Shifter and Rear Derailleur Installation

At this point, the new Surly is almost complete. There were really only a few hiccups in the entire process (grumpy bike store staff notwithstanding). For me, the most difficult part was installing and adjusting the rear derailleur. This was due in large part to two factors:

1. I am impatient
2. I am (slightly) stubborn
   
3. The rear shifter was not assembled correctly
   

I would like to blame the week-long delay in getting the derailleur on correctly on #3 above, but I suspect it was largely due to #1 and #2. In any case, I thought highlight a few of the problems I ran into. The ideal basic steps (assuming you've already installed handlebars, and rear wheel/rear cassette) are:

1. Attach shifter to handlebars
   
2. Attach rear derailleur to hanger or attachment point (this will depend on your bike frame; most decent bikes will have a place to screw on the derailleur rather than a separate hanger).
3. Install cable housing and shifter cable
   
4. Install your chain
   
5. Adjust the high and low points for your rear derailleur
6. Attach the shifter cable to the derailleur and verify that it shifts correctly between gears
   

Of course, that's the ideal process. Needless to say, it did not go that smoothly for me. I won't dwell on my inability to cut two pieces of cable housing to the same length (think of Ernie slowly making his and Bert's cookies the same size, nibble by nibble) or how many times I had to adjust the high range of the derailleur. There are a LOT of great articles out there that can show you in great detail how to do these things.

However, I would like to point out one thing that really stumped me for a while. I'm using Shimano SL-BS77 bar-end shifters on this bike. They're made for either an 8- or 9-speed rear derailleur, working in either indexed ("clicky") or friction ("not clicky") mode. I was having problems getting them to work well with the derailleur, though. I had the limits correct, but when I shifted one click, the chain would jump 2 or 3 gears. Eventually (after many iterations of (1) tweaking random screws, (2) swearing under my breath when the adjustment didn't work, and (3) going upstairs for another beer), I came to the realization that the shifter was only clicking 6 times as I moved between the highest and lowest gears. After a little bit of searching, I realized that the shifter was not assembled correctly, which was resulting in inconsistent movement between the different index positions. After that, it was a pretty simple matter of getting the shifter parts lined up correctly and reassembling/reattaching the shifter and derailleur.

I came up with the following resources, which I hope will be helpful to anyone else that is having similar problems:

1. http://www.bikecircle.com/forums/tech-issues/62162-question-on-shimano-bar-end-shifters.html
2. http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=64
3. http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-503135.html
4. http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techdocs/content/cycle/SI/Dura-Ace/SL-BS78/SI-6J60A_En_v1_m56577569830605258.pdf
5. http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techdocs/content/cycle/EV/bikecomponents/SL/EV-SL-BS77-1664_v1_m56577569830628723.pdf
   

Hope these help!

Camping (and bears) in Hokkaido

While putting together our packing/purchasing list last night, V and I had a brief discussion about whether or not we needed bear sacks to keep our food out of the reach of hungry animals while camping. In the US, this is a definite "yes"--almost anyone who has been backpacking through the Sierra Nevadas can tell stories of late-night visitors rummaging through their supplies.

However, we have no idea about the types of wild animals we'll encounter in Japan. My guess is that we'll see quite a few in Hokkaido and Tohoku, but not so many in the southern regions. Regardless, it's another item on our "need to research" list.

I spent a little time on Google this morning looking for info on this topic, but was almost immediately distracted by this great article on camping in Hokkaido: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/mar/29/japan.camping. It reminded me of the reasons that I enjoyed living in Hokkaido--the large open areas and beautiful landscapes are evoke the best parts of the western part of the US. From the author's description of the bells that were attached to their packs, it sounds like there are other similarities--bears can be a problem for campers in northern Japan. It looks like we might need those bear sacks after all...

Building the bike #1 - Bottom bracket & cassette

Kelly's trials and tribulations while building this will be added soon...

LHT Build: Shopping for components

Before I could start putting the bike together, I had to find all the parts first. Common sense, I know, but when I started this project I didn't even know what I had to get. So the first task was putting together a list of all the parts and where to get them.

Surprisingly (or perhaps not--I'm notoriously bad at finding things on the internet), I had a hard time compiling a detailed list of all the required parts. Most of what I found was incomplete and/or too high level.

The parts list is below. PLEASE note the following:

1. I'm going to keep editing this as I go through the project, so if you don't see a note below that the list is finished, assume it's NOT.
   
2. This list is for a touring bike--it may not be very helpful if you're looking for info on how to a build a road or mountain bike
3. This is a simple list of parts--I'll try to go into more detail about exact part details as needed in later posts
   

With that said, here's what I have so far:

1. frame
2. fork
3. bottom bracket
4. crankset
5. pedals
6. chain
7. front derailleur
8. rear derailleur
9. rear cassette
10. rear wheel
11. front wheel
12. front cantilever brake
13. rear cantilever brake
14. brake cable hangers
    
15. seat post
16. seat
17. seat post clamp
    
18. headset
19. headset spacers
20. headtube cable hanger
21. downtube cable adjusters
22. brake levers
    
23. bar end shifters
    
24. handlebars
25. handlebar tape
26. brake cables
27. brake cable housing
28. derailleur cables
29. derailleur cable housing
30. stem
31. rim tape
32. tubes
33. tires
34. cassette guard (optional - do a search for "dork disk" to see how the biking community has split over this seemingly innocuous piece of equipment...)
    

Still a work in progress...

