Packing stuff on a bloody bike

How do you multi week tourers do it then?

Here I am cursing after having spent a couple of hours trying cram all
my stuff onto my bike. And I'm only away for two nights. Someone else
is bringing a tent and we're not taking food as we plan to live off
pubs and cafes.

I thought boats were small to live on but a bike is simply ridiculous.
My toolkit and spares take up half a pannier, for God's sake. The
sleeping bag takes up 90% of the other one. That leaves me with half a
pannier for for everything else.

Looks like the 200 [censored] are being left behind.

So if you see a nicotine deprived lunatic riding a bike one handed and
with carrier bags dangled from the handlebars in the Peaks this
weekend, that'll be me. Feel free to say hello and offer me a [censored].

Grrr.

Quoted message said:

The
sleeping bag takes up 90% of the other one.

Put the sleeping bag in a waterproof cover and bungee it to the top of the rack
to free-up pannier space?

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to get correct one remove fame & fortune
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Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

My toolkit and spares

I've got one of those all-in-one tool kits and I only ever take a spare
inner tube (puncture free ones) - so that's loads of space freed up.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

sleeping bag takes up 90% of the other one

sleeping bag sits on top of everything else. the top bag of the pannier
holds clothes, so the tent and sleeping bag squash it down nicely.

which leaves almost two empty side panniers for the stove, etc.

water is held in 2x1 litre supermarket pop bottles in the std water bottle
carriers.

loads of room!

🙂

HTH

--
Kev

.. That leaves me with half a

Quoted message said:

pannier for for everything else.

Looks like the 200 [censored] are being left behind.

So if you see a nicotine deprived lunatic riding a bike one handed and
with carrier bags dangled from the handlebars in the Peaks this
weekend, that'll be me. Feel free to say hello and offer me a [censored].

Grrr.

In message <[email hidden]>, "[Not
Responding]" <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

How do you multi week tourers do it then?

Actually, I take pretty much the same for 3 weeks as I do for one.

Quoted message said:

Here I am cursing after having spent a couple of hours trying cram all
my stuff onto my bike. And I'm only away for two nights. Someone else
is bringing a tent and we're not taking food as we plan to live off
pubs and cafes.

You are obviously taking to much stuff then............

Quoted message said:

I thought boats were small to live on but a bike is simply ridiculous.
My toolkit and spares take up half a pannier, for God's sake.

What on earth are you carrying, a toolkit, a spare tube and a few minor
spares should fit in a small seat pack, or pannier pocket. In mine I
have a multi-tool (good old CoolTool) that has adjustable spanner Allen
keys, chain tool and crank bolt socket on it., small flat head
screwdriver, spoke key, small pair of needle nose pliers, tyre levers,
patches, hand wipes. all firs into a small nylon roll. There's no point
in carrying many spares, esp if the bike is properly maintained I have a
gear/brake cable inners (never used) spare blocks, spare chainlink and
oddments like zip ties, a few choice nuts and bolts, a bit of duct tape,
insulation tape, a bit of nylon cord etc.- it is these latter bits that
are usually most useful

Quoted message said:

The
sleeping bag takes up 90% of the other one. That leaves me with half a
pannier for for everything else.

sleeping bags can be a pain esp. if you don't have a nice lightweight
compact down one. If it's that bulky bungee it on the rack at the back
(I did my first tour - a month round Ireland with a sleeping bag like
that - as well a kip mat as well.) Though all the rest of your kit
should fit in a pannier anyway.

You really don't need much stuff though, 2 sets of cycling clothes would
be generous (shorts + top) windproof top, tracksters, fleece top,
waterproof. + a change of trousers/top for camp. Small washkit (one of
the modern microfibre packtowels is useful here, both for pack size and
for speed of drying) - a torch - I would take a LED headtorch - light
and compact, penknife, a bit of reading matter, metal/plastic cup/beaker
for drinking wine or whatever. Map, Camera,
--
Chris French, Leeds

[Not Responding said:

']How do you multi week tourers do it then?

Here I am cursing after having spent a couple of hours trying cram all
my stuff onto my bike. And I'm only away for two nights. Someone else
is bringing a tent and we're not taking food as we plan to live off
pubs and cafes.

I thought boats were small to live on but a bike is simply ridiculous.
My toolkit and spares take up half a pannier, for God's sake. The
sleeping bag takes up 90% of the other one. That leaves me with half a
pannier for for everything else.

Looks like the 200 [censored] are being left behind.

So if you see a nicotine deprived lunatic riding a bike one handed and
with carrier bags dangled from the handlebars in the Peaks this
weekend, that'll be me. Feel free to say hello and offer me a [censored].

