Morocco - Spain - France - Ireland bike trip preparation

In anticipation of my bicycle trip from Marrakech, Morocco to Dublin, Ireland, I have been doing some packing.  Julie is joining me in Spain for the last 3/4 of the trip. Here is a mostly complete packing list:

MEDICAL:

Bug spray

Sun screen

Medical tape

Medical Wrap

Antibiotic Ointment

Nuun hydration tablets

Band aids

Ibuprofen

Immodium

Razors (not really medical, but they snuck in the shot)

BIKE SUPPLIES: 

6 extra spokes for each bike

pliers

11-in-one screw driver

Chain Whip (needed to remove rear cassette)

Adjustable crescent wrench x 2

2 spare tubes for each bikes

Reflective anklets

Thin rope

Clamp (helps me change my tires

11mm crescent wrench (needed to adjus/fit the racks on Julie's bike

Bike multi-tool (Allen wrenches, screw drivers, chain tool, etc...

3 different size hose clamps (2 of each size, 6 total).  These are the best "MacGyver" bike repair thing I carry. 

Spoke wrench

Chain repair tool and one extra chain link

Tire patches

Presto to normal valve converter

2 different lubes (one for putting pedals on and one general)

Pad lock and cable

Duct Tape

Cloth Tape

Phil's Wood Oil

Bungee Chord x 4 

Shimano bike shoes

Hand bike pump

CAMPING 

Sleeping pad 

Sleep bag

Half Dome Tent & ground cover

Camp pillow

2 camp towels

2 sporks 

MSR Windburner camp stove

2 pocket knives

Head lamp

flash light

Steri-pen water purifier

Note book

Julie's bike with empty panniers (plus shop dog).  I got Julie some great racks from Old Man Mountain bike racks.  They customize racks to fit any bike (not just touring bikes). These particular racks mount to the brake "bosses" and through the axel.  Check out their website: http://www.oldmanmountain.com  

My Surly Disc Trucker with empty panniers.

My Surly Disc Trucker in pieces ready to be boxed for the airport. 

After bike is boxed up, time to pack up my life into 4 panniers. 

In addition to the tools, camping gear and first aid supplies listed above, I packed:

7 t-shirts (mostly bright colors, plan to throw them out as I go).

3 pairs of athletic shorts

2 pairs padded biking shorts

2 pair of Light weight pants (more acceptable in Morocco)

2 short sleeve collared shirts (for fancy events I might get invited to)

1 light weight long sleeve t-shirt

1 hooded sweatshirt (takes up a lot of space but could be needed in mountains of Morocco or in Ireland)

1 rain coat

cycling shoes

gym shoes

flip flops

5 pairs boxers

5 pairs socks

toilet paper

iPad

iPad charger

iPad keyboard charger

iPod

iPod charger

2 European outlet adapters

Irish passport

U.S. passport

Passport/money belt

toilet paper (? just seemed like a good idea)

book/crossword puzzles/ pens/pencils

notebook

3 water bottles (2 in bike box, one as carry-on)

Here is my life in 4 panniers.  The open one on the right will serve as my carry-on bag.

The other 3 are wrapped up in this laundry bag as one piece of luggage.  

Mini bike tour

Accompanied by a German and another Chicagoan, I took a mini 3 day bike tour around northern Wisconsin.  I mainly wanted to test out my bike and see how it handled under a load of gear.  Here are some pictures:

Here is a practice round with my bike loaded.  Notice the homemade kitty litter panniers:

Does the green bag make my ass look fat?

Test ride over...

Lakewood, WI.  Our first two nights spent roughing it in a nice lake house (Waubee Lake).  

Two Matts having a beer on the pier...did I mention all three guys are named Matt?

A different two Matts...

We were cruising along fine with the guidance of a paper state of Wisconsin map until Matt C. decided that his "smart" phone would provide better directions.  We ended up on a dead end logging road.  

After a U-turn and about 10 miles down a gravel/sand road we emerged from the woods to find Johnnies Resort.  With a rain storm coming, Johnnie, aka "Muskie," had a cabin, pizza and beer.  Perfect.  

Back to the first two Matts, not looking happy.  

Johnnie also has an amazing view of Lake Wabikon and a dozen hummingbirds that hang out in the window.

Johnnie's Resort is one of the only buildings on this lake. 

One hummingbird, notice the large bee/wasp in the bottom right of the picture.  The bees seemed to scare off the hummingbirds.  

German Matt, relaxing...

After staying at Johnnies, we decided to bike to Crandon, WI in hopes of having a nice quiet breakfast.  Unfortunately, it was Labor Day weekend, which included some sort of Nascar truck rally/parade/race.  These little trucks were extremely loud and the town was over run by fat men in neon racing gear.

The German got a good taste of middle 'merica!

Our bikes at a rest stop somewhere between Crandon and Lakewood, WI.  

German banana break:

Kitty Litter Bike Panniers

I am currently shopping for some Ortlieb panniers for the rear of my bike.  However, they run upwards of $125 used.  While I shop around, I made a cheap alternative.  Panniers from 5 gallon kitty litter containers.  I stole the majority of the idea from Crazy Guy on a Bike.  However, I did deviate from his plans slightly.

24" reflective sticker:     $2.98

5/16 x 1" Hex bolts:      $1.09

5/16" - 18 Hex nuts:     $2.56

5/16" x 1-1/4 washers: $1.98

10" mini bungees:          $2.47

cold shut hooks:            $4.76

Total:                           $15.84

Kitty litter boxes: donated by Dave S. - the only man I know who owns a cat and would admit it.  

First a look at some of the tools and supplies.  Clockwise form top left: cold shut hooks, hex nuts, hex bolts, washers:  

Bungees and reflective tape:

these bungees were later returned for the ones below

Real bungees...

A picture of the Kitty Litters boxes.  They came in sexy reflective colors:

Mikita drill

Here is a look at the hooks applied to the buckets with the aforementioned hex bolts, nuts and washers.  A better look comes at the end of this post.  I drilled 7/16" holes to receive the 7/16" hex bolts. Since I am drilling through plastic I put a washer on either side (inside and out) of the bucket.  

Here is a shot of the panniers hanging on the bike just by the hooks, sans and bungees.  (Notice the bike is hanging on a (sexy bike work stand I previously constructed.) 

Here I cut the 24" reflective tape into four 6" pieces:

A look at the reflective tape applied to the buckets:  

Last, a final walk around video.  The video shows more clearly the hex bolts and the bungees that hold the buckets securely in place.