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Off I went, at 10:30 in the morning Switzerland as seen from Italy Lakes and mountains The bike route goes up an abandoned railway line through wonderfully cool tunnels Up a nice doable grade, even with 24 kg bike and baggage Lots of birds Occasionally I take a break Listen to the birds Admire the huge trees Luscious forest with lots of creeks Most of the path was in the shade And water mills Lovely asphalt (whose origins are in … Saudi Arabia?) Really enjoying this Bike is behaving well However, once the path ran out of asphalt and it became bumpy, I had to add some padding from a discarded cigarette box to stop the four pannier clasps from rattling. Arrived at the town at the top of the hill, 200m up over 5k! Even with the car this is quite a ride up. A triplet of donkeys WW1 artefact! Lovely views down the valley on the other side Mostly empty roads Another war artefact Water, valuables and food A free campsite with a view beside a well-groomed playground The whole male side of one family commemorated here. What a waste and heartache. Lunchtime! A very useful baggy with lots of space, keeping things together nicely. Fits perfectly in my lunch bag on the handlebar I stopped dangerously on an inside curve but had to take a picture of “Our lady of the cyclists”. See the front gear? Beautiful villas with gorgeous gardens on the edge of the provincial park Not another hill?!? I thought we were done with them! La Pianura Padana! All downhill from here. Cooling down in the deep shade at the Lago di Varese Nicely-maintained lido Lido di Gavirate Man fishing behind the sluice Funny white birds, all lined up! Hot in the sun Good thing most of the ride is in the shade! View of the creek to the left View to the right Upwards Cars above Where I came from Lake of Comabbio! Made it! Liquid recovery Horizontal recovery The front of this saddle chafed my hamstrings so I’ll replace it with my old saddle, which I fortunately brought along! Quiet rowers (but noisy coaches, exhorting away through megaphones) Those funny lined-up immobile birds again! Snacks at the lake while relaxing until dinner In the shade Nice restaurant Vitello tonato with chips and a panache Campground at the lakeside Sunset over Lago di Comabbio Sitting on the edge of the dock Good night -
To do beforehand:
- Reserve tent site
- Reserve bike spot on train
- Create route of intended rides, export to GPX, import to Coros, upload to Dura
- Put wax on chain the night before
- Pump up tires
- Check weather: temperature, rain, wind speed and direction
Charge
- Front light
- Back lights (singular, one broke)
- Headlamp
- Phone
- Heartrate armband
- Coros Dura
- Coros Watch
- Battery pack
- Earphones
While Cycling
- Wool long-sleeved shirt
- Buff
- Bra
- Undies with no seams
- Cycling pants
- Socks
- Trail runners
- Gloves
- Helmet
- Sunscreen
- Sunglasses
To bring for during the day:
- Rain coat
- Rain pants
- Grey half puffy jacket
- Cycling shorts/long pants
- Second wool long-sleeved shirt
- Bikini
- Towel
- Bike lock
- Small lock for tent and bags
- Little bag to carry phone, wallet & other glasses
Evening
- LBD
- Black bra and undies
- Sandals or flipflops
- Normal glasses
- Charging cables
- Warm sweater
- Warm hat
- Comfy chair
- Tent/bivvy
- Drying microfiber cloth
- Thermarest
- Pump Bag to fill thermarest
- Evazote mat
- Sleeping bag
- Pillow case
- Toiletry kit
- Pyjamas
- Shower slippers or flipflops
- Small backpack?
Eating
- Hardboiled eggs
- Peanuts
- Maltodextrin
- Electrolytes
- Cream cheese and crackers
- Breakfast oats and apple
- Knife, spoon, fork, cutting board
People First Aid
- Fluimicil
- Ibuprofen
- Antihistamine
- Sunscreen
Bike First Aid
- New inner tube
- Rope
Luggage from back to front
- Two 20l panniers for shelter, sleeping and evening wear
- 10l waterproof Exped backpack for the during-the-day stuff: rain pants, swimming stuff, flipflops, alternate cycling pants, warm layers
- Right-angled triangle bag for raincoat and …
- Two bottle carriers for maltodextrine and electrolytes
- Oval bag for bike repair stuff
- Obtuse triangle bag for two 500ml squeeze bottles of water
- Lunch bag for food and additional electrolyte and magnesium
Now the problem is to decide:
- Coros Watch – I don’t actually need to wear it anymore as the Coros Dura connects to the armband. But I’ll bring it as a backup.
