my 1st big tour, starts Wednesday 1 June

[andy_spacey]

my 1st big tour, starts Wednesday 1 June, i am cycling form Coventry to faro in Portugal.


I am doing it solo and full loaded, the bags are coming in at 54 kg with water and food. i know this is heavy for some people but I have to no credit card to live off. camping all the way, wild and camp site.

i am a full time on the bike . I give up driving two years ago so i can handle 50 miles a day with this heavy weight, but i am going to have comfort.

Sleeping
I have a cumulus quantum 200 down bag. exped down 9 dlx and chair kit, DD hammock and trap, gore Tex bivv bag and the terra nova large laser tent for when i use camp sites. I know some are you are going to say why take both sleeping systems but having both means i can sleep any where EG: over bad ground
the tent and hammock comes to 2.4kg which ant bad,

the weight comes from the weight things EG: French, Spanish, Portuguese dictionary, sun creams and after sun, battery's 24 AA (GPS and camera and 24 aaa mp3 player)

cloths
I am not over the top with my cloths packing just the basic on and off the bike) trainers and sandals,

water proofs trouse and a karrimor weather tech jackit for on the bike and a set of army gore Tex for of the bike at night (if still raining when am in dry cloths or in wet woods. again the 600 to 800grams from the extra set of water proofs is worth it as keeping healthy is number 1

kitchen,
primus multi fuel, folding washing up bowl, knife fork, folding wood saw ( bahco Laplander) pots and plastic bowl

The list goes on but i do think i have every thing coved to be living on the move for 8 to 12 weeks and may be longer, this is open ended, I may even ride back to the UK.

I have been riding around with all the bike packed up for the last 6 weeks and have a done a couple of little tours up to Lincoln and back so I know I can do it, It ant going to be easy but any thing worth doing never is.

I have a face book page named : A poor man and a bike :if any one want to follow me. i will try to keep it up to date.

Andy :-)

 

[snorri]

It looks as if you are well prepared, Good Luck.

 

[corshamjim]

Sounds idyllic! I agree, I'd rather haul what I need around than do without. I hope you have a great trip!

 

[Paladin - York]

You've done your homework - now for the off. Have a memorable tour. Excellent.

ps. No room for the black box recorder eh?

 

[Herbie]

my 1st big tour, starts Wednesday 1 June, i am cycling form Coventry to faro in Portugal.


I am doing it solo and full loaded, the bags are coming in at 54 kg with water and food. i know this is heavy for some people but I have to no credit card to live off. camping all the way, wild and camp site.

i am a full time on the bike . I give up driving two years ago so i can handle 50 miles a day with this heavy weight, but i am going to have comfort.

Sleeping
I have a cumulus quantum 200 down bag. exped down 9 dlx and chair kit, DD hammock and trap, gore Tex bivv bag and the terra nova large laser tent for when i use camp sites. I know some are you are going to say why take both sleeping systems but having both means i can sleep any where EG: over bad ground
the tent and hammock comes to 2.4kg which ant bad,

the weight comes from the weight things EG: French, Spanish, Portuguese dictionary, sun creams and after sun, battery's 24 AA (GPS and camera and 24 aaa mp3 player)

cloths
I am not over the top with my cloths packing just the basic on and off the bike) trainers and sandals,

water proofs trouse and a karrimor weather tech jackit for on the bike and a set of army gore Tex for of the bike at night (if still raining when am in dry cloths or in wet woods. again the 600 to 800grams from the extra set of water proofs is worth it as keeping healthy is number 1

kitchen,
primus multi fuel, folding washing up bowl, knife fork, folding wood saw ( bahco Laplander) pots and plastic bowl

The list goes on but i do think i have every thing coved to be living on the move for 8 to 12 weeks and may be longer, this is open ended, I may even ride back to the UK.

I have been riding around with all the bike packed up for the last 6 weeks and have a done a couple of little tours up to Lincoln and back so I know I can do it, It ant going to be easy but any thing worth doing never is.

I have a face book page named : A poor man and a bike :if any one want to follow me. i will try to keep it up to date.

Andy :-)

good luck Andy...hope the Galaxy does you proud

 

[aberal]

All the best. Sounds like you've thought it through - but I'll guarantee that you will end up making it up as you go along, and nothing wrong with that. You'll discard stuff and buy better stuff - there is no absolute rules in touring other than the ones you learn from your own experiences. You may have one already, but the biggest thing I learnt on the road was to buy myself a head torch. Changed my life in the tent hugely. Also - a tripod seat is worth the extra weight.

 

[peelywally]

good luck andy

 

[mcshroom]

Good luck and have a great trip

 

[andy_spacey]

i all ready have a good head touch. 190hours of a set off aaa batterers. I have a net book 1 kg and 9 hours of one charge. plus i have a gps dongale for it. i have the Garmin 60csx and Europe maps. .

uv plug for sinks, hook up cable for camp sites. dawes galaxy bike, butter fly bars, brooks b67,

yep done my home work, been planing and saving for over 6 years,

i like to say thanks to cycle chat, you tube, and all the other people i follow that are riding around the world.

