Touring tips

You guys that don't wash clothes as you go - how would you pack for a 21 day trip????

21 t-shirts, 21 pairs of shreddies, 21 pairs of socks. 2 pairs of jeans etc etc etc...…..
Standards dear man, standards.
 
Wah stuff as we go. Simples
 
I have far better things to be doing when I'm on holiday than washing and drying clothes.
 
You guys that don't wash clothes as you go - how would you pack for a 21 day trip????

If I’m camping I use the card to buy new every 5 or 6 days. Merino tops can be rinsed or worn for a number of days without stinking :D
 
I have the BMW waterproof pannier inner bags plus a small Ortleib dry bag beneath. Small pannier bag has the evenings clothing and my washbag with razor. The big pannier bag contains the remaining weeks clothing plus footwear beneath. My tank bag contains all the valuables, chargers and leads etc.

A quick swap in the morning between bags sees fresh clothes in the small pannier and items to launder in the small ortleib bag.

Makes arrival at the next hotel each day a breeze. Just swap the overnight pannier bag for the crash helmet/gloves and lock the luggage and bike, unclip the tank bag and head up to the hotel reception with minimal luggage in hand. Saves struggling with stairwells, fire doors, elevators etc.
 
Apart from what you wear on your way to wherever, you don’t need much IMHO.

2 pairs merino boxers
2 technical shirts
2 pairs merino socks
Shorts 1 pair (technical, double as swimmies)
Lightweight hiking trousers 1
Cheap down jacket
Flip flops or crocs
Laundry line

That way you don’t need panniers just an Ortlieb bag on the back seat.

Plus a puncture repair kit and a ‘no commission’ credit card. No cash needed.

Just my £0.02

old man speaks wise words....
 
I have the BMW waterproof pannier inner bags plus a small Ortleib dry bag beneath. Small pannier bag has the evenings clothing and my washbag with razor. The big pannier bag contains the remaining weeks clothing plus footwear beneath. My tank bag contains all the valuables, chargers and leads etc.

A quick swap in the morning between bags sees fresh clothes in the small pannier and items to launder in the small ortleib bag.

Makes arrival at the next hotel each day a breeze. Just swap the overnight pannier bag for the crash helmet/gloves and lock the luggage and bike, unclip the tank bag and head up to the hotel reception with minimal luggage in hand. Saves struggling with stairwells, fire doors, elevators etc.

Yep. :thumb2
 
when you load your satnav ,...make sure you put ALL the maps in .

don't want to be in The Netherlands , to look down and see a blank screen , and have to buy a paper Michelin map.....
 
when you load your satnav ,...make sure you put ALL the maps in .

don't want to be in The Netherlands , to look down and see a blank screen , and have to buy a paper Michelin map.....

When you’ve loaded all the maps and put the name of your destination in either be sensible and add the post code or at least have a look at the route on the map or you might find yourself a long way from where you expected. It might even be cold, wet and a couple of hours after dark before you finally realise you’ve just fucked up big time.
 
2-up touring for a month we’d need a trailer if we didn’t wash clothing as we went. ;)

We generally take 3 tops/undies/pairs of socks each, technical or merino by choice. Otherwise zip-offs, technical fleece, and travel towels, plus 2 different credit cards, some cash divided between us, and all the usual ancillaries.
 
Suicide clothing, bin it after use, have done this for many years, we save it up throughout the year.

For four weeks of touring in the US, we took four pairs of socks and pants, most chain hotels had guest laundry, often free.
 
When you’ve loaded all the maps and put the name of your destination in either be sensible and add the post code or at least have a look at the route on the map or you might find yourself a long way from where you expected. It might even be cold, wet and a couple of hours after dark before you finally realise you’ve just fucked up big time.

i spent some time planning , did routes etc. but failed to install maps , and yes it was cold going to the Elephant . no maps = no routes.
 
It always makes me laugh when I see some of the camping kit people take on bike trips when a bit of ingenuity would avoid it. I’ve never taken a chair if I’ve got hard panniers that can be removed and sat on and I put a small piece of plywood under a bag on the rack then use that as a flat surface to cook on rather than even the smallest table.

Why take a gas stove and cylinders when you can use a petrol one and just take fuel out of your tank when you’ve used up whatever you took with you?

Airbeds and camp beds are bulky and quite frankly unnecessary. Have a look at what cycle tourers carry because you won’t see them carry an electric compressor to inflate an airbed. Closed cell camping mats are comfortable enough and if you feel the cold take a silk sleeping bag liner. If you take a camp bed then you need a bigger tent, bigger tents are bulky and just as important, they’re colder. Taking a footprint for a tent is a waste of space unless you’re planning to camp on scree or are too lazy to spend a couple of minutes checking for sharp stones but you still see some people carry them on a bike. The same goes for a tarp, either buy a tent that’s waterproof or pitch it under trees but it’s just more clutter unless you plan to use it and leave the tent at home in summer.

Sort that lot out and you’ve got room for more T shirts and underwear :D
 
i spent some time planning , did routes etc. but failed to install maps , and yes it was cold going to the Elephant . no maps = no routes.

It was coming home from the Elephant when I made the previously mentioned schoolboy error.

Even better was heading north out of Oslo at 7pm and realising I’d got a hotel
booked in Hamar but didn’t know where it was and wasn’t even 100% sure of the name. I had to phone my wife and get her to check on my laptop to rectify that matter but this was mid January and I didn’t fancy riding around on snow/ice with a bag full of tyre studs I hadn’t fitted at that point :blast

It’s character forming.
 
I had a mate who would tour with one pannier empty and the other 1/4 full, his reasoning was it left more space for duty-free!
He used the suicide T-shirt theory, wear for one day, next day buy whatever you could find very cheap and use yesterday’s shirt to clean the bike.
 
Hyleton travel adapter. Charge everything at once at night (phone, helmet Comms, etc). Proved so useful my mates also used it on recent trips. Especially on ferry where only one power socket...can charge 3 or 4 things at once ..

This looks like it might be a Chinese knock-off copy of the excellent SKROSS travel adaptor.

If it is or if you have something similar, maybe take a little care. I bought one, which I noticed left one of the internal mains connections all but exposed, when the pins were extended. It was really dangerous. I binned it at once.
 


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