HOW DO I CARRY IT ALL?

It’s 25 days to the 65 mile Tune Up Ride
It’s 38 days to the Audax Ride

This blog concerns itself with the upcoming Audax Ride. Audax Riding is a type of touring. So this post is going to address an aspect of touring. Luggage.

A tour is characterized by time. The tourist is usually on the bike for most of the day. Daily distances may be 100 miles or more. For any number of reasons, the best route for a given leg, just might take the rider a long way from stores, shelter, or other forms of support. Incidents occur. Night time riding could be a possibility, even a necessity. The length of a given day on the bike implies that the rider will meet a variety of conditions. The prudent tourist plans for this.

One of the inescapable implications of the above is that the tourist will carry more stuff, and will carry it for a longer period of time.

The “stuff” breaks down into several broad categories:
Food and water
Clothing
Tools and spares

A long day could mean the need to carry warmer clothing against morning and evening chills. Almost any day could include rain, and cooler ones require protective clothing. Longer days mean the need to pack food. The likelihood of out riding phone coverage, or of reaching more remote and less populated areas implies the need to be able to repair the occasional flat or break down.

What you choose to carry depends on your approach to riding, and on how far you are going. The simple fact is, longer rides require more cargo.

Now we come to the more interesting part of the problem. More stuff, means more weight. You will have to pedal that weight up every hill. Do you really want to support it with your body too? Generally, the idea is to put the weight on the bike, not on the body.

If one is going to load a bike, the bike should, obviously, have the means to be loaded. Eyelets for rack mounts are almost a necessity. But a problem with racks is the infrastructure cost. I’m not talking about money here, but rather, the idea that the means of carrying things adds weight and drag itself. Shorter to intermediate touring should be set up with an eye to reducing this infrastructure overhead.

An example of this infrastructure problem is water. Cyclists must have water. A minimum of two liters is the bare bones. Three liters is better. A back pack hydration system is easy to use, but a pack that can hold three liters (100 ounces) is bulky and adds a lot of weight. Three bottle cages and three plastic bottles don’t come close to equaling the weight of the pack, and they ride on the bike.

Each rider will look at these problems differently, and many different solutions are possible. My suggestion is to gather together all of the equipment, clothing, and supplies that you intend to take with you. Then look at ways to carry it all, on the bike, or on the person. Experiment with several of these methods. You might just trim the load a bit here and there. Go on some longer rides, two to four hours, with your “stuff,” packed as you expect to. Does this work? Now is the time to experiment. The final shakedown would be on the 65 mile Tune Up Ride.