"It's kinda interesting how you can put one thing with another and cook up the right formula for stayin' out of trouble." ~ MacGyver

Layering

I set my layering system up to be able to ride in at least 30 degree F temps with wind and survive windy, below 20 degree F temperatures, immobilized, in an extended 48 hour rain/snowstorm.  Fortunately, that never happened.  I never fully layered up to two jackets and the rain coat (but came close a few times) nor was I ever in a situation where I couldn’t get warm enough. 

Transport  

The majority of my soft gear was stored in the back compression dry bag.  I found during pre-trip testing that my gear fit better in the dry bag when packed in without the stuff sacks.  Everything was ‘stuffed’ in the dry bag with the exception of the sleeping pad, which was rolled up tight and put in first.  I developed a routine everyday in the way I packed up, to a point where I tried to make it as efficient and brainless as possible.  I packed up all the gear in the tent immediately after wakeup, emerged ready to ride, and packed the tent up last to allow it to dry somewhat.  The tent needed to be the last thing in the drybag so it could be the first thing out and up at dusk…which is especially important if you have to pitch in a rainstorm, which happened to me more than once.    

However, I decided to pack in several of the empty stuff sacks for various items in case I needed to store the item in my backpack separately for whatever reason.  As I progressed further south, the temps began to get colder and days shorter.  I would start the day riding sniveled up in layers and shed layers as temps and core body heat increased.  I kept the stuff sacks out and stored the layers in them bungeed to the back or front dry bags.  If it rained, I either put the layer filled stuff sacks in gallon plastic zip locks or put them in my backpack inside either my backup black trash bag or in a loose grocery plastic bag.  I never wanted to take the time (a significant hassle) to unstrap and undo the dry-bags unless it was absolutely necessary. 

Some Gear Lessons Learned

1.  Keep as much gear as possible off your body and on the bike.

2.  The dry bag system is ultralight. Simple, and effective, but it takes awhile to assemble the system in the morning (or otherwise) before riding.

3.  Use empty stuff sacks strapped to the main bags to store layers (and food) for easy access during the riding day.

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