The Apollo Mission - Episode 1, Cycling Across America
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- Опубликовано: 19 ноя 2024
- Hello Everyone,
Welcome to the official launch of The Apollo Mission. This is the first in a series of episodes that will cover our bike ride across the USA from Astoria, Oregon to New York City.
In episode 1, Dad drives us from Idaho Falls to Fort Stevens State Park on the Oregon coast near Astoria where we were planning on spending the night before the official launch day of The Apollo Mission on June 11. Unfortunately we ran into an "atmospheric river" which resulted in a change of plans for the launch of our journey.
This episode covers the first 3 days of The Apollo Mission and there will be many more episodes to follow. Please continue to follow along as well be posting episodes from the road as well as more real-time updates on Instagram.
We are raising money for The Boise Bicycle Project as part of The Apollo Mission so please consider donating to the Boise Bicycle Project (BBP) at the link below. It's a great organization making a huge difference to the Boise biking and overall community.
connect.clicka...
Also, if you're interested in an Apollo bike or any other awesome bicycle from Priority please use the following link.
www.avantlink....
Thanks for watching.
Enjoy the Ride
Wear a Helmet
Instagram: @busesbikesbeers
Music via Epidemic Sound
#priorityapollo #boisebicycleproject #bikeacrossamerica
Larson family here that you met at the hot springs in Lowman, Idaho... We loved this video and are so in awe of you guys!! We are cheering you on!!
Hi April,
So cool to hear from you. That campground and hot springs were AMAZING!!
Sorry we haven't replied sooner but we've been riding our bikes. :)
We are currently in Madison Wisconsin taking a few rest days but have really been enjoying our journey across the country. We should be publishing at least one more episode before we hit the road again so thanks for being patient.
Enjoy the Ride
Watching this after Ragbrai with you guys is like watching friends on their journey.
Hey Darrin,
We are so happy to hear you are watching and enjoying The Apollo Mission. One of the greatest things building BBB Adventures is the community and friendships we are able to develop so it's makes sense you feel like you're watching friends, because you are. :)
Thanks for watching and for the comment.
Enjoy the Ride
Great episode. I swear people in the northwest if they see the sun they believe it’s an evil spirit! See you at RAGBRAI at Pork Belly.
Hey Stephen!
Your comment made me laugh out loud. I used to live in the northwest and it's true. I recall the first sunny day in the spring after months and months of grey sky would make it so no one could pay attention at work. We'd all either stand by a window and stare out or we'd just leave the office and go home. So funny.
Looking forward to seeing you in Iowa. Please watch our Instagram for some attempts are scheduling a meet up so we can meet all our BBB friends.
Thanks for watching.
Enjoy the Ride
I enjoyed your video. My husband and I have been to Idaho several times. It's a beautiful state. Route of the Hiawatha in Wallace is what got us hooked on rails to trails. Keep on peddling stay safe.
Hey Nova,
Sorry for the slow response, we've been busy pedaling but are currently in Madison, Wisconsin taking a few rest days. Idaho is indeed beautiful and was some of our favorite scenery. We have yet to try the Hiawatha trail but have heard many great things about it. I'm sure we'll get up there someday.
Thanks for watching and for the comment.
Enjoy the Ride
You two definitely had me laughing about your reaction to the rain at the first campsite. Hotel it is lol... I could see my wife and I reacting the same way.
Hey Robert,
Thanks for watching episode 1 of The Apollo Mission, hopefully you'll get a chance to watch more of that series. And yes, the rain and wind were just too much for me as a starting point for this grand adventure we spent so long planning. Riding to Astoria and getting that room was a fantastic decision for which we have zero regrets.
Thanks again for watching and please let us know how you like like rest of the series.
Enjoy the Ride
Looks great! I'm going to look for you at RAGBRAI.
Hi David,
Thanks for watching and for the comment. We are having a blast. Please follow us on Instagram (@busesbikesbeers) if you aren't already because we'll be using that to organize a meet up or two during RAGBRAI.
See you in a few weeks.
Enjoy the Ride
In June 2019, we made a trip to Astoria with our son and daughter-in=law who were living in Corvalis, OR at the time. Astoria is such a quaint and fun town to visit. We visited the same two breweries. And the steel bridge across the Columbia River stunning in its height. So much to see.
