BRAN Gravel: Final Tweaks & Packing Up

Friday I push off on a journey Westward to Nebraska. This trip will be undertaken to explore and share my experiences riding the gravel route for the Bicycle Ride Across Nebraska. (BRAN). 

The trip is coming together here well. Most everything I need has arrived and has been tested out, at least a little bit! One thing which remains to be seen. The Weather. 

Initial long-range forecasts seem to indicate a heating up for the Great Plains for the second week of June. Temperatures during the daytime are looking to be in the 80's with night time temperatures into the mid-60's. Typical, I'd say, for Summer. 

Rain may crop up. There are a couple of days with good chances for afternoon thunderstorms. I was worrying about having a rain jacket. But I think I'm going to throw in an emergency, highly packable jacket. If it gets dicey and I need it, well there it is. But I'm not going to re-do my entire set up for an actual touring rain jacket. If I get caught in the rain and get wet, well, once you are 100% soaked, you won't get any wetter. Cold? Ride faster. Problem solved. (Note: This is my whack mind at work and may not reflect what you consider "reasonable thinking")

Image courtesy of SILCA

Next, I thought about the frame pump on the Black Mountain Cycles MCD. It works. It is great to ward off wayward dogs. However; it does impede my access to my upper water bottle. So, I am switching things up to go with my SILCA Tattico mini-pump which is a great pump. 

Then I thought I'd better dump everything out of my Bike Bag Dude top tube bag and my under-the-saddle tool roll, (Also from SILCA, by the way) I compared the contents and condensed things down to eliminate duplicated objects. I did replace my multi-tool to include the PRO Performance 22 function tool. I like this because the chain tool is actually functional and it has all the other tools readily available and easily deployed. It is compact and easily stowed in my tool roll. 

I did throw in a combination 5mm/6mm hex key, like I would use as a bike mechanic. I'll use this before I break out any multi-tool as in my opinion, "real tools" are far easier to use. At least I think so. I may even slip in a regular 4mm key as well. 

Sans frame pump and with refined kit in the bags. 

So the bike and onboard accessories are pretty much dialed in. I will clean the bike before loading it up into the 4Runner for the trip. So, I will not be mixing Iowa gravel dust and Nebraska gravel dust! I might do one more easy ride on it too, just because. 

The Showers Pass packable rain jacket.

Now with only a few days to go I am turning my attention to packing clothing. BRAN just sent out a "theme jersey suggestion list" for the week. This would mean I would have to bring seven jerseys to participate in this. Of course, I do not have a jersey to match every theme, so I can rest a little easier. 

Here are the themes for each day, in case you are wondering what the BRAN folk are suggesting. 

1. BRAN 44 Day: Wear BRAN logo'ed gear. (I'm getting the t-shirt, so.....)
2. Wild Jersey Day: (Note - This is my interpretation of the theme) Wear a bright, wild patterned, or otherwise weird jersey. 
3. Cycling Club Jersey Day. Pretty self explanatory. 
4. Where I'm From Jersey: Again, fairly obvious. 
5.  Blast From The Past: Once more, kinda obvious. 
6.  Super Hero Day: Wear a super hero themed jersey. 
7. Red, White, and Blue Day: Patriotic/USA themed stuff, I'd assume. 

So here's what I have which might work: I'm getting the BRAN t-shirt, so maybe Day 1. Cycling Club Jersey day could be done while wearing my Cedar Valley Velo jersey, and it would work for the next day because that is where I am from. Then the only other day which I could possibly participate in would be the last day as I do have a Stars and Stripes jersey.  

So, I probably can get by with six jerseys, maybe just five, if I use the "wash while showering" hack. Then I need a few pairs of post-ride get-ups, shoes, and socks. Trying to find a ditty bag for my toiletries now. You know.....all the dumb little things you'd rather not think about, but if they are not brought along, the trip could be a disaster. Toothpaste and a brush come to mind here. It would be bad to forget those two items.  

Okay, so that is a wrap on my pre-BRAN gravel ride articles. I'll be posting daily updates from the ride starting with my bus ride to the start on Saturday. Some of these posts will come out at random times, and if you are a regular blog reader this next week and a few days may look chaotic. Please bear with me as I will be remote posting when and where I can.