I was able to wash all of clothes I rode in when I took a shower at the end of each day's ride, and it was always just about dry by the time I needed it the next morning.
I kept all of my clothing in the Ortlieb waterproof bag strapped to my handlebars. By laying everything in a flat pile flat and then making a giant clothing Swiss-roll before sliding it into the bag, it all stayed remarkably crease-free when I needed to wear it.
I took:
Bike kit:
- Spare pair of bib-shorts and a spare jersey. Without these, any wardrobe malfunction in my main kit would have really compromised the ride.
- Pair of arm-warmers. Unused, but the weather I actually got was freakishly hot and I'd normally have expected to need them at some point.
- 2 pairs of pants and socks. The pair I wasn't wearing would be washed with my kit.
- 3 lightweight T-shirts
- 1 pair of shorts. I had to make an effort not to spill food or drink over them, as I didn't have a second pair.
- 1 lighweight fleece. I'm delighted that it never got cool enough that I needed it.
The Carradice SQR Tour Bag contained:
Tools - kept in an old pencil case and carried in one of the side pockets of the bag. I didn't have to use any of this stuff but I'd have hated to have broken down on the moors without it
- Multi-tool
- Spoke-key
- Spare brake and gear cable
- Tyre levers
- Spare chain master links
- Bunch of zip-ties
- 2 x rear and 1 x front clip-on lights. Unused, but taken in case of bad weather or if the evening pub wasn't in walking distance.
- Chain-link tool
- 2 x spare inner tubes. I'd much rather slap a new tube in than mess around repairing a puncture by the roadside.
- Puncture repair kit. In case 2 spare tubes aren't enough
- C02 inflator and 2 gas cylinders. I also have a mini-pump strapped to the frame, but one of these gets a tube filled to 110 psi in a few seconds.
- Map, in case of Garmin failure. To be honest, the signposting was excellent, so I doubt I'd have needed it even if I didn't have the GPS
- Waterproof wallet to keep information on B&Bs, train tickets etc all in one place.
- Red waterproof stuff-sack to keep all electrical stuff dry and in one place.
- Kindle. This weighs very little and made the long train journeys tolerable.
- Plug-in charger and charging leads for my Garmin, phone and MP3 player
- Spare batteries for my camera, fully charged. I was surprised how good the Cannon batteries are, as I ended up taking a couple of hundred photographs on the one battery, so didn't need these.
- Sony MP3 player. I like to listen to stuff at a sensible, low volume when I'm riding solo. This is tiny and does about 17 hours on a single charge
- Spare ear-buds, because I have a knack for getting the cables snagged on stuff and snapping them.
- Waterproof plastic bags, just in case I needed some (I didn't)
- Front door and bike-lock keys
Toiletries bag containing:
- First Aid kit - plasters, bandage, antiseptic wipes etc
- Sudocrem - Used as chamoix-butter each morning
- Savlon - Applied after showering to prevent saddle-sores
- Toothpaste & toothbrush
- Suntan lotion. This was very much a last-minute addition and got a lot of use.
- Small deodorant spray
- Disposable razor
- Tin containing a Lush solid shampoo bar. This wonderful stuff was pressed into service as a shampoo, shower gel and detergent for washing my kit each day.
- Decathlon waterproof jacket - Carried in the other side pocket of the Tour Bag. Not used, which is remarkable in the Lake District.
- Decathlon featherweight windproof jacket. Also not used because when the wind blew, it was bloody hot.
- Small Gorillapod tripod for setting up the camera shots with me in them.
- Kryptonite cable lock, carried clipped onto the top of the Tour bag.
