Touring - A comparison ... a week, a month, and more ...

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Machka
09-07-07, 05:58 PM
Just for fun, I thought I'd post three photos of my loaded touring bicycle on tours of three different lengths.

-- The first was a week long tour through the Canadian Rockies in late August 2005 (there is another bicycle behind mine)

-- The second was a month long tour of Europe in August 2007 (just got back!)

-- The third was a three month tour of Australia in October - December 2004

For all three, I've ended up carrying approximately the same amount of gear, although, if anything, I think I had slightly more with me on the week long tour ... it was only going to be 1 week, so I thought I'd bring a luxury item or two.

-----

Does the amount you carry vary with the length of the tour? The location of the tour? Or does it pretty much remain the same?

.

valygrl
09-07-07, 07:45 PM
Yep, same here - no matter how long I'm going for it seems to end up being the same pile of junk.

I'm trying to cure myself of that with a credit card tour next weekend. We'll see if I can actually ride without a pound of Peets coffee and all the stuff to make it. :)
gregw
09-07-07, 08:22 PM
Hey wait a minute, how do we know that's you? The woman in the photos is not wearing your signature Cat Woman mask!

Machka
09-07-07, 08:33 PM
Hey wait a minute, how do we know that's you? The woman in the photos is not wearing your signature Cat Woman mask!

That's the real unmasked me ... in my signature yellow helmet ... on my signature blue bicycle! :D



Actually, I think I do have a photo somewhere of me in my catwoman costume ... from a halloween party a few years ago.

Or I could post something with me, masked, in my winter cycling gear ... specifically, my balaclava and/or neck gaiter. :D
Chris L
09-08-07, 01:57 AM
What I carry varies very little, beyond perhaps ditching items as I find something that does their job better. About the only one that varied was the Mt Buggary tour in 2006. Two days in October in Queensland basically meant that I didn't need to bother bringing any warm clothes with me.
gregw
09-08-07, 01:38 PM
Yeah, 1 week or 16, my rig is basically the same.
Jacobino
09-11-07, 07:41 PM
Yeah, you need the same basic tools and gear whether you're going for 7 days or 70. Clothes get washed and food gets eaten or replaced. There's not much difference in how much you carry day by day. If anything, I'm just like Machka because I'll pack more luxury items on a shorter trip.

I do tend to pick up a lot of stuff over the course of the tour (especially books!). So the length of the tour doesn't really affect the load when I start out, the longer the tour the more stuff I'm carrying around when I get to the end.