[Closed] What would you take? 2 day fast and light challenges.

Depends on what time of year the weather the location  and if you actually want to sleep or just get out of the saddle.

Bus stops AKA "Audax hotels"

Summer time I'd take something like a SOL Escape bivy plus a light down vest or jacket. 400-500g total weight depending on vest or jacket and fits easily in a 5L seat pack. The idea is to get some rest rather than full blown sleep. I don't even take a sleeping mat so that I don't sleep in. Expect to get 90mins to 2hrs sleep/rest before the hard floor/ground wakes you up.

It's also worth removing your cycling shorts to let things air.

I thought about this a while back and decided that a sleeping bag and small sleeping mat would be the best option for bivvying in bus shelters. I can fit my exped synmat and light sleeping bag in a saddle bag and still have space for a spare base layer in there.

EDIT - I should say, I never got around to trying it out because I decided that I like sleeping in beds too much.

How much money are you willing to spend? The helium quilt duvet (clips into a cape/sleeping bag thing packs down to the size of a large fist and is warm enough with a bivy bag in the summer

Ive slept in just a bivi bag in mid summer with no mat, took a set of thermal tights and a down jacket and was warm if uncomfortable.

If I was doing it now having done a lot more bivi'ing and research, I'd take a light sleeping mat and quilt, or even have a look at the rapha bikepacking kit (although other people do similar bags, and a quilt might work just as well).

I can pack a self inflating mat, winter sleeping bag and bivi bag into a bar bag with room to spare. Which kinda makes the question moot, with a bit of dieting I could lose its entire weight! With a bit of carefull packing it could be split between an anything cage and a seat pack, if not going to the middle of nowhere you can just get food at cafes so no need for any other kit really.

Have you considered a hammock? Lightish, but comfy.

DD hammocks do some good ones. Obviously, you can’t just set them up anywhere, but swings and roundabouts eh.

Thanks for the response. @martymac, I have considered a hammock and I haven't ruled it out yet .

@whitestone...going on confirmation bias 😏 you've written what I wanted to hear. That was where my thinking was headed .I've bivvy'd in the mountains without a sleeping bag (and only a bivvy bag) before and it wasn't pleasant but for just a short nap it should be fine...

@edenvalleyboy - a lot does depend on what conditions you expect and whether you can get shelter (bus or otherwise).

I've a Borah Gear bivy that has a bug mesh across the head that will keep midges and flies away (actually I've two: a lightweight one and a really lightweight cuben fibre one) but it most definitely isn't waterproof so you need to use it in conjunction with tarp or some sort of in-situ shelter you find. Using the cuben fibre bag and a down vest gives a weight of 210g, the down jacket bumps that to 300g.

The SOL Escape bivy is more waterproof but would bump up the weight by 130g or so. Adding an inflatable mat like the Klymit X-frame (torso length) would add another 175g.

For reference, my "race" sleeping system for multi-day events like the Highland Trail is the Klymit X-frame mat, a Cumulus 150 quilt, Borah Gear cuben fibre bivy, Trekkertent cuben fibre tarp, carbon fibre pole & pegs. I'll use whatever's appropriate for the situation I find myself, I won't use the tarp on a fine night or in a shed for example. Total weight of the above is 910g. The Cumulus quilt does seem to be the item of choice for many doing these events.

Rapha have some kind of half and half down sleeping bag and jacket combo you could use with a bivi bag

Selk suit?  https://www.hygger.com/en/public/nanuk.html

I can fit my bivi bag, mat and quilt in a seatpack (long version of quilt ant mat)

That's my standard approach when bikepacking

Look up some kit spread photos from Transcontinental riders.  They're riding with the same ethos as you, might get some good ideas.

The Rapha pied d'elephant and jacket is an interesting, though not original, approach - it's been used in alpine climbing circles for nearly a century, PHD do a similar system in their Desert Race series. Tom Hill used one on this year's OMM, not sure if he's done a review yet but there was the usual press-release-as-copy about it on various sites.

You're talking about a couple of hours in the summer, in the dry, and potentially in a shelter. No need to overthink it - a warmer jacket and something like an Alpkit Hunka will be fine. I vaguely remember spending a few hours under a hedge/in a bus shelter/in a telephone kiosk (really!) wearing just jeans, cowboy boots and a tee shirt after missing the last bus/train home. Never seemed to get hangovers in those days, either...

DD hammocks do some good ones. Obviously, you can’t just set them up anywhere, but swings and roundabouts eh.

I’m not sure that they are the best places to set up a hammock....

bivvybag,warm jacket & tights , in a seatpost bag.

Check out some of the audax vids on youtube - search for Adam Watkins , his are my fave.

FWIW there's no reason you can't use a handlebar bag and still have lights.

If there's a bus stop, there's a pub/B&B not that far away. Apart from making it a chore/trial of endurance, why wouldn't you sleep in a bed ?

"If there’s a bus stop, there’s a pub/B&B not that far away"

"why wouldn’t you sleep in a bed ?"

Maybe south of the watford gap this is true but i can think of at least 10 local bus stops where this isn't true and Ive passed many more nationalally that are not.

Also 50+ quid for a bed your only going to use a couple of hours ?

I think that falls under throwing money away

If I know I'm stopping and it's supper I take my.pipedream 200 and Rab survival.

If stopping is not in the plan but possible due to tight time lines ..... I just chuck in the Rab and my light down jacket