Packing kit and supplies

I'd had a trial run of packing my panniers (and cycling fully laden) a few weeks earlier, so had already made a few decisions about items I didn't need - such as more than one pair of trousers - and those I did - such as matches to light the stove.

I was still alarmed to see how much stuff had accumulated in the spare bedroom as, over a week or two, I'd been putting things in there ready. Would it all fit into the panniers, or would I have to further reduce non-essential items?

I've photographed and listed everything I've packed on the 'What' page of this blog. If you're a detail freak or preparing for a similar trip this might be of interest. If you're not, it'll only be of marginal interest.

In the end, I was pleasantly surprised by how easily everything fitted in. It was a bit like the Intelligence round of the Krypton Factor, finding exactly the right combination and orientation of items to make best use of pannier space, but it all went in. Right now, I couldn't tell you which pannier has my flip flops in (might want to air my feet over a lunch stop without unpacking everything first), but I'm sure I'll get a system going as the trip progresses.

The best part was the food. I'm attempting to complete this trip on a tight budget; that's partly why I'm camping and using youth hostels. I knew that if I ate all my meals in cafes, pubs, and restaurants the budget would get blown very quickly, so had to cater for myself as much as possible. Whilst I'm only staying in the UK, and will be travelling through many town and city centres, I don't want to have to keep finding suitable shops with secure bike parking in order to buy supplies (and worry about the security of my panniers whilst in the shop). So, I bought a whole month's supply of instant porridge pots (they only require boiling water so much easier than making 'proper' porridge, even though it's an expensive option), enough cereal bars for me to eat half a bar every hour I'm cycling, and dry pasta and boil-in-the-bag rice for the first 2 weeks of the trip. Once these were all divided down into weekly packages, I was able to pack a week's-worth into the front panniers.

This is good. The food I'd bought was, in the main, light. I'd found on my tester trip to the Isle of Wight that the front panniers were too heavy, making the bike unstable and difficult to steer at slow speeds. Since I can only actually travel at slow speeds with all the panniers on, this was an issue. Porrigde pots, cereal bars, and pasta are light, if bulky, so I will always know where my I can access dry porridge in a hurry or emergency.