What are your "must haves"?

[RolliePollie]

+1 on the Benadryl. I carry it with me everywhere I go. You never know when you (or someone you're with) might have a weird allergic reaction to something.

I also carry an "emergency card" in my seat bag which has photocopies of my driver's license and insurance card, other medical info, and emergency contact info. I had a line on my RoadID engraved with "emer info in seat bag" since it's kind of hard to fit all your important info on the RoadID itself.

Otherwise I pretty much carry the same thing everyone else has listed.

[ASammy1]

I feel like I carry a lot too:

Seat bag:

Spare tube
CO2 inflator
2 CO2 cartridges
Patch kit
mini-multi tool
tire levers

Bento box:

Chap Stick
Travel size tissue
Luna bars and or Gu
Cell phone

Back pockets:

Sunblock
base layer/windbreaker (depending on weather)

Mounted:

2 Polar Bottles of water or electrolyte drink (depending on length of ride)

Road ID shoe wallet:

Credit or Debit Card
Copies of ID, insurance card
Cash

[Vireo]

"must haves" is relative to where you are riding. If you are climbing a 30 mile mountain (in the middle of a 180 mile ride) with no support, or car access you "must have" more stuff.

Rest of the pics.


Blog post about this ride.

[malkin]

I carry a first aid kit as a totem to ward off accidents.
I have only needed it when I didn't have it, although I've swiped bandaids from it when I wasn't on a ride.

[jobob]

I have only needed it when I didn't have it

One of life's great truths.

[IvonaDestroi]

phone
debit card
id card
key
lock (depends on bike or where I am going)
tube, C02, levers, multitool (in seat bag)

banana or granola bar, just in case. But not always.
water

helmet
gloves
cheap home depot tinted safety glasses

What is with the banana thing? I heard it's some sort of cycling tradition...???

[ZenSojourner]

It's bike riding food. That and fig newtons.

Hmmm, in my seat bag I have:

2 spare tubes, 1 700c and 1 24"
patch kit
multi-tool
ball wrench
compact screwdriver
tire pressure gauge
spare stem
spare stem caps
tire levers
small pack of bandaids and antibiotic cream


In my camelbak-equivalent:
Driver's license
cell phone
bike lock
maps
glasses
money
debit card
keys
foodal items - dates, raisins, butterscotch, bananas, PB crackers
water IN the camelbak-equivalent reservoir
SPF 45 chapstick
If the ride is > 50 miles

• extra bottles of propel
• extra bike shorts
• rain gear
• extra gloves
• spare 24" tire (lashed to my rear rack)
• sample size sunscreen (for touch-up)

on the bike:
the seat bag
frame pump (Topeak Morph)
however many water bottles will fit under the frame pump (usually one large, one small) containing watered down gatorade or propel
Cyclometer (I forgot that one, LOL!)

On my person:
helmet
hair band (and I DON'T mean an 80's glam rock musical combo)
gloves
sunglasses ($10 from the hardware store, basically tinted safety glasses)
bike shoes (in the hopes that some day, I WILL clip in again)
The camelbak-equivalent of course
Slather up with sunscreen which usually lasts 'til the end of the ride

Things I'm going to add because I have them now and didn't use to:
digital camera
digital video camera if multi-day (slightly larger than the still camera)
spare cell phone battery, fully charged and in a heavy duty ziploc bag

Things I'm going to add after reading other people's lists:
Magnifying glass

[cylegoddess]

I have all the usual in bike seat bag;
2 tubes,
2 Co2
multi tool
three tire levers( its hard for me)
bandages( the roll kind. I kept stacking it, when using my new clips for a while)
fructose energy powder( allergic to those gluc shots)

two bottles of water( big)
I underslung pump
I( in pack) Co2 pump( need to get the small type for bike bag. Whats good?)
2 bananas( for commute - 15 miles per trip)
cycle comp( old only gives time)
phone
money
a teabag( herbal)

If using a pack;
lock
apple blackcurrant juice


I need id and medicare card, whoops! ( Thanks for reminders!)
I have excellent polarized glasses.Cost a fortune but always good for Aussie sun( too bright) and avoiding bugs in eye.

I found lately that its good to bring spare glasses and a contact case.as my eyes turn bright red after a while and it freaks people out at stops!

[indigoiis]

Ivana, my brother works in green food, and tells me that soon bananas as we know them will soon no longer be (some pollination thing, which will make them too expensive to grow and too unpredictable to import as we do now) so I eat them while I can, at every opportunity. And they are the ultimate energy food for me. Unfortunately, they are not really green... I do feel guilty sometimes.

Hey, what's with the tire patch kits? Do people really patch their tires on the road? I just slap a spare on and ride home, and patch at home. I mean, maybe if it was a touring trip... but for a 50 mile ride? Or commute? I can't see myself having the patience to sit on the side of the road patching my tire. LOL.