- Which wool long-sleeved shirt? The black&purple hooded one or the see-through white one? It’s going to be very hot, 28°, tomorrow, so the white one.
- Red, blue, grey or black buff? The red one to add color to the white shirt.
- Black or orange bra? If white shirt then orange bra.
- Green flowery undies or black or no undies? If orange bra then flowery undies. I still like to have a layer in between.
- Merino socks or cotton? One pair of each
- Trail runners? Green or white? White
- Full brim hat or baseball cap? I’ll be wearing my helmet, so hat is only needed when not riding, so no full-brim hat needed
- The huge black towel, the medium grey towel or the tiny blue towel? Just right …
- Long-fingered or short-fingered gloves? Long
- Small, medium, or krypton lock? Small, just to stop someone from rolling the bike away.
- I’m getting decision fatigue here …
- Little bag to carry phone, wallet, other glasses & valuables – trail running belt, exped waist bag or red cross-body bag? The latter as the glasses fit too.
- Warm jacket alpha sweater rather than thick down jacket, which would be overkill
- Just bring the flipflops. You won’t be walking anywhere in them
- Tent/bivvy – just the 1-person bivvy is fine
- Pyjamas – cotton or wool? 17° at night
- Do I need a supersmall backpack? No, I already have the exped backpack
Beware of overoptimism. It’s super hot here today: 33°! But look at what’s happening just south of us:
Torrential rain! It might not be possible to find solid protection before something like that hits, so rain pants and jacket, plus a warm change of clothes, are non-negotiable.
3.3 kg: Pannier with evazote mat, inflatable sleeping pad, bivvy tent, chair, swimstuff, warm fleecy, flipflops 
3.4 kg: Pannier with sleeping bag, pjs, full set of cycling clothes, evening clothes, rainpants, sweater and hat 
1.4 kg: Waterproof backpack with electronics, toiletry bag, sunscreen, first aid and rain jacket 
0.3 kg: Waist bag, hat, wallet, headband, glasses, handkerchief, pee rag 8.4 kg Base weight = 3.3 + 3.4 + 1.4 + 0.3
Bike, baggies and backup tubes 
and back light, front light, Coros Dura navigator and backup pump, multitool, locks, … 11.5 kg bike total: 10 kg bike + 1.5 kg luggage and tech first aid
2.1 kg lemon magnesium drink, cassis 100g maltodextrine drink, two 500ml soft flasks water 
1.2 kg Cheese sandwiches, 4 eggs and 1 carrot, 2 nectarines and oats with powder milk, spoon, ceramic knife, mix, in a great Exped baggy 3.3 kg food and drink without dinner
23.2 kg Total: 8.4 base + 11.5 bike + 3.3 booze
I added my old 0.9 kg saddle, just in case the new one doesn’t work out. So about 24 kg to push uphill.
Off I go! -
Santa Maria after 500m straight up 
Home, sweet castle 
I used my super light running belt and just took my phone, 500ml of water and a meru lightweight towel to use as a handkerchief. It worked very well and is not as sweaty as I expected.
I might wear this on my bikepacking ride tomorrow so I would always have my phone and id with me, even if I have an accident and end up in the hospital. Or if I get off my bike and am distracted.
I’m still fearful of getting my phone stolen again. I didn’t yet make sure that I am digitally resilient enough to be able to buy a new phone and install all necessary banking and transportation apps easily.
It would mean I could leave this at home. Or repurpose it as a cookie jar.
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The new improved version 3.0 of my bikepacking rack arrived and I mounted it on my bike!
