Pilgrims traveling the Camino are advised to limit the weight of their backpack to 10% of their body weight. I couldn't find a similar benchmark for cycling pilgrims. My bag seems bigger than what my three amigos brought. Maybe it's the 6 pounds of Cytomax and Gu that I'll consume while cycling. Perhaps it's the 7 travel guides. I ripped out the pages of the paces in Spain where we're not going in order to lighten my load.
Or perhaps it's the electronics gear. A geek like me doesn't unplug easily. I had no problem leaving my work laptop at home since it wouldn't fit in the panniers. But I brought the Blackberry because surely the company won't be able to get by without getting me on a conference call. I'm well known for getting lost while cycling, so I downloaded maps of Spain to my GPS and routed each day. I know they have yellow arrows all along the route pointing in the right direction, and all the pilgrims are heading west, but getting lost is one of my core competencies, so I didn't want to risk going without my Garmin.
God wouldn't expect me to make this pilgrimage without having GoPro video for the blog, would He? Perhaps I overdid it bringing a solar panel for recharging all the devices while we ride. But, who knows how many outlets there will be at the alburgues (hostels). I'm sure the solar panel will have another use when Florida loses power in a hurricane, and I'll be able to charge my phone. At least that's how I justified the purchase.
I guess you could say that I'm carrying a lot of baggage.
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