I've never went camping alone before, let alone go on a bike camping trip. As I left home I felt a sense of freedom and independence. I think I really overpacked for this trip, I brought everything I needed to keep me comfy, and enough food for a week. Once I arrived in Drenthe I was instantly relieved to see the nature. It was a much needed break from all the commotion of the city. Honestly getting into nature and camping for a few days has really refreshed me. My bike was well prepared too, I'm fully kitted out with XT components, featuring XT Parallel Push vbrakes and M760 Dual Control XT levers.. it's a weird rear derailleur too, if you put slack on the cable it shifts to the biggest ring. I'm honestly fascinated with the bike and few people would understand the quality of these components. The only thing I disliked was the bags, they're strapped on with velcro and not easy to take off. This meant having to keep them on the bike and transfer stuff from my bike to my tent. And carrying all that stuff while exploring the city of the campsite I was staying in. Everything just fit, barely had any room for groceries, which made it a pain to pack stuff. I had to ride through a storm and the bags aren't waterproof. But they have this elastic waterproof cover you can pull out of a zipper, and honestly it's kind of awful, doesn't cover the whole bag either. So when I got home I immediately ordered some Thule Shield bags (similar to Ortlieb) and I'm happily waiting for them to arrive. Max speed on this trip was 40 kmph, average 20 kmph. Total distance is 178km over 3 days.
by Deore_XT