What's in your pack?

[pedalfaster]

Spare disposable contact lens.
Lost one during a race once. Depth perception is a GOOD thing off road!

[JanT]

Besides the usual emergency bike and body repair stuff, and always more water than I think I'll need, I carry a hand-held ham radio. I don't have a cell phone, so my husband and I monitor an agreed upon frequency in order to check in with each other periodically. Sometimes I carry a gps if I want to map a trail or mark a spot on the map. I've printed out maps of my usual routes, both on and off-road, so my husband knows where I'll be.

[Dogmama]

Among other things, I always carry two spare tubes. I put them in a sandwich bag and sprinkle cornstarch in the bag. Work it around the tube, seal it up nice & tight & cram in it the seatbag. When you need it, it will slip easily into the rim and doesn't get caught so easily between the rim and the tire.

[lkrider]

Among other things, I always carry two spare tubes. I put them in a sandwich bag and sprinkle cornstarch in the bag. Work it around the tube, seal it up nice & tight & cram in it the seatbag. When you need it, it will slip easily into the rim and doesn't get caught so easily between the rim and the tire.

What a terrific hint. I always took the tubes out of the box, but worried about them getting messed up with all the other junk in my bag. THANKS!

[lkrider]

Is it something about tandem riders(I also ride a tandem part time- simple Burley Duet-nothing fancy(nor is my wedding ring), but it is fun)...I am usually a minimalist, makeup wise, but for some reason adopted a habit of lipstick for rides...bright red for big rides is my good-luck charm. I tried nailpolish once, but it was too obvious and bugged me the whole ride. Lipstick on the water bottle...yeah, but it's MY water bottle.(and here's the practical side of it...protection from sun.)

[MightyMitre]

This is the best pic I could find at the mo.http://www.ralphoverweel.nl/images/l...-microfoon.jpg

It's Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel who's a fantastic pro Belgium rider. She's won various of Olympic medals as well as being the top Belgium domestic rider. She's always know for wearing full make up and painted nails when she races - and it certainly doesn't seem to slow her down! I think she currently holds the womens 1 hour record on the track but she won't be defending it as she finally retired at the start of January.

She's a very interesting women. Several years ago when she was just hitting the big time she developed an eating disorder, the idea being that she was going fast at her current weight, but imagin how much faster she could go if only she lost a few more pounds.

Finally she went down to about 7st and I saw a photo of her in her team jersey and the arms and collar were seriously loose and she looked ill. In the end she'd lost so much weight, her performace went down hill and finally I think she had to take a year out to recover.

Basically, she then set up and organisation to share her experiences with others and make sportswomen aware of the pitfalls of weight loss - especially as 'lighter means faster' is ingrained in the sport, with some coaches being irresponsible by putting pressure on riders. Once she was back to a healthy weight she was flying again.

Anyway, can't see myself in full make-up. Don't even wear it during the day but good for those who want to, and can find stuff that stays on!

[lkrider]

Thanx for the pix, and the background (I guess putting in perspective what is important) but whew...makeup or not, I will never look that good!

[Deanna]

Is it something about tandem riders...

I think it could be. When we first started riding tandems (my first tandem rides were on the sole Salsa tandem - I'm still honored that we were allowed to borrow it) my husband would get the biggest kick out of me putting on lipstick as we passed by the other riders. This was back in the early 90's when we didn't see a lot of tandems, so the novelty eventually wore off.