General thoughts about the package

Tuesday, 20th of September. I'm pretty contended with the lot and the things I have packed. I have met several people who had said I have pretty much stuff with me and if it's very heavy (it isn't). Melanie was the first one, who was fascinated how few things I have with me – she isn't a cyclist and much more used to travelling with a van, but it's good to hear something like this, too. I needed some time to realize she didn't meant her statement ironical… To me it felt all the time like not to much and not to little. So here for the statistics:

Bicycle clothes

3 cycling shirts

1 good, 2 normal. One of them is really for emergency and for the good feeling to have some clean stuff as a backup. I never had more than two of them in usage, but some days where I would have needed the third one if there wouldn't have been a washing machine. (I don't mind of the clothes are dirty, but I don't like to smell…)

1 long sleeved compression sports underwear shirt

Best I've ever had. And although the sellers named it underwear it is pretty good to wear as a normal long sleeved shirt.

2 padded knee length cycling shorts, 2 long sports tights

Since the weather is so cold I wear the shorts and the tights on top of each other (I have also 1 padded pants, that was great in August, but now are the cycling shorts better). It's perfect to have two pairs for changing…

1 pair of cycling gloves

It was new when I started the tour. Now it's pretty used and close to get broken, maybe I need some new ones soon. Sometimes I also would like to have a pair of cycling gloves were the fingers are protected, too. But at the moment the mitten addition connected to my rain coat works good enough.

1 cap

Perfect as sun protection, also good to keep the head warm. And it fits perfect together with the rain cap of my rain coat. I don't like that much how I look, but this shouldn't matter.

1 functional bandanna

Best to have to protect the neck from the wind.

1 cycling sun glasses

It was much more important when it was warm and sunny, but now I know how useful these sun glasses can be (although I don't like how I look when wearing them).

1 pair of rain pants

Needless to say more.

1 pair of gaiters

Most important, best one can have (especially if only one pair of shoes is packed…).

1 rain coat

Very light and works also perfect as a windbreaker.

1 warm jacket

Becomes more and more useful and works on the bike as good as after cycling.

Other clothes

around 5 pants

I don't have an overview, because when I need one I grab into my bag and until now I found more than enough.

around 5 pairs of socks

Same as with the pants. But I think much more often it could be too little, especially as I have warm and not so warm socks…

3 bras

Need all but never needed more.

2 pairs of footed socks

Good to have with me. Wore the thinner pair when it was warmer, now I use the other pair.

1 pair of jeans, 1 pair or thin trousers

First to wear outside, second to wear inside. Get dirty sometimes, but who cares? If both were laundered at the same time, I can still use one of the tights, and the trousers dry very fast.

4 3 t-shirts

2 for usual wearing, one mostly for nights, the 1 to much I was glad to give to Melanie as a present to say thanks for the shelter she gave me – so in this sense the shirt was definitely worth it to take with me.

1 long sleeved cord shirt

I love it.

1 cord bonnet

I love it.

1 long sleeved shirt

As an alternative to the cord bonnet, also able to wear over it (but if it's cold I usually choose the warm jacket).

1 pair of shoes

Works fine, they went wet one time, but went dry again over night with some newspapers inside.

1 warm tuque

I use it as a sleepyhead when it's cold around me.

3 neckerchiefs

1 I use nearly all the time when I'm not on the bike, 1 to protect Hobbes from falling down and get lost (what's totally dispensable, Hobbes says), 1 big one I don't need.

1 swimming suit, goggles

Useless. But you never know…

miscellaneous

1 wash bag

Full of useful things, some of them I never use.

drugs

Most of them against headache, but fortunately I need them extremely seldom. Most important: magnesium. Also some emergency stuff if I get wounded. Things like this. Didn't miss anything.

1 sketchbook

Works also (or mostly) as a diary, notebook and collection of paper stuff.

1 pencil case

Full of fine liners and felt pens in different colours, some small brushes and pencils – just what one needs.

1 map with paper stuff what accrued

Good to have a place where collect those stuff, but I thought more than once about sending this map with its content back home. Otherwise it was good to show some of the papers to other people and talk about it…

1 little map with songs

My general orientation when playing the guitar. Very useful if I don't know what to play. When I started my tour I had also my big Beatles songbook with me, but this was some weight I had to get rid off.

1 western guitar

It was the right decision to take it with me, that's for sure. It's good to be able to play, and it's also an effective eye catcher when people see me crossing with the guitar on top of my package…

1 electronic tuner, 1 capo

Very useful when one's travelling with a guitar.

1 digital photo camera

Useful and important tool.

