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@kvhe
It's easy to get a bit obsessive in the planning stage. My advice would be to take as little as possible and don't plan the route too much. I landed in Dunkirk with only 2 pages printed off GoogleMaps of the local area. Got completely lost that first day before picking up a free map from a tourist place on the second which kept me going for another 5 days before getting a decent road map. Plus the bike was a 20 year old mountain bike with knobbly fucking tires on... [shakes head]
Get decent racks/panniers and make sure whatever bike you use is in good shape. Don't buy into the massive gear-fest of buying gadgets and things that you won't really need. For example, I took a lightweight stove but never used it because I found it too much of a chore to make a meal so just lived off fruit,baguettes, cheese/ham sandwiches, croissants, yoghurt, cereal and chocolate. I would have appreciated the saved space/weight a lot more in that case.
A compass is really useful though.
Any questions drop me a PM.