Dirty Kanza preparations are in full effect

Quiring - epic setup side view
Originally uploaded by Chewieez

I've been working on my setup for Dirty Kanza for a while but now it's time to collect everything and put it all together. I got my frame back and built back up Monday right, after driving back from Dallas all day. Started gathering all the bits I'm borrowing and last minute items I needed to buy. I did a short shakedown ride last night to test out the handlebar setup with bags and bartape. The bike is riding great with the extra load. I thin because so much of it is on the front, the bike really doesn't ride like it's heavy at all.


I'm still waiting on one more bottle mount to put on the downtube. This will give me 4 total bottle placements and with my new sexy red bottle and full 93 ounces of fluid on the bike, and not on me. Only being able to have two mounts in the frame (and no frame bag) is one drawback of the design I went with on my Quiring, but it also means I have a lot of seatpost to utilize. I borrowed some clamps and a bottle cage from Dan and got it tucked in under the saddle bag. There wasn't quite as much room as I thought there would be so I tried mounting it on the front of the seatpost. I rode around the yard with it and quickly realized it wasn't going to work. My thighs were rubbing the bottle... nope, can't have that! So back it went to the backside of the seatpost. With 1" of tire clearance the bottle is tucked in right up under the saddlebag. The bag is actually touching the bottle but it should help hold the bottle in on the choppy gravel roads.

I also borrowed a Jandd handlebar/seat bag from Dan and got it mounted up. It's relatively small but holds more than you think. I have a tube, chammy cream, drink mix, tools and a vest in it for now. I taped up the exposed areas of my handlebars to give me full use of all the grip options. I scored some great red and black left over tape from Eastside Cycles and did my first wrap job. It's not overly professional looking but it should do the job. One full wrap of red tape and then I added a little bit of black to cover the brake lever mounts.

My food is going in the Epic Designs Gas tank (on the top tube) and my Epic Ride Research Feed bag. This will give me total access to all the food and places to put my extra light battery and some odds and ends like sport leg pills and chapstick. (I'm borrowing the gas tank from Thad, who is using a custom Epic Designs frame bag on his new RigorMoooootis)

I'm running my normal slim saddle bag. I like that it doesn't rub my legs anywhere and (generally) stays put nicely. In it is one tube, multi-tool, 3 Co2 cartridges, Co2 blaster and a patch kit.


For lights I'm running a Cateye Commuter 3 LED light that runs on 2 AAs and has a super long run time and a flashing feature. I'm also going to use my new Niterider MiNewt USB light with an extra battery for a 6 hr run time. I'm planning on using the Cateye when I can and only turning on the MiNewt when I need more light and more light throw.

The main goal of this setup it to keep all the stuff off of me. This is something both Dan and Thad stressed as essential for long rides. Let the bike carry the weight, you just pedal. I've really enjoyed working through all the different choices of gear and setups and being creative with the tools I have at my disposal, and donated from nice friends.