Rowan

By the way, we didn't use the bike alarms. They were rather useless and in the end, a waste of money. It was worth the experiment, however, to find this out as a first-hand experience so we can advise others. I think that if they had been operational and they had gone off in our absence, it would be like the myriad car alarms that go off in a car park -- no-one takes any notice anyway.

The best security features still are (a) a good lock, although it doesn't have to be a heavyweight (b) vigilance as to the environment you're in and (c) keeping the bikes in sight at all times. There are other things that might be used to reduce the risk of a successful theft, such as changing to the highest gear on the cassette, and using a handbrake system on the levers so the bike seemingly has to be carried away. But a, b, c seem sensible and easily implemented in most cases.

Machka 

In Scotland ... just outside Edinburgh ...








In Linlithgow, Scotland ...




On the Isle of Skye ...






Along the North Sea Route in Scotland ...

2manybikes

I was just thinking about that. That's about the same thing I found from using about 10 different kinds of bike alarms, over a few years. I did have false triggers on some and no one cared. All the sound making devices can be muffled with a rag or disabled with a rock anyway. Some did not trigger easy enough. On my best titanium bike I use a small cable lock even if I can see it through a window. When I am close all I need is to prevent a grab and run theft. If I'm going on a day trip to Martha's Vineyard, Block Island, or need to park the bike a long time, I take a beater bike and a good lock.

I had a motion sensor and, cut the cable sensing lock on my bike at a tourist area where we rented a boat for a while. I put my helmet on the cable. The wind got stronger and the poor guy at the office got bombarded by my siren for a couple of hours every time the wind blew. Good thing I had his boat for collateral.

2manybikes

Did you bring headlights? What kind? Did they do what you wanted?

I can see a tail light. Around home I bring a light so I don't need to rush home before dark. I would think that might be a worry in a unknown location on your trip.

Rowan

I found some Cree LED torches at a local hardware shop for $25 each, fashioned a mount out of a plastic bike tube clamp and a strip of aluminium bar twisted and drilled to go in the yoke of the front fork. You can see the black barrel of mine and the blue barrel of Machka's on the respective bikes.

We hardly used them, and they became a bit of an irritation along with the fenders when disassembling and reassembling the bikes at airports.

The idea behind them, however, was to have them as a backup to our head torches if we lost one of them or they went kaput. The clamp could be easily undone and the torch slid out. We didn't need to do that in the end.

I was attracted to them for the strong beam that could be focused from wide to narrow, the fact they use only three AAA batteries for a reasonable runtime, the cheap price by retail store value, they are sealed against water entry, and could be used off the bike if needed.

Of course, all this stuff is still a learning curve after years of touring. As I say elsewhere, we would probably opt for folding bikes in future, and in this case if needed, rely on the head torches mounted on our helmets (as we have them in randonnees to read maps) as our headlight for emergency night riding.

The rear lights are a given, and didn't present any issues with packing.

Machka 

In Amsterdam ...



Near Amsterdam ...



At Arnhem ...



Crossing the Rhine, still in The Netherlands ...



Next to the Rhine ...





In Germany ... near the Rhine ...

Machka 

I've added a lot more photos. Still not done, but I'm most of the way through the North America photos

This is a link to the whole collection of photos divided by area:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-...7632796492886/


This is the latest set I've been working on ... the second half of the North America portion of the trip:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-...7632647183684/

Or here if you have trouble loading the link above:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-...183684/detail/



I'm busy working on these photos while packing up again ... looks like we're not quite settled yet.


♪♫ On the road again ... ♪♫

Machka 

I have finished all the photos, except for the Round the World Australia set ... and I've just started working on that set.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-...7632796492886/

Machka 

St Goar, Germany ...



Crossing into France from Switzerland ... Lac Leman



Bellegarde train station ...



Toulouse ...



Bordeaux ...

Machka 

It has taken me a little while, but I have finished all the Round the World trip photos
https://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-...7632796492886/


Asia
https://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-...348587/detail/

Europe
https://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-...688286/detail/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-...118566/detail/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-...534353/detail/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-...281412/detail/

North America
https://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-...425035/detail/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-...183684/detail/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-...079079/detail/

Australia (Western Australia)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-...700190/detail/

Machka 

Heading to the west coast of France ... beautiful bicycle path coming out of Bordeaux ...






Along the Velodyssey Route, along the west coast of France ...












La Rochelle ...