 5 girls results seem to bear this out. Even in the ideal conditions for d. 4 boys, d. 5 boys d. 1 girls, and d. 2 boys, though, performances were off by between 0:09/runner & 0:15/runner. It is also important to note that, according to runworks.com, temperatures at or below 16° are not considered a hindrance to performance in the 5km. A race at 17° would be slower by 0.3%.


d. 4 g.: 0:02 faster/runner, race temperature: 07°
d. 5 g.: 0:03 faster/runner, race temperature: 07°
d. 4 b.: 0:12 slower/runner, race temperature: 08°
d. 5 b.: 0:11 slower/runner, race temperature: 09°
d. 1 g.: 0:09 slower/runner, race temperature: 10°
d. 2 b.: 0:15 slower/runner, race temperature: 12°
d. 3 g.: 0:09 slower/runner, race temperature: 14°
d. 1 b.: 0:15 slower/runner, race temperature: 15°
d. 2 g.: 0:26 slower/runner, race temperature: 16°
d. 3 b.: 0:16 slower/runner, race temperature: 17°

review: Token saddlepost clamp

Between 2011 July and 2011 September, my partner and I did a 3 300km bicycle tour of southern France. The below is a review of a product that we used during that tour.

Token is a sort of middle-end broker of fairly lightweight parts.  They occasionally have a very light item such as this saddlepost clamp, which weighs 8g. Unfortunately, middle-end quality is not compatible with exceptionally light parts. The manufacturer's sense of 31,8mm is far different from the SI standard -- more like 32,5mm. I had to use four layers of aluminum can to get this clamp to work. I snapped the head off of the titanium bolt before getting this far, though (which prompted me to buy a torque wrench; this bolt is supposed to be tightened to no more than a measly 5Nm). Titanium bolts will stretch and stretch until they snap. Lesson learned. 

The threading on this clamp is not typical of bicycles, so I replaced the ti bolt with whatever I could find. Which was a Phillips-head screw that, like all Phillips-head screws, soon stripped at the head. I took an extra (23g) clamp with me to France in case I wouldn't be able to re-tighten this clamp sufficiently when we re-assembled our bikes at the airport. It became immediately clear that this would be the case. I put on the old clamp and sent the Token back to the US. 

My girlfriend's bike has the silver version of this clamp. I put a steel bolt on hers. I hadn't shimmed it enough, though, so on bumpy ground her post slipped. 

By the time one is done shimming this clamp and putting in a steel screw or bolt, it weighs 13g. I doubt 5Nm is enough to hold a saddlepost that is used on anything but smooth asphalt. There are other clamps in the 8g - 11g range, such as those by ExtraLite and KCNC, that work without shims and with bolts able to handle higher loads. I would spend a few more dollars to get one of those clamps in future.

review: paper towel (rag)

Between 2011 July and 2011 September, my partner and I did a 3 300km bicycle tour of southern France. The below is a review of a product that we used during that tour.

This may be the most valuable item I didn't think to bring with me. I got this one from a public library bathroom on the Atlantic coast. They wouldn't let us use the internet so I stole this crummy paper towel instead. Taught them a lesson.

I used this for cleaning all manner of things related to the bicycle, from the chain to the brake tracks to the frame. At this late date it's a collection of shredded paper held together by will power and bicycle grease, but it still was great to have even in its degraded condition. In future I would probably hit up a paper towel dispenser at the airport before heading out, then replace as needed. This towel lasted over 35 days through some hard usage, so it wouldn't take more than a 25cm by 20cm piece of towel to go a long way. As it is, the towel won't register on my scale, just the sort of item I like in my chargement. 

review: CatEye Strada RD100W bicycle computer

Between 2011 July and 2011 September, my partner and I did a 3 300km bicycle tour of southern France. The below is a review of a product that we used during that tour.

Just about every account of cycletourists refers to the value of having a bicycle computer, particularly for the assistance it renders as a navigation tool. I bought into the hype. I found the lightest computer I could find, the CatEye Strada RD100W (37g).

It was good to have the time readily available and fun to have our top speed and to be able to track our daily distance. As suggested by others, we used the computers as a navigation tool. But then it rained and they began to work only intermittently. Then they finally stopped working altogether. We sent them back to the US in the hopes that they would dry out and be usable by the time we returned. One recovered and one did not. A non-weather-resistant bicycle computer isn't much use, though, so I put the one that recovered on the bicycle of a fair-weather cyclist who won't face this limitation.

When the computers stopped working, I was concerned that we would have difficulty with navigation but the French, no doubt following the example of the Romans (whose distance markers still stand here and there along the roads), have a thorough route infrastructure. With the exception of C roads (uncommon) and Z roads (rare), nearly every kilometer of every road we traveled on was marked in some recognizable fashion. Some included a smorgasborg of information (the basics + elevation, percent grade, distance to next town, distance from last town), others were simply a white number on the road. Even in barest form, these markers were more useful as navigation guides than our computers had been.

Once we decided to dismount the computers, we got to each lose a free 37g off of our bikes with no loss in functionality. Bravo!

review: primary clothing

my daily getty-up, here pulling recycling duty in Carcasonne

Between 2011 July and 2011 September, my partner and I did a 3 300km bicycle tour of southern France. The below is a review of products that we used during that tour.

