Very Tasty RD400 Restomod from the Deals Gap meet.

Pack Details

While many Divide Racers and bicycle tourists manage to pack all their gear on their bicycles and leave their backs completely unencumbered, as I've mentioned before, I find a well designed backpack to be very useful. Last week I wrote about how well the Ergon BD2 carries a load and I mentioned I'd modified my pack. Here are the details of those modifications.

In the photo above, the most obvious modification is addition of the CamelBak 100-Ounce UnBottle. The UnBottle is secured to the pack with it's top nylon handle and the pack's helmet-holder. I can quickly unsnap one buckle to move the UnBottle out of the way to access the inner chamber of the pack (where I carry some clothing and food) but I can refill the UnBottle without opening the pack. I've also added a Planet Bike Blinky for safety.

On the right side of the pack's hip-belt, I've added a Timbik2 Porkchop bag. I've had this bag for years and it's just the right size to hold snacks, sunblock and other things I may need to access while riding. On the left side of the hip-belt is my camera case. Anyone who has ridden with me or read this blog for a while knows that I take a good number of photos while riding and the hip location works well for the camera.


The side view shows another camera case, but this one contains small miscellaneous items like spare batteries, SD cards for the camera, my toothbrush, etc. The turtle and Chloe's crocheted charm of safety provide mojo for the journey.

The big blue thing in the Camelbak hose is my third line of defense in my water purification strategy. It's a Sawyer Inline Water Filter. While I also have a SteriPEN and Micropur Tablets that I'll use to purify water one liter at a time, the inline filter should catch any water-borne nasties that may somehow work their way into my CamelBak.


The front view of the pack shows a bit of the clever pivoting shoulder strap mechanism that let's the Ergon pack do it's amazing weight balancing act. I use a couple of Nite Ize S-Biners to hold a nylon pencil case. The pencil case keeps my map close at hand. It took me a while to figure out that having my map on my pack strap works better than having it strapped to my handlebars.

My basic pack strategy has the things I use once a day (camping gear) or things I use infrequently (repair tools, maps for places far down the trail) are packed on the bike. Lights and a small snack pack also reside on the bike. But daily use items ride in the pack, close at hand.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson
Issaquah WA USA

Resting Smokers at Deals Gap..

Fire up the... Renault Megane CC

NO, this isn’t a misprint. You’d be forgiven for thinking this is the Peugeot 308 CC we test drove earlier this year, but it’s actually Renault’s riposte.

Every manufacturer and his dog offers you a cabriolet with a clever folding metal top these days but there’s a good reason why the French companies have the market (if not the roof) sewn up; they do these cars better than anyone else. Which is great news if you’re looking to buy the latest Megane CC but a difficult job for anyone road testing it, because it’s almost identical to its closest rival.

Both the Megane CC, now in its second generation, and the 308 CC are hugely comfortable – particularly in the back, where most CCs aren’t – and effortlessly refined with their tops up or down. They both also cost around £26,000 and while neither of them offer a spectacular sporty drive they handle reassuringly enough while making sure absolutely everyone on board is cruising comfortably.

But while the Peugeot looks like a little Mercedes with its roof up the Megane masters a rather cleverer trick; appearing to still be travelling al fresco! Blacking out the roof panels is an unbelievably simple visual trick but it works, and means it wins in the style stakes when it's raining.

I’m sure that if I spend hours trawling through the statistics there’d be some minute detail that makes one technically better than the other but in the image-driven world of cabriolets there’s only one thing that matters – looks. The quirky charm of the Megane, or the flowing curves of its softer rival? Your call.

You really can’t place a fag paper between either of these cars, because both do what they do excellently (and better than either Ford’s Focus CC or Volkswagen’s Eos for that matter). While both these cars have the substance, in this market it’s all about style.

I’d take the Peugeot because I personally reckon it’s prettier, but that doesn’t stop Renault’s reply being equally impressive.

As published in The Champion on June 9, 2010

Pipe Porn! Fat Drag Pipes on a Street Ridden H1! Wow!

Robert Kubica

639

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acrylic on paper 7x12" sold

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Robert Kubica and Renault in 2010,

very,very impresive!

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Dance Recital In Lincoln

We recently attended a voice and piano recital here in town for our local Grandaughter. It was a really nice event held in the home of the instructor. We forgot our camera so trust me...it was good.
Then the next deal was in Lincoln where 2 more Grandaughters had their dance recital. They got all painted and purtified and did great. They are pretty good dancers. I think they got my talent for being light on their feet and of course I couldn't help but notice how cute they are and that they obviously got their good looks from me also.
Oh yeah, the last pic is of their Mom. I snapped it in a local eatery after the show. I suppose she could possibly have had something to do with their good looks too.