Bike Log 2: GRABAAWR 2019

Packing List
2019/06/05

This particular trip is like no other I have taken. First, it’s longer than any other trip I have taken so far. 7 days of riding plus another 7 days of traveling and hanging out with family and friends. Second, the tour part of the trip is fully supported. I won’t have to carry my own gear. Third, I won’t be riding Mad Max, my Surly Blue Beast. These differences have a big impact on what I am packing. 

On one hand, because I am not carrying my own gear during the ride I can take items I normally wouldn’t. For one, I can take more clothes and breakfast and dinner* are provided so I don’t have to carry cooking gear or food other than some trail mix and jerky. My go-to snacks while riding. On the other hand, since I am taking a lot of public transit including an airplane the amount and size of luggage I can carry is limited. I don’t have the benefit of hanging it off the racks. I have to lug it about by hand? Finally, my dad’s bike doesn’t have a touring style rack because of the full suspension. I don’t have any kind of bag I can attach to it.

*Turns out that I was wrong about dinner being provided.

My original plan was to take my blue pannier set. The same ones my kids used on our trips to Oshima and Sagamiko back in March. The backpack portion of it is the only pannier that will fit both my tent and sleeping back. While I didn’t have to pack any food or cooking gear I did have 8 boxes of omiyage (souvenir) cookies that had to fit in somewhere. Now I don’t have to take souvenirs but it is just a thing I do these days. I managed to just barely get everything I thought I needed packed into the pannier back pack and 2 side bags a few days before I was scheduled to leave. Then I realized that I forgot to pack my helmet. I mentioned this at work and we all joked that I could just wear it on my head. Why not? People wear ball caps and other hats. Why not a helmet? I could explain that I am afraid of flying. I guess that explanation wouldn’t “fly”.

I gave up on the idea of the blue pannier bags. I kept the blue backpack but moved the rest to my shabby old grey, everyday panniers. I managed to fit everything including the helmet. But then I realized there some other odds and ends, like my iPad and keyboard and spare batteries that had to go somewhere. So the morning I was scheduled to leave I shifted a few things around and got out small carry on suitcase from the attic. I put one pannier into the suitcase and filled the corners in with other items. So what I ended up with is my blue back pack from my other pannier set, 2 grey Konnig panniers with one inside a suitcase and my waste pouch stuffed with camera gear and spare batteries.

Now, you might be asking yourself, why doesn’t the Journeyman just take a full size suitcase. After all, it is a supported trip. He doesn’t have to carry his own gear on the tour and the rest of the time it will be sitting in a room at wherever it is he is staying. Well, I’ll tell you why. Pure stubbornness and perhaps a touch of stupidity. It just seems wrong to take a suitcase when you are going on a bicycle tour.

The final packing challenge is how to carry the bare necessities while on the bike. Like I said, my dad’s bike doesn’t have a touring style rack on it and I don’t have any kind of bike packing bags. I seriously looked into buying a front rack that would work with the suspension and also work on Mad Max but in the end I gave up on the idea. Eventually, I will get a front rack for Mad Max but not this time. I also considered taking my frame back but there was no way to attach it to the frame. Again, full suspension makes for odd geometry. I briefly considered taking it anyway and lashing it to the minimal seat post rack but it turns out there was no room left in my luggage to pack more luggage! I think I will just lash my waste pouch to rack with bungee chords along with my tripod. We will just have to see how it goes when it comes time to pack the bike.

• Tent
• Sleeping bag
• Sleeping mat
• clothes (2 shirts, cycling shorts, lots of socks and underwear, 1 long sleeve shirt, shorts, long pants)
• A nearly useless rain poncho (Hey, it is better than nothing. Just barely.)
• Eating utensils and matches
• Tea bags
• A Tupperware of homemade trail mix
• Toiletries
• First aid kit
• My standard tool pouch
• A few bungee cords
• Helmet
• Pump
• Camera gear (4 retired iPhones)
• Medium sized tripod
• Mini tripod
• Selfie Stick
• A bunch of spare batteries
• Multi-purpose bike light, phone holder and audio speaker

Most notably missing from this is a spare tire and water bottle. The lack of a spare is easy to explain. I don’t know what size tire my dad’s bike has. So, if I get a flat I will be patching instead of replacing. The water bottle in more problematic. My dad’s bike has only one water bottle cage but no water bottle. I tried to fit my water bottle into my bags but I just couldn’t find room for it. Fortunately, I ordered a tour branded water bottle which I will be able to use. One water bottle doesn’t seem like enough even if I am not cooking and it isn’t the heat of summer yet. There is no room for another water bottle cage on the frame so bringing my own cage to attach to the bike is out of the question. It looks like I will be buying water and lashing it to the rack or hanging it from my waist pouch.