Vivo Barefoot Ultra shoes. 28cm; 215g

Castelli Rosso Corsa Endurance shorts. medium; 145g

Nike N.E.T. tennis shorts. large; 161g

Castelli Rosso Corsa UltraLeggera jersey. large; 96g

Castelli Rosso Corsa gloves. large; 33g

Giro ProLight helmet [no longer made]. large; 195g


I had one set of clothing that I used daily. Gross as this sounds, it worked very well so long as I kept on top of the washing routine. Given the de-luxe accomodation at French campgrounds, this was easy to do. Two items, the over-shorts and shoes, were not designed for cycling. The bicycle-specific items were all in the ultra-light category.

The Vivo Barefoot Ultra shoes were the least cycling-appropriate item in my kit. They lack the sole quality that makes a cycling shoe -- stiffness. The attraction for me of the Ultras was their weight and the flexibility they afforded me. At 215g for the pair, they are 50% of the weight of the typical road racing shoe and 30% of the weight of cycling shoes. Despite heavier platform pedals -- 25g heavier than my clipless pedals -- I saved an aggregate 570g by using these shoes (this includes an additional 50g savings from not having to carry the jury-rigged flip-flops I had planned to bring)

The whole shoe is made from ethylene vinyl acetate, the mid-sole material of nearly every running shoe made since c'a 1980. By the middle of the first training ride, my satanic pedals had wormed into a corner of the outsole (see photo). But that's where it stopped. For the thousands of kilometers left in the trip, the pedal barely made any more impact on the outsole. I wore these any time I was outside of the tent, in the rain and cold, in the shower, through dessicating heat, on training runs (a grand total of four for the whole trip, but still....), up and down every mountain. They were far less efficient on the bike than a stiff-soled shoe, no doubt, but they left a bitchin' tan on my foot (see below) and they were truly an all-in-one shoe.

The Nike N.E.T. shorts were a last-second find. I needed something with secure pockets so that I could house my passport and debit card on my person. Mountain bike shorts are heavy (350g) & iRule, a New Zealand company that makes a pocketed bike short, failed to respond to my inquiries. Because I thought I could find a pocketed rip-stop nylon short in the 100g range, I didn't pursue purchasing the obvious option -- Bellwether UltraLight shorts (270g). Pocketed rip-stop nylon shorts don't seem to exist. All I could find was a pair of tennis shorts weighing 161g. Though I was disappointed in the weight, they are what I found on short notice. Outside of showers and clothes washing (in which case I wore my rain gear -- and that's it), I wore these every minute of the trip, from the plane ride over to the plane ride back. They had hundreds of hours of direct saddle time, but only a few seams came out. These shorts don't have a 2nd zippable pocket, which would have been nice, but the front pockets were deep and airy. The shorts dried quickly. In future I will custom make a pair of shorts out of ultra-lite rip-stop.

Castelli Rosso Corsa gear is very light and ridiculously expensive. I found deals on these items, though, so it was only expensive.

I've had the Rosso Corsa shorts for years. They are indescribably tough. I've had three major accidents -- each of which shredded the other clothes I was wearing and which eventually destroyed my helmet and left shoulder -- but they have survived without so much as abrasion to show for it. A bit disappointing. Where's the war story in that? More important than that, they are comfortable, even on my minimalist saddle. Light, too (145g).

The R.C. jersey is basically crepe paper. One of my major accidents was on this shirt. It is sufficient to say that they are not as tough as the shorts (see photo above right). To its great credit, any day we rode our bikes, I wore this shirt, yet the areas of abrasion never got worse. The shirt is so light that the rear pockets are good only for 50g each; more than that and they sag. Still, they can each hold a micro-pump or a small energy bar.

The R.C. gloves were solely to protect my hands. I did not mean to advertise for Cervelo. Not being a road biker, I thought that that gargantuan "e" was just a cool graphic design. But, no, when we got to the Tour de France we saw it everywhere -- it's a billboard. Shoot. Nonetheless, these gloves functioned as I hoped. They are super light (33g) and have no padding beyond that provided by the material, which is how I prefer it. One major accident was on these, too. The nylon upper shredded, but, as with the jersey, the tears did not get worse. Except, near the end, a 4mm by 1mm tear force marched across the whole top of the glove. It was easy to repair, but not until I got back (see photo above left for my Ma's brilliant repair job).

The ProLight helmet is a wonder. It ventilates exceptionally well and is very light. My previous helmet, a Giro Monza, weighed 270g. After 2h in the saddle that helmet's weight caused my neck to ache. After three -- no, five -- major accidents on the Monza, it was finally destroyed. I replaced it with the ProLight to see if it would help with the neck pain. Mission accomplished. Really.

review: ZPacks Zero cuben fiber 24 liter backpack

Between 2011 July and 2011 September, my partner and I did a 3 300km bicycle tour of southern France. The below is a review of products that we used during that tour.

Using a backpack is, for most cyclotourists, a prima facie bad idea. The accounts of those who have tried, including my partner, end with the tourer buying panniers at the earliest opportunity. After several long training rides with a light pack, though, I decided to give it a go, but only so long as I could keep the weight of my base gear below 4kg. After repeated applications of an increasingly deep scalpel, the total weight of my gear (including the backpack itself) was 3,15kg.  I usually had 300g of food with me and, on a day above 300° K, an additional 2kg in water (on cooler days I carried 1,5 liters). So long as the base weight + food & water added up to less than 6kg, I could go all day without discomfort. Besides the light weight, using a backpack enabled me to enjoy a bicycle without changed steering or climbing characteristics.

