Loved this. Hope to be on this trail almost to the day -- but one year after you shot this. I particularly liked all of the details, maps, and other text that goes along with your film. Super helpful. And LOVED the Orcas. Wow!
Hey, nice rig! I just got the same frame bag and top tube bag from Shaka. Great service. I ultimately chose bright orange, but that Coyote brown was the other colour I was vacillating over. I'm heading over to England and Scotland in a few days for lots of riding on small roads and gravel paths that are closed to vehicles. I like that you use a rack - much more stable. My panniers are old old MEC with new Arkel clips (absolutely bomber solid). Much smaller than yours, but my stuff sack on the top of the rack is a bit bigger - it all balances out. Same as you, I'm carrying some stuff on the bars too. My load is very similar to yours, and I'm much calmer about heading out now, after your post - THANKS. Your chill, matter of fact presentation manner is great. In some ways agonizing beforehand over what to pack is part of the whole thing though. This was especially so after I helped out a Quebecois guy here in Calgary a few weeks ago. He was just heading out for Banff. He must have had about 60 pounds of gear on his bike and was really struggling. Nice touch at the end with the Orcas. It's those surprise moments that make bike touring so much fun.
nice, good call on the Shaka packs! Definitely a big fan of them. And yeah the rack setup seems to make sense.. though I am tempted to try some other variations, even if it's just to see how light I can get my pack (and maybe force myself to leave unnecessary items at home). That said I think having more space is totally fine and some items we have end up being useful. Glad the video helped you feel a bit more relaxed, hope that trip went well!