Hi Craig,
Totally agree, Astoria is a great little city. Given the weather, we didn't get a chance to check out Fort Stevens like I'd hoped but I had been there years ago when my kids were small and we checked out the old artillery batteries, very cool. I'm sure Mb and I will get back to that area again when we have a bit more time and the weather is better.
Thanks for watching and for the comment.
Enjoy the Ride
Nothing wrong with “credit card camping”! Following on Strava and Instagram. No regrets going with the 46/26 cog combo, should be standard on the Apollo. Hope the Garmin Varia is working out. Looking forward to seeing how you like Kamoot for the trip routing. I personally hate riding on the road shoulder due to the debris and high likelihood of flatting, but sometimes you got no choice. You guys are doing great and so positive! 👍🚴♂️🚴♂️
Hey Steve,
Absolutely...sometimes buying yourself out of an ugly situation with a credit card is the best choice. I can't image sleeping in that tent or trying to enjoy ourselves at that Fort Stevens campground during the atmospheric river.....YUCK.
The 46/26 gearing is AWESOME for touring. We have about 50 pounds of cargo on the bikes plus water and with the lower gearing, 8% to 12% grades aren't a huge deal (as long as they are relatively short segments). We climbed out of a valley in Oregon (Episode 2) that was something like 5 miles of 4% to 5% climbing and the bikes performed great. However, there have been a couple of times when we were on a descent and I got to high gear and tried to go higher. But really, that's fine. I didn't really need to go faster down the hill.
The Garmin Varia is a huge game changer. I've quickly become dependent on it to understand what traffic is coming. My only complaint is the battery life. I have to plug it in mid-day while having lunch or resting for it to last the entire day. I think there is a battery life dependency on levels of traffic. If we ride on busy highways, it doesn't seem to last as long. I've developed a routine to keep the battery lasting all day so I'm overall very happy.
For the most part, Komoot is great. It does a good job of finding routes that keep you away from traffic to the extend possible. The only thing is you have to evaluate those alternatives. Sometimes they go through private land on private roads and sometimes the Komoot alternative route adds significant climbing. I do load the day's route on my Garmin via a link to Komoot so the route is shown on my Gamin map. Works great.
Thanks for the comment and for your awesome support.
Tomorrow we get back in the saddle and head to Wyoming.
Enjoy the Ride
Exciting start to the adventure! That bike path in the middle of the highway looked insane!
Hey Greer,
Yeah....it SUCKED!! I would not recommend that route from Oregon into Washington. However, I think the only other choice is the I-5 bridge which may or may not be much better. Luckily, it was super long.
Thanks for the comment.
Enjoy the Ride
Super impressive performance. Ugly weather but you guys pressed on and found alternative routes and alternative lodging. My wife and I are very inspired. Loved the abbreviated “Happy Dance” crossing the state border. Maybe having a beer at each state border will be your You Tube signature.
Hey Charles,
Thanks for the inspiring comment. We certainly did our best to maintain as positive attitude as possible when Dad dropped us off in the middle of an "atmospheric river". Yuck. We are grateful we had an alternative to setting up the tent in that situation. For far (after nearly 1000 miles) we've stayed pretty much on our predicted schedule, in fact we got home to Idaho Falls a day early. However, we have made adjustments to the route and the places we hang our hat at the end of the day. But hey...the initial plan was just provided proof and confidence we could do this and making real-time adjustments is part of the experience.
State border crossings are a big deal for us as they represent big milestones in the journey. We will definitely be sharing a cold one at each crossing.
Thanks for watching and following along. We are nearly finished editing episode 2 and will be posing it soon.
Enjoy the Ride
Smart move heading to hotel for the kick off. See you at RAGBRAI and Pork Belly Ventures and hearing your stories in person!
Hey Jeff,
Thanks for watching and for the comment. Totally agree. Giving up the camp site at Fort Stevens State Park even though we'd already paid for it may have been the best decision we've made on the trip so far. It turned what could have been a horrible launch day into a very pleasant experience.