The ZPacks Zero backpack is made from 50g/square meter cuben fiber. I had the company add a water sleeve and shock cord lashing and reduce the size a bit (see below). The total weight was 95g. The water sleeve was great to have despite the additional 9g. My 2,5 liter bag was a tight fit when I put over 2 liters in it, but with enough patience I could always squeeze it in. I eventually sent the shock cord back to the US -- I rarely used it. Unfortunately, I didn't think to seam seal my pack before I left, so it was nearly useless in a hard rain. The straps were on-the-fly adjustable and the padding was excellent. I didn't have ZPacks add any support straps

Though it is not such a fan of chafing, cuben fiber, a polyethylene filament buttressed by cross fibers of other esters (Kevlar, Vectran, Zylon, carbon), is very tough. This is the material of choice for the weight weenie with an unlimited budget, a limited conscience (who knows the environmental consequences of a material like this?), and/or a need to save his/her back from undue stress. I prefer to think myself in the latter-most category but the middle-most is more like it. Certainly not the former-most. Cuben fiber is water proof (but needs to be seam sealed) and not breathable. This made for a sweaty back, but even my ultra-breathable REI Stoke backpack, which has a breathless combination of breathable design and material, isn't much better.

I requested that ZPacks make the pack a bit less tall than the standard model. This was to avoid the backpack hitting the back of my helmet, an annoyance similar in effect to severe tooth pain or kidney stones, and because I did not need the extra room. Still, this pack held 24 liters, of which I used 16 liters for base gear. Even with 2 liters of water and a liter of food I had plenty of room left over. The material color I chose -- white -- was actually semi-translucent. This made finding gear much easier. And it made the backpack a hot-house. Any meltables melted. No chocolate in this bag!

ZPacks was a champ to deal with. They customized the pack and, when the seamstress made a small error, offered to make another one. I felt guilty enough as it was using cuben fiber, so I told them not to bother and, anyway, I have yet to find the error. Whatever the error, it certainly didn't affect the functioning or look of the pack.

At no extra charge and despite it being my fault, ZPacks expedited shipping so that it would arrive before we flew out. It arrived the day before we jetted off, which could have been disastrous if my little experiment with touring by back-pack hadn't worked. It did work, though, and the incredibly light weight of cuben fiber coupled with the flexibility and excellent workmanship of ZPacks made it so.

review: back-up clothing

Between 2011 July and 2011 September, my partner and I did a 3 300km bicycle tour of southern France. The below is a review of products that we used during that tour.

Patagonia Capilene 1 long-sleeve shirt. Size small; 142g

Patagonia Capilene 1 long-johns. Size large; 145g

WrightSock CoolMesh socks. Size large; 29g

ExOfficio Trip'r short-sleeve shirt. Size small; 138g

RainShield O2 rain pants. Size medium; 115g

RainShield O2 rain jacket. Size large; 141g

Sheila Moon insulated Dri-Fit cycling cap. Size medium; 37g

total: 747g

I had a basic daily costume: bicycle shorts, pocketed over-shorts, bicycle jersey, bicycle gloves, shoes and helmet. If it was cold, I added the Capilene 1 long-sleeve. If it was colder, I also wore the rain jacket.
Only if it was raining hard would I put on the rain jacket and rain pants and cycling cap. I never wore the socks, short-sleeve shirt, mittens or long johns except to keep warm at night.

The primary purpose of the ExOfficio shirt was to have something to relax in after cycling or on days off. It was breathable, light, and comfortable. In a pinch (see below), it added a welcome layer of insulation.

The Capilene 1 gear is very light, compact, comfortable and barely sufficient for staying warm. If you are prone to cold, get Capilene 2 or its equivalent.

The RainShield gear breathes better than any rain gear I've had and it kept me dry in several bouts of sustained, harsh wet weather. Its drawback is tear resistance, particularly at the seams. As with any tear, getting on top of it quickly goes a long way to minimizing damage. A little duct tape did the trick in stanching the damage. When I lost my duct tape, tears went untreated and they steadily worsened (for the worst of the (later repaired) damage, see left photo). Despite this, the gear did not spring any leaks.

Though I only rarely used the pants on the bike, I began to wear my over-shorts over them to save the seams. I looked like a fashion-challenged US'er (no small deal in France!), but it lessened wear. Though the pants fit me fairly well, the leg bottoms must have dragged a bit; they show damage (see right photo).

I could have found lighter socks, I think, but these were the lightest in my collection, even lighter than any of my racing socks. The double layering of these socks makes them great insulators. I only used them on cool nights and never wore them outside of the tent. My feet did not get cold regardless of how cold the rest of me was. Not bad!

The cycling cap was a disappointment in the rain, a wonder in the sack. I somehow expected that the tiny bill would protect my glasses from rain and road spray. I somehow expected that it would keep me warm and dry even in the rain. I somehow expected that it would only rain when it was cold. Ha, ha and ha. The hat kept me warm at night, nearly always to excess. The problem was on the road. It offered little protection from water, it was too warm for most rain storms and, when it got wet on rainy mountain days, it would cause a chill. In future, I will take a water-proof cap and an insulated cap. More weight, perhaps, but this system was unworkable. Unfortunately, I lost this hat around day 50. I missed it on cold nights, even resorting to breaking a taboo: borrowing gear -- a Castelli Risvolto hat -- from my partner.

Basically I was carrying 747g of back-up gear, mostly there to keep me warm at night if the temperature dipped below 280° K or so (8° C). If that was the case, I put everything on, including the socks, the mittens and, if it was dry, my towel. All of this did the trick down to 275° K or so. Below that it was going to be a cold night. With two exceptions, I stayed warm and, more typically, shed layers as the night went on.

review: HCC Medical Insurance Services travel insurance

Between 2011 July and 2011 September, my partner and I did a 3 300km bicycle tour of southern France. The below is a review of a product that we used during that tour.

