Readers Rig is a series of articles that showcases bikepacking kits from riders around the world. Be it long rides or short, races or slogs, everyone has their own unique set up. We hope you enjoy these rigs and maybe pick up a thing or two to add to your set up.

Aaron Weinsheimer
Salida, Colorado
Age 46 Day
Job:  I could use a job!

I started biking somewhat seriously as a young teen doing road centuries and racing with a club.  I began getting into long road and mountain bike rides when I moved to Salida about 11 years ago.  The bike culture here is strong and I was surrounded by riders that inspired me.  I got the bikepacking bug watching a buddy race the Colorado Trail Race (CTR).  I did my first CTR in 2010 and dropped out at Marshal Pass, but had an incredible experience.  I began to crave trails that went on and on.  I’ve done a lot more racing since then, including multiple CTRs, the Tour Divide, and multiple Vapor Trail races, always wandering about in the mid pack. In recent years I’ve been more inspired to tour.  Some of my latest bikepacking tours include the California Sierra Trail Race route, a couple of laps around the Idaho Hot Springs Route, two multi-week Arizona tours, the Velorution Venture route, a cross country yo-yo on the Souther Tier roadie style, Coconino laps, and a bunch of stuff near home. az-trail.jpg Now I’m about to begin bikepacking the Continental Divide Trail.  This is not the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route/Tour Divide….I’ll be on the CDT hiking trail. The CTD bike route was pioneered in 2014 by Scott Morris and Eszter Horanyi.  They both wrote great journals of their experience that inspired me.  The trail wasn’t really built for bikes and I’m expecting the going to be very slow.  I’ve hopefully packed a kit that will keep me happy in difficult conditions for the next three plus months. My rig is heavy, but I’ve used this setup on all of my recent tours and I love it.

Bike Build: Waltworks custom rigid steel 29er.  29+ up front.  I prefer a 3x setup for bikepacking and run a Supernova dynamo for my electronics.  Exposure Revo on the bars, Exposure Axis on the helmet, Etrex 30 for navigation, Sinewave USB charger.

Bike Bags: Mostly Revelate Designs with a bit of Carousel Designs. 003.JPG
Clothing: I run cold so I carry quite a bit of clothing.  Wool short sleeve, wool long sleeve, wool arm warmers, fleece hoody, and knee warmers.  I am also bringing a rain shell and full Goretex rain pants, a beanie, ear band, thin gloves and waterproof shell gloves.  For camp I have a light down shirt.  I also carry a pair of socks and underwear and a beanie for sleeping clothes.

Sleep System: Big Agnes Copper Spur 1 person tent, a Marmot Plasma 30 bag and a Neo Air pad.

Extra Gear: MSR stove, a titanium kettle, an iPhone and a couple small USB cache batteries. 2015-09-16-10.20.07.jpg

If you want to track Aaron, head over to Trackleaders.com/cdtbike16, or check out the tracker below.

3 Comments

  1. Pingback: 7 of Aarons Most Admired Items on the CDT - Bikepacker

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