Equipment
Everyone I met along the route said they were amazed by the 'ultra minimalist' kit approach and couldn't believe how all the sleeping kit fitted behind the seat so I thought I would share some photos here and recommendations.
The Bike
Planet X Pro Carbon, Campagnolo Chorus. I've put around 20,000km on it over 3 years, it's proven to be ultra reliable, if I had any choice especially for this trip it would have been a cyclocross or gravel bike but this is what I had available. One photo is from 2017 in Méjannes-le-Clap, France.
The bike held up really well but after the gravel roads in Sweden it needs a complete rebuild. Cassette, chain, chainrings, cables, jockey wheels, full wheel-set, bar tape and the tool bag zip broke off too so the bike packing kit is incomplete. The middle photo highlights the hammer the wheels were getting on the rocky roads, the rim was cracked all the way around for the last 400km so it was lucky not to collapse.
Tent
Is it a bivouac or a tent? It's so small and light weight that it fits in a water bottle. At only 520g the Nemo Expedition is amazing for bike packing.
Camping on the top of a mountain on rock in Lofoten, setting up on wood inside the wind shelter in Sweden, and outdoors next to the forest shelter in Norway. The inside is small and claustrophobic but you get used to it quickly, it is breathable and big enough to keep all of the bags inside from the bike safe on a night too.
Sleeping in comfort
All of the other sleeping and rest gear needed to fit in the Ortlieb seat post pack that goes behind the seat. It's amazing how much you can fit in with good planning and careful choices.
Everything fits behind the seat in the ultra waterproof baggage. There's even room for a spare packable coat and a first aid kit.
The sleeping mat was amazing from Klymit, Scandinavia in July is warmer but the ground is still very cold. I found even when near the glaciers and rock it worked well. In the past I used the sea to summit but it wasn't anywhere near as small as claimed, and the internal fixings came apart, this was much more sturdy. The Marmot Plasma 15 sleeping bag was capable of minus 9C and so okay for me down to minus 3C in the north of Norway. The Sea to Summit pillow is tiny when packed away and I've been using it for years on flights, trains and for camping, highly recommended. One small trick I used was to use the backpack cover to keep your shoes in outside the tent.
Backpack
The backpack contained all the extra kit I needed for communications, cooking, eating and keeping clean.
Camelbak HAWG ultra salient backpack with 3L bladder - perfect for hydration when you might not have water available for up to 75km along the way. Washing Line for drying clothing after washing them (in the river!!!). Continental camping plug adapter for charging at mobile home parking places, fishing kit to catch dinner, and strong strings to pitch the tent inside or on rock. Cooking gear and lighting for places with southern daylight hours.
Communications equipment, 2x Anker 30,000mAh power banks total capacity ~10x recharge of the iPhone. Laptop and spare phone, it's absolutely essential to have a spare phone, I smashed the screen on this one in northern Norway, without it there would be no 'Google Authenticator' or Google Maps. Very minimalist washing kit, dry bags to stop leaks and to keep wet and smelly clothing separate.
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Clothing
Clothing was difficult to choose. The 6,000km European ride was all hot weather 95% of the time. This was the arctic circle and lapland!
So many uncertainties and not enough space to pack the things I really wanted.
Ultra Packable, quick drying and diverse functionality were the key things to consider. Three sets of cycling clothes, Sportful bib shorts I swear by for comfort and durability. Instead of cycling Jerseys I took two OMM (One Mountain Marathon) long sleeve running tops, and one Nike winter long sleeve technical jersey. Off the bike all of the clothing had to be Merino so two long sleeve tops and two leggings, socks Merino thick, medium and thin. I took two jackets knowing I might fall off and rip one, Arc'teryx was the toughest, lightest, most packable brand I already had. For towels I took a chamois you use to dry a car and a micro fibre one too, the chamois are smaller, lighter and easier to dry. Forgot - shoes, instead of road I went for mountain bike clipless Shimano with Crank Brothers pedals.
Front Pack & Spares
The front pack is a bike bag to keep the day to day, hour to hour essentials, bits of food, knife, power banks, cables and anything you need to hand. The spares were kept in the triangle of the frame.
The front bag, pictured above was packed with different things depending on the time of day and the location. Sometimes in bad weather it was a place for the waterproof, other times food which had to be bought daily because of the space available. No photos but it was the bum bag utility belt basically.
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The spares bag kept in the frame had everything to get me back on the road if I had an accident or breakdown, not wanting to be stuck in the middle of a forest 50km from civilisation. In there I had:
- 3 inner tubes, knowing that it was easy to get two at the same time from experience.
- Shoe cleats and bolts,
- Chain and 4x SRAM quick links, derailleur hanger,
- Spokes,
- Full set of cables, inners and outers, and fray caps,
- Set of brake shoes,
- Cassette removal tool, multitool with chain breaker, screw drivers, spoke wrench and cone spanner attachments, spare long skewer and washers to shorten it in an emergency, pliers, masking tape, zip ties, wire, PTFE tape, medium Barco shifter, self made chain whip, cloth for cleaning, tire levers, lubricant and grease.
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Loads of things really but everything was used if not on this trip on the last one, apart from the cables and mech hanger.
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