About our trip

We will catch the sleeper train to Inverness on Tuesday then another train to Achnasheen where we finished last May. We will then continue to roughly follow the Scottish coast down to Spean Bridge.

There are some good challenges along the way. Bealach Na Ba is a rather large mountain (pictured above)- our route appears to go straight over it. It is famous for being the highest hill climb in Britain, about 2600ft in 6 miles. Something to look forward to on Friday. Then on Saturday after 30 miles of cycling, we will be going off road for 10 miles, a very rough route of steep rocky climbs with about 14 fords to cross- largely not cycle-able.

We are taking our good friends Jacky and Ian along to enjoy all this, as an introduction to the joys of Scottish cycle touring.

Monday, 14 May 2012

Final packing list

For those of you who are interested in such things, here is my complete packing list (Sally carries the first aid kit). Total weight around 7kg.

Paniers and bags:

Ortlieb rollers 
Tri-bag on cross-bar

Tools:

1 inner tube
1 tiny pot of grease
1 zip tie
1 largish crank bros multi-tool
Super-patches
Traditional puncture repair kit
Brake cable
Gear cable
Tyre leavers
Pro-link chain oil and rag (in separate bag because of the oily smell)
Lezyne pump (the one you can stand on the ground - much easier to get a high pressure than a hand held)
Small amount of insulating tape
Pen knife

Techno stuff:

Garmin 800 GPS
HP Tablet PC
Maplin 2 port USB charger
USB cables for phone and Garmin
Charger for HP tablet
Spare phone battery
Pen - to use on those new fangled paper tablet things

Weather gear:

Paramo tripple layer jacket
Seal Skinz lobster gloves
Seal Skinz socks
Eager light-weight overshoes
Goretex Paclite shell trousers
Polartec hat
Seat cover (a shower cap)
Buff
Light-wieght gloves
Peaked cap

Clothing:

Altura 3/4 shorts
Merino tights
2 short sleeved merino shirts
1 long sleeved merino shirt
Peter Storm light-weight travel trousers
Ice-Breaker jumper
Under-wear and socks X 4

Sponge Bag:

Cetirizine Hydrochloride 10mg X 12
Ear plugs
Dental floss
Small bottle of shower gel
Small bottle of shaving gel
Razor blade
Tiny deodorant
Tooth brush
Lip-salve
Tiny pot of chamois-butt'r
Tiny pot of tooth-paste

Other:

Combination lock
Spare glasses and case
Anton Chekhov - The Black Monk
Drinks cabinet - small bottles of whiskey and brandy (30ml each)

Bike - Roberts Transcontinental 12.5 Kg
Helmet - Giro Prolight - 210g (it makes a difference)
Specialized MTB Shoes - nice shoes but soak up water like a sponge hence the overshoes.



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