As with the insurance industry in general, the travel insurance industry is pock-marked with charlatans, obfuscations and lies. Possibly more so, if that is possible. But I was losing my health insurance, such as it was, and my partner had only crappy insurance she paid for herself. So I went to insuremytrip.com and used their handy finder tool to assist me in hoping for the best. I have only slight faith that the insurance would have been of any use if I needed it, but I'm always happy to play the test case to hold an insurance company's toes to the fire.

We decided on Atlas International, some division or other of HCC Medical Insurance Services. Note that this is not Atlas Travel Insurance, which is most definitely a company of charlatans, obfuscations and lies. For 220USD each, Atlas International guaranteed 1 000 000USD for medical (including dental), 5 000USD for interrupted travel, 500 000USD evacuation, 0USD deductible, 50 000USD accidental death, 15 000USD pre-existing.

I never got to find out how slippery Atlas International is so I can't complain or commend. May all travelers be so lucky.

review: SKS tire levers

Between 2011 July and 2011 September, my partner and I did a 3 300km bicycle tour of southern France. The below is a review of a product that we used during that tour.

The day my front tube split down the middle, it was already on its third flat for the day. I had brought along a couple of levers from the Pedro's ICM tool I have. They were compact and light. And they didn't work for crap. The 2nd flat for the day was actually caused by one of the levers pinching the tube while I levered it back on. OK. My fault. But the lever design wasn't helping anything. 

When that tube failed, it caused a cascade of events that delayed us for two days. I had sent my back-up tube to the US a few days before my tube split. To save weight and space.  In a rural place. Hahahaha. So we had to wait for a bus from the place of the flat, Chaudes-Aigues, to the place of the new tube, Saint Flour. There, at Cantal Cycles, I got a new tube and the SKS levers. The levers are slim, light (21g) and they have a clever mold that keeps them together. And they work magnificently. 

What Aesop would say: it's great to save weight and space and all, but take stuff that works. 

review: Lezyne CRV-20 multi-tool

Between 2011 July and 2011 September, my partner and I did a 3 300km bicycle tour of southern France. The below is a review of a product that we used during that tour.

All multi-tools have tools that I do not use, particularly Torx and box wrenches. They are also often over-built and suffer from poorly designed chain tools and spoke wrenches. The Lezyne CRV-20 has only one completelyuseless tool (a Torx t25), a couple of mostly useless tools (the 10mm box wrench/bottle opener and 8mm box wrench/something or other (I would remove this tool in future)), is missing only one important tool (tire levers), has an excellent chain tool and it has spoke wrenches almost as good as the Park SW series.

The CRV-20 has two killer apps: a 6cm-long bread knife blade and light weight. The knife was great because it allowed me to cut bread, fruit and vegetables while we traveled. Watch out for it, though. While fixing a chain on a training ride before our tour, the knife made a nice, deep gash in my finger. My own fault (I hadn't put a sheath on the knife yet), but watch out. It's sharp. After I removed the Torx t25 (and sold it for a tidy sum on eBay), the tool weighed an incredibly light 155g. Including the two tire levers (21g), all of the tools I carried with me weighed a feathery 176g.

review: Targus DefCon lap-top locks

Between 2011 July and 2011 September, my partner and I did a 3 300km bicycle tour of southern France. The below is a review of a product that we used during that tour.

The typical u-lock weighs around 1 300g. A typical 10mm cable lock weighs around 600g. The former slows down a knowledgeable thief by a minute or two, the latter by a few seconds. Almost any lock will stop the casual "thief of opportunity," the jack-ass who steals a bicycle because it's unlocked. In my search for a viable locking mechanism, I stopped looking for strength in favor of a lock that would produce noise, and lots of it. At first blush, lap-top locks, which have 1,5mm - 3mm cables, seem to provide almost no protection. If the cable is cut or if they are jostled, though, all hell breaks loose. My lock gives a warning beep after 4-seconds of movement. At 8-seconds it will scream out 95 deciBells of the things thieves hate most -- noise and attention. My partner's DefCon did the same, but hers went to 11 (Bells).

Though they both weighed around 165g, my DefCon 1 Ultra was different in important ways from my partner's DefCon 1. The Ultra has four permutations, the 1 has three; the Ultra has a 90cm long cable, the 1's is 120cm; the Ultra has a 2,4mm thick cable, the 1's is 1,8mm. The volume of noise was also significantly greater in the 1.

I preferred the 1 to the Ultra. Having a 120cm long cable allows one to lock the front wheel to the frame and to the object being locked to. In order to spool the 120cm of cable in the same size container as the Ultra, it has to be thinner, but this is not a draw back. The cable isn't so much about resistance to cutters as it is about deterrence. The greater volume of the 1 is something I prefer. The only deficiency of the 1 is the number of permutations. These locks are notoriously easy to pick, so anything to add jostling time (which triggers the alarm) to the would-be thief's efforts is important.

Though this lock is an excellent way to provide security without a weight penalty while touring, our locks had trouble. The primary trouble is that they are not weather-proof, particularly the Ultra, so a night or two in the rain and my alarm stopped working. The locking mechanism still worked, and the light still blinked, but that is small solace when the primary deterrent stops functioning. My partner's lock continued to work, but at least once gave off false alarms -- we had the bicycle in view and the lock went off. We thought it might be the wind jostling it, but that proved incorrect. It now works again, but it is troubling that it inexplicably stopped working properly.

review: plastic bags

Between 2011 July and 2011 September, my partner and I did a 3 300km bicycle tour of southern France. The below is a review of products that we used during that tour.

