It’s when you come to cities like Paris that you realise how scrubbed clean Sydney really is. Paris has a certain scruffiness that you see everywhere. It’s not that there’s rubbish everywhere (there isn’t), it’s just that all those new paving stones and light posts all over Sydney contrast with Paris slightly battered and worn ambience. It’s rare to see an old car here (ie not straight out of the showroom) that doesn’t have a few battle scars. Indeed the police station near my hotel that is responsible for all the sirens that I hear all day has a gaggle of beaten up and scarred police cars parked out the front. But the gendarmes standing outside smoking are of course immaculately attired.

I had decided not to make any firm plans for my arrival and it was probably a good thing as I got off the plane at Charles de Gaulle after a day in the air to a grey sky pouring water on the runway. And when my bike box finally turned up at the luggage collection it was completely soaked to the point of collapse. Now there’s one damage vector I hadn’t planned for when packing the bike.

So in my jet lagged daze I decided that getting on my bike and riding off into the rain was probably not going to be particularly enjoyable at 7am on a Monday morning after no sleep, so I booked an overpriced hotel at the tourist information desk. David was quite helpful and rang the hotel to make sure that they had room to store my bike, but he was most insistent that I wouldn’t be able to get my bike onto the automated airport shuttle train that moves between terminals. I was pleased to prove him wrong after assembling the bike in a quite corner of the airport. Everything is so difficult when you’re sleep deprived. Even simple operations like screwing on the pedals become unreasonably difficult.

A day and many coffees later I’m feeling almost human again. I have booked a tgv ticket to Nancy tomorrow morning to meet up with George as he examines the tdf starting towns.

If only I had brought some decent clothes I would be able to visit a nice restaurant.

There’s only a few weeks left until I leave for my trip to France and I keep thinking that I’ve forgotten something. Maybe it’s just that I’m not fit enough and worried that George is gonna kill me going over the alps and the Pyrenees.

I think I need to move about 50 kilometres from work and ride in every day for the next three weeks.

Oh well I can always spend my days eating cheese and rubbing it on my belly while I lie in a park next to my bike.

My previous trips have involved the normal setup of a rack with panniers. For my 2012 France trip I want to be able to cover larger distances, so weight reduction is a high priority.I have taken some inspiration from Iik’s blog at http://ultralightcycling.blogspot.com Iik is pretty ruthless when it comes to cutting weight, and I admire a man who can sleep on a sheet of bubble wrap, not wash for days on end and sleep under a tarp. But I cannot. There is a certain level of comfort and convenience that I will not do without, especially if I’m planning to be on the bike for over a month. I differ from Iik in the following ways:I want to be able to cook, even if just to boil eggs or make coffee.I want to sleep in comfort, not on bubble wrap.
I want to be able to get at my stuff during the day without dismantling the whole lot.

I want places to store stuff like camera, eWerk etc so that they can be easily accessed.

Iik dismisses the use of any normal bike bags and just straps a compression sack on his back rack. And he doesn’t use a handlebar bag. This is main way he saves weight, as not using panniers saves about a kilo for each pannier you leave at home.

I have tested out the compression sack technique on a previous short tour, and while it certainly does save weight, it is not convenient. The setup below weighs 600g for the rack, and 200g for the compression sack. Light and waterproof, but a bit of a pain in the arse because you can’t get at anything inside the sack unless you remove the bungees holding it to the rack and remove it so that you can rifle through it.

A previous test rig using a compression sack as main storage

So for a slight weight penalty I have decided to use a Carradice Super C saddlebag. It is quite a large saddlebag with a capacity of about twenty litres (almost as much as the compression sack above), but has the convenience of side pockets, small internal pockets, plastic buckles for fast entry, loops on top to allow easy tent strapping, and it is reasonably light at 800g. To support the bag and prevent it from crushing my rear mudguard I will be using a Nitto saddlebag rack, which weighs 350g. So 1150g for the pair, compared to 800g for the compression sack and cheap aluminium rack. I’m happy to sacrifice 350g for the added convenience.

Proposed touring load

In addition, the saddlebag doesn’t sway as much as the compression sack, resulting in less shimmy and frame flex. I’m using a pretty lightweight randonneur bike built with light gauge tubing and a low trail front end. So any wobbly weight at the back tends to make the bike handle very badly. The saddlebag is a big improvement over the compression sack.

Hilleberg Akto strapped on top of Carradice Super C

In the saddlebag I have managed to fit a three season down sleeping bag (850g), Thermarest pillow (200g), miniature Trangia (220g), some clothes (all in main compartment), Thermarest Neo Air mattress (400g in side pocket), and a lock and tools in the other side pocket (300g). Hilleberg Akto (1.5kg) straps neatly on top using webbing straps borrowed from an Ortlieb pannier set. The little doodads on the end of the Ortlieb straps prevent the straps from hanging down and tangling with my rear wheel. Ah those clever Germans.

And I’m also not prepared to do without a handlebar bag. My bike is built for it with an integrated custom front rack and decaleur, and the Berthoud bag that I use is just the right size for stuff frequently needed. The layout of the pockets also puts my camera at hand and holds the eWerk (53g) that I use to charge things. The front pocket will hold a mini pump, saddle cover, and few other odds and ends. The lid has a zippered compartment that will hold a Kindle. It’s pretty waterproof. At 600g, it’s well worth taking.

Berthoud handlebar bag

All up, my bike weighs 11.8kg without any bags attached. The total weight of the luggage and contents is close to 8kg. Having just done a test run up the biggest hills I could find close to home in the Royal National Park, this load is quite tolerable. On the flat I can maintain a good speed above 25kmh without too much effort, and while hill climbing is slow, it’s not too taxing.