Your Most Recent Purchase (Pic required)

I realized not so long ago that my collection of insulated water bottles have become a bit long in the tooth. I bought them as a set just after getting my touring bike. Ended up with enough extras to not only keep me going for some 20k mi since, but to supply canine companion Chip's trailer with its own two bottles. They have served me well, but they are tired.

Enter the Camelbak Podium insulated water bottle. I bought a couple for testing a few weeks back and have been happy with them. As much as I love my originals, the Podiums are easier to squeeze and the nozzles pass water through at a higher rate. I typically carry 3 bottles on my bike (with capacity for a 4th) and another two on either of Chip's trailers.
It's a small thing, but I completed my set today. Now it's time to use my bidon cages and the bike's motion to mark the new ones up like the old. I hope I don't live to regret the loss of the old bottles' dust covers, but if so, Camelbak offers something which looks as though it should work.

New bike day for me yesterday. Cervelo Caledonia.

Would have liked to support one of the two LBS nearby but one had mostly used stuff in and the other had a few by Specialized, but no models that I was interested in and a bunch by KHS, which they are an authorized dealer for. I wanted to go with a bigger name than KHS.

So made a trip south 70 miles to one of the big bike shops. Found exactly what I was looking for.

Kind of made me laugh - was checking out after a bike fit and there was the manager, the two salesman, and two mechanics shooting the shit a bit and I mentioned that "Yea, it was time for a new bike, I have nearly 17,000 on my last one." In unison, they all stopped what they were doing and stared at me for a few moments. I really didn't think of 17,000 as too terrible much with a well-maintained bike and replacement parts and upgrades as needed.

I took it for a 20+ mile ride on a multi-use trail before heading back and did a few more fit tweaks.

It rides beautifully, best bike I have ever had it feels like.

It's not exactly cycling related, except it will be if I am able to put things together as I tentatively hope. Picture is not mine, but borrowed from this review.
After our experience with the paddle boards last year, Mrs. Newleaf and I have been considering a bit larger boat. An upcoming visit by my sister and BIL with their three kids proved a good excus-err-reason to pull the trigger: it is a Sea Eagle 370 tandem inflatable kayak. Claimed to be suitable for up to class III rapids, though we have no plans for it past flat water.

On the cycling front, my hope is to eventually use my Montague folding MTB to transport the kayak, then in turn use the kayak to transport the bike. Should work well using Chip's trailer, except that he would then be displaced. I'm still working on that. Also, portaging a boat this size alone, mid-voyage would be...interesting. That said, it's rated for 650lbs and fits in a back pack-like carrier.

We originally planned to simply rent a couple of extra paddle boards to reduce conflict for the kids' visit, but it turns out the cost of renting was close enough to the cost of buying the Sea Eagle (or another 2 paddle boards) outright that it made sense to just buy. We certainly got our money's worth out of the 'boards, and in a single season. I'm itching to hit the water in this baby, but the winds haven't been compatible with paddling ever since it was delivered. My own pics to come.

Dos_Ruedas said:

Can you inflate with a bike CO2 unit?
That would make deflation and inflation more attractive for packing on a bike.

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It would take a lot of CO2. The the kayak only needs 1.1psi for full inflation, but her tubes are rather large. I'm guessing you'd need something on the order of one of the larger CO2 canisters used to power paint ball markers. Plus a really good regulator given the silly low max pressure. By way of comparison, our paddle boards inflate to a max of 15psi and are at the lower end of that range, with some models needing up to 25psi.

The kayak came with a foot pump which is claimed to be able to inflate it and its seats in less than 10min. It took me longer than that, but that goes without saying when I'm doing something for the first time, in the living room. I think a couple of lakeside practice sessions will bring that time estimate into the easily reasonable range. The foot pump also allows for deflation, though the kayak's valve design makes dumping air quick and easy.

In all honesty, the kayak is heavy enough that the added weight of the foot pump won't mean much. We're talking ~40lbs, not the 60-80lbs of a rigid canoe. Still, it's not an ~8lb bike raft. It also cost in the low 3-digits instead of a bike raft's low 4-digits. I hope to use the bike to shuttle between take out and put in spots, which means riding up-river, but probably not over gnarly hills.

I hope to have an easier time of transitioning between water and land thanks to the folding bike: most bike rafters have to remove both their bikes' wheels to strap them atop the frame for ideal weight distribution and side to side clearance. With the folder, I hope to eliminate the need to pull even the front, much less the rear wheel. Just fold and tie down. Thanks to the kayak's added length, the bike trailer needed to carry the deflated boat should fit easily on the floor between the sponsons. Unlike dedicated bike rafts, there's no way this thing is fitting in a wrap under the handlebars or behind the saddle. That's not criticism as much as simple recognition of reality.

All I have to figure out now is how to include Chip in the festivities. As much as he loves to run, I don't like putting him in a position where he has to run in order to keep up. Leaving him at home is simply out of the question unless we're talking a safety issue. He is my adventure buddy after all.

maelochs said:

Buy Chip a tiny canine kayak, tether him in, and tow him. Or .... include a treadmill/paddlewheel attachment.

Or maybe a giant gerbil-ball ........

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! Sorry if I was unclear. Chip fits in the regular kayak just fine, even with the trailer and bike and so on. The issue is on feet-dry parts of a route where the deflated kayak would ride in the same trailer usually occupied by my big eared buddy. While he usually loves to run alongside, I like having a place for him to ride so that he is never forced to run (or me to stop). I don't think putting him on top of the deflated kayak is a good answer.

I have looked into doggie backpacks and various rack-mounted solutions. The former would displace my Camelbak and place Chip in a better position to be injured if I pancake on the pavement. The latter are definitely or probably too small for him.

It's a PITA, but worthwhile things often are. Like teaching Chip to ride in a trailer and run alongside the bike in the first place. I love getting out on the water with him, and of course sharing rides. I'll figure something out eventually, but very much open to ideas at the moment.