Nordic Cycle Trip - Post #3

The Ortlieb Ultimate6 (medium) bag arrived last night. First impression, it's quite large. It's like a large lunch box; it fills up most of the space between the drops on the handlebars. That much storage could be useful though, for the more important items, or for a day pack during the Gymnaestrada.

That reminds me, i don't think i ever explained why i'm going to Finland. www.wg-2015.com I've performed in the past two gymnaestradas, in Austria and Switzerland. If i wasn't 3,000 miles from my group of people i'd be performing in this one too. I guess i'll describe it more later.

Today was an off work Friday for me. I was actually productive and cleaned all my clothes (folded them and put them away too!). I took the opportunity to finally gather what i expected to bring on the trip and see how much it actually was. I went out and got a couple dry bags to keep the clothes in for the sake of separating things to make them easier to find and to compress them for space saving. Looking at everything, i think it can all fit in the two panniers if i need it to. I'll probably add another dry bag for on top of the rack and still use one of the handlebar bags. I'll have to wait and see how big the "compact" bag is before i decide if the medium one is too big (it makes mounting the Go Pro a PAIN since it blocks the view).

Here's a picture of about 90% of my gear:

The black sunglasses cases are full of usb cables, sd cards, go pro things, knife, lighter, cork screw, etc. All of that can fit in the panniers if i need it, but i expect to put much of it in the handlebar bag or the 'trunk bag'. 

I'm also having second thoughts about which bike to bring. The yellow bike is definitely more comfortable, but the weight and fixed gear on hills worries me a little. And the front tire is flat again! i had patched it before the ride the other day. i think i need to scour the tire for something poking through, or replace it outright.