Rig Ready to Roll

I have just about finished my packing and unpacking and repacking routine, and got everything to fit into two small panniers, a cylindrical dry bag and a seat bag weighing in at 16kg.




So what's in the bags?  An itemised list would be way too boring, here's a summary:

• RH pannier: stuff I hope I won't need too often - bike tools/spares & medical kit/supplies
• LH pannier: maps, papers, bike & civvy street clothes, washing kit, water fiilter
• Cylindrical dry bag: bivvy bag, sleeping bag & liner, thermarest mat, all rolled into one ready for rapid deployment at the end of the day
• Seat bag: well stocked pantry
• Orange bag behind the seat cover providing lumbar support: waterproof jacket
• Black bag hanging above and in front of LH pannier: drinking water
• Lunch box just behind handlebar stem: two cache batteries which charge from hub dynamo and power the phone and the GPS

 Please no emails to say what I've forgotten, there's no more space!

And finally... this will probably be the last blog update before I hit the road.  After that, news from the roadside will be tweeted when I can find wi-fi.  Thanks for recent messages and donations to RoadPeace which are already over £1,500 before a single pedal stroke - on a day which has sadly seen yet another cyclist killed by lorry in London, they really mean a lot to me and to RoadPeace, I will try to live up to your expectations.