And they’re off…
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Monthly Archives: April 2013
A framing exercise:
Doctor Spielvogel, it alleviates nothing fixing the blame— blaming is still ailing, of course, of course— but nonetheless, what was it with these Jewish parents, what, that they were able to make us little Jewish boys believe ourselves to be princes on the one hand, unique as unicorns on the one hand, geniuses and brilliant like nobody has ever been brilliant and beautiful before in the history of childhood— saviors and sheer perfection on the one hand, and such bumbling, incompetent, thoughtless, helpless, selfish, evil little shits, little ingrates, on the other!
“But in Europe where—?” he calls after me, as the taxi pulls away from the curb. “I don’t know where,” I call after him, gleefully waving farewell. I am thirty-three, and free at last of my mother and father! For a month.
Gear Porn
Here’s a fairly detailed list of all the gear as of 20130414:
Bicycle
Co-motion Pangea bicycle
Brooks B17 saddle
Tubus racks
Topeak Road Morph tire pump
AxeDefender immobilizer lock
Double-leg kickstand
Shimano SPD pedals
Fenders
MSR 30oz fuel bottle
Water bottle
Son28 Dynamo hub (front)
ToutTerrain Plug II USB inverter (powered by dynamo)
B&M Luxos Headlight (powered by dynamo)
Taillight (battery powered)
several bungees for rear rack
Sigma 2209 wireless cyclocomputer
RAM handlebar mounts for gps/phone
heavy-duty chain and padlock
Bicycle Repair kit
Leatherman Wave tool
multi-tool
allen wrench
adjustable wrench
S&S coupler wrench/pedal wrench
tire levers
tube puncture repair kit
folding 26×1.5 tire
3 extra tubes
Prolink chain lube
Finishline lube for couplers
Brooks Saddle proofide
Stein mini cassette lockring for emergency chain repair
Emergency spoke splint kit
duck tape
assorted extra screws, nuts, zipties, etc
Luggage
2x Ortlieb Sport Packer Plus panniers (front)
2x Ortlieb Bike Packer Plus panniers (rear)
Ortlieb Rack Pack duffel (31L, back rack)
Ortlieb Ultimate 5 handlebar bag
BaileyWorks small messenger bag w/ MediaUnbound logo (city use)
Electronics
Garmin Oregon 450 GPS
Nexus 4 phone
PedalPower+ v4i battery pack (buffer dynamo to USB)
Macbook Air 11″
Kindle Paperwhite
1TB portable drive
Voltaic Fuse 10W solar charger
router (dd-wrt)
headphones
Jambox mini
Casio el cheapo watch
Eneloop rechargeable batteries (8xAAA, 8XAA)
USB portable batter charger
extra batteries for cyclometer
assorted adapters, cords, etc
Camera Gear
Nikon D7100 w/ 18-300mm lens
Sigma 10-20mm wide angle lens
cleaning kit
portable battery charger
1 extra EL-15 battery
Cycling Clothes
2x Icebreaker underwear
Base layer long underwear & top
2x Cycling shirts
2x Chamois liners (bib style & elastic)
MTB shorts
2x socks (short & long)
Keen Arroyo cycling shoe and cleats
2x gloves (fingerless & warm)
Earwarmer
Helmet
Cycling cap
Project Rudy sunglasses + extra lenses
City Clothes
underwear
long pants (zipper convertible)
collar shirt (merino wool)
t-shirt (merino wool)
Hoodie
Camping Clothes
wool hat
flannel pants
ultralight down jacket
softshell jacket
Camping Gear
Hilleberg Anjan 2 tent
tent ground sheet
Western Mountaineering sleeping bag
Thermarest NeoAir sleeping pad
wilderness med kit
pack towel
bandanas
Reef flip flops
carabiners, rope, sling fasteners
compass
pack trowel
Kitchen
1L Nalgene
4L Platypus water bag
Reliance Camp water storage unit
1 travel flask currently filled with Lavagulin 16yr whiskey
MSR Whiserplite Universal stove
MSR expedition stove repair kit
GSI collapsible coffee pourover
Titanium mug
2L titanium pot
Titanium sporks
Titanium frying pan
spatula, spoon
potholder
Aquamira water treatment drops
olive oil
salt, pepper, chili pepper
coffee filters
lighters, waterproof matches, firestarter
Toiletries (sunscreen, toothpaste, dr bronner’s soap, etc)
Six-month supply contact lenses
Guidebooks (Germany, Eastern Europe, Ukraine, Russia)
stuff sacks to organize everything
Weights
Bike (and items attached): 40.4lbs
Gear (no food/consumables): 87.4lbs
Total: 130.8lbs
Day 0.1: Berlin to Potsdam
Start: Berlin, Germany
End: Potsdam, Germany
Distance: 42.3km
Elevation Gain: 1195ft
Time: 4h53m
Reading Material: Portnoy’s Complaint – Philip Roth
Description
Just a day trip from Berlin to Potsdam to check out the bike and get a sense of the road. I followed a part of the Euro Cycling route R1 (aka German Route D3) which hits a number of iconic spots in Berlin (Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, Olympic Stadium) before heading west through a forest and lake region and terminating in Potsdam proper. Cycling is mostly on urban bike lanes before hitting a nice 20km stretch of winding forest roads that reminded me of Vermont spring rides. I passed (or more appropriately, was passed by) many road weenie cyclists including a mini-Peloton.
As you’ll see in the photos, the weather was overcast and rainy. A constant drizzle had me soaked by the time I reached the outskirts of Potsdam and needed to dry off for a hot lunch. Then, to Sanssouci Park and a tour of Frederick the Great’s Palace.
Seeing as it was getting late and wet (and I began developing some lateral knee pain which will need to be carefully monitored), I opted for a train back to Berlin Hbf. Of course, as soon as I stepped on the train platform, the sun peeked out for the first time that day.
A diesel and Del Ray
Just about 25 miles to the outskirts of Potsdam where I get rewarded for my ride in a wet rain with a Diesel (cola & beer) and Lana Del Ray on the stereo.