Version 2.0 with repurposed IKEA rods that turned out to be not strong enough to stop the panniers from getting caught in the spokes. 
Simple rack for luxury hostel bikepacking when I just need flipflops, a bikini, a towel and a LBD. 
This looks very elegant, but will the buckles fit through here? 
Not the smaller top buckles … 
Nor the larger bottom buckles. I guess I’ll have to use my hot knife to create some extra space. 
The platform can slide nicely far back and is a bit lower down due to the bend in the tube. 
Which is hollow! Extra storage space! But not more than 10 kg! 
With the pannier guards on. It looks quite nice! I got this setup from the Cube store in Weinfelden, the very place where my pannier decided to give up. 
All black accessories – matching. Should I bring a hammock with me? On no … don’t go down that rabbit hole! 
Replacing the broken buckle, which allowed the pannier to detach from the rail, jam into the spokes and be violently ripped off. Bikes have some seriously powerful momentum! 
New replacement hooks. You can just buy them, so I guess I’m not the only one with this problem. 
It fits nicely. 
No horizontal sliding. Are the clip diameter and rack diameter compatible or is a filler needed to make that tight? I don’t want it to bounce around and then break again. 
Looks ok but need to find and test the filler bands they must have delived the panniers with. I hate looking for stuff, and I keep getting more. 
This attaches nice and tight! 
Lots of space so my heels don’t hit the panniers! 
This looks great! 
Exped has a solution. It’s a tight fit 
But this would work. I’d need two more of these straps then. All my hard work for nothing if I use the small straps also for the big red pack. I’ll have to think about it. At least this already works for hot summer hostel bikebacking. Can’t wait! 
A new skirt saddle … For durable riding. 
It’s beginning to look like a motorbike! I’ll have to lower the saddle, and therefore also loosen the bikerack. It’s getting really hot. Now all I need is a click-stand…
Something like this … No child seats are planned. It could double as a tarp or tent pole … Stay tuned!
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At the end of the day I’d like to lean back and sit comfortably.
This thermarest chair would do, even without a mat inside 
But I don’t need all these extra straps and things So I’ll cut them off. Initial weight is 300g.
Final weight is 250g and it’s just as comfortable What are some other things I’d like to improve, based on the recent bikepacking trip that almost ended in disaster?
Next time:
- Bigger tent to sit in
- Bring warm hat for sleeping
- Smaller toiletry kit
- Fewer electronics
- Robust bike rack
- Towel fastener hook and loop so big towel can function as a pareo
- Net outer bag for drying things while riding
- Comfy chair
- Waterproof baggy for phone
- Stronger back light
Make dyneema baggies
– rain gear
– black slides
– wider, shorter green baggy for tent
What worked well
Green lunch bag
Nalgene water bottles with maltodextrin and electrolytes
Squishy bottles with water
Hard-boiled eggs
Precooked dinner to eat on the train
Reserve train spots for the bike 30 minutes early
Exped straps on backpack for helmet and to attach to rack
Matress plus evazote
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Sunrise as seen from my sleeping bag 
Breakfast in bed 
The first hill, 100m elevation over 3km. 
On the right track 
Mountains in the distance sometimes 
Lakes but no more mountains 
Not really a great solution. If this gets worse I won’t be able to move anymore. Every time I go over a bigger bump the pannier hits the wheel 
Ears of deer 
The last big hill down to the train … Just barely made it to the station before my pannier really didn’t hold anymore, making it very frustrating to get into the right bike section on the train. 
The Mythen from the west 
Wool “cycling-y” looking clothing worked perfectly 
Have to think about how to attach the panniers some more … It was a great trip though! 
Something like this -
I took the train north in direction Constance. No reservations needed and not full. 
Left my luggage in a locker at the station 
And the bike locked up with the heaviest piece of my equipment 
Met my friends for coffee 
Touristing 
Art 
Ice cream 
And drinks! 
