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Day off work tomorrow and I have planned what will be the longest road ride I have done to date (only started in July)
I've got 80 miles on the agenda and would like some advice on what you would take. I was planning on only using jersey pockets if possible.
Lightweight waterproof
Small pump
Inner tube
few snack bars
Anything obvious or necessary you can add?
2X
Inner tube
Tyre levers, small of cut of tyre - incase of gash in tyre can be used to patch. Emergency £10 note (coffee, cake or beer)
Enjoy that ride, I always check the wind direction on a long ride and plan route accordingly.
water, tool(s) and maybe lights
Money
Multi tool
Puncture repair kit inc tyre levers
Phone
Quick links
Cheers chaps. I'll double up on tubes, have the lights on the bike ready.
Spare links may be an oversight but the chain has had minimal use and is in good nick.
Looking forward to it, weather looks agreeable which is a bonus
Wet wipes
+1 for chain links
Sunglasses
Ziploc back for phone. Maybe ear warmers and chapstick if it's going to be cold / windy
Eat within the first hour. Drink three bottles minimum. Check your chain, tyres and spoke tension before the ride.
1 tube
puncture repair patches
tyre levers
multitool
phone, bank card, cash and ID in a zip lock bag
emergency energy gel
and most importantly, jam butties
sometimes on longer rides I will also carry a couple of slices of malt loaf.
20 miles more and you got a century! Go to it.... Have a good ride!
Check the forecast, if no rains due, binned the waterproof.
1 tube
Self adhesive patches
Couple of hex keys
1 lever
Mini pump
Phone
Tenner
Tissues
Drinks bottle
Couple of emergency gels
I also have a tiny bottle of lube if it's wet cos chain noise bother me, other wise good legs and knowledge of the route is about it. Have a good un.
Cash and card
Phone
2 bottles
Bananna
Couple of bars
Tube tool and pump
If it's UK it's hard to get too far from a cafe
2 tubes.
Pump.
Tyre levers.
Multi tool.
Spare chain link.
Mobile phone.
Money.
Food & water (1 bottle up to 50 miles)
I carry:
1 tyre lever
1 micro pump (I can pump up to 100psi with it)
10 mini patches and glue and a bit of rough emery cloth, 2 tyre patches.
IPhone
£52 in 2 £20's and 2 £5'ers, 2 £1 coins (for the jet wash on the way home)
Clif Bar
2 Gels
1 1.5ltr bottle with a light mix of energy solution
House key
Shades (clear lenses this time of year)
Garmin
This does me for 100k routes on the roadie, I don't vary much throughout the seasons. I have this sorted down to a small and effective manageable pack which fits in my jersey pockets.
I add to that a Lezene multi tool if I'm on the CX'er.
If I get cold or hungry (unusual) I head for a cafe or small shop, if I run out of water (occasionally I do) I head for a shop or a church yard and seek out the tap.
Remote rides or 100k point to point roadie rides and I'll take the multi tool too, debit card and another £50.
Bikebuoy,you take £52!!you either like expensive cafes or you are stopping to buy the spare inner tubes you didn't take.where does your 1.5l bottle go?
Tube
Pump/CO2
Tyre lever
Multitool
Glueless patches
Inhaler
Case with phone, train pass, money and cash card
Tiny folded up gillet
Banana and/or energy gel
2 bottles on the bike, I would look to refill at halfway.
One thing not mentioned but very handy is a pair of disposable nitrile gloves, weigh nowt, takes no space and great if you have to fix a puncture. On the road bike I have pump on frame and a tiny lezyne seatpack with : tube, levers, tool, chainlink, patches, gloves. I take 2 bottles and pop some food and a gilet in pockets, with phone and cash/card
In addition to the above, a cleaned out toothpaste tube makes a great tyre boot
I learned a long time ago that £52 in cash is just about enough money to get a cab to the nearest town/train station and either get a train or a cab/private hire car home..
It's a short story where I learned that lesson.. I bought a De Rosa Avant back in 03' brand new, rode out on it up to Farnborough the day after buying it where the rear chain stay promptly broke in half. I was stuck 50 odd miles from home, £10 in cash and had to walk into Farnborough (2.5miles) to try and catch a train or sort out a cab. Very luckily I stumbled upon a private hire cab and asked if he would take me home to Warsash, pleaded poverty and £10 I had, he very kindly and sympathetically agreed and drove me home with the bike in the boot of his cab. Cost me £50.... The bike was a pile of shite and I'll never buy another De Rosa again.
See, £50 !! The £2 I use to jet wash the bike after a ride.
My 1.5ltr bottle fits in my cage, most of the time I'll make do with a 1ltr, but if the rides over 70k the slightly bigger one comes out. I know nearly every church/village in Hampshire so the 1ltr is more than adiquate.
😀
Don't UK taxis take a card these days?
Not back in 03 they didn't 😕
But it's like a superstition or something... 😕
Bank card
Phone
A Victoria sponge cake
Fork.