We are home now after almost 1000 miles and in a few days we'll be back on the bikes heading towards Iowa. If you aren't ready following us on Instagram (@busesbikesbeers) please consider it since we will be trying to arrange a BBB meet up or two during RAGBRAI. We'd love to get all the BBB supporters together for a cold beverage.
Looking forward to seeing you at camp....only a few weeks away.
Thanks for watching.
Enjoy the Ride
So far so so so good! Thanks for sharing with us. Making my donation to the Boise Bike people right now! Thanks for that opportunity. Great cause.
Hi Julie!!!
Thank you SOOOOO much for donating to the Boise Bicycle Project. We were able to visit with them when we pedaled through Boise and WOW...are they doing some great things for the community. We'll be publishing that visit soon.
Thanks for watching.
Enjoy the Ride
Merch idea:
Tshirt, all it says: “We will sleep in the tent, I promise”
Good idea. And we did. We've slept in that tent a lot by now. Current at Scott's in Madison enjoying some rest days.
Save it for a rainy day....CHECKED ✔
Exactly. We got our fill of rain completed at the start so maybe we won't have to deal with that again. We are in Idaho now and it's pretty hot here.
Thanks for watching.
Enjoy the Ride
@@BBB_Adventures it's not the heat...it's the...
Oh yeah, (as noted below) embrace the suck and employ the SBMP--small but mighty plastic (credit card) for those hotels. Keeping the asses dry and spirits high! Great kickoff for your adventure--atmospheric river not so much, but love and support from friends and family kicking it up alongside your own positivity.
When you cycle through Europe, you'll be enjoying all the camping cabins you'll find there.
Awesome beginning. Keep the pedals turning!
Hey Todd!
Just getting around to responding to the comments now we are home resting for a few days, after almost 1000 miles. Love your comment so much. We totally buy into the embrace the suck and get through it because great things are on the other side. We've had just crazy good weather after pedaling out of the atmospheric river. We've had such a great time so far and are looking forward to continuing the adventure after enjoying the old fashioned 4 of July celebration Idaho Falls is famous for. Great parade and great fireworks.
Europe will be fun. You should join us. :)
Thanks for your continued encouragement and support. It's awesome.
Enjoy the Ride
Great first episode… enjoyed so much… stay safe & strong!
Hi Dragos,
Thank you for the comment! It does so much for us to hear people are enjoying our videos. We made it home to Idaho Falls after almost 1000 miles and are resting for a few days, then we'll be hitting the road again on our way to RAGBRAI. Overall we are feeling strong and really enjoying the journey.
Thanks for watching.
Enjoy the Ride
Good luck. Testing out gear for us. They used the better hub and see how more torque on hub works .
Howdy,
Our Apollo bikes did great during The Apollo Mission and we had zero issues with the any part of the drivetrain. We absolutely love the smooth and low maintenance drive train of the Apollo Bikes.
Thanks for watching.
Enjoy the Ride
In the famous language of BBB'ers.... "The journey of 3500 miles begins with a single revolution of the crank.
Hey Richard,
Thanks for watching and sorry for the delay in responding to your great comment. We've now finished The Apollo Mission and are spending a bit of time in NYC before heading back to Idaho. When we get home we'll edit and post some more episodes so please stay tuned.
Yes...love it....The Apollo Mission definitely happened one crank revolution at a time, which lead to one mile at a time, which lead to us getting all they way across the continent. It was such as fantastic experience.
Thanks again for watching.
Enjoy the Ride
Can't even imagine the excitement and just overall feeling of "blasting off" into this trip, so much planning and everything all comes down to this. Enjoy every moment of it! Stay safe and looking forward to seeing everything you share with us!
Hey Fiber!
You are spot on!! It was super exciting to get this thing going after literally years of thinking about it and planning. Would it have been better to have beautiful weather to start? Oh yes. But we did our best not to let that spoil the moment and we've been having a blast since. If you aren't following us on Instagram (@busesbikesbeers) you could consider doing that since we've been posting more real-time daily updates. Episode 2 is nearly finished and we'll be posting in soon.
Thanks for watching.
Enjoy the Ride
Hope you had some go-go squeeze’s in your handlebar pouch! Riding without food on busy streets is scary!
