Unlike previous tours, where I rode my trusty Surly Long Haul Trucker, this time I'll be riding my Thorn Nomad Mk 2. The thorn is not fast, but has lots of amenities, like three water bottle holders, great brakes, a front generator hub that can power either a headlight or a recharger for my iPhone, and a Rohloff hub.

All the rohloff gears are in the hub (see pic on right), no derailleur, only one chainring in the front and a single cog in the back. Almost as cool-looking as a single-speed, but infinitely more useful, as there are 14 equally-spaced internal gears, all of which be switched up and down to from a single control, whether we're moving or stopped.

In prior years I used panniers, but this time I'm trying a Bob Yak trailer, which holds everything in one compact, streamlined, and easily unhitched mass.

THINGS TO PUT IN

HANDLEBAR BAG

BOB