After 5 months of planning and preparation I’m now on a plane for Cairo after hugging and saying goodbye to my loving and supportive yet quietly concerned parents at the airport. the last few days were a scramble to get all the gear and vaccinations/medicine I needed for the trip. I can only hope I purchased enough spare parts to avoid being stranded in some rural village should a part on my bicycle break. As with backpacking, there lies a delicate balance when it comes to packing for a bicycle tour. You need to have enough gear to keep you dry, safe and healthy yet also have to be careful not to weigh down your bike with unnecessary or redundant items which can make pedaling more difficult up hills. With all that said my bike weighs about 40lbs and all my other bags and gear are an additional 45lbs. my friend nicknamed “free range honky” has aired more on the side of caution and has already begun getting rid of extra items he might not need such as spare clothes, bleach to disinfect fruit and vegetables etc. I wont bore you with the details of what gear I brought in this post. I will make a list and review at the end of the trip for anyone that wants to nerd out. I flew from California to New York and then to Egypt. This accounted to a 15 hr flight. It was a close call, but Honky made the flight. I’m happy to have a friend coming on this tour. we are both novice bike tourists and will be learning as we go. I’m very tired having not slept much in the past couple days but also excited and looking forward to meeting new people and traveling through places wildly different from anywhere I’ve been before.
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Pounds Bike – Notice Solar on back
Free Range Honkey and His Bike
I am so excited you are starting this amazing journey