How garbage bags saved us in Kanyakumari

The planning for the trip started 3-4 months before we left. Apart from route planning, some of it went into what we should carry.

For packing Sundar & I used saddle bags along with 2 small sized backpacks (to carry things when roaming around without bike).

Saddle bags turned out to be one of the best investments which our friend Mani did not make. The comfort and freedom you get while riding is unparalleled. I had the fortune of riding with a large rucksack which Senthil was carrying on one of the worst roads in the journey somewhere around Nagpur. The rucksack coupled with the road conditions quadrupled the back-pain.

So if you are planning a greater than 1000km ride, make sure you have a saddle bag. Even tying rucksacks or bags on the bike would be a big pain as you can't leave it out of your sight for the fear of losing it.

The model we used is: This one

All packed up and ready to leave

It had ample capacity for carrying 2 thick jackets and clothes for

10-12 days. Both sides have bottle sleeves as well which proved to be very handy. The bag itself was easy to mount and take off anytime, though on the Thunderbird it had to be positioned carefully so as to not get chopped off from the spokes.

One of the biggest drawbacks of this was it was not waterproof and we were not carrying rain covers (stupid I know). This landed us in soup (a watery one) in Kovilpatti which is near Kanyakumari (incidentally home to my most favourite roads in India). Most of our stuff became wet after which we fashioned out our own rain covers from those black garbage bin bags.

Another thing it was missing was shoulder straps so you had to carry it like a plumber cum electrician cum carpenter carrying all his tools in one bag.

We were riding in December so after MP it was really cold and hence the jackets.

The Essentials

Here's a rough list of the things I was carrying:

      Clothing:

• 12 half sleeved t-shirts
• 4 full sleeved t-shirts
• 1 thick jacket
• 1 wind cheater
• 3 jeans
• 1 cargo pant
• Shoes
• Sandals 

      Others:

• 2 Limefuel power banks
• Victoriknox 15 function swiss knife
• SJ 4000 WiFi Sports Camera
• Knee & shin guard, Elbow Guard
• Biking Gloves
• Spark plugs (turned out to be really handy)
• Extra fuses (again really useful)
• First aid kit (Good that we didn't need it)
• Sun glasses
• Extra pair of eye glasses
• Ropes
• Duct tape