Two days to go, and I’m not panicking. Much! Do you have any idea how much stuff I have to take with me?
- Passport
- Various paperwork – details, insurance, hotel reservation
- Helmet, shoes, gloves, 2 * socks, 2 * jerseys, 2 * shorts, 2 * jackets, 2 * sports bras. Waterproof. Torq bars & gels. Small decanted tubs of Torq Recovery and Torq Energy. 2 bottles, 1 recovery mixer bottle. Spare inner tubes. Multi-tool. High visibility jacket (legally required by the French powers that be). Mp3 player, trip computer. Spare batteries for both. Sunglasses & lenses.
- Toiletries. Clothes for 4 evenings and the final day. Sandals. Suntan creams. Tiny bit of makeup and jewellery. Remedial bits and bobs – painkillers, vaseline, sudocrem, ibuprofen gel, vitamins. Tampax (yes – that’s due – my biological timing is great!)
- Towel.
- AMR t-shirt for the final hurrah.
All this has to go into one bag or on me or the bike. Except it’s two bags because we need a small subsection bag for the first night on the ferry. Which then has to go back in the big bag. As does all my cycling kit, helmet included, during your final day in Paris.
Oh yes and :
- Birthday gift for my niece who I’m seeing when I get back.
- Bike!!
In case you were wondering, there is a distinct possibility that my bag is not big enough. I really am packing the bare minimum. Only two sets of gear, interchangeable clothes, etc etc. Hey – I’ve only packed one pair of shoes (well, sandals), and that’s proper restrained for a girl *grin*