Bikepacking Gear

For weeks, I have been meaning to do a post on the equipment I have been using on my overnights, and that I will be taking on the race. Better late than never.

Obviously, less is more when you have to carry the gear 500 miles, but since this is my first attempt at doing the race, and I don't expect to set any speed records, I'm opting for a little extra safety in exchange for having to carry a little extra weight.

Having said that, I spent way to much $$$ this year purchasing a new sleeping bag and bivy sack to shave some ounces on my kit. The bed roll is where the safety factor comes in. The bed roll consists of a lightweight REI bivy sack, Golite down summer sleeping bag, and a thermarest neolight inflatable pad. I wouldn't call it comfortable, but it's not too bad. The bivy sack makes the setup mostly water proof, so in addition to using it for sleeping, it could double as an emergency shelter if I got caught in an extended storm. I say it's mostly waterproof, because the top head area of the bivy sack is mesh. In a big storm I would have to turn the whole setup over, or use my rain jacket to cover the mesh. The bivy sack is the obvious green sack in the picture below. Actually, the sleeping bag and sleeping pad are in the bivy sack. I experimented with rolling all of it up together, and then quickly ( before the sleeping bag expands ) slipping it into the handlebar pack shown in the second picture. This packing method make it very quick and easy to pack and unpack. I just pull the whole thing out and get in. Then I blow up the pad, and nighty night. Packing in the morning only takes a couple minutes as well, and is much faster than packing the three items in separate stuff sacks. All together the bed roll is a little more than three pounds.

I won't bore you with a full list of everything else, but it's pretty minimal.

Clothing: ( Not including what I'm wearing normally )

• Down Jacket
• Thermal tights
• Long Sleeve wool shirt
• Arm and leg warmers
• Extra bike shorts
• Rain Gear (Jacket and Pants )
• Hat and gloves extra pair of socks

Gear

• Small first aid kit
• Bike repair kit
• Spot GPS tracker
• UV Water purifier
• Lights for night riding
• Sunscreen
• Colorado Trail Data Book / maps
• Extra USB batteries, ipod, camera, GPS

In all, this weighs in between 12 and 15 pounds depending on whether you include the gear I normally ride with.

I find it interesting that the gear only adds 7-8% to the total weight including rider. So while it slows me down, it's not bad. However, the added weight which is mostly strapped to the bike, adds more than 50% to the bike. So the bike feels very different when riding technical sections, and REALLY heavy when I'm pushing it up scree fields or over big rocks.

I use a number of different packs that you can see in the second picture. All of these packs with the exception of the backpack are made by Revelate Designs, in Alaska. The backpack is a Golite hydration pack. The "Sweetroll" is the front handlebar bag containing the bed roll. The 'Gas Tank" is the small front top tube bag. I keep my camera, batteries, and electrolyte capsules in this. The 'Viscacha' is the large rear seat bag. This bag caries most of my extra clothing, first aid kit and bike repair kit. I also purchased a 'Feed Bag'. This is a small cylindrical bag, similar to a climber's chalk bag, that is strapped to the handlebars and stem, and can be used to hold bite sized pieces of food, or even an extra water bottle.

I have not yet discussed the food that I will be bringing. That can add another 3 - 5 pounds. If I have time, I'll do a post on the food before the race.

Everything packed

Everything on the bike