I’ve gotten the question quite a few times as I was planning my first long distance cycling trip: ‘well, what bike do you have?’. Most of my friends & colleagues assumed I would be buying a new bike, after all, I did need a bike that was fit for a trip like this & can carry all the weight. Especially because so many bikes in the Netherlands are so-called ‘Oma Fietsen’ literally translated ‘Grandma Bicycles’ and are used for commuting in the city. These bikes are not fit for a long distance cycling journey, that’s for sure. I am not buying a new bike however, quite the opposite as I’m travelling on my dad’s 14-year-old bike instead.

The bike’s history.

This Stevens Randonneur is a 2009 model (yes, so it really is 14 years old) and is my father’s old bike, though I have been using it for more than a year now. Despite my father being a world cyclist, this bike has not yet seen much of the world. He used it mostly for short commutes except for one occasion; a cycling trip to the south of France in 2014. For the Niketan Foundation, my dad & his friend came together to start a journey from their respective homes to the Mont Ventoux. The journey took 2 weeks, and at the 31st of May, joined by a group of 60 people, they cycled to the top of the mountain. I climbed the mountain too, but at my age of 10, I opted for hiking instead. My father managed to get the unofficial award for heaviest bike to go up that day, and his bike got the nickname ‘newspaper delivery bike’. 

Preparing the bike.

When I announced that I was planning my first long distance journey, my parents didn’t waste much time before they gave me a laundry list of all the things that I needed to do, know, or get. Bike repairs, undoubtedly needed to happen, and I needed to learn some basic repairs too. Most parts of the bike had to be replaced, from the tires & gears to the bottom bracket & break pads. My dad was so kind to do the repairs as I either stood and watched or further prepared this first-time trip. Getting my bike clean, though, that was my task. Buckets of dirty water went down the drain as I attempted to make the bike shine again as if new! Which, considering it had probably not been cleaned for 14 years either, was quite the task.

First I cleaned off the thick layer of dirt & grit & scrubbed the bike semi-clean with some water & all-purpose cleaner. I followed this up with a spray foam cleaner specially made for bikes, after which I cleaned the bike again with a cloth & water. I cleaned the frame, rims & cranks and emptied out 4 buckets of the dirtiest water I’ve ever seen. If you’ve never cleaned your bike before, I recommend you do. It’s quite the job, but it’s ultimately very satisfying.

Packing my bike ready for travel.

Boy oh boy this was quite a tough job! Let me walk you through it. 4 panniers, one handlebar bag, a camera bag & a duffel is what had to fit essentially my life, because frankly I had no clue how long I’d be gone for. Figuring out how to attach my camera bag in a safe manner caused the most stress & required a lot of brainstorming. It’s gear with great value that I really couldn’t afford to make a mistake in how I would attach it at all. In the end I went for strong nylon straps of 40mm in width with strong quick-release buckles so the bag would remain easily accessible for me. The straps were looped through the rear rack on my bike and for added protection of my gear a duffle with soft & springy items such as my sleeping mat was attached underneath the camera bag as well. The two panniers on the rear of my bike contained my clothes, toiletries, sleeping bag & hammock as well as my shoes and some other sleeping-related stuff.

The front panniers contain cooking gear & food as well as miscellaneous items I need easy & quick access to like the first-aid kit, my note-, log- & reading book and a sweater. On the front rack I attached my tent & have an extra bungee cord just in case. In the handlebar bag I keep my camera with a nifty fifty a powerbank to charge my phone, sunglasses and some other small items I often need. And because this is a lot of text, (and if you’re anything like me, visuals helps) here is what that looks like on my bike.