Rad-ndo bikes

Ok back to threaded, all packed up and catching trains in London. Plan is to Eurostar to Brussels and make my way to Bielfeld, 400km total. Daily target is just under 200km so I make my airbnb on Sunday morning. The occassion is a conference, so I'm bringing some nice clothes and laptop, which I'm really starting to feel the weight of. Hopefully the laptop survives.

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But first, @Ph1ll1p super kindly offered to do some work on my grey raleigh frame, which is getting aome better canti placement for a 650b wheelset. Super stoked about it. What a guy <3

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Day 1 went started suuper smooth. Thought the route would be a bore from all the cyclepaths, but I really appreciated how flat and smooth the roads are here. Legs fresh, bike smooth, I'm happy.

Come evening and it started to rain, then pour, and the going got harder. By midnight i was pretty wet and grumpy, bivied in some forest. Slept wet, woke up wet, grumpier still. 180ish km for the first day.

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Hit the German border this morning, super slow going, i think the carradice bags absorbed some weight in water. Not super waterproof as before, and one was freshly rewaxed. Important stuff is dry tho. At km280

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Midnight mcdonalds visit made me lazy and I found this super nice patch 20m off the main road, one of those really lucky finds. Slept next to a termite mound, they invaded my bag overnight. The bike, on the other hand, was covered with snails by the morning. I wonder which of the two would get to me first had I stayed longer.

All in all, good trip, 400km in two days is a nice bit of distance, esp with the extra weight. Been a while since I was out on long days back to back, nice to know that I still got it. I got a conference for all of the coming week, but after that I'm thinking I'll head south towards the Alps and Croatia. Dunno if anyone is reading this thread but I guess I'll update with new pics?

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Free lube on the cassette!

Keep em coming, always enjoy people's trips photos.

I'm reading! This is the spirit of bike packing

Dunno if anyone is reading this thread but I guess I'll update with new pics?

Hello, yes please

Thread is good. People are always quiet when you post trip content rather than #buyer content but that's because there's nothing to disagree with.

How long are you planning on staying out before returning home? No tent in that set up I assume? Just a bivvy?

400km in two days, hoots man! Some going. Love the pics.

i'm also reading. superb vibes keep posting

I'm not reading, just looking at the pictures. (/s)
Lots of fun in this thread!

Also reading and enjoying, and envying.

Gotta love an honest touring thread, keep it up! What is the conference about if I may ask?

Aye cheers boys and girls. Need to decide how to get to Croatia, want to hit up some friends at Innsbruck, Slovenia, see the Alps again, then leave the pink guy w my parents, chill for a few days, fly back to UK. Not sure if I can be bothered to ride all 1200km, we'll see.

Conferences are exhausting, but luckily I'm not trying to network so I'm just chilling on the side. It's an animal behaviour thing. Gotta fix up the bike a bit for two reasons: 1) the bike fell on its side while taking one of the pics, and immediately after I got chain suck which bent the big chainring; I'll try to replace that; 2) the bike started to feel sluggish on day 2. My suspicion is the tyre is not seated well, there's a bit of a discernable bump while rolling. I don't feel like that can explain all of it, though, gotta inspect further.

I blame my audax upbringing on how little attention I pay to creature comforts when touring. I developed some nasty acne on my back from not changing shirts in 2-3 days, basting in a stew of sweat and rain for two of those. A bivy is a torturous contraption too. Unless the head bit is open all night, I wake up feeling like a wet sock put out to dry in a corner of a shed used for curing meat. I should at least not sleep in riding clothes.

I've been contemplating best ways to avoid bacne when on the road myself. I think not sleeping in riding clothes is probably essential. I'm thinking of packing a shower gel containing sacylic acid too.

the bike started to feel sluggish on day 2

I think there’s some photos up there that can explain that…

Hahah, yes! I did spend like 5mins carefully removing the slugs that morning, I am a pacifist after all. They mustve sabotaged my bearings or sth.

Didn't used to be a problem and it's clearing up quickly, but yeah, some washing should be wise. Quick sink showers ahould help, but also just good weather, really.

Good effort on those KMs! I set out on a solo bike tour with a goal of 200km per day recently - lasted a single day before changing the plan entirely to 100km days.

The bike/setup looks great.

I should at least not sleep in riding clothes.

This is definitely a thing. I have a superstitious obsession with drying my feet before getting into a sleeping bag. It's a really good idea, and makes nodding off so much nicer whatever the other discomforts.

Really cool setup. I am aiming to get to do bikepacking just with two carradice style bags. They are just the nicest to pack.

Has Slovenia calmed down after all the floods?

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Wonderful thread. No pretense, just bikes and riding them. Perfect. I'll continue to live vicariously through you while I tinker on my bikes and try to figure out how to escape for a few days of riding.

Cheeeers guys heres a nice church somewhere in Germany. I'm on a train to Ingolstadt rn, visiting a friend. Then it's about 500-600km to Ljubljana viditing another friend, that's 3 strong days if body permits. Then another 500ish to my parents'. Don't tell my supervisor where I am.

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