After dinner I got my stuff out of the locker easily 
Arrived at the campsite on the lake 
Set up my cozy bivvy bag. Good thing it’s not raining! 
Bivouacing with a view 
Sunset over the Lake of Constance 
Falling asleep with a view -
I made it to this cute campsite on the river Sitter 
The manager served me this delicious beer. It hit the spot perfectly! 
Set up my camo bivvy bag 
I’m trying it out for a kayaking trip around the lake where I’ll be trespassing while I sleep as so much of the lakefront is privately owned by absent landlords. 
Bike is right there 
Off to the movies in a “nearby” town. Impressive films about the ocean! 
Of course it rained 
But I made it inside mostly dry 
Not much wiggle room in here. I can’t reach the stuff at the bottom because there’s not enough space to sit up 
Good thing my daughter’s brownies were close by the next morning 
Good thing too, that it was a sunny morning! 
And I could dry out the condensation 
Back on the bike, off to the next part of the adventure! -
Coming over the Rothenturm high moor down to the Lake of Zurich 
Over the dam at the end of the lake 
Looking east towards the mountains 
Still snowcovered 
Cliffs along the Thur river 
Hilly farmland 
The farmer started turning the hay soon after I stopped here for a break. Good thing my hayfever wasn’t active! 
One hill was steep and a bit dangerous. The views were nice. 
My super useful Exped lunch baggy 
With brownies in it! Yumm! It gave me courage to go exploring closer to the river. 
This is where one of the top clasps of the pannier on the right side broke off after a bump in the dirt track 
Beautiful river views though 
Getting a bit lost 
I got to see these cuties a second time after coming back from getting lost 
Oops. A big bang and a snap and the pannier was on the ground 
The missing clasp allowed the bag to twist and then the repurposed IKEA bar wasn’t strong enough to stop the bag from getting caught in the spokes. 
Violently ripped off 
Good thing I always have some rope with me 
I took the road less traveled … Again. 
And encountered a beautiful snake! -
At the beginning of May I did a small bike trip and, not even 5 minutes after the start, I encountered a “no bikes between 06:30 and 08:30 allowed on the train” sign. It was 07:30.
At the start I was due to tranfer to an intercity train on which I had reserved a spot for my bike. So I didn’t want to get kicked off the local train. Good thing no one official came along but I did feel a bit squeamish. Not the best way to start the trip.
The second train, with mandatory bike reservation, because it can get overrun by bike tourists in the summer. I was feeling much more relaxed now. 
Mythen from the south 
The third train, without reservations, but with lots of bikes! I had to run up 4 train wagons to find a free bike slot! 
Mythen from the north Alternative solutions follow below. The link to the next part of this saga is on the bottom of the page.
On the way home I caught sight of this guy:
It’s just a bag, no bigger than the suitcases of some international travelers! 
For only 135 bucks! You can pay for a lot of reservations with that, but the bag would solve the “rush hour” and “no empty bike spots” problems 
Fortunately I have some “free” material in my cupboard It could double as a picnic blanket or emergency shelter. Two-way zips on either end? Loops for anchoring to the ground? Or to attach to a tree and keep the material off my face? What about the mosquitoes? And the slugs? Stop stop stop…
It’s just a bag … it doesn’t have to do everything!
But with cords closing the ends off it could also work as a hammock! No zipper that gets stuck or breaks! And they’re a bitch to sew. No, no, no, this is getting too complicated. Letting my imagination run away with me again.
The bike just needs to be able to go into the bag quickly, protect the front wheel, look as much like a “suitcase” as possible, and fold up really small.
Already much better A strap attached to the saddle and the handlebars would allow you to lift the bike directly, so the bag doesn’t have to carry the weight and probably split apart. It would also make it easier to I carry my 10kg bike up and down stairs with luggage.
The loose front wheel should be attached to the frame, with some protective material in between. This could serve as an overhang for the bivvy sack … Really? Am I going to wait out a massive thunderstorm covered by this thin material? Now if I had a comfy seat to sit on …
