Find out what Lou and Charlie packed for their cycling tour. We hope that it gives you a bit of an idea of what is needed (and what isn't!).
Packing for a cycling tour is hard work, soo many options of what to take and what you dont need. I defiantly erred on the side of pack-everything as you will see. Check out what I packed below and what ended up being sent home after a few months and a few big hills.
I am filling this in from the road so bear with me, it's a work in progress:)
I am filling this in from the road so bear with me, it's a work in progress:)
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Cycling T-shirts
1 x grey primark sports top 1 x Christie cycling jersey 1 x purple sports top 1 x primark vest top Description: THIS IS TOO MANY! I definitely don't need this many cycling tops and have now sent one of them home, probably should have sent two but it's nice not to be too smelly! Cost: 22.50 - For this trip I only bought the Christie jersey, all the others I had in my wardrobe already. But I definitely didn't spend more than a fiver each. |
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Long Sleeve Cycling Tops
1 x grey Decathlon sports top 1 x fluorescent cycling jersey Description: One for when I want to be seen by EVERYONE! And one for when I don't fancy being as bright as the sun :) Cost: 19 pounds |
Cycling Shorts/Trousers - photos on the way
1 x padded long trousers
1 x padded shorts
Description: I originally had a different pair of shorts but the elastic rubbed my legs so I bought this snazzy pair from Decathlon in Budapest. Reminder to self - always try out new shorts before setting off on a 7000 mile trip. Also good bum padding really does make a difference!
1 x padded long trousers
1 x padded shorts
Description: I originally had a different pair of shorts but the elastic rubbed my legs so I bought this snazzy pair from Decathlon in Budapest. Reminder to self - always try out new shorts before setting off on a 7000 mile trip. Also good bum padding really does make a difference!
City Clothes - photos on the way
1̶ ̶x̶ ̶d̶e̶n̶i̶m̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶r̶t̶s̶ 1̶ ̶x̶ ̶c̶u̶l̶o̶t̶t̶e̶s̶ 1 x leggins
1̶ ̶x̶ ̶j̶e̶a̶n̶s̶ 1 x strappy 1 x jumper
1̶ ̶x̶ ̶d̶e̶n̶i̶m̶ ̶t̶o̶p̶ 2 x t-shirts
1̶ ̶x̶ ̶d̶r̶e̶s̶s̶ 1 x flowery trousers/pj trousers
Description: As you can I see, I may have had my priorities wrong when it came to packing! Everything that is crossed out has now been sent home ... although I have bought some pj shorts because its been so hot. Also in my defense a lot of these can be used as layers when it gets cold.
Cost: I didn't buy anything new for this trip, except the shorts so I guess the total is 6 pounds.
1̶ ̶x̶ ̶d̶e̶n̶i̶m̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶r̶t̶s̶ 1̶ ̶x̶ ̶c̶u̶l̶o̶t̶t̶e̶s̶ 1 x leggins
1̶ ̶x̶ ̶j̶e̶a̶n̶s̶ 1 x strappy 1 x jumper
1̶ ̶x̶ ̶d̶e̶n̶i̶m̶ ̶t̶o̶p̶ 2 x t-shirts
1̶ ̶x̶ ̶d̶r̶e̶s̶s̶ 1 x flowery trousers/pj trousers
Description: As you can I see, I may have had my priorities wrong when it came to packing! Everything that is crossed out has now been sent home ... although I have bought some pj shorts because its been so hot. Also in my defense a lot of these can be used as layers when it gets cold.
Cost: I didn't buy anything new for this trip, except the shorts so I guess the total is 6 pounds.
Warm layers and Coats
1 x trousers long-johns
1 x long sleeve long-john top
1 x down jacket
1 x rain coat
1 x fleece
Description: it is going to get pretty chilly when we get to the Pamir Mountains so warmth is essential. Unfortuantely it means we have to carry coats and fleeces through Europe where it is currently 40 degrees but it will all be worth it! Most of this I had already (and Mum bought us the long johns for Christmas :). The only thing I bought for this trip was the down coat, although expensive totally worth it! And its a life investment
Cost: 105 pounds for the down coat
1 x trousers long-johns
1 x long sleeve long-john top
1 x down jacket
1 x rain coat
1 x fleece
Description: it is going to get pretty chilly when we get to the Pamir Mountains so warmth is essential. Unfortuantely it means we have to carry coats and fleeces through Europe where it is currently 40 degrees but it will all be worth it! Most of this I had already (and Mum bought us the long johns for Christmas :). The only thing I bought for this trip was the down coat, although expensive totally worth it! And its a life investment
Cost: 105 pounds for the down coat
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The Bike and Accessories
1 x Awsome Ridgeback Adventure called Charlie - Free 2 x Creek to Peak back panniers - Free 2 x Altura front panniers - 20 each 1 x handlebar phone case - 5 from Amazon 1 x Helmet - 30 from Halfords 1 x Topeak back pannier rack - free thanks to Howard:) 1 x Topeak front pannier rack - 30 from Evans Cycles 1 x D lock |
Description: The bike was passed on to me for free along with the back panniers and a whole range of kit which I would need for a tour (see Charlie the bike tab!).
