The French Chef

I just called Cas to ask him a couple of questions about his bike and the first question he had for me was: "How are you going to carry the French chef?" He said that he had just reviewed the menu on my blog and he was wondering how I was going to prepare all that food?

It is simple, I heat up a little water and pour it into the foil bag, stir, wait a few minutes, and then eat. After I am done I roll the empty bag tightly and place it in my garbage zip lock bag. The freeze dried food is delicious, has good color and texture, and the clean up is a cinch. Admittedly eating ice cream in the desert for dessert is a little extravagant, but hey dude, its my ride!

Even with shipping my total cost per day is close to $20. I don't think I can do much better than that even if there were lots of places to buy good food. I think I have a better cuisine, and by supplementing with the fruit and vegetables I dehydrated myself I will have good fiber too. I will seek out some salads (Pizza Hut, Wendys, etc) and fresh fruit wherever they can be found, but on the whole I am well prepared. The average weight of 4-5 days of freeze dried food is only 6-7 pounds. Add a few Cliff bars and some powders for rehydration drinks and it is still only about 9-10 pounds.

I am not racing! I am touring. I know the strategies of my ride are the antithesis of other people's strategies on the GDMBR. So what? It is my ride. If someone wants to eat peanut butter and tuna fish sandwiches for two months; go for it. If you don't mind being real hungry for a couple of days at a time, that is fine too. Whatever you decide is okay with me. The main thing is to enjoy your ride. That is my hope for you. Enjoy it. I plan to enjoy my ride too.

Anyway, I called Cas to find out whether he is planning to carry any extra spokes and whether he was using sealant in his tubes. I thought he was using a tubeless front tire and I was not sure about the rear, but it turns out that he is using thorn resistant tubes front and rear without sealant. So I asked him how many tubes and patches he was carrying? He told me he was carrying one tube and thirty patches. I told him that the extra tube and the thirty patches will probably get him through the first morning, but I wonder what he is going to do in the afternoon?





I am running tubeless front and rear. Right now I have at least a dozen fresh thorn holes in each tire. How do I know? Because I can see where the Stan's sealant has stopped each flat. On my morning commute in the dark there is a stretch of trail where it always sounds like I am making popcorn as I ride over dozens of thorns and goatheads. I just ride on with a smile as the Stan's seals each hole instantly. Over the course of a hundred miles I might drop from 40 psi down to 30 psi, which still very rideable.

The problem I have had using tubes is that when the air pressure gets low the sealant either doesn't work and/or you get "snake bite" (pinch) flats. Unless you have a Cannondale "Lefty" (front fork), then you have to pull the wheel off to patch or replace the tube. All I have to do is add a little more sealant from time to time. That is as long as I don't tear a sidewall. I can intentionally run lower pressures to help increase my traction in the sandy/loosey goosey stretches without worrying about pinch flats.





I have been told that there are no cacti above 4,000 feet elevation. I live at 5,500 feet above sea level and there are plenty of cacti. I have run over cacti at 8,000 feet. Let me show you a few pictures of what I am talking about. Then you decide what is best for you.




Thorn resistant!!! Seriously, who writes your jokes?