Finding loose items in a back pack is a slow process. Unless you get extra lucky, it involves taking the big items out and rummaging around for the item. If it's dark it's better to wait until morning. I say this even though I have a semi-translucent back-pack. If your backpack is opaque, be ready to take everything out.

This problem could be, and often is, solved with internal pockets. These add substantial weight, though, and you still can't take the items out as a unit. My partner bought small, thin Zip-Loc-type bags for a project she was working on. I shamelessly stole four of them, one for my medications, one for bicycle tools, one for toiletries and one for the camera charger and converter. I then got a larger, stronger Zip-Loc bag to carry the small bags. 

In the mad rush of moving from our apartment before we left, we had some food left over. We took the perishables with us to eat on the plane. One of the items was bread. I intended to recycle the bag, which had contained Whole Foods Snappy Sourdough, upon landing, but the French government recycling program is honest: don't waste our time -- plastic bags are not recyclable. I ended up using this bag to the end. I used the bag as a 2nd barrier to food containers in case they leaked. It was a stalwart, tough and trustworthy to the end. 

The small bags were ultimately prone to tears. In the photo above, the bag with the most duct tape was the tools bag. No surprise there. Once I lost my mini-roll of duct tape, I had no way to repair the bags, so the last 30 or so days were stark examples of entropy. Still, they lived through hundreds of pullings and yankings. For the bag that held medications, I glued prescriptions to the inside in case customs officials arched any eyebrows (none did). 

After I failed to fully close my medication bag one fine rainy day, something that essentially ruined the medication, I kept an additional plastic bag that I somehow came across (probably from a boulangerie; the French are great about putting bread into paper, but occasionally...). This kept my medications dry, though it was too late to do any good. 

In all, the bags added 24g to my chargement. I'm not one to say "it was worth the extra weight," but it was worth the extra weight.  

review: books

Between 2011 July and 2011 September, my partner and I did a 3 300km bicycle tour of southern France. The below is a review of a product that we used during that tour.

One can only cycle so many hours in a day. Searching for accommodation and food can take up a couple of hours. Planning the next day's route can soak up some time. One can't afford to read after dark -- battery power is too precious. But there's still down time, particularly in early summer when it is light enough to read until well after 90% of the day is complete (21:36). 

I had impulsively purchased a book at the San Francisco International Airport (Gwynne, Samuel. Empire of the Summer Moon. New York: Simon, 2011). I soaked up as much as I could on the flight but did not finish it. Despite its 400g and 700ml, I decided to take it with me. I quickly finished a first read, then soaked it up again. It had a relevance to our travels -- an important sub-story in the book is the tension between cultural understanding and survival (the decimation of Comanche life ways v. the brutality of the Comanche life ways). This was something not remotely so stark in our travels in France, but we were faced with a version of it every time I opened my mouth. 

Given my focus on saving weight, I have trouble explaining why I carried it around so long. I even lugged it up the cols in the Alps. It got wet more than once, making it even heavier and more voluminous. It occupied my mind and made me think, I guess, but 400g is no small price to pay for such luxuries. I eventually left it at the hostel in Le Puy en Velay. 

By Capbreton 20 days later, I decided life on the road sans a book was more than I could handle. I knew the weight penalty, though, so I looked for something light and compact. I also looked for something in French. I figured my need for entertainment would overcome any aversion to challenging myself. I found a series of books called "Les Essentiels Milan." These are slim, high-interest, low reading-level soft cover mini-books. Perfect for me. Rather than choose weighty issues like L'Afghanistan, Otage de l'Histoire or L'Anarchie, Une Histoire de Revoltes, I chose lighter fare (Ferre, Jean Luc. Le Tour de France: Un Siecle de Legendes. Liguage, France: Aubin, 2003). Mine weighed 79g and took up only 100ml. I struggled my way through once, then a 2nd time with dictionary in hand so I could actually understand what I was reading. It might have been more appropriate to have this book while we were watching the Tour, but it was still entertaining to read about the Tour's history. 

In future, I will not have to worry about taking a book. I will have a wi-fi enabled electronic device with a camera, mapping and dictionary software and pre-loaded e-books. 

review: Light My Fire 10ml spoon/fork/knife

Between 2011 July and 2011 September, my partner and I did a 3 300km bicycle tour of southern France. The below is a review of a product that we used during that tour.

Lexan is one of those unbreakable materials. Except it's not. Both my partner and I took at Light My Fire spoon/fork/knife (LMF s/f/k). She lost hers around 65 days into the trip, I broke mine the next day. This seemingly unfortunate double whammy was actually good: we could eat non-spoon-essential items at the same time. I don't know why mine broke. Presumably it got smooshed or took a sharp hit, but I don't remember anything of that sort. One day I was slurping away with it, the next it had a broken neck. 

This thing's first function -- light weight -- is top of the line: 10g. That is as light as it gets for an s/f/k. The other functions vary in utility, depending on personal preference. 

Spoon: the spoon holds 10ml of liquid. It will hold as much as 20ml of solids. This is close to being enough for a good size bite, but my big mouth prefers 15ml spoons for just about everything, so 10ml was a mildly frustrating size.  

Fork: The fork tines work well enough. They're a bit wide, but I think this is necessary to buttress them from the forces forks must survive. Their width had no particular consequence other than making the fork a little clumsier to use.

Knife: I generally used the bread knife on my multi-tool for cutting, but occasionally I used the serrated edge of the LMF. I had read that this edge is a weak spot of the LMF s/f/k, so I took care. It worked surprisingly well. I was using it more and more before the neck snapped. I continued to use it, but with an example of the limits of Lexan, I was more circumspect. 