Our rides

After a LOT of comparison shopping, V and I finally came to a decision about the bikes that we wanted for our trip. Based on our budget, our choices were pretty limited (there are not very many true "touring" bikes out there for less than $1500), and it came down to either the Trek 520 or the Surly Long Haul Trucker. The Trek is a nice bike, but the Surly has quite a few features (better gearing, for example) that made it a much better option in my mind.

We could have simply bought two stock LHTs, but I decided that it would be much more fun to build one up from scratch. This is probably overly ambitious for me, since I've never built a bike before. However, I'm hoping that the process will make us much more capable of fixing our own problems when we're out on the road next year.

I'll try to post progress on the bike build here--keep in mind that I am in no way an experienced bike mechanic, so my goal isn't to provide detailed instructions for others to follow. However, I will try to provide enough info to make things easier for other beginners like myself.

From A to B

After countless hours poring over maps and guidebooks, we have finally finished planning the route for our trip. The total length is almost exactly 2,500 miles (we're conveniently ignoring extra distance for getting lost).

You can see the routes here (they're in separate maps since the Google maps tool starts having issues once the route goes over a certain length).

1. Fukuoka to Iwakuni
2. Iwakuni to Onomichi
3. Onomichi to Himeji
4. Himeji to Kyoto
5. Kyoto to Nagano
6. Nagano to Tokyo
7. Tokyo to Yamagata
8. Yamagata to Morioka
9. Hakodate to Wakkanai

Except for the journey through Tohoku (northern Honshu, roughly from Tokyo to Morioka), this route is based almost completely on the wonderfully detailed descriptions on japancycling.org. If you have some time, take a few minutes to read through a few pages in the "Length of Japan" section--V and I couldn't help feeling even more excited about our trip after reading about the summer festival in Gujo ("While dancing, forget everyday life and also forget yourself. Forget everything and express your deep feelings!") and the beaches near Unomichi ("If you are feeling lucky, you can try to dig some oysters. Residents might even lend you a digging tool.
How about some spaghetti with olive oil and oysters for your evening camping meal?").

Some of the things I'm really looking forward to after planning this route:

• Biking across the Seto Sea via the Shimanami Kaido Bridges
• Visiting World Heritage sites like Himeji castle and Shirakawa-go
• Riding over the highest point in Japan's road system via Hirayu Pass
• Seeing the small villages of Tohoku
• Showing V around the areas I remember from when I lived in Hakodate
• Seeing the northernmost point of Japan near Wakkanai

Now that we have a basic route set out, V and I feel much more confident in estimating the time (and money) we'll need to complete the trip. If anyone else finds the maps useful, please let us know!

Making Lists

While I don't have quite the same fetish for making lists and/or spreadsheets as some people in my family, I have to admit that I've been enjoying all of the planning for our trip. This is a good thing, since I have a suspicion that we have a very shallow understanding of all the requirements at this point. There is still a lot of list-making and note-taking to go.

At this point, we have a high-level list that looks something like this:

1. Get in shape
2. Figure out a route
3. Learn Japanese
4. Build touring bikes
5. Get gear for camping/traveling
6. Do a couple of short training trips
   

This is probably more than enough to keep us busy for the rest of the year. We'll record as much as we can here for other people who are wondering how to plan similar trips. Hopefully someone will find it helpful...

Our Journey (a little more detail, this time)

I was a little coy last time about what we're planning for this trip. In case it wasn't clear: our goal is to take a biking/camping trip through as much of Japan as we can, south to north. As of right now, we're intending to start in Fukuoka and end up in Wakkanai.

So first, the obvious: it's a really long distance, especially for a couple of people who have very little experience (read "none") with bicycle touring. At the risk of sounding naive, that's one of the things that we're finding very motivating. Yes, it's going to be difficult, and tiring, and stressful, and hot, and cold, and everything else that goes along with long trips and living on a budget. But we will also have a chance to experience the country in a way that very few people can. For me, there is something about riding on a bicycle that gives a wonderful feeling of intimacy with my surroundings. I have the freedom to stop at any time to take pictures, or to explore a roadside attraction, or to buy fruit from a local farmer. The last time I lived in Japan, I felt a little isolated and overwhelmed; this time, I'm looking forward to really exploring and learning about everything I missed before.

Google maps puts the entire trip at about 2,500 km (1,600 miles), but I suspect it will be quite a bit longer on the roads we'll be taking. I've been working on a detailed route (which I will post here when available) that follows smaller--and more winding--prefectural roads instead of the major highways.

In any case, I have to admit that even the rough estimate of 1,600 miles is very intimidating. I think it's time to actually figure out what this distance means in terms of miles per day and (more importantly) our travel budget.

Our First Steps

千里之行，始于足下 -- "A Journey of a thousand li, begins with a single step"
-- Lao-Tzu (604BC-531BC)

What should our first steps be? There is so much to plan, and so much to look forward to. Fortunately, we have time to prepare, and a wealth of information available. We'll do our best to document the entire process, so that we can (hopefully) inspire others to start their own journeys.

So, what is this journey? It's a little vague right now (and more than a little ambitious). But it involves the two of us, a couple of bikes, some camping gear, and two plane tickets to Japan. Return dates unknown. It's a journey away from comfort--not just in terms of living conditions, but away from the comfort and security of steady jobs, employer-provided health care, and regular paychecks. It's also a journey away from commuting and telecommuting, daily stand-up meetings, office chair exercising, and vested options. Is it going to be difficult? I have no doubt. Is it going to be worth it? That's a much tougher question. I certainly hope so, but we won't know until we try.

* For those who didn't take Chinese 101, a li is a measure of distance (roughly 400-500 meters, depending on your emperor). You can learn all about it on wikipedia.