getting nervous

Woohoo only 43 more days until we board the train. Hope we have every thing we need and nothing we don’t. 

I’m testing out a blue tooth key board that links to my tablet. I think I’m going to like this. I was going to take a laptop to write on but thought it was to heavy. This will be a much lighter option. 

I’m starting to think about all the things around the house that needs to be done before we close it up. And all the things at work that need to be caught up before we go. Kind of overwelming, so I guess I won’t do anything and just go for a bike ride:) Alas the work is still there, but I feel better for riding at least. 

I have packed and unpacked my panniers about a hundred times by now looking at everything to be sure that what I have is nesasary and I’m not carrying anything that I won’t ever need. There are many different kinds of panniers on the market. There is a trade off betwwen weight and strength and water resistance between different brands. I’m going to use Ortlieb panniers on the front wheel. They are kind of heavy, but are really waterproof, so I will keep my cloths and electronics in those bags. 

Some say that the Ortleibs are the best and toughest ones you can get, and I think that could be true but they are pretty heavy. Something like 3 pounds each. So I started to look for some lighter weight panniers. Just so happened I was reading a book about someone who had traveled across the U.S and he had used Arkel Dry Lite panniers. They are only 1.5 pounds for the pair, much lighter. I am going to use those on the back wheel (end) of my bike. I’ll use them for cooking stuff,food, rain gear, shoes etc. Stuff that isn’t so critical about getting wet. 

When I finally get all of my stuff together and on the bike I think the whole rig will weigh about 70  pounds. Not exactly a racing set up, but going slow is the whole point of the ride. Deb and I like to stop and chat with local folks to learn about how they live their life. That to us is the best part of bike travel. We’re getting pretty pumped to get this thing started. Happy trails everyone.