In future, I might swallow the extra 7g and get the titanium version of this s/f/k. I still have two more Lexan models, though, so perhaps it will never come to that.

review: dictionary

Between 2011 July and 2011 September, my partner and I did a 3 300km bicycle tour of southern France. The below is a review of a product that we used during that tour.

Henri-Cousin, Pierre. Collins Gem French-English/English-French Dictionary. London: Collins Gem, 1980.  Though this guy has "over 50 000 references," you're not going to find "e-mail" (courriel, in case you're wondering) or friend used as a verb. The paper they used in this dictionary would be best measured in micrometers, but I have never ripped a page on it. This paper makes it very light (141g) and compact (210ml), though I would prefer 30 000 references and less weight and volume. The thin paper also makes it difficult to peruse with any speed. It is not the dictionary you want if you will be scrambling for words mid-conversation.

I've had this dictionary since 7th grade French, way back in 1983. The binding was already partially separated when we left, a problem that worsened as the vicissitudes of being in a rear pocket took their toll. When the binding completely separated 20 or so days into the trip, I repaired it using the duct tape in my kit. From there it held without complaint.

This trip was probably the last act for this dictionary. In future I will save weight and space by having a wi-fi enabled electronic device that will have a camera and mapping and dictionary software, probably with even more references than this dictionary and that will be quicker to access, mid-conversation or no.

review: LightLoad 30cm by 60cm towel

Between 2011 July and 2011 September, my partner and I did a 3 300km bicycle tour of southern France. The below is a review of a product that we used during that tour.

LightLoad towels are out of the box engineering. Besides being very light (15g for the 30cm by 60cm version I had with me, though by the end it somehow weighed 19g), it was compact and dried very quickly, even in wet conditions. I used my towel nearly every day of our 76 day tour. It took on all sorts of shapes and it quickly looked like hell (see photo above, taken in front of my window after we returned), but it dried my body when I needed it to, was an excellent extra layer of insulation on cold nights, acted as a mop more than once, and it would have served as fire starter, bandanna or "tampon" (French for band-aid, among other things) had I needed it to. As bad as the towel looks, I will keep this towel for future camping use.

My Summer Vacation

Between 2011 July and 2011 September, my partner and I did a 3 300km bicycle tour of southern France. The below is a review of a product that we used during that tour.

Though the impetus for our tour of southern France was to watch the Alpesian stages of the Tour de France and to see as much of France as we could in the preceding and following days, this tour was also an experiment. For no other reason than aesthetics, I wanted the lightest and most compact set-up I could afford.

Because I made many of my decisions in the final days before we left, what I came up with was mostly untested when we arrived in Lyon. I had never set up the tent, much less seen if two people could sleep in it. I had never used the sleeping bag outdoors. Much of the clothing was so untested that I didn't know its temperature limits. Other vital items I had barely taken out of their packaging, including the pump, multi-tool, towel, tail light, and chain oil (among others). The rain gear was still in the package. Even my back-pack, the thing I would interact with every second of my rides, arrived only the day before we left.

There were a few things that I brought that I didn't need, including a bicycle computer, water purifying tablets (too many) and an extra towel. Though my partner generally went along with my choices, even those that would affect her (namely the tent), she put her foot down on one item -- a camera. I did not want to carry the 120g for the camera, the 70g for the charger and the 45g for the adapter, nor did I want to take up the extra 500ml. This didn't garner me any sympathy. Something about memories and sharing with others. We split the difference -- I carried the charger and adapter, she carried the camera.

My partner also carried items I had planned to carry. Maps. I have no patience for getting lost, so she took them from my control. Wise move, but unfair to her. This added up to over 200g at times, though we sent maps back to the US as soon as we were done with them. Note that the plasticized, water-resistant 1,5km:1cm Michelin maps, which are very hardy, weigh 95g; the old 2cm:1km paper maps weigh 85g (sometimes 45g for smaller ones) but tear easily at the folds. Also, the plasticized maps do not fold as compactly.

My partner also carried the Gossamer Gear ground sheet. This was fairly heavy (77g), though compact (250ml). My big plan to triple my sleeping pad as a ground sheet, bike fender and pad was unworkable and downright stupid. She recognized this and quietly got the sheet anyway. Despite my best attempts, she insisted on carrying it. In future I would carry Gossamer Gear's smaller sheet (2,5 square meters v. 4,5 square meters), which is advertised at 46g. Despite a couple of tears from stiff stalks and rocks, these sheets are durable and keep one dry in even terrible conditions.

My base gear clothing kit included one Sheila Moon brimmed beanie hat (37g), one non-cycling Ex Officio short sleeve shirt (135g), one long-sleeved Patagonia Capilene 1 shirt (135g), one RainShield o2 rain jacket (140g), one pair of mittens (51g), one pair of Patagonia Capilene 1 long-johns (141g), one pair of Rainshield o2 rain pants (114g) and one pair of micro-fiber Wright Sock socks (29g). Besides the Ex Officio shirt, which was for leisure and cold nights, these 782g of clothes were my back-up plan.

My non-base gear clothing kit -- that is to say the clothing that I wore -- was also light. I had a Giro Prolight helmet (195g), Castelli Rosso Corsa shorts (145g), gloves (33g) and Ultraleggera jersey (96g), a pair of Nike tennis shorts (175g), and a pair of Vivo Barefoot shoes (215g). I washed the cycling shorts & jersey every couple of days (it's not as gross as it sounds), the rest every 15 days or so. All told, this added up to 859g on my body.

review: Western Mountaineering Highlite sleeping bag

Between 2011 July and 2011 September, my partner and I did a 3 300km bicycle tour of southern France. The below is a review of a product that we used during that tour.

