South America By Bike » Preparation

All Geared Up – Ready To Go!

Carl-David Granbäck — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:40:44 +0000

Dear readers, prepare to soon savor some REAL content on this blog, it’s only 3 days left until me and my bike are off to Argentina! The weather forecast for Buenos Aires says sun, clear sky and 29 lovely degrees. Beat that, Sweden!

The time has really caught up on me lately, but everything is basically arranged now! All equipment has been purchased (here, a BIG WARM THANK YOU to all my sponsors is needed!), the bike has been pimped, I have learned how to fix every thinkable problem with it, and accommodation in B.A. has been arranged at a friend’s friend’s place. For those that I haven’t managed to say goodbye to, let’s have a blast when (if) I get back instead. Today, the guys took me to a SPA, which was definitely on a good timing. Now I’m feeling more prepared than ever ;-)

Here’s the compulsory photo of all the equipment lined up on my bed:

… and here it is packed in the Vaude bags (not that much, right?!):

Finally, here she is, with all the bags attached! I’ve currently put the tent inside the dry bag and on the parcel carrier:

Three Weeks To Go!

Carl-David Granbäck — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:39:25 +0000

Today is exactly 3 weeks until the expedition begins and I’m starting to get very excited about it! Yesterday I had an interview with Dagens Nyheter (DN), which is Sweden’s biggest “morning newspaper”. It turned out that the journalist had been to many of the places I’m going to, so we kind of helped each other.

I recently got sponsored by the online outdoor-shop GetOut, which by the way celebrates its 10-year anniversary tomorrow. I ordered most of the equipment from them this morning, and can’t wait to get everything and begin loading the bike and go for some test rounds! Let’s just hope it all fits :-)

New eBay Arrival!

Carl-David Granbäck — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:19:13 +0000

eBay-shopping works very well, I strongly recommend it! A few days back I got my Highgear Altitech 2, which is a sweet little all-in-one outdoor data center featuring an altimeter, barometer, compass, thermometer, time alarm and chronograph. With this attached to my bike, I’ll be better prepared to climb mountains without getting altitude sickness. Moreover, the device is able to give weather forecasts since it keep tracks of how the atmospheric pressure changes over time.

What Tent To Choose?

Carl-David Granbäck — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:12:35 +0000

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about what tent to choose. I’ve decided to go for Hilleberg, a Swedish high-quality tentmaker, but there are two really good ones and I have to choose one.

Weight, Packed Size, Inner Length and Price are almost identical with these two tents.

Here are the other specifications:

Nallo 2

Inner Width: 130 cm
Inner Height: 100 cm
Abside: 115 cm
(requires pegs)

Soulo

Inner Width: 105 cm
Inner Height: 95 cm
Abside: 60 cm
(doesn’t require pegs)

The major benefit with Nallo 2 is that you get more space, since it’s made for 2 persons. On the downside, it needs pegs in order to stand at all. Soulo on the other hand is free standing, but not as spacious, especially not in the abside. The tunnel design of Nallo 2 makes it more robust to the high winds I will encounter in Patagonia. Both tents come in discrete green and bright red, and I’ll definitely go for the green in order to expose myself less while camping.