My travel worked out fine in the end. Re-routed via Dulles I had a while to wait but ended up arriving Heathrow at the originally scheduled time. My bag showed up quickly, bike bag looked fine, and my sister came to pick me up (thanks sis!).

This morning I re-assembled my bike. It started off looking like the results of an archeological dig.

Together, these parts make a bicycle

It took a little over an hour to carefully put it all together.

Re-assembled bicycle

I then added the mounts for my handlebar (Ortlieb) bag and seat-pack (Arkel), and lubricated the chain.

Fully re-assembled bicycle with packs

You might notice that the handlebar bag and seat-pack aren’t enormous. Together they provide about 20 liters of storage capacity. This is great for keeping the weight down but does mean I have to be selective in what I take.

I tested the bike by riding over to my parents’ house for coffee. So far it seems that everything works well, I just have to remember to ride on the left side of the road.