I bought this sleeping bag used even though, I later discovered, I lived 250m from the (very) small WM manufacturing plant in San Jose. A new bag was out of my price range, though these bags are so hard to find that buying them used for less than 200USD takes patience. I also evidently have a very flexible definition of vegan. I somehow justified buying the bag, which is filled with the down of birds killed for their meat and feathers, by buying it used.

This bag is the 200cm model, which is their largest one. It is listed as 485g, which is within 2g of the starting actual weight (487g). A rare happenstance or, perhaps, Western Mountaineering is honest. By the time the trip was over, the bag weighed 504g. This may well be disgusting -- perhaps the weight is from accumulated dirt and grime. The stuff sack that accompanies the bag is fairly heavy (35g). I came across a lighter Equinox Cordura sack (19,2g) that held substantially more volume (up to 9 liters when I stuffed the crap out of it; see photo to right to see the crap stuffed out of it). I was able to stuff all of my  clothing into the bag, even on days on which I wore only my bike shorts and shirt, which saved me a lot of hassle and space. It also made for an excellent pillow with the clothes stuffed into it (with a shirt over it as a pillow cover, which made it much more comfortable).

The bag is rated to 275°K (2°C). With several layers of clothing and a thick mattress underneath you this is likely realistic. My 3mm sleeping pad doesn't insulate for crap, though, and I had the bare minimum of clothing. When it was chilly, I simply wore every bit of clothing in my bag. When the temperature dipped below 280°K, I was in for a night of fitful sleep. This happened only three times (the coldest temperature we experienced was 277°K), so for summer applications I give this bag a high rating. My partner had the same bag (in the 180cm size; it also weighed as advertised -- 455g), but she had a Therma-Rest, heavier-duty clothing and, most importantly, a Cocoon silk liner (110g), which is advertised to add 4°K to a bag's temperature rating. She is much more susceptible to cold, yet the only discomfort she felt the whole trip was being too warm, even on nights while I was being awoken by the chill.

review: PlastaZote EVA sleeping pad

Between 2011 July and 2011 September, my partner and I did a 3 300km bicycle tour of southern France. The below is a review of a product that we used during that tour. 

This PlastaZote ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) sleeping pad is 180cm by 50cm (I cut it down from 60cm) by 3mm and weighs 47,6g.

One would be fooling oneself to say that this pad adds a lot of comfort or a lot of protection from the chill of terra firma. It provides sufficient padding to get a night of fairly good sleep. If the earth is forgiving, this pad can be very comfortable. If the earth is not forgiving, you're going to wake up a few times through the night to change positions, especially, I suspect, if you're boney like me. This was not due entirely to the pad-- I was also more prone to tossing and turning due to a shoulder injury. When the ground was hard and it wasn't too cold, I could double the pad onto itself, which helped with the hip bone and shoulders significantly.

Because this pad is so light and thin, it will turn into very interesting shapes if you don't anchor it. I struggled with this until I started anchoring it under my "pillow" (my sleeping bag sack stuffed with all of the clothing I wasn't using; on cold nights this could be a bit uncomfortable since I often wore all of my clothing). Once I figured that out it stayed in place. Another consequence of the pad's weight and thickness is that it garnered a few holes over the trip. These holes were nothing I worried about. EVA is resilient and tear-resistant, so the holes were isolated and few.  I think a deer may have even bitten off a bit of the pad while I wasn't looking, too. Deer are odd like that.

What this pad does provide is light weight, portability and lashability. I originally cut this down to 50cm so that it would fit onto my top-tube. This was workable, but only just. I then placed it beneath my saddle, lashed with two velcro straps, including a heavy duty reflective one (12,5g; I decided to bring it only at the last second despite the weight) and a much smaller 2,5g one. This allowed it to double as a fender on rainy days (see photo above). Though EVA is not waterproof, it is water resistant and it dries very quickly. Despite several days of rain, only twice in the 76 days of travel was it too wet to use.

One drawback of EVA is that it is a fairly tenacious odor keeper. The bicycle storage at the Toulouse HI Hostel smells about as bad as something can smell without including dead bodies. This is compounded by humidity, which is so prominent that the air feels wet as you walk through it. I'm from California. I'm not used to this utterly disgusting feeling. I don't know how people survive the summers in humid regions. Truly horrible. Anyway, we came into Toulouse from a hard, rainy day. I forgot to grab the pad before we left the storage area. When we retrieved the bikes two days later, the pad smelled indescribably bad. The smell is no longer immediately apparent on the pad, but I don't make a point of going around taking deep whiffs of the thing either.

EVA sleeping pad: 47,6g
velcro strap (reflective): 12,5g
velcro strap: 2,5g

total: 62,6g

review: Gossamer Gear The One tent

Between 2 011-07 and 2 011-09, my partner and I did a 3 300km bicycle tour of southern France. Between 2 014-05 and 2 014-10, I did a 7 000km bicycle tour of northern Italy, south and east France, north and west Switzerland and north western Spain. The below is a review of a product that I used during those tours. 