1 torch

I feel much more relaxed since I bought it.

some (rechargeable and non-rechargeable) batteries

Had to buy the non-rechargeable batteries when I bought the torch, but it's also good to have a backup if the rechargeable ones are empty.

3 small, 2 tiny juggling balls

I don't really use them, but otherwise they don't bother. And it's not wrong to have some more options – and I remember some great nights where I and my hosts had some fun with them.

1 glue stick

Really needful thing.

adhesive film

Really needful thing. I need it a lot to repair the map… Tape in general is very useful.

1 loo paper

Really needful thing, although I didn't needed it urgently on this tour.

some bicycle tools

Needless to say, really needful things. I missed some small things but nothing important.

1 mp3 player/USB stick

Includes some of my music which is good to be able to listen and also good to share. And it has enough space that I can use it to secure copy the photos I'm taking.

1 map of Ireland

Really needful thing. I think I will buy a map of France, too.

1 sleeping bag

Really needful thing.

1 sleeping mat

Really needful thing.

1 rucksack

It's usually packed inside one of my panniers. Very handy to have something to carry things with me which is independent from the bike.

2 panniers

That's where most of the stuff is packed in.

1 bumbag

I use it for many years as a handlebar bag, it includes all the stuff I want to reach while cycling and it has written on it “Never give up”.

1 stuffed tiger

One needs a friend on such a trip.

some more little things that are not important or big enough to be counted

Little plastic bags for example are very useful, so I collect them. Same with rubber band and tissues.

How to go on?

Monday, 5th of September. I spent a nice and exhilarant evening with Ciaran. He seemed to be full of energy (which acted steering at me), open and friendly and an interesting personality although he was very tired and busy at the same time. It's a pity we didn't had more time for talking and maybe do some outdoor activities together. But we had to say goodbye the next morning, and because the ferry to Skellig Michael Monastery didn't go (they said they would start to think about crossing the sea not before Friday and this day it was Monday) I went on cycling the coast on the Ring of Kerry.

It was still cloudy and misty but no rain for the first 17 kilometres, then regularly changes between misty rain, normal rain and no rain and all possible combinations of these types. Originally I had planed to cycle the Dingle peninsula, but with all this rain and mist where one is not able to see anything in some distance I cancelled this plan.

I generally wasn't so sure about where to go to this day and especially where to stay this night. At the moment it's difficult to find hosts, it happens often that I don't get a response, and it's not so easy to plan the stages, too. Some days before I had got an answer from my first unspecific request I had sent when I was still in Margate, so I had a general couch offer in Limerick, but Kate and Dave hadn't answered if they would be okay with my concrete time schedule and I also had no contact information. So I decided to cycle up to Tarbert, where from a ferry shorten the way up to the Cliffs of Moher. When being there I could still decide where to go to next.


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In Killorglin I found an Aldi supermarket but had to learn that the range of items differs a lot from what I knew from Germany, but I found a great black long sleeved compression sports underwear shirt, that now I'm wearing most of the time – it's unbelievable how warm and dry this peace of clothing is keeping me. In a 2 € shop I bought a nice little torch, and I also visited a friendly bicycle shop and bought new handle grips and some battery-driven lights. Once again I cycled a hill (the Slieve Mish Mountains – I really like it when the uphill I have cycled has a name…) without really noticing before reaching the top. I crossed Tralee and Listowel, it became dark, it was still or once again raining, it was cold, but I in my functional clothing and rain protection felt warm and comfortable. The wind was okay today, but I still have some respect for suddenly appearing squalls…

When arriving in Tarbert I first looked for the ferry – I had decided to cross the Shannon if still one would go this day, but it didn't, so I looked for a Bed & Breakfast and found an interesting so called Hotel/B&B which has ended up as a scruffy hostel, where I payed 15 € for the night and stayed with three other girls in a six bed room. When the hostel warden opened the door she first had a “What can I do for you?”-smile on her face which stopped immediately when she saw me within my wet clothes – then she hurried to bring me into the house and cared about drying my rain clothes (after three days of rain drying my clothes becomes a serious problem, but up to now I managed to have them dry enough).

The last night at home

Sunday, 31 of July. The last night at home (and unfortunately some bad kind of headache. :-/)
I start to realize that tomorrow I will start into a big adventure…

I tested to pack all things I want to take with me today. It seems to work.

The bike's prepared!

Friday, 29th of July. Three days left…
The bike's reparation is done, some parts replaced.

To and through Ireland...

Saturday, 23th of July. On August 1th I will start my three month bicycle tour to and through Ireland – and probably back home via France.
I wanna stay over at couchsurfing hosts most of the time (and sometimes stay for a while), hope to get to know interesting people, opinions, ways of life.
Here's the planned route to Ireland:


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