Aftermath 1
May 30, 2019
I’m writing from my bed and I missed home a little bit.
Just finished unpacking and that leads to two things:
- laundry
- thinking about next time
The first is pretty self explanatory but the second is somewhere between regrets and planning.
First, What did I bring and never use?
![](/pictures/30may/didntuse.jpg)
A disturbing number of unnecessary things, in categories:
Food:
- one tin of fish (ate the other one)
- one tasty bites pre-cooked indian meal (ate the other one)
- all-purpose seasoning (not sad I didn’t use it, to be honest)
- 3 sports-foodsy things (2 cookie-like stroopwafels and 1 set (2-3 servings) of gummies
- a pound of almonds (I ate another 1/3 pound)
- some dark chocolate granola (I ate half of it)
Misc thought-it’d-be useful stuff:
- 3 bungees (used the other 3)
- fanny pack (ended up emptying and using small pannier for in-town travel)
- extra water bladder (I was never very far from water, barely used my nalgene in addition to two bike mounted water bottles)
- clean shorts not-for-biking
- swimsuit
- USB charging cable from my wheel generator. Battery pack worked well enough.
Luxuries I should have known better about:
- chair frame I also used only once on my tour from california to texas
- used razor (as I went to the store to buy cream and bought razors too since the 2-week beard was no match for the used razor I’d packed thinking to toss out)
Then, some things I was glad never to use:
Clothes for warmth. Was ok with not needing them!
- wool gloves
- wool long underwear
- wool skullcap
- wool buff
Bike fixin’ stuff!
- toolkit
- extra spare tube
- spare tire
- pump
Person fixin’ stuff:
- First Aid kit
- gold bond powder for chafing
- gold bond cream for chafing
- body glide to prevent chafing
- hand sanitizer (should have used this more)
- nesporin
Second, what did I use only once and could get away with less of or maybe without?
- headlamp. OK, not bringing less of it! just didn’t move about in the dark outside much.
- lighter. Only started one fire. Worth it.
- that duffel bag that I only used on the train was only used that one time. But I would have used it again on the bus home had I bussed which was the fallback plan.
- shower wipes (for cleaning without water - kinda like wet wipes for kids but sturdier and able to make you feel substantially better when no shower was available which was only once and there actually was one I just hadn’t found yet :P)
- at least a pound of change. I used cash when making small purchases like a gatorade and ended up with at least a pound of change and that’s after using 3 bucks of quarters at the laundromat!
![](/pictures/30may/change.jpg)
Third, any MVP’s? How about additions during the trip?
- I think the only things I bought this trip were replacement gloves and water bottles and chain lube.
- electrolyte pills, gatorade, battery pack, wool bike clothes, all used constantly
- laptop was up to the task, got battered around and didn’t complain, and had great battery life, worth it.
- bike and bags all worked pretty well though the front panniers aren’t quite waterproof so not sure I’d use them again.
![](/pictures/30may/everything.jpg)
Written by Chris McCraw who resides in Portland, OR but maybe his heart is on the bike?