With 1,7 square meters of floor space, the Gossamer Gear The One tent is a large one person tent or a very small two person tent. Initially my partner had her own tent, the Gossamer Gear SpinnTwinn tarp. Though the SpinnTwinn was very light (580g including poles and stakes) and slim (around 700ml) and despite my partner's fondness for noting that The One is called that for good reason, we decided to save weight and space by sending it back. We had to sleep in opposite directions and store some items in the vestibule (1,0 square meters) for both of us to be comfortable in The One, but it was well worth the weight savings. For my 2 014 trip, I had more room than I could possibly fill in The One.

One of the best attributes of The One is how quickly the spinnaker cloth dries. A few minutes of warmth and/or direct sun was all it needed. Unfortunately, being a single-walled tent, The One needed to be dried a lot. If I was able to keep the rain fly open overnight, the ceiling would stay dry. If, however, I had to close the rain fly (due to rain or cold), I knew I would wake up to a moist tent. One might even get a few drops now and again.


Throughout the initial stages of the 2 011 trip, the The One sagged, particularly in the rain. Since the ceiling was often dewy on the inside, this made for some uncomfortable nights. A quick look at the set up video revealed our error, though, and the tent never sagged again. Hint: order of operations is important. By day 20 or so I could set up the tent in less than 3 minutes, rain or shine, light or dark.


Stake-based tents are lighter, but they do have drawbacks -- stakes don't always go into the ground and they're easy to lose. Our first campsite of the 2 011 trip had rocky, hard ground, high wind and heavy rain. We ended up bending several of the stakes before getting the tent stabilized, and even then the stakes were in less than 3cm. On a night near the sandy Atlantic coast, we camped "sauvage" on loose soil. The soil was barely compacted enough to hold the stakes. In both cases, though, The One held. With a few other (less dramatic) exceptions, the stakes were not an issue. Another draw-back of stakes is that they're easy to lose. I ended up losing two of the original six. My partner purchased stakes painted yellow. She didn't lose a single one. In fact, if not for my partner's extras, I would have had to buy a new pack of "montant" for 20 Euros. In my 2 014 trip, I only had to resort to trickery once to get the tent staked properly (using rocks). Though at times it was difficult to get stakes in sufficiently, generally I was able to muscle them in enough (wearing a bike glove while pushing them in helps a lot).

Not all stakes are equally capable. To save weight, we purchased titanium stakes. My partner's were a classic hook shape (purchased directly from Gossamer Gear, see left in photo above), mine were a shepard's hook from Quest Outfitters. The simple hook consistently had trouble holding on to the tent. The shepard's hook worked much better, even withstanding several direct hits from yours truly (I forget things like tent stakes stuck in the ground).


Paracord is typically used to hold together poles. I decided to forgo the cord in order to save weight. I seem to remember that it saved 40g or so. This worked better than corded poles for packing because the poles could be packed without regard to the position of the other poles. It was in another way dangerous, though -- I early on lost two of the end-tips out of the four originals. If I had lost one more I would have had to jury-rig something to set up the tent. No camping supply store (of which there are very few in France) had replacements.

In the spirit of multiple use, each morning I put the poles, stakes and end-tips into my mittens, then placed the tent and the mittens in the tent bag (see photo above). On a cold night, of which there were several, I used mittens to keep my toes or tukes warm. The polypropylene mittens I used in 2 011 were one of the only items for which I did not try to save weight. It didn't occur to me. I bought them in 1996 at an Army/Navy store. Army/Navy stores sell things more on the car-hunter vein than the ultralight cycle tourist vein, so I looked for lighter mittens for my 2 014 trip. Z-Packs had just the answer, with a warmer mitten at 60% of the weight.

I also put my 500ml food container in the tent sack. I didn't realize when preparing for travel how important water- and air-tight storage would be. With so few vegan choices, we relied on jam to get us through the day. The glass jam jars were heavy, so I put the contents into a plastic container. The container fit neatly into the top of the tent sack, which allowed ready access.


poles: 105,6g
stakes (7): 46,2g
tent: 481,2g

total: 633,0g

stuff sack: 11,3g
mittens: 32,xg
container: 28,6g

review: KCNC VB-1 brakes & brake levers

Between 2011 July and 2011 September, my partner and I did a 3 300km bicycle tour of southern France. The below is a review of a product that we used during that tour. 

KCNC VB-1 brake levers (47g/pair) and calipers (178g/pair, including pads & all hardware) are about as light as brake components get. One need not even use a noodle, saving a further 8g - 9g. It doesn't take much to stop a light bike and, when their return springs stay in, KCNC VB-1 brake calipers do a fine job of it. The return spring came out a time or two before the trip, but one spring or another began coming out every few hundred km as the trip progressed. Though this is not dangerous -- the de-sprung caliper defaults to the rim -- the drag on the rim is such that one must fix the problem quickly.

Daniel Planas of Planas Velo in Pau came up with a brilliant and ultra-light solution (all told it added a bit over 1g to each caliper set) to this problem. He simply used a zip tie (see photo above) to clamp each spring to its respective caliper. Once Monsieur Planas had done this, the springs were fine for the rest of the trip.

Several thousands of km and 650 days after the trip (and the day before a 3-day tour of the very isolated Big Sur), one of the titanium springs snapped. The solution was simple -- I cut a j-bend 2,0mm titanium spoke to the appropriate length and ground down the flared head; as M'r Planas would say, et voila. A 2,0mm unswaged steel spoke probably'd've worked fine, too, but I assume the titanium is a bit springier.

The brake pads, which are definitely soft and probably light, were already well worn before the trip and had worn out after 2 000km of touring. They lasted longer than I expected -- several thousand kilometers for each. I replaced them with whatever the respective shops had. Older Ritchey pads for the front, cheap-o (XLC or BBB or some such) clod-hopper pads for the rear.