Packed to go....

on another micro adventure...

heres everything im taking for 3 days and 2 nights camping...

on bike as well as the frame bag;
orange 15 litre drybag has my 3 seasons down Blacks sleeping bag,
blue 10 litre drybag has the henessey hammock,
15 year old map holder, waterproof,simple,brilliant...

in the frame bag goes cooking gear and food: enough food for 2 days here...
gas stove with removable cylinder,simple,clean,controlable for simmering pastas,
Tiso 1 litre non stick pot & lid....storing my paclite montaine jacket & trousers,
plastic cup with sealed container and fruit tea bags (no milk) and pot cleaner cloth,
food,2 pasta meals,4 cup-a-soups,3 porrige packs,in sealed bag...
fire strike,lighter,clothes pegs,
spork,
6 cereal bars,
midge net and Avon skin so soft works for me...

and in the Karrimor rush backpack backpack;
the usual bike tools, and air shock pump and an old eye droplet bottle full of squirt dry chainlube...

and for the next trip...
hip flask, (glenmorangie)
first aid kit, plasters,paracetamol,steriden strips,bandage,sting relief,
travel tooth brush/tooth paste,ear buds,and eye drops,
buff,now swapped for my new merino buff,
camera film case in cling film with vasaline (if you cycle you know why!)
mobile and wallet both in sealine bags,,
and a 5 litre drybag with evening/sleeping change of clothes-merino socks,long johns and longsleeve top...

in the now renamed epic designs gastank bag the cannon compact camera sealine bag and tachyon 2010 xc sports camera and a gorila pod tripod that fits both cameras...

and my usual cycling gear;
shimano MT90 goretex boots,
hub in the forest socks and scree gators,
Endura 3/4 humvee trousers and liner,
Endura baa baa merino wool short sleeve top,
troy lee gloves,
giro xen helmet,

the modified front bag mount...

made from an accessory mount with a section of flat bar,ODI bar ends and bar plugs now has 2 plastic reflector mounts which the straps go through stopping the bag moving and avoids contact with control cables...

there is no end to purposes for those reflector mounts, usually get them free at bike shops and as meerkat says on tv... simple!...

at last i can now go camping comortably on a bike that is easily rideable offroad while still doing decent daily miles...taken 3 years and this bike and gear to do this...
as you can see the frame bag is not protuding at all...and still has room in it...


still a weeks summer holidays to go yet...

rolling again....

Managed to upload pics via the tachyon helmet camera,but getting a cannon software disc from a friend on wednesday...heres what ive been up to...
report from weekend bivi trip to come...heres the bike set up...

i bought a £5 handlebar clamp-the ones to add more room for lights and computers etc...i removed the stubby 2" bar and replaced it with the centre of an old pair of flat handlebars-offset with 3" either side and with some spare ODI lock on rings and end caps to keep tie straps in place...

i also fitted a camera mount which was a bad idea as although handy to use it just bounced alot and most of the film is useless...
underneath i fitted two 31.8mm handlebar reflector mounts to the top of the fork stanchions and some anodised aluminium strip drilled,bent and filed to support a front bag...since i have come up with an idea to not need this support underneath but need to try it out first...

here is a 5 litre dryline bag with alpkit bivi bag and silk sleeping bag liner (for warm weather) which i swapped out for a 15 litre and 3 season bag as a cold easterly came in on friday...

under the seat is a 10 litre dry bag with the hennessy hammock...but a test ride to work on friday revealed the bag to touch the back of my legs so i ended up using a hacked up and shortend seatpost rack...

the epic desgins frame bag had stove,pot and food...

i took the trangia backpacker stove but im not really convinced anything beats the small camping gaz stoves with removable heads for here in scotland...they last a long weekend easy and every shop sells the canisters...
just enough food for saturday night,sunday morning,2 pasta course`s for dinner and cranberrie oatmeal biscuits with strawberry jam for breakfast...yum...and some cereal bars and tangfastics!

in the backpack was the usual tools and water...also paclite waterproofs,spare merino winter top incase it turned cold in evening...a headtorch...and a hip flask- though i didnt need a hand to fall asleep after around 60 miles over 12 hours!...
also see the waterproof map holder...

holds 2 OS landranger maps-one opened, its secured with rubber tree straps which make great fastners...

had this for years..and its still great to have...

heres a pic of what i went with last weekend...and until i get my epic designs front and rear packs it will do fine...

at last i have on bike camping gear which i can properly ride off road with and easily lift over fences etc...also all this goes straight onto the pugsley...
weekends riding was a recce and as such ended with a bit more hike-a-biking than expected but showed my bikepacking kit is light enough to honk on off road...more micro adventure trips over next 2 weeks when im on holiday...

other stuff...

this little orchid has appeared at work...hope we get more...

and our swans seven signets are growing fast...

here they are...all doing well and growing fast!

swans and signets... from coastkid71 on Vimeo.

snail..bah-humbug....

well the bubbles burst..at least here on the coast in east lothian..i woke to rain this morning..on and off most of the day mixed with hail,snail i believe alaskans call it...though my mate 10 miles inland at the foot of lammermuirs texted saying more snow..back to work tomorrow looking like a commute on the old dale on slushy roads...
milder weather meant my garden hose had thawed so i got the pugsley washed and got the chain cleaned,spent most of day out in the workshop,swept it out while running the motorbike for 15mins to give the battery a charge and fired up the stove to dry out any moisture...

something about stoves..i prefer an open fire in my livingroom for sure but would love an old range in the kitchen to cook on and sit in front of..,
the stove in my workshop is a machine mart cottager i got it free from a mate as it has the odd leak from him having burned it at high temps and the door has distorted a bit...,sometimes it leaks sometimes it dosnt...i got the chimney piping for free..,its 8" stainless instead of 6" but another mate made a reducer...

it dosnt give quite the same amount of draw as a 6" pipe chimney so takes a wee while longer to warm up and draw properly..,but a free stove and chimney pipe cant be knocked..kicks out some heat even in a 30sqm sectional concrete garage...

i sat for an hour or two having a couple of ciders and listening to some tunes..,i look on a workshop/garage as an extension on a home ideally connected then stroll out the house straight into the man cave