After a great deal of research, I have put together the following package for the bike ride.
The bike is a BMC teammachine which is the same model as ridden by Cadel Evans in the Tour De France. Unfortunately I will not be in the Tour, and even more unfortunately I am not Cadel. I removed the stock saddle and substituted the saddle most comfortable for me which is the Fizik Aliante. When I say most confortable, I am not saying confortable because I do not believe there is a saddle made which doesn't become a pain in the butt after 100 miles of riding. This saddle provides the least amount of trouble for me. The bike was professionally fit to me and so far I have not physically broken down. I have owned this bike for over a year. Pedals are Shimano Dura Ace for their large platforms to help avoid a hot foot from pedal pressure on the ball of the foot.
The wheels are Rol SLR's which are a more sturdy wheelset with lots of spokes, and the tires are Vittoria Open Pave which are 24mm wide,and are truly awesome. Over 2000 miles with one flat and they are both confortable and wear like iron.
I plan on using Clif products for hydration and eating, they just taste good.
Jerseys are made using Sportwool as it is less smelly than polyester, wicks great, and has a wide temperature range. I love the sportwool fabric, and the jerseys are made by Rapha. I also will be using solar sleeves and leggings to avoid growing large masses of skin cells.
To carry my gear I found a small company in Alaska called Revelate Designs and they make an awesome seatbag called the Pika which expands large enough to carry a sleeping bag, or folds down small. I plan on carrying a pair of foldup shoes in the bag for walking around when I see interesting things, or need to buy a piece of pie in a local deli. My rain jacket, tire repair gear including tubes,all fit as well and if I see a stray dog walking along the rode I can probably throw it in the pack as well. I did purchase a bag for the top of the bike frame from Revelate called the gas tank for carrying my camera, phone, and easy access food. Both bags are pretty much waterproof.
Guidance will be provided by a Garmin edge 800 GPS bike computer along with ride sheets. Hopefully next year they will have electronic maps so you can just use a GPS unit if you own one. Camera is a Canon S100 which is pretty small but takes good pictures. It does not provide a good depth of field for artistic setups, but after all I am just an Engineer.
The weakest link of equipment is the motor, but unfortunately I can't buy a new one so I am stuck with my ancient engine.
The next post will be on the camping gear followed by training. Hopefully this will be of help to future riders for making gear choices.
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