Jam made and it’s still raining, so I decided to test my bag packing skills. I have to admit that my years working in a well-known supermarket chain (Every Little Helps), served me well in terms of efficient packing. Be it drawers, dishwashers or luggage, I can squeeze an awful lot into a small space. Mary Poppin’s carpet bag has nothing on my packing!

So gathering up my pile of ‘essentials for the touring cyclist’ I first laid them out. Here it all is…

I know it doesn’t look like an awful lot for nearly four week travel, but I am assured they do have laundry facilities in the United States of America and Canada! It is also important to remember that this is largely evening wear, as most of the day wear will be of the Lycra variety. Anyway, with a little bit of Gok Wan compact wardrobe magic I reckon that this lot will convert into about 10 different ‘mix and match’ outfits – “Go girlfriend!”. Best of all it all fits into one small pannier bag with room to spare for food essentials. Ta-dah!…