Thanks,

i talked the talk, now its time to ride the ride

 

[andym]

Good luck Andy.

56kgs??? Arr you taking food and water (and suncream) for the whole trip?

Seriously, it sounds like there's an awful lot of duplication - I understand the reasoning for a hammock as well as a tent, but two sets of waterproofs for France in June is a bit OTT.

Also how much water are you including in that total? French villages very often have a water tap (or failing that a tap in a toilet) so you might need enough capacity for drinking, cooking and washing for one night but not more than that.

 

[andy_spacey]

52-56kg

water is around 1kg per litre, 2 bottles on the fame, 2x one litres bottles in the front bags plus 2x two litre bottles on the back rack. that 8 litres = 8kg. water is god, better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Even going form Coventry to Lincoln I have found that when you keep away from petrol satiation you run out of water, I do have a water filter with me so can clean water up from rivers and that,


I am 5,11 and well build, my cloths are big, so even only taking the basics there is a good 8kg.


the water waterproofs come in at my be 1.2kg for both pairs. I am cycling down to Portsmouth over 6 days and next week the weather is going to be bad. also France and Spain have had bad weather so far this year. plus i lived in the algarve fro 2 years and when it rains it rains, , but they do have 300 days a year of sun,. i have leant over the years that there is no such thing as bad weather only bad clothing, i have put them in and take them out of my bag so many times and the only time i feel right is when there are in there.


i have looked at all my kit and have nothing has gone in there with going though. the can i live with out it posses.
I have 1 pack of babe wipes in the front bag. Have you ever weigh a pack, 800grams. hand washing liquid to wash you cloths, 600g
Every little thing adds up to the over all weight. Now if i was only going for 2 weeks i would get away with going with out may be. But this is open ended, If i get into the routine of cycling, eating, sleeping i will cycle back up the med, I don't need to come back to the uk for anything, for maybe up to a year.


if i got shot of the babe wipes, French, Spanish, Portuguese dictionary, two books paper backs i am going to read,the hand wash, the little tranny radio, the first add kit, the folding shower,the water filler,the sun cream and after sun, the alcohol hand gel, the dry hand cream, the 2x one litre bottles, ear buds, razors, my front bags would be empty and i would save 16kg


I will be carry food for two-three days and just keep topping it up as a so along. I am looking at eating 6000 to 1200 kacl a day and that is a lot of food, i am a personal trainer and human conditioning specialist. i know what my body needs to make the job of living on the road as easy as possible, If water is king, food is queen. food will come in at 6 to 8kg




The bike rides well with the wegth and I have just rebuild my dawes glaxey with new deore touring wheels and new Sram chain with 11 to 34 gearing.


i have a full tool kit with me, including a sprocket too and spanner,tubes,cables,spokes) i can rebuild the bike if i need to myself, All that come in at 4kg but i would not go with out it.


the only thing i want to be spending money on is food and may be hitting a camp sites every 3 to 4 days, just to charge my net-book up, phone ( i have 3 batters and a power monkey) plus a warm shower.


i think first two weeks will be the hardest as my body adepts to pushing the weight but after that is should be just like a job for my legs, working 5 to 8 hours a day on the bike. Just keep eating and resting so they can recovery. each day will be different and so will the challenge ( Just like writing this, I have dyslexia and did not learn to read till I was 29) that why i am doing it. bets doing a 9 to 5 in a office or factory

 

[oldleggs]

Best of luck Andy.
You seem more prepared than me, as l also intend to peddle down the west coast of France the following week starting 6th/7th June. I have no set time scale so starting and finishing is open ended. l could say that I'm in the late stage of early planning at present!!

Portsmouth/St Malo is the kick off point and Pamplona is the target place by early July, so lots of stopping and rest days are planned. Camping mostly, l hear French campsites are good and reasonably priced, b/b will be an option should the lack of home comforts be sorely missed no pun intended. I have never done anything like this before so its a case of suck it and see.

After reaching Pamplona there is no set destination planned ( want to see the bull runs....will not be taking part) so maybe a train ride will be an option.

Regards Oldleggs.

 

[aberal]

if i got shot of the babe wipes, French, Spanish, Portuguese dictionary, two books paper backs i am going to read,the hand wash, the little tranny radio, the first add kit, the folding shower,the water filler,the sun cream and after sun, the alcohol hand gel, the dry hand cream, the 2x one litre bottles, ear buds, razors, my front bags would be empty and i would save 16kg

Personally, I'd get rid of all of that, except the first aid kit and the sun cream. And I would download a free pc version of Kindle and put it on your net book and read the dictionaries and paper backs on that. Water is not God, weight is God.

Actually its not just about the weight its also a pain in the neck having too much stuff to rummage about with in a tent every night, night after night. If you do find you have too much stuff, you can buy boxes in any post office and send it back sea mail.

 

[rich p]

8kg of water!!! They have quite a lot of it in France! It's cheap as chips in small shops and a coffee-stop cafe will happily recharge your bidons.

Go0d luck and enjoy though!

 

[hondated]

Andy having yet to do my first big tour I cannot offer you any advice on what to take but I can however offer you my best wishes and I will be following your progress with interest.Can I take it that you have retired then.