Utah bike tour preparations

Getting my trusty Bianchi cross bike set up for this year's Utah tour. Going with full panniers this time after using a B.o.b. trailer on last year's tour. Planning to start near Capitol Reef Natl Park, head through Escalante Staircase, Bryce Canyon, Zion, and back around. 8-10 solo days on the road, can't wait!

Learned a lot during last year's Utah tour so I'm setting up the bike with easier gearing, as well as ditching the clunky trailer. Now I've got a 32-12T cassette, and swapped on my mountain bike triple cranks (44-32-22T) so I can lumber up the steep inclines at a snail's pace, but still make it up. Also a handlebar bag this time around. For panniers I went with the Ortlieb roll-tops in the rear for their full waterproofness, and some larger Axiom's in the front for their many zipper pockets & compartments.

prepping the tour bike

And enjoying some fantastic meals from the garden before I hit the road!