Hey Cortney,
We do carry food and high energy gummy blocks.
Thanks for watching
You two are one of a kind! So amazing!! ❤️
Hey Michael,
Nice to hear from you. So happy to hear you're following our adventure. Hope all is well.
Enjoy the Ride
Love seeing your big smiles.. you two got this!! Keep on pedaling and love seeing your daily Facebook/insta stories .. we are enjoying seeing America thru your eyes and experiences
DONNA!!!!!
So great to hear from you. Sorry it's taken me so long to reply to your comment. I hope you had a great time on the Mis Fits ride...I'm sure you did based on the photos in Facebook, plus with that crowd it's a guaranteed good time.
Thanks for following The Apollo Mission, we love hearing from you and it's great to hear folks are enjoying the journey with us.
Enjoy the Ride
Actually we were biking around Asoria Eugene during student times.Luckily we didnt need hotels but were invited by the friendly people of Oregon.have fun crossing the US
Martin,
That's great. The people of Oregon were very nice to us and the Oregon State Park system is excellent.
Thanks for following along and leaving us comments.
Enjoy the Ride
Subbed from Graham's channel, The Outside Perks
Looking forward to following you guys, Stay safe out there.
Thank you so much. We really appreciate your support. After almost 1000 miles we are home and have episode 2 nearly ready to post. We'll be in the saddle and pedaling towards Iowa and RAGBRAI soon.
Thanks for watching.
Enjoy the Ride
@@BBB_Adventures You forgot to tell me to "wear a helmet" And yes, i do. RAGBRAI is my super bowl! I love the fact that you guys planned the mission during the event. Mary Beth, please dont walk around with your toothbrush in your mouth this year! Take care.
@@HackHunter1835 She definitely will NOT be walking around with her toothbrush. :) We've made it to Valentine, NE and are taking a rest day but are on track to intersect Iowa at the start of RAGBRAI. If you aren't already doing so, you can follow us on Instagram (@busesbikesbeers) where we give daily real-time updates and also plan to try to organize a meet up or two during RAGBRAI.
Wear a Helmet
Enjoy the Ride
So nice to meet you guys at Maryhill State Park last week! Best of wishes on your Apollo Mission, be safe and perhaps we will cross paths again. Belt Drive riders unite! (lol)
Hey Graham!
Thanks for watching and for leaving a comment. It was really fun meeting you and Billy at the campground and we really enjoyed the great conversation.
Hope the rest of your trip went well.
Enjoy the Ride
Loving this
Hey Ron,
It's so cool you've gone back to the beginning of the Apollo Mission. We hope you have a chance to watch all the episodes and we hope you enjoy them. We certainly had a great time riding our bikes and then filming and editing the experience so we could share it.
Thanks for watching.
Enjoy the Ride
@@BBB_Adventures you did great making them like watching a mini series... unlike most she's a doll your a hoot
So it begins! Super excited for your adventure. Looking forward to all the upcoming videos, especially small town America ones. Your videos will be played regularly at my sister’s barbershop 😁. I just donated, hope everyone donates to this great cause as well. Stay safe and may your rides be full of memories!
Hey Vinny,
Thank you for watching and for the awesome comment. It really does inspire us and motivate us to continue when we get comments like yours. It's super cool our videos will be playing at your sister's barbershop. I'd love to go there and get a hair cut!!
A huge THANK YOU for donated to the Boise Bicycle Project. We were able to stop by there and talk to the founder when we pedaled through Boise. We'll be posting that visit soon. It's such a great organization doing some really great things for the community.
We are resting at home for a few days (after almost 1000 miles) and will be hitting the road again to continue The Apollo Mission.
Thanks for watching.
Enjoy the Ride
This is so fun! So inspirational!
Hi Kim,
It is so great to hear you are enjoying following along with The Apollo Mission. It's comments like this that motivate us to keep going. We are having such a good time on this adventure and are so happy to share it the best we can.
We'll be publishing episode 2 very soon.
Thanks for watching.
Enjoy the Ride
Wonderful to see you on the road - and be reassured at the end, that there's a future yet! 😀
Looking forward to hearing how your tent performs, once you actually need it!
