Well, what can I say? My bike didn't let me down once. I felt 100% confidence in every component. The only problem that I had was a broken bidon cage, which I'd added myself .......... and it was cheap!
Rob's bike was also utterly reliable and his chain coming off was merely a minor adjustment issue.
Between us we took 5 spare tubes and 2 puncture repair outfits but neither of us had a single puncture between us.........even though there were times that we cycled over broken glass and other debris and along paths which were littered with twigs and branches. My tyres were Schwalbe Marathons. Rob had Bontrager triple-protection tyres. Our only nervous moment came on the very last day when someone asked us the dreaded question, "Have you had any punctures yet?" and we both looked at each other and thought "Why did you have to ask that now?"
My gearing was right for me as I tend to "spin". My granny gear was just 19" (24T at the front and 34T from a Megarange cassette on the back). Rob's lowest gear was much higher than mine at 28" (34T at the front, 32T at the rear) but he managed well with his slower pedalling cadence. Neither of us had to get off and push the bikes at any time despite the gradients, the lengths of the inclines and the weights that we were carrying.
Rob's bike and mine were quite different, albeit that they were of a good quality with good quality components. Mine was a custom-built tourer in the traditional sense with low (triple chainset) gearing, 32mm wide tyres, titanium frame, heavy-duty rims, steel rack, leather touring saddle. Rob's had a compact (double chainset) gearing, 25mm tyres, an aluminium frame, aluminium rack, non-touring-specific saddle. The spec for Rob's bike would have had the traditionalists shaking their heads. So what does this prove? To me, it means that the quality of materials and design is now so much better that it doesn't matter what you tour on, within reason. Rob's bike was lighter than mine so his spec had this as an advantage over mine.
Apart from clothing, I also carried various other bits of kit:
Tent, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, inflatable pillow, 3 space blankets - the sleeping bag was used but not the other items. 2 of the space blankets were to be used as a tent footprint. With our experience in sleeping under canvas in Seignosse, I could imagine that other pre-erected tents would be available if we couldn't find a hotel in a coastal holiday area, out of season, so I wouldn't bother with the tent, mat, pillow or 2 of the space blankets again which would save about 1.8kg weight and a fair bit of volume.
Bike Parka bike cover - I'd seen these advertised and thought that they looked good and would hide the bike from prying eyes if we camped. If I had used it, I would have had to cover the chain and transmission to stop oil getting on the bike cover. In the event, it wasn't used, and I wouldn't take it again. Another saving of 0.45kg.
Security cable - I took a heavy 15mm diameter cable lock which was 1.8m long. I reasoned that our trip would come to a sudden end if our bikes were stolen and I used the cable several times and would take it again. I may have been over-cautious but who knows?
Maps - I had bought 10 maps (total weight 0.9kg) to cover the route but photocopied extracts from the first 5 as our intended route was narrow and we didn't need to read the rest of those first 5 maps. This proved a great success as I was able to give Rob a set of photocopies too and they weighed very little. After we'd finished with the copies they could have been thrown away (although I gave some to some other cyclists who had no maps!!) When we did move onto the 5 remaining proper maps, they were a real nuisance to try to fold efficiently for our route and were very bulky. I would photocopy maps again in the future wherever I could.
Filling station disposable gloves - brilliant. Weighed so little yet were used to keep fingers warm and when oiling the chain, merely turning them inside out to encapsulate oily rags, before throwing them away.
Boots pvc clear shower caps - 3 for £1.00 or so. These were meant to protect my Brooks leather saddle from being saturated by rain. I took 1 in my bar bag and the other 2 as back-up in a pannier (they weigh almost nothing). The first one was used frequently whenever I stopped and it was raining and then some days I even left it on the saddle as I cycled. I thought it would tear or disintegrate but it is still perfect. The best £1 that I've spent, I think, and I've still got 2 left!
Foam pipe lagging - of internal diameter to wraparound the top tube of the bike frame. I took a few differing lengths. Again weighed very little, but provided good protection when the bikes were tied up aboard the ferries and could act as protection if the bikes had to lean against one another. Another good bit of kit.
Small cargo net - instead of numerous bungee cords, I'd bought this in a small supermarket in Spain last year for a couple of euros but Rob had one from a motorbike accessory shop for about £6.50. It's a good size for a bag to be secured on top of the rear rack.
Panniers, bar-bag and dry-sack - Ortlieb panniers and bar-bag, Karrimor dry-sack. All 100% waterproof..........and weren't they put to the test!!
Cateye bar end mirrors - great. Allowed me to check traffic behind without turning too often. Can be rotated out of the way when you need to lean the bike against a wall. Easy to adjust on the move. Admired by several other tourers that we met en-route. Couldn't imagine touring without them now.
Blackberry phone - just right. Could post to this blog although photos were of limited quality. (I've since found out that the poor quality photos that I posted were because I'd used the in-built zoom and the camera resolution wasn't up to it).
Panasonic Lumix 14mp camera with video capability (Model DMC-FX150) - terrific. Small, lightish, good quality images and video in one bit of kit. Took 2 x 8GB cards and 2 batteries and needed them! Over 500 pictures and 50 video clips taken at no cost. The only minor criticism which applies to so many cameras these days is that there is no viewfinder and in bright sunlight you have a job seeing the screen.
Energy bars - I took about 10 Kellogg's Nutri-Grain bars which were filling and tasty but they took up room. I might start with a couple next time but then just buy food along the way.
Drinks - We asked if our bidons could be filled in a couple of hotels and there was no problem, but sometimes water is so boring! I developed a taste for Gatorade and Powerade sports drinks at about 1 euro a 500ml bottle and these came in a variety of refreshing flavours with only about 45 calories per bottle i.e. not sickly sweet. So I'd have 1 bidon with Gatorade in and the other with water
Spares - As well as tools, which all fitted inside the 3rd bidon, I took spare spokes (of the right length, for someone else to fit), batteries (camera, lights, bike computer), nuts and bolts, cable ties, rags, oil, citrus degreaser, chain links, tyre valve adaptor, spare cleats, brake and gear cable, spare brake (as mine are the less common mini-V brakes), insulation tape and a small amount of duct tape. I would take all these again as well as a short wide paintbrush for getting the crud out of the chain as I was cleaning it. Having a clean, oiled chain (oiled 3 times on our trip) made a huge difference both physically and psychologically.
Lights - rarely used unless going through tunnels during the day. Can't really comment on how good they were.
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