Preparing for our journey - London to Istanbul on a Recumbent Tandem - CycleBlaze

July 5, 2012

Preparing for our journey

As inveterate gear hounds, it is always a challenge to temper our enthusiasm for new gear that could lighten our load and make our life more comfortable on the road.
Travelling on a tandem, we are always striving to take what we need for camping and touring, while keeping the quantity down.
Some items defy logic: our double sleeping bag (Big Agnes, King Solomon) is super comfortable and cosy - yes, it is a bit heavier, but worth it. Similarly, our Walkstools add some weight but are essential. Most European campsites lack picnic tables, plus they compact down to provide a good working height for bike maintenance. It is great to be able to have lunch in comfort whereever we like.
As we have gotten older, our hips get sore on sleeping mats - but Big Agnes has come out with a new mat "Q Core" and it provides 3 1/2" of insulated comfort. Once again, the weight is worth it. We have used Neo Air but these give us the extra comfort we need.
The weight savers - come at the expense of clothing. After all, we are touring by bike, so we mostly live in cycling clothing - with one outfit for off the bike.
The aging theme prevails in clothing as well - we have invested in compression socks, shorts and tights - we were sceptical but have been won over.
The big change that we invested in for the trip was a Rohloff hub, custom fit by Max and Tim at Fairfield Bicycles in Victoria BC. An expensive but worthwhile upgrade. We love the smooth shifting and ease of maitenance that it will give us.
For lightness in gear, we continue to use the Big Agnes Copper Spur UL 3 tent, the Trangia alcohol stove, titanium Snow Peak cookware and a Radical Design Cyclone II trailer from Holland. After much research and emails with the company, it was exciting to receive the trailer in the mail. What most impresses us about the trailer is its adaptive design. When off the bike, the wheels are removed "instantly" with quick release axles and can be either stowed inside the trailer to make it into a duffle bag (ideal for flying) or the wheels can be moved further back on the frame to make it into a towing bag while walking. In the past we used Arkel recumbent panniers underseat and on the rear rack. We found that this made the bike too heavy and had been looking for a lightweight but durable solution. We still use the underseat panniers for the heavy stuff (cookware, MacBook Air laptop, clothes) and the bulky lighter objects go in the trailer. We think that this should reduce wear and tear on the rear wheel and our bodies - we'll see.

Max and Tim did a fabulous job of installing our new Rolhoff Speedhub.
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A major upgrade to our bike, the amazing Rolhoff hub
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Maps that we will need for our trip
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This great little book can be very helpful when trying to explain something to someone who doesn't speak English
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Our tool kit
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Extra Speedplay Frog pedals and zip ties
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The amazing manual for our new Rolhoff hub
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Our new waterproof/dustproof camera. They say that if you drop it, it won't break.
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Our Rans Seavo recumbent tandem- dual 26 inch wheels help to make the bike a fast ride...in theory anyway.
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The kids in my class gave us signed water bottles. Thanks kids, I'll miss you. Please send us an email on our guestbook
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Preparing for the trip involves getting short haircuts.
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Thanks Pansy. You always do a fabulous job.
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We love our coffee every morning and we have tried a variety of coffee making methods over the years. GSI makes a great silicone coffee filter holder that collapses when not in use. It easily fits our small Snowpeak titanium pot. We keep the pot in our "Pot Cozy" to keep the coffee warm.
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Our Trangia stove and Clikstand are simple to use and always reliable
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The electronics that we are taking on our trip. Mac Book Air 11 in.,Song E-Readers, itouch,Skross adapter, and our computer bag made by San Franciso Bags.
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