[Becky]

Hey, what's with the tire patch kits? Do people really patch their tires on the road? I just slap a spare on and ride home, and patch at home. I mean, maybe if it was a touring trip... but for a 50 mile ride? Or commute? I can't see myself having the patience to sit on the side of the road patching my tire. LOL.

Cheap insurance. I'll change a flat with the tube first but, if I have a repeat, it's reassuring to know that I can fix it and it takes up a lot less space than a second tube.

[tctrek]

I carry a first aid kit as a totem to ward off accidents.
I have only needed it when I didn't have it, although I've swiped bandaids from it when I wasn't on a ride.

Funny you say that. I've had two falls when I did not have a first aid kit. Started carrying one and haven't fallen since! Definitely a totem!

[OakLeaf]

Cheap insurance. I'll change a flat with the tube first but, if I have a repeat, it's reassuring to know that I can fix it and it takes up a lot less space than a second tube.

+1

You do notice no one's said they carry ONLY a patch kit. It could be a long walk.

[ny biker]

It's bike riding food. That and fig newtons.

Hmmm, in my seat bag I have:

2 spare tubes, 1 700c and 1 24"
patch kit
multi-tool
ball wrench
compact screwdriver
tire pressure gauge
spare stem
spare stem caps
tire levers
small pack of bandaids and antibiotic cream


In my camelbak-equivalent:
Driver's license
cell phone
bike lock
maps
glasses
money
debit card
keys
foodal items - dates, raisins, butterscotch, bananas, PB crackers
water IN the camelbak-equivalent reservoir
SPF 45 chapstick
If the ride is > 50 miles

• extra bottles of propel
• extra bike shorts
• rain gear
• extra gloves
• spare 24" tire (lashed to my rear rack)
• sample size sunscreen (for touch-up)

on the bike:
the seat bag
frame pump (Topeak Morph)
however many water bottles will fit under the frame pump (usually one large, one small) containing watered down gatorade or propel
Cyclometer (I forgot that one, LOL!)

On my person:
helmet
hair band (and I DON'T mean an 80's glam rock musical combo)
gloves
sunglasses ($10 from the hardware store, basically tinted safety glasses)
bike shoes (in the hopes that some day, I WILL clip in again)
The camelbak-equivalent of course
Slather up with sunscreen which usually lasts 'til the end of the ride

Things I'm going to add because I have them now and didn't use to:
digital camera
digital video camera if multi-day (slightly larger than the still camera)
spare cell phone battery, fully charged and in a heavy duty ziploc bag

Things I'm going to add after reading other people's lists:
Magnifying glass

This is a lot of stuff. You carry extra shorts and gloves on every ride over 50 miles?

I try to strike a balance between being prepared and keeping the overall weight of bike+rider to a minimum. I have enough trouble getting up hills without extra stuff weighing me down.

[ZenSojourner]

This is a lot of stuff. You carry extra shorts and gloves on every ride over 50 miles?

I do.

The extra weight on the bike is nothing compared to the extra weight on me.

It's really not that much stuff. Most of it is small, lightweight items. What's a driver's license weigh, for heaven's sake? Is the 0.25 ounces a hair band weighs going to keep me from climbing a hill?

On at least 2 occasions I've been VERY glad of the extra shorts. Since I rarely ride more than 60 miles in one day, that's a higher proportion of the time than you might at first think.

The extra gloves have come in handy several times, once because I crashed and tore hell out of the gloves I was wearing. The rest of the time, well, if I get caught in the rain, eventually those gloves get soaked and it's nice to have a dry pair on the off chance it stops raining before I stop riding.

What would you have me leave? The frame pump? Uh uh, even one use justifies that, and I've used it more often than that.

My cell phone? Nope, it's a safety device when I'm out riding.

The snacks? I only take about 4 oz total of snackish type food with me, not worth the leaving, compared to the risk of bonking. Ditto the fluids.

Maybe my bike shoes? That's the heaviest item on the list. Sure, I could go barefootin' . . . LOL!

If you're seriously going to be inconvenience by a pound or two of "extra" weight, I don't know, you might want to consider a training regimen.

You think that's a lot, you should see the extra weight when I go to the grocery and load 'er up!

[aicabsolut]

Seat bag:
2 tire levers
1 80mm valve tube
1 average length valve tube
1 valve extender
1 gel (in case of bonk)
2 CO2 cartridges
multitool
sometimes cell phone (if I need the space in my pockets)

Pockets:
mini pump (dual pump / CO2)
chapstick w/ SPF
wallet w/ keys attached. Containing usual stuff, but at minimum:
ID, CC, cash, insurance card
FOOD: packets of Clif bloks. Maybe Clif bar for really long rides.

Bike:
2 bottles, with electrolyte water and/or Clif drink
Garmin Edge 305

Helmet:
I write my insurance, emergency contact, and medical info on the ID stickers inside my helmet.


I should probably keep a dose of my migraine meds in my seat bag as well. They come in individual pouches. Even so, I worry about crushing it (fast dissolve tablets), and those buggers are expensive.