ZUMZUMZUM- from Romania to Thailand on a bike

niatza,

ieri am ajuns, pe un drum vai mama lui si indrumati de indieni -vai mama lor, in sawai madopur tinta fiind  rezervatia de tigri din rathambore. am gasit o casuta super simpatica intr-o curte geniala si apoi scos grasu la plimbare pina la fortul de la intrarea in parc. Am vazut crocodilul indian si un cerb o frumusete  si maimutele deja intrate in cotidian 🙂

azi

ne-au trezit foarte devreme (6:20), ce-i drept cu doua cani de cafea si apoi in 5 minute safari-stul batea la usa sa ne grabim ca ne asteapta jeep-ul 🙂  si uite asa am pornit in cautarea tigrilor bengalezi din Rathambore.

jungla destul de deasa doar citeva spatii mai deschise si mai ierboase, un fost riu in timpul musonului, si munte si pe o parte si pe alta. la ora aia cam orice animal era la cafea asa ca a durat un pic pina sa-si faca aparitia. L-am vazut pe Bambi si am fost incintata 🙂

si porci mistreti si antilope si o bufnita dorminda si din pisicile bengaleze numai niste urme foarte proaspete pe nisip …cele de mascul erau mai mari decit mina mea intinsa 😀

nici ea nu vazuse tigrul 🙂

Perhaps some of you that contemplate taking a long trip are interested in the way we packed the huge amounts of stuff that seemed absolutely indispensable.

The bike came with 45 liters Hepco&Becker Alu Exclusive panniers.

These are mounted much higher than other panniers, above the exhaust. Because of this both of them can be of the same capacity, unlike the touratech panniers. It also places the weight higher up and limits the width of the topcase that can be mounted on the rear rack (as the panniers rise above the rack).

The panniers have a quick release system and can taken off the bike very easily. The locks/hinges seemed a bit untrustworthy so I use a supplementary strap for each side.

The panniers themselves are not very sturdy, I don’t think they would survive a crash very well. Also they are not waterproof, we carry raincovers for them.

The biggest aluminum topcase that H&B makes is 45 liters. As we were afraid that 135 l would not be enough (and also because of the price) I decided to make a custom topcase.
This task proved too difficult for the fabricators that I could find in Bucharest. After waiting almost two months for a couple of welds and as time was running out, I decided to use a regular backpack as a topcase.

I had two main concerns, how would I attach it to the rear rack and the security of our things.
The backpack fits snugly between the panniers and is secured with 2 perpendicular straps. As I write this, after 16.000km, I can safely say that it works very well.

On the backpack we fit the sleeping bags and the mosquito net using a cargo net.

As for the second concern, security, we use a rain cover which neatly conceals all  of this as a shapeless blob.

Over the raincover, the second strap secures everything in place.

Also over the raincover, I use a bicycle anti-theft chain which fits tightly around the backpack to deter an opportunistic thief.