The Altura front panniers are great if a bit big which makes it tempting to over fill them!
The phone case is one of the most useful things so I can check the map, change music and have snacks within easy reach at all times:)
Cost: Although Charlie came to me ready to go I did need to buy the front pannier gear as it is such a long trip. So the grand total is 105 pounds.
The Altura front panniers are great if a bit big which makes it tempting to over fill them!
The phone case is one of the most useful things so I can check the map, change music and have snacks within easy reach at all times:)
Cost: Although Charlie came to me ready to go I did need to buy the front pannier gear as it is such a long trip. So the grand total is 105 pounds.
Misc
Underwear - 9 x pants, 7 x socks, 2 x sports bras
Shoes - Trainers, flip flops, c̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶t̶r̶a̶i̶n̶e̶r̶s̶
Toiletries - Toothbrush, toothpaste, flannel, moisturizer, braces, deodorant, sanitary towels, razor, cotton buds
Underwear - 9 x pants, 7 x socks, 2 x sports bras
Shoes - Trainers, flip flops, c̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶t̶r̶a̶i̶n̶e̶r̶s̶
Toiletries - Toothbrush, toothpaste, flannel, moisturizer, braces, deodorant, sanitary towels, razor, cotton buds
Electricals
Smartphone, Tablet, mp3 player, Sony camera
Smartphone, Tablet, mp3 player, Sony camera
The Adventures of charlie the bike
By Charlie (the human)
Tom's Story
Tom Allen, of the wonderful Tom's Bike Trip blog, went on a mission in 2013 to prove that going on a cycling tour didn't have to break the bank. To prove his point he put together a whole touring bike and kit for astounding £25.17!
By using websites like Freecycle, visiting local tips and Recyclemarts he found a frame and wheel, then by asking friends and looking for voucher codes he put together a fully functional touring bike and kit. To prove it worked he then cycled it from Lands End to John O'Groats. Not bad for £25.17.
If you want to find out exactly how he did it check out his blog, it also answers every question you could have about cycle touring, wild camping and making a beer can stove! Defiantly worth a read.
By using websites like Freecycle, visiting local tips and Recyclemarts he found a frame and wheel, then by asking friends and looking for voucher codes he put together a fully functional touring bike and kit. To prove it worked he then cycled it from Lands End to John O'Groats. Not bad for £25.17.
If you want to find out exactly how he did it check out his blog, it also answers every question you could have about cycle touring, wild camping and making a beer can stove! Defiantly worth a read.
Tegan's Story
After building his no-budget touring bike Tom held a competition to give the bike and all the kit away to someone who wanted to go on their own cycling adventure (cycle tourers are nice like that). And the winner was the amazing Tegan Phillips who kept a cartoon blog of her journey from Bristol to Spain. Her blog is called Unclipped Adventure, it is hilarious and incredibly inspiring, and we highly recommend that you check it out right now!
Since then she has completely succumbed to the cycling bug and has gone on a year long cycle tour around Africa with her family! She is also the one who gave Charlie his name, so obviously she is the best person ever!
Since then she has completely succumbed to the cycling bug and has gone on a year long cycle tour around Africa with her family! She is also the one who gave Charlie his name, so obviously she is the best person ever!
Kelly's Story
Since finishing her tour of Spain Tegan passed Charlie the bike onto the next budding cycling adventurer, the lovely Kelly Diggle, who documented her travels around Iceland on her blog Blue Eyed View, a fantastic website about solo travelling on a budget. If you are thinking of solo touring and want some inspiration, follow Kelly:)
She has since moved to China to teach and we hope to meet up with her in Hong Kong!
She has since moved to China to teach and we hope to meet up with her in Hong Kong!
Charlie's next adventure!
After her travels Kelly was on the look out for the next person to pass Charlie the bike on to. I saw her blog and wrote to her with our plans and lo and behold she didnt think that we were completely bonkers, in fact she thought our plans were kind of cool and that we would make excellent new owners for Charlie.
Kelly was (luckily!) passing by Manchester last August and popped by for a cup of tea and to drop off Charlie and the kit ready for his next adventure. I am delighted to be part of this story and shall keep you all up to date with his latest adventures and tales from the road.
