Bikepacking, lockdown & test ride



Covid reeks havoc in Sydney 200k  away & the Premier places the entire state under lockdown.  No exercising more than 5km from home.  My local village store is offer 12km  away and I can legally ride there to pick up mail and a coffee.  There is some slack about" mental health needs" under lockdown,  so if the local plod pushes back I'll play the wild card. 

* zzz *
This morning's tinkering sees Cliffy begin his transformation. From dowdy commuter to bikepacking monster.  


Here he is sans pannier rack & with Brookes saddle. Grrr!


 Watched a video of the 2021 GBduro - (go to: https://bikepacking.com/news/2021-gbduro-winners/ bikepacking ) bottom to top of the UK. Three of the top 6 finishers were woman,  and they all looked crazy  wild on specialised bikes. Gotta get me some lean luggage, mongrel up  & go this. 


          * xxx *
I WENT FOR A RIDE in the early afternoon. The weather for the end of winter was quite special; just shorts and a t- shirt. In the village I saw a work ute that had been wrecked in an accident being loaded on a flatbed truck.  All the front stove in, the chassis bent like an upturned banana with the trayback dangling off near the back bumper.  It liked like a single car into a large tree accident and Im guessing the driver died or is very lucky.  He passed into the wrong side of the road first, so lucky no one was cycling there.  
Okay,  well the bike felt light and more aggressive or responsive.  The seat went well with no real pain, just a bit of pins and needles in the forward end of  the crotch.  Seat may need tilting back to its original position. Still hand numbness after a while.  This could be a seat angle thing fitness thing. Either the seat is pitching my weight forwards,  or because I haven't ridden for a few weeks my core strength is poor and I'm holding my upper bought erect with my arms.  .
I intended to ride just the standard 25-30km loop, but felt good and added another 6km or so by ditching to the boat ramp.  
I ordered a seat post bag and handlebar bag when I got home. B Soul brand for less than $100 including postage.   

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