Starting Gear List
We plan on riding fully self-supported. Some days we will be camping and sometimes we will have other accommodations. To carry our gear we are using custom frame and handlebar bags for the tandem from Exile Designs, and fork and trunk attached dry bags from Sea to Summit.
For comfort we are taking a Big Agnes 3 person tent for the two of us, and an inflatable double pad. We have a down double quilt. We are only taking one item for the two of us wherever possible. We plan on getting food from grocery stores, and eating out most of the rest of the time. On our days off we will get a room with a kitchen so we can cook for ourselves; we are not taking a cook set.
Weighing all of the gear, including the cargo mounts and bags, is approximately 45 lbs. The tandem weights 37 lbs. Food and water on an average will be about 8 lbs more, more on hot days or when services are far apart. So altogether about 90 lbs to move across the country.
We will update the list to let you know what gear changes we make a long the way.
Here is what it looks like all packed up at the start of the tour.
Cargo Packing Gear
- Custom Frame and Handlebar bags from Exile Designs
- Sea to Summit Dry Sacks mounted to forks and on trunk rack
- Blackburn Cargo cages on the forks
- Bontrager seatpost rack
Camping Gear
Note: it is really cold we will wear our down jackets to sleep.
- Big Agnes Copper Spur 3 UL tent with ground cloth and stakes
- Big Agnes double sleeping pad
- Sea to Summit inflatable pillows
- Bobcat double down quilt
- Camp gear: Zippo fire starter, water filter, camp towels, knife, tent and air mattress repair kits, some cord
- Two sporks for ice cream!
Off Bike Clothes
For each of us:
- 1 pr shoes
- 1 pr pants
- Shorts
- 2 shirts
- 2 pr underwear
- Down jacket
- Swimwear
Other Personal
- Personal care kits with all the basics
- Emergency first aid kit
- Detergent
- Mesh stuff sacks for clothes and laundry bag
- Cord backpacks for shopping and showers
- Electronics kit: wall chargers, cables, batteries
- Mobile phones
- Low light sunglass lens
Riding Clothes
Note: if it is really cold, we will wear our down jackets while riding too!
For each of us:
- 2 pr socks ea (1 pr wool)
- 2 pr riding shorts
- 2 riding jerseys
- 1 pr riding gloves
- Bandana
- Arm warmers
- Sun sleeves
- Leg warmers
- Rain jacket
- Vest
- Warm gloves
- Warm hat
- Helmet
Tools
- Silva T-Rachel set, pliers, spoke wrench, chainwheel bolt wrench, small Leatherman
- Tire levers, Small pump, pressure gauge, CO2 valve
- Quarter for Rohloff gear box
- 4 extra tubes, 4 CO2 cartridges wrapped in duct tape, 3 tube patch kits, 1 spare tire
- Spare spokes, brake pads, and assorted bolts
Other
- OttoLock bike lock
- Sunscreen
- Bug spray
- Tissues, TP
- 3 water bottles
- 1 Thermos bottle
- Headlight, 2 tail lights (headlight is our camp flashlight)
- Elemnt computer
Regarding underwear, I once went to a talk by Göran Kropp, after his solo bike trip from Sweden to Mt. Everest and back. He said you can get by with one pair of underwear as well as four: when they get dirty, wear them backwards, and then turn them inside out and repeat. That got a good laugh.
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha! We likely will be in more social settings and don’t want to push our luck that far !
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