Kelly was (luckily!) passing by Manchester last August and popped by for a cup of tea and to drop off Charlie and the kit ready for his next adventure. I am delighted to be part of this story and shall keep you all up to date with his latest adventures and tales from the road.
Packing for an adventure along with the planning is almost as fun as the adventure itself! Particularly when the majority of the gear arrives in the 5 days before the start (and in some cases 5 days afterwards!).
Here's a list of my kit:
The Bike:
Edinburgh Bike Shop Country Explorer - My dad excellent ebay skills bagged me this beauty of a bike. I took it for a service to make sure everything was in working order.
Brookes Saddle - recommended by all good cycle tourers and is a constant source of interest/amusement to people we meet.
Panniers - Creek to Peak back panniers and Altura front panniers (which are actually back ones but this isn't the time to be fussy). Throw in a handlebar bag, two dry bags and a bum bag and we're all set.
Cycle computer - I have a wireless ....... but I'm not too impressed with it as when I got to 958km it reset itself and started from 0. It also doesn't record altitude gained which would be a nice bit of info. I do like that it records daily distance and temperature and is very easy to use.
Lights - Front, back and spares. All take AAA batteries.
Bike pump - a working one courtesy of Aram!
Repair kit - Including allen keys, spoke key, an assortment of other handy tools. Puncture repair kit, spare brake cable, 2x spare inner tubes, 2x spare spokes. This is a little thin on the ground as it was one of the items nicked in Bulgaria so I'm rebuilding it bit by bit.
Bungee Cords - because other wise I'd actually have to fit all this stuff inside my panniers.
A really really good lock - safety first kids
Repairs on the Road:
Tyres - Continental Gatorskin - these are tyres are more designed for road cycling and did a wonderful job of getting me across Europe with only two punctures in 3 months of daily use. I've now updated them to better suit Central Asian roads and have gone for a Schwalbe Marathon Plus for the back wheel.
Back wheel - We noticed a crack in my back wheel rim in Germany so knew it would need to be changed at some point. This point came in Thessaloniki, Greece when the crack turned into a hole.
Brakes - No idea what happened here but when we reached Thessaloniki (maybe its something to do with this town) the internal mechanism in my Tektro Lyra disc brakes slipped. I fixed them myself and they lasted until Elefsina, Greece where I replaced the whole mechanism front and back for Schwalbe.
Drinks holder - I added an extra drinks holder because the other two were already full holding the all the gin and camping fuel...I'm half kidding...
Touring Fashion:
Tops
2x short sleeve t-shirts
1x sleeveless top
2x long sleeve shirt
2x vest tops (one is very very flourescent)
1x pj top, short sleeve
Bottoms
2x cycling shorts (with padding)
1x cycling trousers (with even more padding)
1x loose trousers
1x hawaiian shorts
When it gets chilly
1x Merino wool short sleeve thermal
1x Pair of long johns (top and bottoms)
2x Micro fleece
1x Alpkit down jacket
1x Fleece lined waterproof coat
1x Waterproof jacket
1x Woolly fleecy knitted hat, with bobble
1x Fleecy gloves
1x Waterproof overshoes - these are a nice idea but realistically everytime it rained it was too late to put them on, so they've been chucked.
Extras
1x Scarf
1x Buff
1x Sarong
7x Undies
2x Sports bras
5x Socks
1x Flipflops
1x Trainers
1x Fingerless gloves
1x Giro helmet (classy grey)
1x Cap
1x Sunglasses
Glamping
1x Rab Summit down sleeping bag
1x Gelert inflatable roll mat
1x Fleecy micro pillow
1x Linen sleeping bag liner
1x Vaude 3 man tent in green (bought in Germany as our first one was utter sh)
1x shewee for when normal peeing gets dull.
Ready, Steady, Cook
1x Primus multi-fuel EX stove - we've had so many problems with this stove. First the pressuriser leaks and we had to replace it. In the meantime we tried a gas canister but to the bafflement of us, our friends and people who work in camping shops, it didn't light.
1x Cooking set including pot with lid, pan, kettle (because we're British), sharp knife and mess tin.
1x Tin with salt, pepper, garlic, assorted herbs and stock.
2x Lighters
Electronics
1x Camera
1x Smart phone
1x Old Nokia phone which stays charged for like 3 weeks at a time!
1x Harddrive
1x MP3 player
1x Headphones
1x Solar charger
1x Power bank
Things your mum would want you to pack
Suncream
A comb
Mozzy repellant and afterbite
Hand-washing powder
Soap, shampoo, razor, toothpaste, toothbrush, mooncup, dry shampoo, deodorant, moisturiser.
