I plan on taking on the bike (probably in a rackpack):-
- Tool kit (adjustable spanner, lockring spanner, spare links of chain, zip ties, pencil with insulating tape wound round it, leatherman mini for pliers/knife, multi-tool, chain tool, spare brake blocks, spokey, p*nct*r* repair kit, Park tyre boot, bag of spare nuts/bolts/cleat, 5 pairs of latex gloves)
- 18T and 16T Miche sprockets to give me 67" for the hills or 74" for a tailwind on the flatlands. Flip/flop hub will have 19T sprocket bailout gear (63") and the initial 17T sprocket on the Miche carrier for the first 400km on 71"
- Zefal HPX pump on frame
- cheapo cable lock around seatpost
- Inner tubes * 2
- long fingered gloves (also useful for doubling up) for foul weather
- spare folding tyre (tyres on bike will have about 500km on before the event so they should easily last)
- silk sleeping bag liner for sleeping in (as reviewed recently by Shelia in the recent CTC mag)
- space blanket
- tiny almost certainly useless sport towel thing
- small first aid kit, painkillers (Vitamin I), more painkillers (Codeine), plasters, antiseptic wipes, travel toothbrush/toothpaste, Immodium, Diarolyte sachets, Earplugs, ProPlus, travel sized shower gel
- spare batteries for GPS/camera/lights, also a tiny mobile phone charger that runs off one AA battery in case I forget to to turn off my phone between controls
- Petzl headtorch for after dark use (reading GPS/computer/routesheet/roadsigns and doing repairs)
- phone, camera, wallet, bonk rations, sun cream in triathlon bag-thingy just behind the stem
- ziploc back containing map pages from Atlas, copy of routesheet
- front lighting will be two (one as a backup) B&M Ixon's powered by batteries. No SON wheel for me on LEL
- rear lighting will be B&M D'toplight mounted on the rack, and a Smart superflash on the rackpack as a backup
- sunglasses case to hold prescription glasses/sunglasses (whichever I'm not wearing!)
- one bidon. other bottle cage will either be empty of hold a mineral water bottle purchased from garage/shop
- some portions of energy powder (for emergencies only) and Nuun electrolyte replacement tablets
Leg warmers, rain jacket, arm warmers will all go in the sidepockets of the rackpack when not in use.
Probably about 6kg of stuff at most, it's not much more than I carry on longer Audaxes anyway.
In the Dalkeith bagdrop I'll have:-
- 3 spare inner tubes
- spare batteries for lights/GPS/headtorch/mp3
- 2 * spare shorts
- 2 * spare jerseys
- 1 * spare pair mitts
- Inflatable bed thing
- Towel
In the other bag drop (probably Thorne) I'll have:-
- 3 spare inner tubes
- 3 * spare shorts
- 3 * pair socks
- 2 * spare pairs of mitts
- 3 * spare Jerseys (including the LEL jersey I'll pickup at registration time)
- Inflatable bed thing (borrow my brother's).
- Towel
Scenario 1 (minimum distance per day) for an 8am start:-
End day 1 at Thorne. Shower and change clothes there. Sleep on airbed in sleeping bag liner. Leave dirty stuff in dropbag. Put on clean set of clothes and stuff another clean set in the bag (as I'm unlikely to make it to Dalkeith on day 2). Replenish batteries/tubes supplies from dropbag.
End day 2 at Eskdalemuir. Shower (if possible) and change clothes. Sleep wherever in sleeping bag liner. Replenish supplies.
End day 3 at Alston/Langdon Beck/Middleton Tyas (depends on distance). Shower if possible. Sleep wherever. Change into clean clothes that were collected from Dalkeith.
End day 4 at Lincoln (or Thurlby). Shower if possible. Change into clean clothes (including LEL top) collected on the way from Thorne bagdrop (and drop off dirty stuff). Sleep on airbed collected from Thorne (I don't mind carrying it for this last leg) but it is about 1kg.
Day 5 is a gentle pootle from Lincoln/Thurlby back down to Cheshunt.
The more hopefuly scenario is to get to Coxwold on day 1 having collected stuff at Thorne. Then make Dalkeith at the end of day 2. From there I've got 3 days to do the journey back and can take it easy (or romp along depending on the weather and how I feel).
More likely is to just sleep wherever I feel the need to. Shower if showers are available and I'm within time and feel like a shower. Swap dirty stuff for clean stuff at dropbag locations. Replenish supplies if necessary. Don't worry if I end up doing a second day in the same jersey/shorts/etc, it's not going to kill me.
Not that I've thought about it or anything...