Grrr.

On my round the world ride I packed my sleeping bag in one pannier, clothes, towel etc in the other. My foam mat and half of the tent were over the rack. In my bar bag I had documents, spare tubes(2), spare cables and things I need for the day such as camera, watch, sunblock. Saddle wedge had my small tool kit.

Read more on my website http://www.mseries.freeserve.co.uk/ try the Trans America Ride first.

When I was travelling alone I fitted front low riders to take the rest of the tent and to spread the load better. My tent was a three man mountain tent (4.5kg), my sleeping bag was fairly large (2kg). My bet is that you have some just in case stuff - you will not need it and if you do you will learn to improvise anyway.

Not Responding said:

How do you multi week tourers do it then?

Here I am cursing after having spent a couple of hours trying cram all
my stuff onto my bike. And I'm only away for two nights. Someone else
is bringing a tent and we're not taking food as we plan to live off
pubs and cafes.

See the pictures at:

http://tranchant.plus.com/cycling/france-1996/ft1-2

My bike's the one on the right. I have my floor mat and sleeping bag and
the tent on top of my rack. Neil's carrying his mat and 'bag on his
rack. These are held down with a pair of bungees.

We carried everything we needed except food for a nine-day tour,
including a camera, tools and a camping stove. Admittedly, we didn't
have any heavy clothes as this was France in summer.

The front panniers are excellent, but you shouldn't need them for a
three-day ride.

--
Mark.

One more point it is worth thinking about trying to make as many allen bolts and nuts on you and your companions' bikes as standard as possible. That way you'll need less tools. Uniglide cassettes can be removed without the use of a cassette tool. A hammer and screwdriver will do. These can be found everywhere so you will not need to carry one nor a cassette tool. BTW my tourer doesn't have Uniglide any longer but I am toying with the idea of refitting it for touring.

Not Responding said:

How do you multi week tourers do it then?

Here I am cursing after having spent a couple of hours trying cram all
my stuff onto my bike. And I'm only away for two nights. Someone else
is bringing a tent and we're not taking food as we plan to live off
pubs and cafes.

I thought boats were small to live on but a bike is simply ridiculous.
My toolkit and spares take up half a pannier, for God's sake. The
sleeping bag takes up 90% of the other one. That leaves me with half a
pannier for for everything else.

Looks like the 200 [censored] are being left behind.

So if you see a nicotine deprived lunatic riding a bike one handed and
with carrier bags dangled from the handlebars in the Peaks this
weekend, that'll be me. Feel free to say hello and offer me a [censored].

For a two week tour:

Front left pannier - spare clothing
2 clean pants
2 pairs socks
2 T-Shirts
Shorts
Trousers
Sweater
Towel
Wash bag
Front right pannier - sleeping
Hips and shoulders sleeping mat
Sleeping bag
Sandals
Rear left pannier - wet bag
3L Camelbak
Waterproof
Saucepan
Stove
Bowl
Cup
Stove fuel
Rear right pannier - food bag
Food
First aid kit
Helmet*
Spare cycle shorts
Spare cycle shirt
On pannier
Tent
Saddle bag
Tools
Bar bag
Valuables
Maps
Snacks
On me
Cycle shorts
Cycle shirt
Sealskin socks
SPDs

*Helmet is usually worn for descents and on busy roads. It is not
usually worn for ascents.

[Not Responding] <[email hidden]> wrote:

: I thought boats were small to live on but a bike is simply ridiculous.

You need a completely different mindset, even to a (small) boat.

Take less. Much less.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org
"Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

Arthur Clune said:

[Not Responding] <[email hidden]> wrote:

: I thought boats were small to live on but a bike is simply ridiculous.

You need a completely different mindset, even to a (small) boat.

Take less. Much less.

It depends on why you are cycling. If distance is important, take
less. If enjoyment of the land is important and visiting new places,
take a few luxuries.

Not Responding said:

How do you multi week tourers do it then?

Here I am cursing after having spent a couple of hours trying cram all
my stuff onto my bike. And I'm only away for two nights. Someone else
is bringing a tent and we're not taking food as we plan to live off
pubs and cafes.

What do you need for two nights? Sleeping bag, sleep mat, change of
clothes, spare tube, puncture kit, multitool, toothbrush and money/Magic
Plastic. Think that's about it, aside from shades and cream if you want
it to rain.

Sleeping bag is much easier if it's a summer down filled one. Old
synthetics tend to be huge, summer down ones are tiny. The mat can go
on the carrier (and so can the sleeping bag if you put it in an dry-bag
(Seal Line, Vau De or Ortlieb formal dry bag, not a couple of
binliners). Keep the clothes light and low bulk and it should be easy.