Hey Lucus,
Thanks for watching and for the comment. We were super excited to get this ride started after years of thinking about it and planning for it. After finally out pedaling the atmospheric river near the coast, we broke through into some absolutely spectacular weather. The tent is performing great. The game changer was the new air mattress. The tent is small but we find it very comfortable. You'll see us using it in subsequent episodes. In fact, we are almost finished editing episode 2 and will be posing it very soon.
Thanks again for the comment.
Enjoy the Ride
nice video. thanks
Thanks and thanks for watching. We're happy you are enjoying BBB Adventures and The Apollo Mission. Many more episodes and many more interesting places to come.
Also, thanks for the comment.
Enjoy the Ride
Love the updates on instagram and this video! Wishing you clear skies and calm roadways on your trip. Stay safe!
Hey Linda,
Thank you so much. I'm a little behind on comments here but happy you are following The Apollo Mission on Instagram. We've been having a great time. More Apollo Mission episodes will eventually be published so thanks for the patience.
Thanks for watching and for the comment.
Enjoy the Ride
The so anticipated beginning of the Apollo Mission! I love tracking you on Instagram but it’s great to see this video!!!
Hey Matt!
Thanks for the comment. And thanks for watching us here and on Instagram. After nearly 1000 miles, we are still having an awesome time on The Apollo Mission and in a few days will be in the saddle again making our way east.
Episode 2 is nearly finished and we'll be posting it very soon. Stay tuned.
Thanks for watching and for the support.
Enjoy the Ride
Bailing on the campsite was not a good tiding for this adventure. But, I knew that you guys had finished.
Hey Josh,
We felt the same way when we decided to bail on the first campsite but it was just so miserable with the rain, wind and mosquitoes we just didn't want to start out that way. In hindsight, it was a great decision and got us started on the right foot. During The Apollo Mission, we definitely confirmed that while plans and detailed planning are important, you also have to be flexible to deal with what comes along the journey.
Thanks for watching and for the comment.
Enjoy the Ride
You guys are so cool! Great video! Love that your keeping real! Sometimes staying at hotels.
Hey Kim,
Thank you for watching and for the comment. We really appreciate the engagement. We are having such a great time on this journey. Hopefully you get a chance to watch episode 2 and the others when we can release them. And yes, sometimes a hotel is exactly what is needed to ensure we maximize the experience. There was no way we were going to sleep in the tent during an atmospheric river. :)
Thanks again for the kind words and encouragement.
Enjoy the Ride
This is fantastic! Love watching your videos. I ride my apollo to commute to work on a daily basis and love the bike and have wondered how it would work on a tour. Can't wait for the next episode!
Hey Jerry,
First, thanks for watching and following along our adventure. Second, thanks for the positive encouragement, it means a lot to us. Please keep watching BBB Adventures for future episodes and if you aren't follow us on Instagram (@busesbikesbeers), you can get daily updates there as well.
It's good to hear you are also enjoying your Apollo. I'm sure it's an awesome commuting bike. We make some changes and refinements to convert them to touring bikes. We have several videos that cover that if you haven't seen them. After nearly 1000 miles on The Apollo Mission, we are super happy with how the bikes are performing. We continue the mission tomorrow morning, heading to Wyoming.
Thanks again for watching and the engagement.
Enjoy the Ride
加油、加油、KEEP GOING, KEEP GOING.
Jyo jyo!!! Thanks for watching!! Enjoy the ride.
Weppaa!!!!!nice good job keep the work and the ride o. 💯🚀
Rene, what does Weppa mean? I know Kevin Does also says it in his videos.
@@stevederr4927 wepa is a puertorican expresion of happiness you guys are here likewujuuu
@@stevederr4927 if kevin is puertorican he will said it
Thank you Rene! We really appreciate your support and encouragement.
Enjoy the Ride
@@reneacevedo87 I believe he’s from the Dominican Republic (from one of his early videos). He has a RUclips channel also. He was in some of Ryan Van Duzer’s videos (RAGBRAI and the Great Divide). Very positive guy like the Duzer and BBB. Amazing how Ryan inspired Brently & Marybeth, as well as Kevin and myself. The positivity exuding from all of them is contagious, certainly impacted me. So get out there and enjoy the ride! (Duzer & Brently catch phrases.). Life is a journey not a destination, so enjoy the experiences along the way, smell the roses and have no regrets!
