Packing. Last time I did this, I was prepping for two weeks which included 2 overnight trains, a friendly 3-days visit to my wife’s parents in Kaliningrad and a weekend of fun in Riga.
So I’ve kind of overkilled it.
Now in the spirit of ditching the backpack I was packing lighter.
But! The longest one-day distance in Ringen-Riga was 110 km. Now as part of Team North I am facing three 150 km rides in a row.
So nutrition is key. And medication.
Here’s my belongings assemblage, carefully arranged for you to inspect.
In the picture above you don’t see a powerbank (it’s still charging) and knee ointments, painkillers and other drugs I’ve packed in case of certain medical emergencies.
So, no long pants, no casual jackets. I have one semi-casual outfit — a high-tech polo shirt (supposed to be wrinkle-proof) and a pair of shorts. In case we attend a black tie party we will have to buy everything.
This is how it looks on my bike.
Beautiful, innit?
You can see I’ve managed to shove a 700 ml bottle into the triangle bag. It’s for the flight mode, but it also shows extra capacity I could get if I move the bottle onto the steering wheel. (Wheel? It it really called a wheel? Steering horns it is!)
I still have a lot of stuff that is ditchable. So, if I feel it’s too much I will throw away two big rolls of duct tape without any regret. Well, at least one of them. I think.
Last time we were invited to a fancy party on a bike trip it looked like this (scroll down), everything bought in a store in Helsinki.
I believe handlebar is the correct word for the steering device, so called because of its similar shape to a handlebar moustache.
You are probably absolutely right, thank you Linus! Moustache wheel handlebar.