Last week's Tour Du Nord I took a couple of pairs of bikesters, pair of
shorts, couple of shirts in different weights, 3 pairs of pants (padded
shorts pointless on the 'bent) and a light jacket aside from my
waterproofs. That was enough for clothes.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

On 22/7/04 11:24 pm, in article [email hidden],

Not Responding said:

I thought boats were small to live on but a bike is simply ridiculous.
My toolkit and spares take up half a pannier, for God's sake. The
sleeping bag takes up 90% of the other one. That leaves me with half a
pannier for for everything else.

You need the sleeping bag.
Will your bike break down in the 7miles or so you are going to be doing?
Then why do you need half a panniers worth of tools/spares? It's hardly the
wilderness you are travelling to. Ditch all the tools. Your friends will
have them if you really need them, alternatively the weather will be [censored] so
you can bumble around cafe's and pubs and procrastinate.

That leaves loads of space for [censored] (don't they sell them in Derbyshire?),
tuxedo (for changing for dinner), and clothes for almost every occasion.

...d

Gonzalez said:

It depends on why you are cycling. If distance is important, take
less. If enjoyment of the land is important and visiting new places,
take a few luxuries.

But still take less than on a boat. Once you've got used to 150l easy
storage and no weight problems in a sea kayak (which has more limited
storage than a lot of boats), pretty much /anything/ counts as "less"!

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

[Not Responding] typed:

Quoted message said:

And I'm only away for two nights.

Heheheh, you need _much_ less stuff .. 😉 Lose all the 'just in case'
tools, a multitool, chain splitter, spare tube, puncture outfit, electrical
tape, zip ties and gaffer tape are mostly necessities.

Quoted message said:

My toolkit and spares take up half a pannier

See above ..

Quoted message said:

The sleeping bag takes up 90% of the other one

Strap it (bungee cord maybe) to the top of the rack.

Quoted message said:

Looks like the 200 [censored] are being left behind.

Not necessarily a bad thing, take some beer instead .. 😉

Have a great time .. hope the weather's good for you .. 😉

--
Paul ...

(8(|) ... Homer Rocks

"[Not Responding]" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

How do you multi week tourers do it then?

I've seen these cyclist loaded up to the nines with huge panniers but this looks
like masochism at its worst!

I reckon the answer must be to get a group together and hire a van to take all the
luggage, food, beer (refrigerated van!), tents & spares, tools etc and each person
takes one day of the tour in turn as support driver and drives on ahead to each
agreed stopoff.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

"[Not Responding]" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

How do you multi week tourers do it then?

I've seen these cyclist loaded up to the nines with huge panniers but this looks
like masochism at its worst!

I reckon the answer must be to get a group together and hire a van to take all the
luggage, food, beer (refrigerated van!), tents & spares, tools etc and each person
takes one day of the tour in turn as support driver and drives on ahead to each
agreed stopoff.

The bare minimum for a camping tour must be:

Tent,
Sleeping bag,
Ground mat,
Clothes,
Cooking stuff (If you're away from civilisation)
Food.

To tour for a week, the only thing you might need is more food and you
can probably pick that up on a daily basis.

I could easily imagine touring for weeks with the same stuff that I took
to York for the weekend.

Jon

Adrian Boliston said:

"[Not Responding]" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

How do you multi week tourers do it then?

I've seen these cyclist loaded up to the nines with huge panniers but this looks
like masochism at its worst!

I reckon the answer must be to get a group together and hire a van to take all the
luggage, food, beer (refrigerated van!), tents & spares, tools etc and each person
takes one day of the tour in turn as support driver and drives on ahead to each
agreed stopoff.

I hope you are not serious.

On Fri, 23 Jul 2004 11:10:46 +0100, Jon Senior

jon@restlesslemon_DOT_co_DOT_uk.remove said:

The bare minimum for a camping tour must be:

Tent,

Though if you are on your own a bivvi bag could do.

Quoted message said:

Sleeping bag,
Ground mat,
Clothes,
Cooking stuff (If you're away from civilisation)

You can get much of the above in very lightwieght versions too. I have a
75g stove and a titanium kettle which barely registers on the scales. A
ground mat is nice but you could get a 3/4 length one or cut down a
karrimat. (I could mention bubblewrap and party balloans but they tend to
be good for just one night.)

Colin

Jon Senior said:

To tour for a week, the only thing you might need is more food and you
can probably pick that up on a daily basis.

A better selection of clothes may be in order, since conditions may
change more and laundry facilities may be lacking. But modern
lightweight clothing doesn't bulk too much and is also increasingly
pong-resistant, so it's not /that/ much more.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/