Bikepacking - a viable alternative to racks & panniers

I don't know how big that seatpack is. I've always used a Revelate Viscacha which is 7-14L I think and would be pretty full for most races.

it's the same actually, so good to know you fill that up, thanks. Escapade is only 3 days and has more readily accessible food/water but I should probably use it as an opportunity to try and do without a pub stop every couple of hours

I had a phd minim 400 in AMR which is typical operating temp of -5, I think I would have been fine with the 300 too but it did get cold at night. I think if you're tired then you tend to feel cold more.

Were you tent or bivvy? I'm sort of hoping that because its October this time the ground will have been warmed a bit. Avg temperature is allegedly a few degrees higher compared to Feb, but equally I'm hoping that I'll like doing this stuff and do more of it, which will likely only be colder so not much point buying a load of really warm weather stuff...

I just slept on top of or inside a bivi. I don't know statistically if this is true, but it honestly felt like the chance of rain was zero. I wouldn't recommend taking a tent either, the ground was rocky and sandy so you'd be lucky to get it pitched. Temperature wise I think you're better being over kitted for something semi remote like AMR vs TCR where you can get away with nothing if you wanted and sleep in hotels.

yeah that's a v good point – and thanks for the heads up on the ground. I've not bivvied before, so I picked up a Big Agnes thing to do the fly-only pitch thinking it was freestanding but I don't think I'd get away without pegs in reality. Picked up a cheapie bivvy bag that arrived this week so I'll go for some practice nights soon and get a taste for the slugs

I don't remember bugs on the AMR either, a few goats, sheep and a lot of red dirt

ha yeah not so much in the desert, I was more thinking for the N/S Downs Escapade

This? https://www.letsdothis.com/gb/e/the-great-british-escapade-north-and-south-downs-188226

yeah that's my AMR practice run, 1/3 of the distance, climbing, completion time. ish.

Looks neat. I need more ideas to test the missus on (ooh nurse) but I'll only have my silly Kona dual-suss singlespeed and I'm not HT550 Liam.

There's another one in September, but it might be sold out. Branding is all a little Festival Of Brexit but I'm choosing to ignore that and hope for the best

I'm more likely to look for someone's route and DIY it but who knows what's going on these days. Sometimes it's nice to do a proper event.

I'll let you know how this one goes, a lot of it is my back yard anyway so I may have some tweaks to recommend. Proper event-ness is definitely a motivator for me, stops me just deciding the weather might be bad and leaving it

Yeah, once you've dropped the dosh on it, it's a lot harder to bail :)

Apparently some spots have opened up for the June one, in case you're interested

She has a rotten hangover today. Now is not the time to be proposing such adventures :D

But thanks for the tip off

Have a Carradice Nelson and Bagman but fitting the Bagman requires moving the seat further back than is comfortable, any suggestions beyond using Carradice's SQR instead?

Inline seatpost? Bagman without quickrelease? Nitto r50?

Hobopieces Restuvus for bling-bling (https://wizard.works/products/hobopieces-restuvus)

New bike?

Is there anywhere in London that I can buy voile straps?

Wizard works?

LBK?

What's the best tape for frame protection from bags? Helicopter?