Touring The Big Lonely

Friends and I toured The Big Lonely over 5 wonderful and challenging days.

I rode my 2021 Sklar PBJ loaded with a variety of bags from Rogue Panda, Swift, San Util Designs, Bedrock, Outershell, and North St.

This route showed my parts of Central Oregon that I had not yet seen, and I’m grateful to have pedaled through these beautiful places. So many flowers! And burritos. And, for me, doobies. Many of those.

The bike was 100% dreamy, and handled rhe mix of single track, double track, chunder-filled jeep roads, red sauce, gravel, and tarmac with ease. It’s a true do-it-all-really-well kinda bicycle.

I kept my sleep kit and tent in the panniers, and attached them to my bike with the Old Man Mountain Divide. I typically prefer front-loading cargo, but this setup kept the handling nimble and fun.

The frame bag held sweets, snacks, burritos, an Apidura 3L bladder, camera, my tool kit, and tent poles, extra gloves and toque, and doobies. Easy access!

The stem bags, attached to a Rockgeist Space Link and Twisted T-Rack, held salty snacks and a 1L Nalgene with a slick straw setup. I kept then Nalgene full of Osmo fuel and hydration mix, and could easily grab water with my bladder hose routed around the bags.

The Zeitgeist held most of my food, and sometimes an extra layer. It’s attached to a Twisted T-Rack, which worked great.

My stove and fuel is in the Bedrock bag, and the two 24 oz. bottles on the fork legs refilled my Nalgene. I kept my FAK and toiletries in the Outershell saddle bag.

Everything worked so damn well, and I can’t wait to get back on the road! There’s not a chance in hell I’d attempt this as a race in October. I prefer to stop often and see where I’m going!