Water supply solution for Streetmachine GTe

Years ago I traveled to Baja Mexico with Greet Tortoise bus. While we stopped at Cataviña to see the cave paintings, I chatted with a lonely bicycle tourist. I remember asking him what was the most difficult part of his trip. He thought for a second, then said - water. In Baja it was difficult to find drinking water.

Now I have been planning a trip through baja of my own. I have read Graham Mackintosh'es first book - Into a Desert Place: A 3000 Mile Walk around the Coast of Baja California. His trip takes him to the extreme - he goes way of the beaten path. Graham distills fresh water from the sea at a times, he is so hard core.

My plan is to stay on the paved road, Highway 1 most of the time. Riding in the morning and resting in the afternoons. My goal is 30-50 miles per day. I will camp. I will carry a emergency dry food rations, and about 6L of water.

Now about the water - instead of giant plastic jug I have been having nightmares about I have invested into two 3L Nalgene CXC bladders, and Terracycle FastBack Double Century hydration pack. According to Bicycle Touring 101 website there are truck stops/shacks every 50KM or so, so there are places to get food and water.

Baja Dreams

This year I want to ride my bent through Baja Mexico.

Years ago I met a cyclist who was crossing Baja on his bike (I was on a Green Tortoise Baja Beach Daze, we have stopped to see the cave paintings near Catavina). I had a short chat with the fellow cyclists. I asked him what was the hardest thing, and he told me that the supply of water was dictating where he could travel.

Lower back pain has stopped me from bicycling a few years back, but I have been fighting back with a recumbent. Suddenly, the dream is back and I have ways of achieving it!

I did not feel that my Cannondale Bent 1 was adequate - I had unresolved issues with midrive that would cause the chain jump chainrings and would sometimes jam, so I was looking for the "ultimate" touring bent.

I came to the conclusion of HP Velotechnik's StreetMachine GTe. I had some money set aside for the traveling, which I dipped into and placed an order for an orange Street Machine. I ended up placing an order with Zach Kaplan in Alameda, as my almost local dealer (BentUp Cycles) did not have a Street Machine in stock to try. My local dealer Victor from Bicycle Workshop in Santa Monica doesn't carry HP Velotechnik at all, but I see him doing most of the work I can not do for the bike.

After going to India and coming back I eagerly awaited my new "dream machine".