Equipment

I used my beautiful Rivendell Rambouillet. (It is the orange bike in the photo above. The other two are Chip's Bob Jackson tourer and Bernie's super-aerodynamic Canyon triathlon bike.) For the tour, I built up a somewhat beefier rear wheel than normal, using a 36-hole Ultegra hub, DT Competition 2.0/1.8/2.0mm swaged spokes, and a heavy-duty Mavic T520 rim.

I carried my gear in a Carradice Nelson Longflap saddlebag and a waterproof Ortlieb "Ultimate 3" handlebar bag with a camera insert. The Carradice had been on many previous trips, and it reconfirmed its worth. The Ortlieb was brand new, and it was a spectacular success: completely waterproof and well-padded (for the camera gear), it mounts solidly to the handlebars, converts to a shoulder bag in seconds, and has many useful pockets and compartments, including a big waterproof map pouch.

Here is what I carried in the handlebar bag:

And here is what fit into the saddlebag:

The large plastic bag is useful for mixed-mode travel. On trains and buses, I disassemble my bike and place it in the plastic bag. When I arrive at destination, I reassemble the bike, roll up the plastic bag, and stuff it under the flap of the saddlebag (you can see it sticking out in the photo above). Very convenient. The same applies for air travel, except that I wrap each tube of the frame in piping insulation (available at any hardware store) to minimize scratches.