World Heritage Biker

Gear

Traveling light has huge advantages. Besides allowing you to move faster and longer, a limited amount of material belongings will provide an increased feeling of liberty. On the other hand, you’ll need to require even more from your gear.

When traveling on a limited budget, there ought to be trade-offs between quantity and quality in your list of gear. This is my solution for an as trouble-free journey as possible:

Cycling gear
The most important piece of equipment for the expedition is of course my bicycle. The basis consists of a Marin Muirwoods 2009 with a 4130 cromoly frame and Shimano Deore derailleurs. I have replaced the tires with a pair of Schwalbe Marathon XR and added barends and a Tubus Logo pannier rack. I’m using one pair of rear panniers, Ortlieb Back-Roller Classic, and a handlebar bag, Ortlieb ultimate5 Classic, with an additional map case.

Camping gear
Bicycle touring is sometimes hard to plan; bad weather, crappy roads and punctures are just a few things that might cause you arriving late to your destination. Therefore you need to be prepared to pitch a camp much anywhere along the road. In my opinion, the best solution for this is to carry a camping hammock with a belonging tarp. You won’t need a flat and open spot to pitch your tent; you’ll only need two trees with good enough space between. You sleep more comfortable, you leave no trace and even if there are no trees you can always pitch it as a bivi.  My hammock is a DD Travel Hammock with two waterproof base layers and entrances from both sides. Together with a 3-season sleeping bag from ALPS Mountaineering and a Therm-a-Rest Ridge Rest Deluxe Sleeping Pad, I’m pretty sure to get a good night’s sleep almost anywhere.

Other gear
Since the access to electricity will be limited throughout the whole trip I’m trying to reduce my electric gadgets to just one item. This will be a Suunto 6XHR wrist-top computer that will provide me with not only time, date and alarms but also with information about altitude, navigation, temperature, weather and heart rate.

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