Quote Originally Posted by crazycanuck View Post
Would one of those rivendell bags be a good idea for this ride?
It's good to have a saddlebag, or a saddlebag & handlebar bag, to carry stuff on a brevet. By stuff I mean necessary tools, spare tubes, extra clothing, food, hygiene products ...

How much stuff to carry will depend on the level of support your brevet offers, and the availability of stores along your route.

Traditionally, brevet riders are supposed to be completely self-sufficient, and carry or buy what they need from stores along the way.

That said, we have several brevet series in the SF Bay area, and the level of support among them varies considerably.

The Davis brevet series has a great deal of support, nearly as much as a regular century ride. They have a great deal of food and a variety sport drinks available at checkpoints, and roving SAG support.

The SF brevet series, on the other hand, has no support to speak of. On the 600K, which is being run as I write this, there was a food/water/bag drop stop at a very remote section of the route which most people were scheduled to go through late last night into the wee hours this morning, but that was about it in terms of support.

But bear in mind, even if your brevet has the more deluxe type of support comparable to the Davis series, the checkpoints will still probably be widely spaced apart, so you'll need to at least be able to carry enough food (and water if there's no source along the route) to get you from checkpoint to checkpoint, or rely on stores along the way. And if you have a preferred type of food or gel, you'll definitely need to carry that.

And if the weather is iffy, or if you start in the chilly morning hours and you know it's going to warm up, you'll need to be able to stow your arm/leg warmers, jacket, that sort of thing.

Rivendell bags (and bags made by Carradice and other companies) are very nice for brevets. Wallingford carries a nice selection as well, as does Velo Orange. But bear in mind, they can be a bit on the heavy side. I have a Carradice Barly bag that is great for brevets, it has a couple of side pockets for tools and spare tubes, and lots of room for stuff. It's canvas with leather trim so it's kind of heavy. It doesn't bother me any, though, I'm used to riding a Sherman Tank