Begin the preporations

Part of the fun of signing up for something as crazy as the Stagecoach 400 is the preparation.

Lots of gear I already own, and that's good, because good gear aint cheap.

Today I had to finally purchase a new sleeping bag.  My current sleeping bag was purchased about 15 year.  Its nice and warm, but a bit bulky for bike packing.

Today I came home from Back Country Experience in Durango, with a shiny new Western Mountaineering 20º Ultra-lite bag.  At 6'6" it weigh a measly  17oz.

I also purchased an extra small stuff sack.  Not a compression sack, but a very small stuff sack.  Its a little bit of work to get the sleeping bag in. Once its in, it crams into my  Bedrock Bags Coconino seat bag.

The other purchase I reluctantly had to make today was a sturdy seat bag, to hold...  in my case, my sleeping kit.  Bedrock Bags is located in Durango, and has some superb equipment to help the bike packer get where he or she is going with the least amount of hassle.  I'm anxious to try out this new bag.

 

Like I said, it takes some persuasion to get my 6'6" sleeping bag into the seat bag, but after a couple tries  it gets pretty easy.

Now to figure out sleeping pad and shelter arrangements....