What’s in the bag?

For those of you who know us well you may have heard us recount the story “What’s in the bag?” from our campervan road trip in Western Australia. (If you haven’t heard it, ask us to tell you the next time you see us, it’s a classic.) This is a different story and we’re happy to declare what’s in our bags on this, our first ever cycling tour.

Self-sufficient

The luxury of staying with friends who spoiled us with food and drink for our first few nights on the road is over now. We are heading to the East Coast where in many of the remote settlements, supplies and services are limited meaning we have to be fully self sufficient. Therein lies the problem with bicycle touring in a hot climate – we have no way to keep things cool. I’m already afraid that our luxury item of collapsible wine glasses may not get used!

Panniers

We are carrying two rear and two front panniers each plus a handlebar bag each. Dave is carrying an additional dry bag for the camping gear. Our panniers are certainly not packed to a maximum, and no doubt with experience we could pack much lighter, but for novice cycle tourists our load is heavy enough. Dave is carrying about 20kg, and I probably have around 15kg. Added to that the 10-12kg bike weight, and it is a hefty enough load to haul around in the heat of summer, which incidentally has been a scorcher so far.

Between us we’re carrying what we believe are all the essentials. Dave is carrying the tent, camping mats & chairs plus the kitchen equipment (camping stove, gas, pots/pans, plates, cups, cutlery), and I’ve got the tool bag, gadget bag, first aid kit, and electronics (iPad, bluetooth speaker, Kindle, solar panel, chargers, etc) plus the drone!

Plus we each carry the following:

• A sleeping bag
• A small pillow (courtesy of Qatar Airways, not that they realise it)
• A towel & a sarong
• Swimsuit
• Flip flops
• Spare pair of walking shoes (we cycle in clip-in bike shoes)
• Toiletries (of which I am guilty of having too many)
• A spare set of cycling clothes for cold weather (fingers crossed these will stay in the bag)
• A set of clothes for the evening (layers for warm & cold)
• Reading glasses
• Sunglasses
• Baseball cap and beanie hat (helmets which we wear when riding)
• Head torch
• Bike lock
• Wallet
• Phone

On top of this we have 2 water bottles each, plus whatever fresh food we can pick up (e.g. fruit, avocados, tomato, bread, bacon, eggs), and our dried/emergency food supplies (e.g. tuna, noodles, rice, packet soup, muesli, tinned fruit, tortillas, crackers, nuts, CHOCOLATE).

Let’s face it we are probably the last two people on earth likely to die of hunger!