Skip to main content

AFR19 Le Mans - What to pack?

When we went in 2012 it was pretty miserable and it rained nearly all the time.  We hardly had chance to get out of our waterproofs the entire weekend.

The weather forecast id looking better this year - but do we trust weather forecasters at all?

So what to pack? And more importantly what to wear on the ride down? And what to pack it in? 

I have the Klicbag panniers but they are rather small for a long weekend away and need something extra.  Okay, four days and three nights away.

When Claire and I went  to the Somme for the centenary I bought the Saddlemen sissy bar bag. It is enormous. Superb for two of us for a long weekend including dress-up suits and dresses.

Later the same summer I used it for Czech for the GP in 2016 and It was great for a longer trip and I was able to stash some wine bottles in it. 

So I need to find space for pants/socks/.t-shirts for three days, jeans and trainers (that take up a lot of space), hoodie, light waterproof for when not on the bike (!) plus sponge bag and accessory bag to take charging wires and plug adapters for phone etc. 

Maybe only use the main bag and leave the small top bag at home. Saves the panniers for waterproofs and my dbPower starter!!! And locks.  You can never have too many locks! Helmet bag to hopefully stuff mine in Neill's pannier at the track and..... bag for food and snacks at the track.

I have seen blogs and magazines where the writer/blogger lays everything out before packing it and can see what there is. I have never done that! Maybe a first time.....?

Update 16/5/2019

Mostly packed in the Saddlemen bag. Panniers almost empty for the run down meaning should we shop for beer or wine I can shuffle stuff about.

Decided to wear Kevlar lined cargo and take over trousers.

Packed and ready!!



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Bikers Loft 3

The last day. After leading yesterday's run to Ypres, I decided to take a back seat, or a different place in the line of 8 bikes. And so after a repeat of the previous day's self cook breakfast we packed the bikes and headed off. Aiming for Nieuwpoort aan Zee as the first stop. The plan to follow a canal all the way there to where it meets the sea at a huge marina. I was bringing up the rear of the column and saw a sign like this one. "No Motor vehicles" After only one short section of the towpath/road. We tried to alert those ahead but Cal and I were the only two not heading past this sign. We chose to turn left across a lift bridge onto the other bank, where Nieuwpoort was signposted 15kms away. As we headed along we sounded our horns and waved at the "first wave" to no avail. Some miles further on their side came to an end. By then we were way ahead despite dropping the speed to 40. We carried onto t...

Screen fitted

Today I was working from home after the trains were cancelled and I came home from the station!  I did a bit of work, you can only do what is in front of you on the helpdesk software, and so  I had a late lunch and decided to have a look at the screen fittings. In the end, it was a 90 minute lunch and it is fitted. The four brackets have to be done one at a time, offering up the screen each time before tightening them in place. In the end it looks pretty central.  No time to test it today. That will have to wait until the weekend. Fitted! The instructions are pretty rubbish, and look like an eighth generation photocopy of the original drawing. Still, the photo on Skidmarx website was marginally better. My positioning looks a little different but it seems rigid. Only a test ride will tell if it is okay.

Bikers Loft 2

We were up reasonably after a latish night and the self cook dinner! Breakfast is included in the room rate and is also self service as well as self cook. I'm not used to eating breakfast and so opted for the continental style rather than the bacon and eggs style!  The rooms are pretty basic. I shared with Trevor and we had two single beds. A little re-jigging of the room ensured that there was a man-gap between the beds! Early suggestions for the Saturday ride out had been to the Wire of Death. An electric fence that was built by the German occupation army in 1915 from the coast at Knokke to the German border, and just inside the Belgian frontier. It was to stop Belgians escaping into neutral Netherlands.  Over the course of the war it claimed over a 1000 lives. Read more.  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wire_of_Death I can't tell you any more as we didn't go!! In the end we decided on Ypres, only  30 miles aw...