加油 go brently!
Thanks!!! Go Go Go.
just dive into the suck. Best of luck, great vid
Hey Kevin,
Thanks for watching and for the comment. Totally agree...sometimes you just have to dive straight into the suck and get to the other side. That definitely happened. We've had outstanding weather after the initial atmospheric river.
Stay tuned. Episode 2 coming very soon.
Enjoy the Ride
Wow, that just looks dangerous on the side of busy roads! People are just too focused on phones, etc, these days. Hopefully all works out for you two without incidents.
Hey Katz,
Yes, it is sometimes a little scary particularly when there is a lot of truck traffic on busier highways. We do our best to get off the main roads but it's not possible to ride across the US without a little highway time. We do our best to make ourselves visible and are as careful as possible. The good news is that the vast majority of drivers have been very considerate and give us plenty of space as they pass.
Thanks for watching and for the concern.
Enjoy the Ride
Good morning greetings from Taiwan we are still riding Oregon sounds like rain and mosquito 🦟
Hey Martin,
Nice to hear from you. Good to hear you're still riding in Taiwan. I'm sure it's getting very hot there so drink lots of water.
The Oregon coast was definitely wet, particularly during the atmospheric river, but as we pedaled east, both the landscape and the weather changed significantly and we ended up with some fantastic riding days. You can see some of that in Episode 2 which we released and Episode 3 which will release soon.
Thanks for watching and for the comment.
Enjoy the Ride
What is the name of the hostel you stayed in the first night? Looked like a nice place.
Hi Katherine,
Thanks for watching and thanks for the comment. The name of the place is Selina Commodore Astoria. We really enjoyed our stay there and would recommend it if you're looking for accommodations in Astoria.
Enjoy the Ride
Looking forward to following your journey.
Could you offer some insight as to why you chose the Apollo over the Priority 600 (besides cost)?
Hi Green River Pedaler!
Thanks for watching and for following our adventures. Also, thanks for the comment, we love the engagement.
We did consider the Priority 600 before the Apollo was released and at the time was comparing it to more traditional touring bikes. We also looked and some higher end bikes like Co-motion which also can be built with low maintenance drive trains. Our biggest concern was the frame geometry and riding position of the 600 didn't seem as well suited for long distance touring as other options, it seemed like a great commuter or more general purpose bike. When the Apollo came out as a gravel bike, the overall geometry seemed much closer to what we were looking for and I convinced myself I could convert them to touring bikes. We ordered our Apollos with in the first few days of them being offered on the Priority webpage.
I have since seen videos of people that have also successfully converted a 600 into a touring bike and it does have a broader gear range versus the Apollo, so if I were doing this all over, I might reconsider the 600. Having said that, we are super happy with the Apollo bikes after the first almost 1000 miles and 39,000+ feet of climbing on The Apollo Mission.
Thanks again for watching and for the comment.
Enjoy the Ride
@@BBB_Adventures That's fair. The 600 really is an $800-$900 aluminum hybrid/commuter with a really nice drivetrain in a lot of ways. I picked one up a few weeks back and immediately made some significant modifications to mine (replaced the bars/grips with the new VO Crazy Bars and Ergons, replaced the tires with Marathons) and raised the cockpit a couple of inches. However, in all fairness, I am probably about as large a person that can fit on even the largest size of the 600. I do wish the chain stay length was a little longer but otherwise it seems like a good fit for longer rides for now. For the last couple of years, my main bike has been a Surly Disc Trucker which I have liked but I have always hated the 3x9 drivetrain on it. I have come close to swapping it out for a 1x12 on a couple of occasions but never did. Now, with the Pinion, I effectively have a 1x12 on steroids.
@@j.foobar1764 The refinements you've made to the 600 sound great. I hope you've had a chance to put some miles on it and are happy with it.
Could you push the jet stream so Texas gets out of the high, pushing rain here would be nice too, and kindly ask youtube to remove the Apollo mission context banner.
I wish we could send some cool moist air down there for you. We are in the Boise area of Idaho now and it's pretty warm, not Texas hot but warm.
