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CHRIS FIGUREIDA: 267 HOURS IN THE SADDLE-THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS
Chris Figureida
July 31, 2008
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With a just over a month to go, final preparations are stacking up. Getting ready to leave home for 3 months is an arduous task – no matter the reason. On the business side, there are still meetings to schedule, phone calls to make, plenty of emails to write, and a lot of money I still hope to fundraise. At times, the weight of all of this on top of normal daily life and my training schedule can be very stressful. I try to remember to step back, take a deep breath and then continue. I know that I am over organized with a microscopic attention to detail and that the project will turn out just fine.
The escape from the hustle and bustle of preparing for this ride is my training. I do most of my best thinking and planning while training. Going for a hundred mile ride, there is plenty of time to think ideas through without any opportunity to act on them. I usually come home racing to grab a pen and write down all the new ideas that came to me during the day.
One of the benefits of this project is the new equipment that a few generous companies helped in acquiring. From one of kind tents, to performance clothing, to a high tech seat post; if I’m not trying to relax on a training ride, I’m enjoying and testing some of the most amazing gear for cycling, touring and adventure travel. Most of the gear is very common and typical for what I’m doing, but a few pieces are highly specialized.
My bike is a Trek 520 – the backbone of their company. The geometry is low to the ground with a long wheelbase - perfect when riding straight for a very long time. The steel frame is heavy but comfortable. To take the stress of touring, I upgraded the rims to DT Swiss TK 7.1. Most importantly, the 520 is very dependable; and with a long manufacturing history and lifespan, it is easy to find new components. Except for the fork, this has a one-inch steer tube, unlike most new bikes, which have an inch and an eighth.
With all the weight on the rear wheel, (I don’t use panniers over the front tire. The extra space doesn’t justify the weight and wind resistance) there is very little dampening and force on the front wheel. This lets a lot of painful and irritating vibration come up to my hands. Thankfully, Alfa Q makes the CX Cyclocross carbon fork with a one-inch steerer. With FSA’s Wing Pro flat top handlebars, I hope to absorb and spread out as much vibration as possible.
I estimate it will take 276 hours in the saddle to reach my destination – that’s over 4 hours a day for 64 days. Sitting for that long you had better believe I’ve got something special underneath me. No, not the seat, but the seat post. The Cane Creek Thudbuster ST has an elastomer within a linkage that rocks back maintaining the distance from the crank to the seat so you don’t lose any power, but still giving plenty of shock absorption. It worked so well that I had to spend more money on a carbon fork and better handlebars just to catch up with the comfort my rear-end was enjoying.
I only use panniers over the rear tire. I do this to reduce weight and drag as compared to having an additional front rack and two more panniers over the front wheel. I know some say that having front panniers gives more steering control, reduces vibration, and spreads the weight out, but I don’t believe it’s worth it. Besides, if you can’t fit everything into two bags, you’re probably taking too much anyway. I use Inertia Designs Monsoon Expedition Panniers. They are nearly water tight – saving me from afternoon thunderstorms; and tough as nails – withstanding the few incidents of operator error resulting in falling off the rack and hitting road at high speed.
This year my traveling home will be a prototype Mountain Hardwear Ghissalo 1 tent. Scheduled to go on sale early next year it is a remarkable attempt at the difficult challenge of making a cycle touring tent. Unlike previous tents, this one does not incorporate the bike into the frame – a definite plus. It does however provide a vestibule large enough for the bike to be rolled under and enough strength to lean it against the tent. Another great feature is the two poles break down to half the normal size, allowing them to fit nicely inside the panniers. Once inside, I’ll be resting in a Mountain Hardwear Phantom 32 sleeping bag. Probably the best line of above zero-degree bags ever made. At one pound, six ounces, and able to compress down to the size of a football it goes everywhere I go.
With the bike under one vestibule with most of my gear, I’ll be cooking under the other vestibule with a MSR Superfly Stove and Titan Kettle. This very lightweight stove can be attached to nearly every type of self-sealing propane canister, giving me the versatility to use what’s available in different places and is small enough to fit into the dead space inside a shoe. The kettle is large enough to make a full meal and the propane canister fits nicely inside when not in use. Made entirely out of titanium, the kettle is extremely lightweight and the handles are cool to the touch while cooking or eating. In addition, it comes with a snug fitting lid.
To communicate with the world, I have Bluetooth, an AT&T 8525 smart phone, and an Asus Eee PC 4G XP laptop. With a touch screen, 3G antenna, large keyboard, 6-hour battery life, expandable memory, and Windows Mobile 6, the 8525 is a professional business tool. In fact, it completely organized and networked the last cross-country bike ride; withstanding being typed on for close to a thousand words each day. In addition, I never lost coverage between California and Maine! At less than two pounds and nearly the size of a DVD case, the Eee PC is an amazing laptop. With a solid state hard drive (no moving parts) it can handle being taken along for the ride and has enough memory to run a slide show, multi-task with a few programs and different windows open, and a built in camera for video conferencing. With it connected to the phone, I can get on the internet anywhere there’s a cell signal.
Navigation is simple with the Garmin Colorado 400t GPS. With pre-installed 3D topo. maps of the US, plus I installed the North American Road Atlas which has a good portion of the “yellow pages” included – I can never get lost. I program my entire route at home on the computer. I can double check each street thanks to a link from Google, and look up campsites, bike shops, schools, and restaurants all in advance. Knowing all of this information is what allows me to stay on schedule and never miss a meeting. It also comes with a lot of other nifty gadgets and analyzed information, which for the most part keep me entertained while riding. Garmin just released an even slightly smaller version of the Colorado but with a touch screen, it’s called the Oregon.
Finally, the clothing I wear: Cane Creek’s long sleeve jersey and shorts not only fit well, but also keep me protected from the sun and the beautiful bright blue design is highly visible on the highway. I ride with two sets, one set I keep as clean as I can for when I am meeting people, then spend the rest of the time cycling in the other set. For all of my other clothing, I looked no further than a company whose passion for adventure and concern for the environment is unmatched in the corporate world – Patagonia. Everything from my warm Wool 2 underwear, Grade VI Jacket for weather protection, to the Island Hopper Pant & Shirt I will be giving presentations in; are the highest quality, durable, lightweight, stylish, and environmentally friendly. Patagonia makes it easy for me to not only talk the talk, but also walk the walk of promoting my dream of making a difference.
For more information about Chris and Cycle for Heart, please visit cycleforheart.org
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