two small panniers at the front and two large at the back... lets start with the large!
1. Clothes - apparently we need to wear them! and riding a bike means sitting on a rather small seat all day - so 2 pr of long knicks - ie lycra cycling pants with padded insert where it hurts the most! 2 pr of long-sleeved t-shirts that I really needed in the first week and 1 pr long-sleeved fine woollen singlet, also needed in the first week and on the plane. there's 3 short-sleeved t-shirts, 1 bought in Vienna and 1 light long-sleeved t-shirt that I bought in Osijek because it was getting warmer and 1 long-sleeved jumper to wear on the plane and when I am out walking around the streets... there's 3 prs of undies and 2 bras... 3 pr sox, 2pr that I bought in Vienna and 1pr of compression sox for plane.... so that's all squeezed into 3 zip-lock bags that you can squeeze the air out of and then shoved with a bit of effort into largest pannier. Then I push my little laptop in between those bags and she's nice and snug and hopefully protected (so far so good). ooh, nearly forgot the wet weather gear... so in another zip lock bag, there's wet weather pants, booties to cover my shoes and my rain coat and helmet cover when the sun is shining... so far have only used the raincoat and helmet cover... the rain just hasn't been wet enough to need the pants or booties!! amazing!
2. Other large pannier has stuff I really only need when I am packing up Hennie - there's the fancy wheels for moving the boxed Hennie in, there's a cargo bag for luggage on the plane and a small one for carry on luggage (when Hennie is packed for flight, I also include the panniers in with her - as added protection which means I need the cargo bag, but it rolls up really compactly. There's also bits of pool noodle as protection for Hennie's front forks once the front wheel is removed. There's also a roll of tape and I also shove in my non-cycling shoes.. and even a nail brush (bought here) for scrubbing her tyres before returning home... oh and there's a spare tubes too.
3. one small front pannier is my larder. Crackers, bread bun, cheese that gets a bit melty by the end of the day, but only lasts for 2 days... I bought a little traveller kit of knife, fork & spoon at a Spar supermarket in Hungary at their salad bar and they have been extremely handy. There's also a plastic container that I can use the lid as a plate... at the end of the day, its usually filled with empty chip packets, squashed banana and a dented apple, but that's ok... I can handle that... But after coming out of a supermarket in the morning, I do wonder where everything is gunna fit.
4. other front pannier has my toiletries bag, first aid kit, and travel bag of info, receipts from hotels and general blah that is collected along the way, plus copies of passport and flight details. Also the external hard-drive where I download my photos each night. so there's space here to for the early morning overflow from shopping - usually 1.25l of water.
But that's not all!
5, 6 & 7! there's the front handle-bar bag that has my camera and binoculars, plus lip balm, tissues and then there's the fancy new bar bag, which has a see-thru (reflections included) pocket for my mobile phone and helps me from getting too lost, if I remember to look at it. stuffed in under the phone, is often a muesli bar and a handful of boiled sweets type of thing - my favourite are the coffee flavoured ones - remember Kopika (I think) - given out at some government meetings. I found them in Hungary, but not since and I reckon today I will probably finish the last 2 - soooo sad!!! but there are always alternatives - surely. lastly there's the trunk bag. bike lock in here, plus shirt in the morning while I am still wearing my jacket then vis versa... I carry my water bottles in there too, going up and down from rooms... rain coat is there if I think I need it and the helmet cover. and bike lights and spares.
8. & 9. Oh nearly forgot my back pack... it doesn't have too much, just my travel folder with my passport, purse, more lip balm, note book and pen and guide book. I can jam my camera in there when I leave Hennie tied up somewhere.... and the saddle bag, which has a spare tube, repair kit and a coupla bits and pieces there...
So - now you know!!! I wish there was some way I could pare things back, but this is as skimpy as I can get. I have already left an uncomfortable jumper that I wore on the plane... it was too hot then and just not comfy, so left in one of my rooms - hoping with winter approaching sometime soon, someone will be able to make use of it. I probably won't bring home my 3 t-shirts as they are getting a little worn looking (surprise) and because I have even less baggage allowance for my return, (26kg) I am going to have to post most of my clothing home.
so... with the weight of Hennie herself (26kg which includes her 2 racks and the empty panniers and packing), there's 30kg plus my weight, which I hope is getting less every day, but let's not go there! so dear faithfull Hennie is doing a marvellous job, spinning us around this lovely flat land... I have to work a bit harder on the ups, but there haven't been too many of them this time... her strong steel frame means that I can have the front panniers, which Maggie couldn't handle... it means that although there are more bags, they spread the weight - I actually don't know how I managed with only the two, but I also needed a bigger back pack then.....
so this morning, I am up early and already packed because breakfast is at 8 and I need to be on the road by 9, to hoon down to the ferry terminal to catch the 10am ferry across the Danube to continue cycling in Serbia. The border with Romania starts here on this side of the river, hence the dash across to the other side to continue to stay in Serbia... hmmmm..... apparently Romania is much less organised than Serbia... and everyone says the farm dogs are vicious!!! well, I know about that... but there are no bike paths at all in Romania, so I will stick with the guide... its been basically correct for 98% of the time!
tally ho!!!
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| Hennie having a break - ferry ride over the Danube to Ram - yes, that is air pollution |
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