Dave and his Bike

Another geeky post for the travel nerds amongst us.

Despite one piece of feedback telling me that there was too much detail and information about my bike in the post titled, erm, “The Bike” 🙄, I have forged on with a post about the kit I am taking with me. 

I have no doubt that between now and Saturday this list will change. I will remove and add accordingly depending on my mood, the weather forecast, space and weight, and blind panic. I am also absolutely certain that what I leave home with will be different to what I arrive back here with in April. 

Firstly, as I have mentioned previously (probably more than once), I am not planning on camping. Therefore the tent and other camping kit will not be joining me. This gives me the freedom to take just front panniers and a handlebar bag, although the resulting loss of space may prove difficult. I am restricted to 34 litres-worth of pannier space (Altura Orkney), and a 7 litre bar bag (Altura Dryline). I also have a small saddle bag with 2 spare inner tubes, tyre levers and Allen keys. This should be enough. I hope. 

The bulk of space will be taken by clothing and sleeping kit, although I will obviously be wearing one set of clothing from the list at all times! At the moment I have opted to take a sleeping bag and sleep mat in order to maximise the options for somewhere to sleep. They are the big items which may be ousted if I’m too tight on space. Since Jane is my support vehicle for the first couple of weeks (and in Australia) I have the luxury of not carrying panniers initially, and having a full change of cycling clothing when we go our separate ways, so I can defer that decision for a while. Result!

I will be more than happy to answer any questions about specific bits of kit, and will update along the way as to how everything is performing, or not!

Cycling stuff.

• 2 x cycling shorts
• 2 x cycling jerseys (short sleeved)
• Arm warmers
• Leg warmers
• Waterproof jacket (Berghaus GoreTex Paclite)
• Lightweight fluo jacket 
• Track mitts (Altura)
• Full gloves
• 2 x pairs socks
• Helmet (Lazer)
• Cycling shoes (Specialized Rime)
• Some spares & tools (Inner tubes; tyre levers; Allen keys; Gerber; spoke key; cable ties; brake pads; gear/brake cables)

Casual clothing.

• Trousers (North Face Zip off)
• Shorts / swim shorts
• 2 x T-shirts
• 1 x L/S shirt (Craghoppers Nosquito)
• Fleece (Alpkit Griffon)
• Sun hat
• Buff
• Lightweight trainers

Sleep stuff.

• Sleeping bag (Rab Quantum 400)
• Sleeping bag liner
• Sleep mat (Thermarest ProLite)

Miscellaneous kit

• Water filter (Water-to-Go bottle + spare filters)
• Bike locks (x2 – one cable, one D-lock)
• Battery back up power pack / cables
• USB Adaptor
• Head torch Petzl Myo 
• Mobile phone
• Wash kit / razor / microfibre towel
• Sun screen
• Earphones
• Ti Spoon
• Swiss Army knife 
• Jungle Formula / Tiger Balm

Maps: 

• Europe (Slovenia / Croatia / Serbia / Bulgaria / Turkey)
• India (1:1500000 – not great for navigation, but good for place names)
• Thailand (Steve bringing)
• Malaysia (Steve again)
• Australia (Jane bringing)
• Chile
• Argentina

I am now only four days away from departing. Does anyone doing this ever think that they have prepared well and are ready for the journey? I certainly don’t at the minute. A short ride this afternoon was good, but last minute admin issues with third parties (flight booking agents, insurance brokers…) has caused us both some angst, and route planning and packing still needs to be finalised. At least the rainy forecast has changed for the better.

Wish me luck… 🚴‍♂️😎