Spanish and French hotels rarely provide tea and coffee making facilities in the rooms and it's sometimes a chore having to find a place that serves a decent-sized cup of coffee when you want it. If tea is your preferred drink, then good luck in finding anywhere that serves tea that is anything like a British cuppa!
One handy device that my father has given to me is a travelling water heater. It is simply a heating element that sits in a mug of water and, when plugged in, heats the water up to near boiling point within a couple of minutes. It's best used in conjunction with an enamel mug. I used this a couple of weeks ago and it was fantastic (if you ignore the first 2 occasions when I tripped the Spanish hotel's fuses because the first socket that I used was clearly defective!). It is only 350 watts (1.5 amps) so really should not overload any electrical socket.
Water heater
I'd also intended to take open-toed sandals for off-bike wear. So, on holiday I wore them as much as I could. Nahh! They chafed and my feet kept getting dusty, so I've changed my mind on these and bought trekking sandals that look like trainers but have cut-outs in the uppers. They can be worn as true sandals without socks, or as shoes, using socks to match the colour of the uppers. They are not as light as the previous sandals but there has to be a sensible compromise between weight and comfort. This goes for all items of clothing and equipment. At the end of the 3 week trip, I want to be able to say that I enjoyed it; not that I was uncomfortable or continuously cold, wet, sore etc. If that means taking a pound or two more in luggage weight, then so be it.
I dealt with the chafing from the sandals by applying Conotrane, an inexpensive cream, recommended by my dad again, as being better than Savlon and indeed it is. Apart from being an antiseptic soothing cream, it's also a barrier cream specifically intended to prevent pressure sores. It works a treat when applied to your "delicate parts" before climbing on your bike!
I deliberated for some time before ordering any of the camping gear that I'd researched and selected. This week, I found out that my preferred tent from my preferred supplier (at a decent discount) had sold out. Alarm bells rang in my mind. I feared that my chosen tent wouldn't be re-stocked until the start of the next camping season in 2013 and I would have to pay near to full RRP. I have therefore ordered all the camping gear now, while prices are reduced for end of season, and I await its delivery. Although I'm hardly likely to use the tent before our trip, I can do a visual check when it arrives which should suffice (as the tent is mainly a fall-back option). Having this gear now does give me the opportunity to check that I can indeed fit all the camping gear into one of the rear panniers, as the pack sizes suggest.
With the camping gear, the total weight of clothes and equipment (excluding panniers) is coming to just over 30lb.
My personal weight loss, after recovering from holiday excesses, is now 27lb.
Soon, I hope to be "in credit"!!
Training continues.
Elan
