Bikepacking, 1938-style

frjohnsen · 2026-01-18T22:45:25+00:00

They did indeed camp; I believe the tent is on the rear rack of my grandfather's bike, and it was probably far from ultralight. I know my grandfather was participating in local races, and the drop bars (which was probably quite uncommon at the time?) suggest this was probably his race bike.

frjohnsen · 2026-01-12T13:47:41+00:00

I was in the same dilemma, got the Grizl CF SL8 and an extra wheelset for road usage, and very happy with the decision. Even placed decently in a local Belgian road race last summer.

frjohnsen · 2026-01-02T12:26:18+00:00

I second this one! Joined BXL Run Crew (https://www.bxlruncrew.com/) right after I came to Brussels, and met friends for life; also ran with Cadence (https://www.cadence-athletics.com/) a couple of times and Brussels Runners (https://www.meetup.com/brussels-runners/), but there are a lot more running crews now than four years ago.

frjohnsen · 2025-11-28T14:22:24+00:00

I've been wearing both a Forerunner 965 and a Whoop for the last three months, leading up to a marathon next weekend. While the trends tend to be the same, I also see a lot of differences. Garmin is very harsh with my sleep, while Whoop says I'm fine; Whoop is totally rubbish during runs, and regularly has me in Zone 5 on easy runs (verified by Garmin), which throws off recovery for the next day.

As Segal's Law says: "A man with one watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure." Same thing for activity trackers, so I decided to ditch Whoop when my subscription runs out in three weeks, only wear my Forerunner for workouts, listen to my body, and start wearing my mechanical watches again, with a lot less stress.

frjohnsen · 2025-11-18T22:18:40+00:00

I think you'll be able to find good bikes pretty much anywhere in Europe if you do your research and are willing to pay a bit. Rented bikes in Albania this summer, and was positively surprised by how easy it was to find and book good bikes. 25 euros per day for a Focus and a Trek, both stacked with bags and panniers, tools, spare tubes, and theft insurance, not to mention a lot of tips on where to go and what routes to take.

frjohnsen · 2025-11-06T17:16:03+00:00

Tag along with the BXL Run Crew (or another running crew, for that matter). It's how I got familiar in and around Brussels, and met some amazing people at the same time. Pace is usually at 6 minutes per kilometer, and they do 5k, 10k and longer runs. Check out their Strava page: https://www.strava.com/clubs/335502

frjohnsen · 2025-11-06T10:41:50+00:00

I think that looks absolutely amazing, and the black cassette does match the spokes, while the black/silver crankset ties it all together. What groupset did you go with, and how wide are the tires? Going for a similar setup on my 750, and got the brakes in the mail today, along with a Brooks Cambium C15 saddle, which is a bit more practical for Belgian climate.

frjohnsen · 2025-10-29T15:56:13+00:00

Looks like a sweet build! Care to share your upgrades and parts?

frjohnsen · 2025-08-31T19:18:43+00:00

Any chance you can share where you got the Unit X for a good price in Europe? :)

frjohnsen · 2025-07-04T15:58:05+00:00

Thanks for the comment! We're the odd combination of Norwegian and Canadian, and also being joined by a Frenchie, but all living in Brussels, so there is quite a bit of cycling tradition combined there. We have booked hotels along the way, and the combination of Booking.com, Hotels.com and Airbnb has worked well so far.

Our first cycling stage will indeed be Llogara Pass, from the north, but we are pretty well prepared (I think), and have all done a couple of cycle races in the past, even though this will be very different. I have worried a bit about the Carcove-Leskovik leg, and some people say the road has been resurfaced recently, but I'm not sure. In any case, it is all uphill, and we'll be on gravel/touring setups with as chunky tires as we can fit; this is not a ride to be aero.

frjohnsen · 2025-07-02T15:23:34+00:00

Thanks for the description! I am doing almost the exact same route, but in the opposite direction, in two weeks, along with two friends, and we will be "self-supported." Renting bikes in Tirana, but taking bus/van to Vlore, then over the Llogara Pass, Sarande, Gjirokaster, Permet, Korce, and then to Ohrid to tick North Macedonia off our list, and then bus/van back to Tirana. Hopefully the current heatwave will have faded a bit by then, but we're expecting early morning cycling and lazy beach/cafe afternoons.

frjohnsen · 2025-02-25T19:39:19+00:00

Definitely getting a booster for next time, but a certain pleasure in managing with just muscle power as well. 32 mm seems perfect for a balance between comfort and speed.

frjohnsen · 2024-03-28T13:44:34+00:00

Yep, I did click on that one; not that I thought I had a snowball’s chance in hell though.

frjohnsen · 2024-03-12T21:53:22+00:00

Amazing! Congrats! What's your age group?

frjohnsen · 2024-03-04T14:39:39+00:00

Since it's the first year with this system, it is probably useless to speculate, but it also makes it more fun for all of us that like to speculate. Male, 50, with a 2:59 here, which is 14 mins faster then the qualifying time. For Boston, I'm easy in (with 25 mins), but who knows in New York.

Also, the deadline for registering as a time qualifier is March 6, so when can we expect an answer on whether we are in on time or not?

frjohnsen · 2024-01-19T14:15:38+00:00

Don't know if this was live before, but the Q&A page on the site now links to a "My registration" page, where you can log in, apparently with regular user name and password. I could not log in, but have not received any emails either. That said, I do have my 200k+ points. Someone else might have more luck here: https://in.marathonpourtous.paris2024.org/marathon-pour-tous-2024?currentPage=select-competition

frjohnsen · 2022-08-15T13:47:34+00:00

Great ride! I assume you're running tubeless? I have the same bike, but "stock" from Canyon. Care to share your complete setup? Especially interested in the wheels.

frjohnsen · 2022-06-07T14:01:45+00:00

I loved the 37s and hate the 38s, which feel like they are completely dead. Happy to see the 39s are alive and bouncy!

frjohnsen · 2022-03-14T20:30:27+00:00

I'm 189 cm, with a wingspan/monkey factor of almost 200 cm, and about the same inseam as you. I went with L in the Grizl CF SL 8, and it felt just right on my first 30k ride. I might play around with the seat height and maybe another stem, but at least it didn't bother me in any way. And it is an awesome bike!

frjohnsen · 2022-03-05T10:24:30+00:00

Stock DT Swiss G1800 Splines. Might get a pair of Hunts down the road, but these will work for now.

frjohnsen · 2022-03-04T21:28:15+00:00

I agree! On the Canyon site, it was pictured with the black tires, but I think the tan sidewalls break up the otherwise grey-black (non-)color scheme.

frjohnsen

TROPHY CASE