Readers Rig: Big Ron - Pan American Tour

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.

Big Ron
St. Louis, MO
Age: 29 (mid 20s) Day
Job: Bit of everything. Restroom installation professional. Lawn care extraordinaire. Bouncer. Bureaucrat. Bike Mechanic. Now looking to become a trophy husband, contact if interested.

I have been mountain biking, camping, and backpacking my entire life. I did a cross country road tour in 2009, but that trip was unfulfilling. I missed the wilderness aspect of hiking. A few years later, I rediscovered mountain biking, and it wasn’t long before I was dreaming of going bikepacking. In 2015, I did an unsupported thru-ride of the Virginia Mountain Bike Trail (perhaps first or second? Hard to tell…), which was hellaciously difficult but incredibly rewarding. Doing a Pan American tour has long been a dream of mine. It was a natural evolution to do a majority of the route off road. I flew to Prudhoe Bay, AK on June 2nd, and left the following day. Much of the route to Banff was on pavement, but from there out it is almost exclusively off road. I am currently riding the GDMBR, then planning on the CT (provided it isn’t too late in the year), the Kokopelli, then the AZT before hanging up my cycling shoes for this leg of the journey.

Bike Build: Surly Krampus OPS, Whisky #9, Crank Bros Cobalt 11 seatpost/bars, 1×10 with a Surly 28 tooth ring, 11-40 (Wolf Tooth 40 tooth cog) Bike Bags: Defiant frame bag and top tube bag, Revelate Harness and seat bag/Carradice Super C (depending on terrain) Clothing: 1x Ice Breaker merino briefs, complete with large variety of holes 1x Kuhl shorts 1x Columbia “PFG” (Performance Fishing Gear) shirt, size small. It fits like it’s designed for someone 5’8” and 275 lbs 1x Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisper hooded puffy 1x bright yellow “Do Epic Shit” socks 1x lightweight wool socks 1x wool hat 1x warm gloves Marmot Precip rain jacket Mountain Hardwear stretch ozonic pants Sleep System: Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2, currently using fast fly option Big Agnes Q Core SL, insulated MH Phantom 32 Sea to Summit pillow Bag liner Extra Gear: Camera + lenses and laptop for photos is the big one. Big ass mug for coffee is my major “luxury” item. Books for mind expansion.