Thailand Bikepacking on a Brompton

Thailand is a wonderful and offers plenty of opportunities for cyclists. I divided this tour in two parts: the first one is a challenging Mae Hong Son Loop getting closer to the North West border with Birmania while on the second part after visiting Chiang Mai I moved to Chiang Rai and cycling South towards Phayao and Phrae.



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Jeremy Mendelson Brompton podcast



I made an appearance on this week's episode of Pedalshift with Tim Mooney, which reminded me I hadn't shared this episode from my winter bike overnight in February on my Brompton folding bike. It was perhaps more successful than Tim's most recent ride on the C&O Trail, albeit shorter, a few degrees warmer and solo (sans dog). Notice how there was no snow in Denver but about four feet at my apartment just 75 miles west (and 4,000 feet higher) in Breckenridge.

Jeremy Mendelson

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Anker PowerPort Solar Lite


I had the chance to try the Anker PowerPort Solar Lite on my latest cycling tours of Utah and Colorado as well as Morocco. The two panels solar chargers worked really well, keeping an Anker battery charger always full and ready to charge my gadgets at the end of each day. Conditions were ideal during the tour as I got plenty of sun most days, but it certainly produced enough charge; for the 20 days touring I never had to plug in my gadgets. If camping in a tent is the main way to spend the night it is always a challenge to keep everything in charge due to the lack of electricity. In the past I would try my best and spend time in cafes and restaurants in order to do so but this time I was able to not do that thanks to the solar panels. On a Brompton as you can see from the picture, the panel can be opened on the top of the T-Bag and secured by way of carabiner to the two plastic loops that are available by the side of the bag. Plate was not included but as you can see the panel offers a great opportunity to elegantly display that too.
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San Diego to Vancouver on the Sierra Cascades


Why such a long way on a small bike? a passer-by asked me on the Sidmouth promenade as I prepared myself for the climb out of town.
He listened as I tried to tell him that beautiful things come in small packages but as he began to talk about his Bmw Gs I realised he was beyond redemption.
What I didn’t tell him were my plans to ride a Brompton from San Diego to Vancouver (BC) along the Sierra Cascades, the cycle route that shadows the better-known Pacific Crest Trail across the Unites States. To describe the SC in one word, it is mountainous. The route conquers seven ranges, the greatest of which are the Sierra Nevadas in California and the Cascades through Oregon and Washington, for a total ascent of about 150,000′ over 2400 miles.

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Brompton touring in Tasmania


Packing a Brompton folding bicycle to go cycle touring is not the same as packing our tandem or one of our own bikes. This may seem obvious, but took us slightly by surprise as we began seriously preparing for a Christmas Day flight to Devonport, Tasmania.

Bromptons can carry a fair bit of gear. The front T Bag holds 31 litres and the rear rack sack holds sixteen litres. This is comparable with a pair of our usual Ortlieb Back Roller Classics, which have a 40 litre capacity. Surely the gear we normally cart in two sets of Ortlieb panniers on our tandem would easily fit in our Brompton bags! After all, we will have two Bromptons complete with T-Bag and Rack Sack rear bag…

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