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Ptown
@eone @kjlem I'm not sure entirely, lots of ibuprofen from day 1 and gallons of voltarol. Also I think experience in these things counts for a lot.
Inspired by Frank I thought I'd do some things that went well and not so well:
Good:
-Dynamo is the way forward I had no worries at all about charging my things. I also had a Supernova front light which meant cycling at night was not a problem at all.
-Frame bag over a saddle bag - I could get everything out whilst cycling pretty much with not much difficulty repacking.
-Carried more water - went from 1.5 liters to 2.7 liters which was adequate for this year however it wasn't a particularly hot year
-No sleeping equipment - saved weight and there are enough hotels on the route
-Mobile phone data - last year I had to use wi-fi so it meant I spent a lot of time in restaurants/cafes
Things I’d do differently If I did it again:
-Consistent daily sleep - this year I did 4 all nighters and on the second day you end up cycling pretty slowly and you keep stopping. I figured out on average I slept for 4 hours so it would probably be best to get into a rhythm and try to sleep at a similar time everyday.
-Take a Presta valve converter
-Have a pump that can actually bring your tyres to pressure
-Foil blanket - there were a couple of times this year I was shaking uncontrollably after a cold descent
-Get rid of the down jacket - I only actually used it once and given mine wasn't water resistant I was reluctant to use it when it was raining
-Proper waterproof coat not just a windstopper.
-Small helment light - I had to try and hold my iPhone in my mouth when doing fiddly things at night
-Discs - this years climbing/descending destroyed my brakepads
-Electronic shifting
-Tubeless
-More caffeine pills - I only had enough for the first few days and I assumed I’d be able to buy them on the way so had to drink red bull which is foul.
-Proper route planning i.e. knowing how long each climb will take, what kind of hotels are in the next town etc.
-Waterproof electronics and have shorter cables
-Have an idea of where some decent bike shops are along the route.