What to take?

Over the past couple of years, deciding what to take has probably taken more time than anything, including route planning. Every decision seems to lead down two roads, and is backed up by plenty of online discussion, both sides stridently arguing their case, both sides seem more or less valid. Panniers or trailer? Fat tires or skinny? Tent and stove or credit card?

One thing I read was that a common action taken at the first stop is to package up and mail back home a lot of stuff that suddenly seemed less critical after having been pedaled down the road for a day or two.Almost every item I am taking, I thought carefully about how much it weighs, and whether it might serve more than one purpose.

The biggest first decision, and one of the most expensive, was to get a trailer. My bike is considered a "light" touring bike, and I thought why press my luck with a frame breakage. I weigh enough without adding on all my gear. If I was going to really save on frame loads, I guess I should have gotten a two-wheeled Burley trailer, but the Yak seems a little more elegant. Curse of being a designer. One thing I had high hopes for that is not going, is the little solar charger I ordered from China. It's small and light, and looks cool, but hewn I hooked it up to my netbook, nothing. I don't think I'll have time to troubleshoot, and anyway, my cell phone and netbook batteries are lasting quite a while (6+ hours for the computer) so I think I'll be able to find outlets often enough.

Two things I decided were going regardless of weight. My floor pump (it's all plastic anyway, not too bad). I think the convenience will far outweigh the load over the many days of riding, we'll see. And, I'm bringing my Mug Revolution cup, a gift from Owen Dearing at the end of the Klamath-Siskiyous tour last Summer. Lots of coffee each morning. The caffeine will help me pull the mug and then some, I hope.

What's not shown in the photo? Clothes and food, and some spare parts I still need to collect, shift cables, master links, extra assorted hardware. Oh, and maps! I have a ton of maps which I still need to copy and trim down to something less than a ton. I have portions of Adventure Cycling's TransAmerica and Lewis & Clark routes, plus the state cycling maps for Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, such as they are. Washington State has a pretty good cycling map. The other states had pdfs I printed out, but will need to supplement with some more detailed versions. I expect I'll get lost here and there, and will need to improvise, but hopefully I can figure it out without having to backtrack too much.