Trip’s about to start. Everything’s currently (mostly) packed and ready to go; might pick up few more small things if I see them and they look good, but for now, I think I’ve got what I need. Flying up to Fairbanks on July 8, heading north to Prudhoe Bay on the 9th, and then getting on the bike and going. Officially, school’s out for a while; now it’s time to go ride and see what there is to learn outside of the classroom. Will post an anticipated itinerary soon, but for now, here’s a little about my bike.

Name: Acero

Purpose: Built as part of Stanford’s frame-building class, ME204, over winter-spring of 2012-2013. I built the  bike for expedition riding, with mountain bike geometry and wide tire clearances. Currently built up as a mountain bike to be better suited to off-road gravel/dirt riding, and to hit up some singletrack when the trails look good. If I end up riding more paved roads, I can always swap out the front suspension fork for a rigid fork and put some slick tires on the bike, and keep on truckin’. Versatility is good. The rear wheel is laced up with a Rohloff internally geared hub, which should protect the gears from mud/dirt/snow and keep on rolling when the going gets tough. Thanks a lot to Neil over at CycleMonkey for helping set me up with the Rohloff; it’s been working well in the three weeks since the bike has been finished and ready to ride, I’m super excited to put some miles on it and put it through its paces.

At the start: a couple of tubes and a full-size drawing.

The process: measure, mark, check measurement. Repeat many times. Eventually, cut a tube.

Getting those welds done.

Brazing on water bottle bosses.

Rear triangle; the close spaces back here made some of these welds tricky to reach.

A happy moment.

Pre-painting.

Post-painting; looking pretty!

Rohloff close-up. 14 internal gears promise durability- something sought after on a long journey.

Ready to ride.