One of the things that makes the whole boats on bike thing work is that it gives you the ability to get around and when you add the ability to carry stuff it all comes together.
Backpacks simply do not do the trick.. They certainly have their place but when you need to move stuff from one place to another you have to have that "Sure another case of beer is no problem" ability!
While we were in France and on the canal lateral we'd refill our water tanks from a natural spring and bike the water a few miles.. What made it really neat was that the spring in question was the same water as Perrier and free for the taking!
But the fact was it made shopping easy and gave us a range to be able to find the bargains that would be unavailable to us if we had been confined to foot or public transport. Being able to ride twenty-five miles, do some shopping, have lunch, and ride back without it being a drudge made all the difference.
Like any tool on a boat though, some care has to be taken with gear. Those days of humping jerry cans and cases of wine with the panniers and various bike bags available which were not quite up to the task or boat-friendly were the only hassle. Which is why I'm very happy that Seattle Sports is making bike bags and panniers these days. Seattle Sports stuff is tough and seriously waterproof. In fact one of our ongoing upgrades is replacing all our various waterproof bags with Seattle Sports stuff as the old bags on the boat reach their sell by dates.
The pannier that I'm partial to is the Fast pack simple, bombproof and cheap! While not on your bike they will happily do double duty as waterproof bags for things that need to be kept dry or stowed away.
Plans Change, Martinique version
4 days ago