Entertainment
1x Sketchbook
1x Diary
1x Pens, pencil and eraser for drawing and writing
1x Watercolour set
1x Slackline - a good evenings entertainment but it's sadly not coming with me to the Pamirs.
And that's all folks!
Here's a list of my kit:
The Bike:
Edinburgh Bike Shop Country Explorer - My dad excellent ebay skills bagged me this beauty of a bike. I took it for a service to make sure everything was in working order.
Brookes Saddle - recommended by all good cycle tourers and is a constant source of interest/amusement to people we meet.
Panniers - Creek to Peak back panniers and Altura front panniers (which are actually back ones but this isn't the time to be fussy). Throw in a handlebar bag, two dry bags and a bum bag and we're all set.
Cycle computer - I have a wireless ....... but I'm not too impressed with it as when I got to 958km it reset itself and started from 0. It also doesn't record altitude gained which would be a nice bit of info. I do like that it records daily distance and temperature and is very easy to use.
Lights - Front, back and spares. All take AAA batteries.
Bike pump - a working one courtesy of Aram!
Repair kit - Including allen keys, spoke key, an assortment of other handy tools. Puncture repair kit, spare brake cable, 2x spare inner tubes, 2x spare spokes. This is a little thin on the ground as it was one of the items nicked in Bulgaria so I'm rebuilding it bit by bit.
Bungee Cords - because other wise I'd actually have to fit all this stuff inside my panniers.
A really really good lock - safety first kids
Repairs on the Road:
Tyres - Continental Gatorskin - these are tyres are more designed for road cycling and did a wonderful job of getting me across Europe with only two punctures in 3 months of daily use. I've now updated them to better suit Central Asian roads and have gone for a Schwalbe Marathon Plus for the back wheel.
Back wheel - We noticed a crack in my back wheel rim in Germany so knew it would need to be changed at some point. This point came in Thessaloniki, Greece when the crack turned into a hole.
Brakes - No idea what happened here but when we reached Thessaloniki (maybe its something to do with this town) the internal mechanism in my Tektro Lyra disc brakes slipped. I fixed them myself and they lasted until Elefsina, Greece where I replaced the whole mechanism front and back for Schwalbe.
Drinks holder - I added an extra drinks holder because the other two were already full holding the all the gin and camping fuel...I'm half kidding...
Touring Fashion:
Tops
2x short sleeve t-shirts
1x sleeveless top
2x long sleeve shirt
2x vest tops (one is very very flourescent)
1x pj top, short sleeve
Bottoms
2x cycling shorts (with padding)
1x cycling trousers (with even more padding)
1x loose trousers
1x hawaiian shorts
When it gets chilly
1x Merino wool short sleeve thermal
1x Pair of long johns (top and bottoms)
2x Micro fleece
1x Alpkit down jacket
1x Fleece lined waterproof coat
1x Waterproof jacket
1x Woolly fleecy knitted hat, with bobble
1x Fleecy gloves
1x Waterproof overshoes - these are a nice idea but realistically everytime it rained it was too late to put them on, so they've been chucked.
Extras
1x Scarf
1x Buff
1x Sarong
7x Undies
2x Sports bras
5x Socks
1x Flipflops
1x Trainers
1x Fingerless gloves
1x Giro helmet (classy grey)
1x Cap
1x Sunglasses
Glamping
1x Rab Summit down sleeping bag
1x Gelert inflatable roll mat
1x Fleecy micro pillow
1x Linen sleeping bag liner
1x Vaude 3 man tent in green (bought in Germany as our first one was utter sh)
1x shewee for when normal peeing gets dull.
Ready, Steady, Cook
1x Primus multi-fuel EX stove - we've had so many problems with this stove. First the pressuriser leaks and we had to replace it. In the meantime we tried a gas canister but to the bafflement of us, our friends and people who work in camping shops, it didn't light.
1x Cooking set including pot with lid, pan, kettle (because we're British), sharp knife and mess tin.
1x Tin with salt, pepper, garlic, assorted herbs and stock.
2x Lighters
Electronics
1x Camera
1x Smart phone
1x Old Nokia phone which stays charged for like 3 weeks at a time!
1x Harddrive
1x MP3 player
1x Headphones
1x Solar charger
1x Power bank
Things your mum would want you to pack
Suncream
A comb
Mozzy repellant and afterbite
Hand-washing powder
Soap, shampoo, razor, toothpaste, toothbrush, mooncup, dry shampoo, deodorant, moisturiser.
Entertainment
1x Sketchbook
1x Diary
1x Pens, pencil and eraser for drawing and writing
1x Watercolour set
1x Slackline - a good evenings entertainment but it's sadly not coming with me to the Pamirs.
And that's all folks!