Thanks for watching and for the comment.
Enjoy the Ride
THE COW!!
Mooooooo
I have to ask you about your Apollo bikes from priority. I have been going back and forth with the 600 and the Apollo for the Ragbrai ride. I want this bike to do everything. I know that you have done many Ragbrai rides. Should I worry more about the climbing or the length of the ride. When we ride we normally do about 45-60 miles a day on a rail trail. I am 67 female and just wanna make the right choice. And suggestions would be great. In case you have t ride. The 600. Very low gears for climbing. How’s the apollo.
Hi Gaye,
This is a great question. Both the 600 and the Apollo are fantastic bikes. For RAGBRAI, you need to worry a bit about both the length of some days and the climbing as each can be challenging. Proper training on any bike is the best way to be ready because it's your butt that will be the weak link if you don't get enough saddle time.
We were seriously considering the 600 but when the Apollo came out, we decided that it was a better starting point for building touring bikes. The frame geometry and the riding position of the Apollo more closely matched our Giant TCR road bikes which we have thousands and thousands of miles on. The Apollo is designed as a gravel bike and is relatively high geared. The 11 speed Shimano Alfine gear box has a 408% gear range while the 600 with it's Pinion gear box has a larger 600% gear range. The "steps" between gears on the 600 are smaller and more consistent than the Apollo. The stock gearing on the 600 has a broader range and has lower gears without sacrificing the high end gearing. The Pinion gear box is located near the crankshaft, closer to the center of gravity of the bike which is arguably better for ride dynamics. The Apollo is back heavy. We changed both the front and rear belt cogs on our Apollos to lower the overall gearing of the bikes to deal with the heavy load of a touring set up. We have several videos on BBB Adventures that go over that. I think a stock 600 would be low geared enough to not have make such modifications to make it a touring bike.
I think riding position differences might be a key consideration. The Apollo is more like a road bike and the 600 is more like a commuter bike. The Apollo is drop handle bars and the 600 has straight bars. That's a bit of a personal preference but also contributes to riding position.
The stock gearing is wider and lower on the 600 as discussed above.
The 600 has fenders and a front dyno hub that runs the lights.
The 600 has wider tires (47 mm) versus the Apollo (40 mm). This has tradeoffs. I'm very happy with the 40 mm tires on the Apollo and I'm not sure I'd like the extra rolling resistance of wider tires.
In terms of cost. By the time we were done modifying the gearing, adding fenders, etc. to the Apollo, I'd closed some of the gap in purchase price.
After all the modification and refinements to the Apollos, we are very happy with them and are loving riding them. We have completed the first 1000 miles of The Apollo Mission and are very impressed with the performance of the bikes.
I don't think you could go wrong with either the 600 or the Apollo. I think it comes down to some personal preferences.
Hopefully you get some help from this rant.
Thanks for watching BBB Adventures and for the comment.
Hope to see you at RAGBRAI.
Enjoy the Ride
@@BBB_Adventures thank you so much for all of the answers to my crazy questions. i appreciate, maybe i will see you next year in Ragbrai
@@gayeeckenrode8714 We are happy to help in any way. I definitely hope we see you on RAGBRAI next year. We might take the Red Dragon again next year....who knows?
Don’t break an ankle on that marry-go-round
Oh we didn't. We learned our lesson from Cole.
Backpackers and hostiles . I camp in tent cause it was 15 a night instead of 27. I had better bed . Use house in the day time.
Howdy,
Thanks for watching and for the comment. We are happy you found The Apollo Mission. We hope you get a chance to watch the entire series of our adventure across North America.
Camping with temperatures like 15 doesn't sound like a lot of fun but sometimes we have to deal with what life hands us.
Thanks for wathing.
Enjoy the Ride
I know it relates to a mars day but SOL 1 is done...
Love it. And a year on Mars is 668 sols. Maybe we should start using that as a measurement of our progress. :)
Thanks for watching.
Enjoy the Ride
pragmatism....every day we make choices.
So true. Each day is a series of choices and decisions that are all intertwined and connected. The result is our life experience. So far we've been very happy with the choices we've made on The Apollo Mission.
Thanks for watching.
Enjoy the Ride