We have clearance for takeoff!

After stewing in my room for an hour, I came to the conclusion that the dry bag that came with the Relevate saddle bag was just too big and bulky. With the holster empty, I could cinch it down just a little smaller than I ever could with the dry bag stuffed inside. Now my goal was to keep the holster cinched to its min size so whatever went in had to be smaller — not possible with the stock dry bag. Luckily I had packed a lightweight Osprey bag, and found if I shed some items, I could fit most of my 3 days of clothes in it. Who needs jeans anyway?

While I did have moments of panic, the assurance that I had a backpack that I could fill if needed, and the robustness of Japan’s luggage delivery service calmed me. I planned to meet my luggage at the end of Days 3 and 6, but if I absolutely needed to, I could increase that frequency.

The switch to a smaller dry bag worked!! And with some bonus Voile straps, I could further try to pancake the holster away from my tire. A sigh of relief was had.

Even though I had a backpack, I was a bit of a weenie to weigh it down. So in a move that Ken called innovative, I discovered that i could mount the frame bag upside down on the downtube instead of the toptube. Making use of the Topstone’s fork mounts, I moved my bottle cage. Luckily I had brought a roll of Velcro that I bought last week at Michael’s (rip Joann), and only needed to switch out one Velcro for a lengthier one. I stuffed it with things I would only need off-bike: tubes, chain lube, patch kit, extra straps, tools. I was pleased, in a similar way when I make a dog carry their own food and poop.

Multiple bike bounces later, I was pretty happy with the nonbudginess of everything on bike. I checked out of my hotel, sending a suitcase to my grandma’s and a duffle to my Day 3 accommodation. I nervously rode the <10 minutes to 日本橋, the start of 中山道, checking to see if I was losing stuff. Everything stay put! Thank you packaging engineering experience for never underestimating the effects of continuous bumps on a road.

At this point I still hadn’t had breakfast, but figured I would make a stop very quickly to do some adjusting. Started up my Garmin and I’m off!