THE RIG

I love stalking other people's set-ups to see what they use on their travels, so if you are the same then here is mine. My focus is on light touring, not ultralight, as I still would like a couple of creature comforts along the way.

I will also not be too far from civilisation for most of the tour so have banked on finding a roof, food and spares quite easily throughout the tour. As such I am quite light in those areas of my packing.

THE RIDE

Rose - a Cannondale Synapse Carbon 5 - circa 2013. Fairly stock rig other than:

• Brooks Cambium C17 saddle - just like the original but synthetic so can get rained on.
• 11/34 cog at the back to match the stock 50/34 rings - hope it's enough!
• Replaced road cleats with MTB ones to allow for more touring friendly shoes (I know, MTB cleats on a road bike !?!?!).
• Continental Grand Prix 4000s II tyres - 25s as that is max the bike will take.  
• Garmin 810 - so I don't get lost.

THE BAGS

I have Apidura bags all round. They seem solid, spacious and user friendly enough. I splurged out and got all new ones as my previous home made ones were getting to their used by date, had already been mended with gaffa tape in areas, and as my sewing skills are inept at best I didn't trust them to last two months on the road without issue.

Home made bags on Candy (Cannondale CAADX 105) that I use for gravel/trail touring

Rose with all the bags on in the set-up I will use for this light tour, ready and raring to get started. 

TOOLS

I have tried to get just some basics enough to keep my wheels spinning and still relying on bike shops for major breakages:

• Pump, tube, instant patches.
• Chain tool and quick link.
• Mini multitool and spoke tool.
• Rag and chain oil (will use an old eye dropper bottle instead of what is in the photo).
• Zip ties.

ON BIKE CLOTHES

I intend to take only one set of cycling clothes for the trip and wash then each night (hopefully dry them as well). On previous tours where I have had two sets I have found that I generally only used one set by the end of the trip anyway as even if the kit is still a little wet in the morning, it generally doesn't take long to dry anyway. One concern is that as I will be going in Autumn and so will be taking some warmer clothes, which I envisage I will need particularly for when at the top of climbs and descending.

• Bib and jersey.
• Arm and leg warmers.
• Thermal vest.
• Rain jacket.
• Giro Republic shoes - could almost pass as normal shoes if needed in a restaurant.
• Long finger gloves (don't like riding in gloves unless its cold) and shoe covers (hate cold feet and expect to ride in the rain so will try and keep feet dry).
• Helmet.

OFF BIKE CLOTHES

Once again, just the one set and will plan wash days. Have also chosen wool as material of choice as although not light it does go better between washes than other fabrics I have used.

• Two wool t-shirts and sets of undies.
• Lightweight zip-off trousers (can't believe I own a pair of zip off trousers!).
• Light wool jumper - if too cold outside will put on my vest or stay indoors.
• Jandals - aka thongs or flip-fops depending on where in the world you are .

BATHROOM

Just basics.

• Cake of soap and small deodorant.
• Mini toothbrush and mini toothpaste.
• Laundry liquid concentrate and mini packable clothesline (black thing in the photo).
• Micro travel towel (great for drying clothes as well as yourself).
• Gurney Goo (chamois cream).
• Multivitamin and Ibuprofen (to stay healthy and pain free) all mixed in the same container.
• Not a bathroom item but a small packable Ultra-Sil backpack (orange thing) just in case I need to take extra food or for sightseeing.
• Also not bathroom but small pocket knife and spork so I can buy food from the supermarket (cheese and ham baguette for instance) to take with me and not be locked into buying from restaurants only.  

ELECTRICS AND RANDOM STUFF

I want to document this trip so although am trying to be a light tourer I am not wanting to skimp on some of these things - they are well and truly not required for any adventure though.

• Garmin Edge 810 (navigation and record my route).
• Garmin Virb Elite (action cam) and various mounts.
• Nikon S9900 camera (small point and shoot size but with 30x zoom).
• Wall charger with 4 USB outlets (plus cables).
• Battery bank (just in case).
• Cellphone (will pick up local sims along the way).
• Spot Tracker (so others know where I am).
• HP 8" tablet so can upload photos and things en route. 

I think that is about it but considering there is still a few weeks to go when I am writing this no doubt it will all change before I leave. Tell me what you think.