Technical Stuff

'Cos I'm A Techie

A quick rundown of the various bits of equipment, with comments from my experiences with them.

Betsy

The bike is almost totally new and a higher spec than my previous machines - probably the best expedition bike you can get, but time will tell.

• Frame - Thorn EXP 'Heavy Duty'.
• Wheels - 26" Sun Rhyno rims, Shimano XT Tandem 48 spoke hubs, 1.9" Vredestein Spider and Schwalbe Marathon XR tyres
• Brakes - Suntour XC Pro and Suntour SE XC rear, Shimano XT cartridge brake shoes
• Handlebars - Modolo alloy anatomic drop bars, Shimano R500 levers, Grab On handlebar covers, FSA Orbit XL II headset
• Powertrain - Shimano XT 27 speed, Tioga Surefoot VI pedals. Shimano is the Microsoft of the bicycle world; not the best, the only - for wide range (mountain bike) gears there really isn't any other choice.
• Saddle - Brooks B17 Titanium. A solid slab of cow hide - there is pain for the first couple of weeks but once broken in these are the most comfortable saddles in the world.
• Racks - Thorn MKIII heavy-duty front, '531' reinforced rear. After the frame and the wheels, pannier racks are the most critical but most often overlooked component on a tourer, and typically it's the racks that fail first. These ones look like they may well be up to the job.
• Panniers - Ortlieb Back Loader Plus. Robust and completely waterproof, Ortliebs are pretty much standard among hard core tourers.
• Lighting - Busch & Muller 6 generator and Lumotec lamp. I've always been dubious about dynamo lights before, but this set has may change my mind.
• Toolkit - Zefal HPX pump, Alien tool, Leatherman pliers, hyper-cracker tool (for getting the freewheel off the back wheel), cone spanners, oil, grease, puncture kit, several dozen patches.
• Spares - Rear sprocket, chain, spokes, 4 tyres, 6 tubes, lamp bulb.
• Dogstick - 21" ASP tactical baton. More humane than chemical sprays, more reliable than electronic dog zaps. See the 'Dogs' Tip of the Day in the diary section.

Camping

• 'Cobra' bivi bag. Basically a gore-tex bin liner with a mossie net sewn into the mouth. No messing about with tents, just roll out, get in, sleep.
• North Face down sleeping bag, was 4 season but has had the stuffing knocked out over the years. Should be fine for Africa.
• Foam kip mat, had it forever, my lucky mat - but somewhat thinner than when it was new.
• Basha. A nylon tarp, to use as a sun shade, to improvise a tent to help the water proofing and for a bit more privacy in camp grounds.
• Silk sleeping bag liner. Keeps the bag clean, used as bed linen in cheap hotels, and on it's own on tropical nights.
• Tin cup for campfire brewups.
• Water. 2.5 litres on the bike, 2 in extra bottles and 40 litres of Ortlieb water bags. How far I'll be able to ride with that much weight is another matter.

Photo and Video

• Camera - Nikon FM2. Old, rugged, mechanical, utterly dependable.
• Camera - Olympus Mju 2. The most sensually designed camera ever, a fabergé egg of a pocket camera.
• Lenses - Nikkor 28mm 1.8, 50mm 1.4 and Tokina 70-210 mm 2.8 zoom.
• Film - Kodachrome 64
• Video - Sony TRV900. A tough, metal bodied digital camera with an excellent picture. Until I get the film developed all the pictures you see on this site are stills taken from this video. Sony have now replaced this model with the rather tacky 950 (email on a video camera...oh please).
• Wide angle lens, underwater housing and spare batteries for the video.

Gadgets

• GPS - Garmin Summit, Garmin Geko 201. My first trip with satelite navigation, these things are, I'm told, pretty much essential for desert crossings and fun toys everywhere else.
• Compass - Silva 15tdcl. For offroad navigation, also surprisingly useful in foreign cities.
• Keyboard - Psion 5mx. Best keyboard on a PDA, batteries last for weeks, British, and they don't make it any more. Typical. (Also note; always, always use with a hard case and never carry in a back pocket - they're delicate things as I found to my cost after an unfortunate trouser incident in Guatemala.)
• Music - Nex IIe compact flash mp3 player.
• Solar panels - Two solar AA battery chargers - my first time with these, an experiment to see if they'll be any use.
• USB compact flash reader - for uploading pictures and notes at internet cafe's; the Psion, mp3 player and video camera all take compact flash.

Clothing

• 3 sets of socks, undies and tee shirts, 2 shirts, 2 sweaters, 1 pair of shorts, 2 pairs of lightweight trousers, 1 plastic mac. No point in getting too technical or too expensive with clothing in the tropics - months of humidity, sweat, lack of adequate washing facilities and being packed in tight spaces will rot most fabrics and it'll all end up having to be replaced locally.
• Scarpa Manta boots - love these things, big, heavy, tough as, well, boots; undo the laces a tad and there's plenty of ankle action to cycle in.
• Tilley hat. Coolest hat I could find in a hurry.
• Waterproof Teva sandals - for beaches, grotty hostel showers and to take a break from the boots.

Personal

• Towel, because it's a dangerous universe out there. Don't mess with those ultralight tissue thin pertex 'travellers towels' - take a proper towel, the extra weight and bulk is worth it.
• First Aid kit. A collection of bandages, pills and potions for the usual hazards of travelling. A good rule is only to take stuff that you're confident you know how to use.
• High factor sun cream
• One years supply of contact lenses - one of the bulkiest items in the panniers.
• Tooth brush, toothpaste, soap (also used for clothes and as shampoo)
• Toilet roll - this you learn very quickly while travelling, always carry your own roll.