Only difference for me on a long ride to a normal road ride is I take money and another bottle, always love the first mile or two as you head out on an epic ride getting used to the extra weight!
Oh I'd plan the place where your aiming to top up your supplies to ensure you use all your current supplies up to make sure you actually stop rather than well I could go on to the next place then bong halfway there and suffer etc.
On a side note if this is your first long road ride, I'd suggest a can of coke about 20% from home will perk you right up I find droning away on the road on your own although satisfying does kinda cause you to go into an odd place in your head a can of coke kicks you back to normal... you'll see what I mean. (although might just be me).
Have fun!
Stuff above ^^^ (not tbe cake though).
Rather than any spare chain links I just take a spare chain out.
Lezyne sv5 minitool
1 tyre lever
Park patches
Tubes x 2
mini pump
phone
card
food/drink to suit conditions/ride usually a bottle or two and a few cereal bars & the lucky gel
xc-steve you take a bong with you on long rides?
Topeak mini ratchet set
Lezyne mini pump
Tube
Topeak emergency box
Quick link
Pair or later gloves
Credit card
About £40 in paper money
A few energy gels
One 750 ml bottle of water
iPhone in a Topeak waterproof case
Door key with emergency pod containing £20
All of this goes into my tiny saddle bag and my jersey pocket.
Latex gloves are a worthwhile addition for any dirty repairs or emergency rainproof layer for your warm gloves.
Just going to say I've started carrying Latex gloves.
I'd still take either a good windproof top or some kind of extra Pertex even if not waterproof top, for when it's a bit chill or you're on a long downhill.
And lights, even if emergency pocket ones - for dawn / dusk gloom or if it turns grey.
Definitely lights actually.
Light sabre. Red.
Foil blanket, costs £2.99, weighs nowt, and if you have an off or a major mechanical it'll stave off the worst of the cold as long as your insulated/dry underneeth.
Eat within the first hour.
Does anyone else find they have a slump in energy levels really early if they do this? I find it much better to not eat untill about 30 miles in then a handfull of something every 20 min.
Drink three bottles minimum
In summer, in December that'd have me pissing like a racehorse. I usualy find 1 plus a cafe stop sometime after halfway for a pot of tea and if I'm running out of fluids asking the top top it up.
Small saddlebag containing:
1 x spare inner tube
1 puncture repair kit
1 CO2 cylinder and valve
2 x tyre levers
1 x multi-tool
Pump is on frame (attaches under bottle cage)
2 x water bottles (summer only, just one in winter)
In pockets:
Gilet, usually wear in winter
Waterproof, in winter this is usually in the second water bottle
Waterproof pouch with debit card, cash and mobile phone
A gel or two for emergency
Water bottle gets refilled at cafe stop.
Mini pump
tube
self adhesive patches
tyre levers
multi tool (with chain tool)
jacket/arm warmers
Cash
Phone
gels & bars.
All fits in my jersey pockets as I can't stand saddle bags.
Pump
Puncture kit
Multitool
Phone
Debit card and/or a tenner
Peanut butter sarnies
Water
Arm warmers (OH's over-knee socks)
Buff
Clear shades
No-one mentioned gear hanger? Wouldn't leave the home without one personally... weigh nothing, easy to swap. And the most likely ride-stopping thing to break.
No-one mentioned gear hanger?
Completely forgot about that. Yes, I carry one, it lives in my saddle bag and has been there so long I'd forgotten it was there. Though I have used one in the past and it did save the ride.
Thanks to everyone for the advice and tips, didn't see the headwind one until I got back and it was bloody windy at times 🙂
Anyway, completed my first real long ride (in my eyes anyway) and it was superb, absolutely excellent way to spend the day and I look forward to more.
Enjoyed the smaller lanes that go round one side of Carsington water in particular.
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Excellent, that part of Derbyshire is a beautiful place indeed.
What did you take in the end?
Quite minimal in honesty
2 tubes
750ml water
levers
pump
small waterproof
2 cable ties
small electrical tape
4 ceral bars
1 gel (didn't use)
£5
Debit card
Yep lovely riding on the many small lanes, also enjoyed the part from Repton and on through the grounds of Calke Abbey and Staunton Harold in Leicestershire.
Checks kit list;
2 bottles (water only)
Pump - Under bottle cage
In saddle bag;
Tube
Park Patches
Topeak Hexus
Bar and/or gel
In pocket;
Phone, bank card and a tenner in a waterproof bag
Possibly another gel
no-one else takes condoms ?
you must be the people who never wave at other cyclists 🙄
Ipod loaded with good music and podcasts!
Couple of old toe straps are very useful if you have a very tight tyre/rim combination. If you get a puncture, use the toe straps to keep the tyre seated as you swear and fight getting the last bit of the bead over the rim, especially when it's wet and cold.
local ride? phone, tenner, cash card, bottles, gels depending on how long.where I'm going
none local, the above plus 1x tube, tyre lever, multitool