Back in September, Ardan (my oldest son) & I went on a new kind of adventure - bikepacking. We finally decided to participate in the Tower 300.

The weeks building up to it was pretty exciting, and a bit stressful, since the last time I went camping only ended with me cursing the campground street light above our tent that was on all night. We were also a bit short on time so I didn’t really have time to test our setup; I just ordered some saddle bags & a few Old Man Mountain Divide Racks & Fork Mounts and hoped for the best.

Two days before the race, I got the racks mounted our bikes. Ardan & I were both on a Gen 5 Trek Fuel Ex. We opted for hammocks with under quilts for our sleeping system. Initially I was pushing to skip the under quilts since they were pretty bulky, but Ashleigh (my wonderful wife!) insisted we bring them… Everything seemed good. I had my fully loaded setup ready by Wednesday the 23rd, and that evening took it for a spin around the Dog Park. It seemed oddly spongy. Upon further investigation, there was a crack on my top tube right at the weld of seat gusset…

I called Ashleigh, and informed her that I was out of the race. At that moment I was somewhat relieved. No more stress, I had a very good reason on why I couldn’t attempt this. Ashleigh, of course, would not stand for this. She insisted we had to find some other options. Well, at my office there is a Trek Slash (a long travel enduro bike). It’s an XL frame, not the ideal bikepacking rig but my options were pretty low at this point. I grabbed the bike, and started transferring over my racks. First the fork mounts - those went smoothly. Then the rear axle mount… Oh no… Turns out the Slash is not UDH, meaning I couldn’t use the through axle with the mounting points!

I told Ashleigh, I guess I’m out of the race. Relief again. Disappointment, but at least no more stress - just a really disappointed son. Ashleigh, of course, would not stand for this. She insisted we could fix this. What about the threaded rod we used when I hauled the Burley trailer behind my fat bike? Well, I dug out the rod, but it was about an inch too short. Ashleigh suggests we can possibly buy another rod? But it’s 8:30 pm! Where could we possibly get more threaded rod at this time of the day? It turns out Tractor Supply was open till 9pm, and indeed had threaded rod. We drove over there and got the perfect length piece. This let me mount the Tour Divide Rack on the rear successfully. I guess good to go?

I took it for one final night time spin around the block, it didn’t fall apart, so I guess I can ride. I didn’t sleep great that evening…



slash The Slash mid bikepack conversion



Continued in The Tower 300 Adventure - Day 1