Le-Bike

The bike I'm using is a Ridgeback Meteor. I've had it about 5 years and done somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000 miles on it. It's had quite a lot of modifications. It has racks and panniers front and rear. The odd post on the rear carrier is actually part of a camera tripod. I'm expecting to take quite a few pictures during the trip and this gives me the equivalent of a tripod without having to carry one. The pump and water bottles are pretty ordinary. The saddle bag is where the GPS kit travels. I described this equipment earlier in Mobile Devices. A speed/timer/distance computer mounted on the handlebars completes the measuring equipment.

Aside from the tripod mount on the back, the other major modification is a map table added to the handlebars. You can just see it above the handlebars in the picture. It's made from scrap MDF and aluminium and mounted on an old handlebar riser. Another tripod ball joint mounting means it can be repositioned easily. It's large enough to accomodate A4 sized printed maps which are protected from the weather inside a transparent Zip loc folder. I'm taking paper maps as well as the electronic version loaded into my Dell Axim.