I've heard the french and gendarmes are easy going in regards to camping in the woods?

I don't know actually. But nearby Bohain there are some remote areas where it's easy to find a place where nobody will notice that you are there.

You rode the Gran Fondo?

There are two events following the Paris Roubaix course. The day before the pro race in April there's the Gran Fondo. The one I rode is also kind of a Gran Fondo, but I think the focus is not really on racing as fast as possible.

Cool.  Your bikes look much more comfortable for the pave than a 15 pound carbon bike with 25mm tires.

True!

True, but that's part of the attraction to cobbles on a roadie though - the suffering! Like CX with cantis and drop bars, steeped in tradition.

Also true! But a bit to much for me. I suffered enough, riding my singlespeed bike for a total of 320km the weekend. But I do agree that a road bike is the real deal on the cobbles. Amazing to see with what speed some raceguys did the cobbles.

Hi!
This weekend we did a one night bikepacking trip, finishing the complete course of Paris-Roubaix on day two. We made a short movie: Paris-Roubaix

Wow, nice pics! I'm interested in you gear list. Looks pretty minimalistic. And what type of saddle bag are you using?

We did a little bikepacking trip in Holland last weekend.
Made a video:
https://vimeo.com/66653144

Can't give you any advise, but I am interested in which gear you are thinking of. I'm only riding single speed but in Holland that's very easy since there are no serious mountains.

Thanks for your advices! Gonna give it a try and see if I will buy / make a harness later.

Hi, I'm new here, biker from Holland. Read a lot here on the forum, many cool stories and things to know about gear. I'm planning my first bikepackingtrip and I have a question about my gear. I bought an alpkit drybag which a wanna attach to the handlebars. Sleeping bag and alpkit hunka bivy will benin it. I thought about just strap the bag to the bars with two straps. Almost all of you make use of a harness. Whynis that? What are the advantages of using a harness over just strappingthe stuf to the bars?