We have great admiration for those who tour for three months and longer but we have decided that two weeks is  about right for us.

The Thorn tandem is a well designed machine and seems to ride better with loaded panniers than unladen. The Rohloff hub is great for touring and the pros and cons have been discussed on many forums so all I will say is that Mike  purchased a Thorn Mercury half bike also with Rohloff.  

We use the ubiquitous  Ortlieb panniers and bar bag but we have replaced the Ortlieb mounting system with a Rixen and Kaul Klikfix which does not rely on a  single use cable to mount it to the bike as does the Ortlieb system and we find it easier to attach and remove the bag from the bike.

Mike's Showers Pass rain jacket worked well in the rain and he stayed dry.

Mary's Netti rain jacket worked well too.

Watch this space for our next ride in October/November.

Mary and Mike