Cycle touring is full of extremes and as I prepared for my first big adventure 3 years ago, I was confused as to what to take and what to leave at home.
My first image of cycle touring had been the "kitchen sink" model. This type of touring leaves nothing to chance and every conceivable eventuality is covered. I once met two Dutch guys who were on a world cycle tour. After selling their fruit and veg shop back home they had headed off. Their bikes were weighed down with panniers - front and rear, handlebar bags, in -frame storage - no space was left. I met them on a campsite outside of Istanbul and got in conversation about where they had been and where they were heading. They noticed my tent sagging, due to my inability to push the pegs into the concrete like ground. I jokingly said, " Yes, but nobody is crazy enough to have a mallet on them?" Both of them dutifully produced not a mallet, but hammers. The sort that would have comfortably put pegs in securely enough to hold up Billy Smart's Big Top - let alone my little two-man Eurohike special.
It was only years later that I was contemplating my first cycle touring expedition, that the thoughts of what form it should take, entered my mind. The full-blown touring bike seemed very serious and as this trip would end in a flight home, I had to consider baggage allowance. I also didn't want to "credit-card" the whole trip. It seemed a bit like selling out and I didn't want to be hopping from hotel to hotel.
The setup I went for in the end I believe to be a happy medium. The total weight is about 15kg and consisted of the following:
- 2 X Vaude Panniers
- 1 X In-Frame Bag (purchased from Amazon)
- Apidura Bar Bag
- Apidura Accessories Bag - frustratingly not waterproof
- Topeak Top-tube bag
I lashed the tent to the top of the rack, placing it inside a dry-bag. I used the shock cords holding it on, to strap my washing on - usually by lunch my bib shorts would be dry and then rotated daily.
My kit list I keep simple and I knew I wouldn't be cooking. My plan had been to cover the ground quickly. A friend had said to me before the off, "Don't look down too much," but I had a deadline to make and therefore speed was of the essence. If you would like to know the full kit list please feel free to contact me, but here are a few tips which I picked up after now four tours.
- I used a combination of Gilet, Short sleeve cycle tops and arm warmers. This covers a multitude of weather eventualities.
- Spend money on a good "down" sleeping bag. My first trip had a range of weather and the light-weight synthetic bag was a pain.
- A good pillow - I use a Thermarest pillow. It expands to the about half the size of a normal pillow.
- Sewing kit - something will always rip, or tear.
- Map of your route - I know I use a Garmin, but when that dies you still need to know where your going.
- If you plan to blog, or write about your trip a collapsible keyboard. This is the best bit of tech I have ever bought. It folds out to make a keyboard about the size of a ZX Spectrum (showing my age).
Cycle touring is very much a question of how far are you going each day, what is your budget and is it a round trip, or one way? Whatever your choice of setup, cycle touring is an amazing way of seeing the world and is about as green as tourism can get.