First Principal: You never have everything you need.
Second Principal: No matter how light your load is, you will still be carrying stuff you don’t need.
Third Principal: No matter how much you carry, you will still need something else.
Just what should be carried along on a mountain bike ride? The answer will depend, somewhat, on what type of ride, and where. Take two examples, a short local jaunt and a trip to Tsali, obviously the kit will be different for each of these.
The list of things that one can carry, against the possibility of an accident, or a mechanical is almost endless. It is quite literally possible to compile a mountain of stuff that weighs more than the bike and rider combined. Thing is, lugging a short ton of equipment and supplies greatly diminishes the Fun Factor.
We’ve compiled a couple of lists. We don’t claim that these are the definitive supply lists. You’ll build your own, and refine it a good deal over time. These are given as a starting point.
Short & Local:
Identification & medical info
Food & Water
Spare tubes (2ea)
Tube Patch Kit
Boot material
Pump
Tire levers (3ea)
Multi-tool with 4mm, 5mm, 6mm, and 8mm hex wrenches, pair of pliers, spoke wrench to match your wheels.
Bandana or two
Spare light jacket
Hat
Small first aid kit
Cell phone
A couple of these can use some explanation. Do carry ID and any medical information that is relevant. You kind of want rescue workers to know who you are, who to call, and if you are on any meds. By the way, I’d recommend that you keep this information on paper and laminate it. Keep it in a place where it is easy to find. Yes, you should have this stuff on your phone, but I’ve seen crashes that turned portable phones into completely nonfunctional trash. Which raises another point…
Where to carry stuff: Things like tools, phones, car keys, and other hard objects should probably go into a small bag under the bike’s saddle. You do not want these objects on your person. If you fall down, or crash, a phone in a jersey pocket can cause a serious injury. Keys in the pocket of your shorts? First off, they are liable to be lost, and second, think of all the damage that they could do in the near vicinity to your more tender body parts. If you simply must carry such things on you, put them in a backpack, and pad them well with spare clothing.
A note on food and water: Oddly, this is one of the more challenging aspects of mountain biking. Hydration is absolutely essential. An adult human needs a minimum of 1 liter (about 1 quart) or water per hour of exercise. In warmer weather this can go up dramatically. The problem is that water is heavy. I liter weighs about 2.2 pounds. So two water bottles amounts to 4.4 pounds. A large hydration backpack can carry as much as 100 ounces, or about 3 liters. The pack and a full water load are close to eight pounds. That may not sound like much, but a rider is lugging it around for every minute on the trail. And that load will only last for about three hours, on a day with moderate temperatures.
Let’s emphasize this, you must carry water, and you must drink, and water is heavy. Plan ahead. Do not get caught short of water! And do expect to carry the weight of it.
Do I really need to carry all that stuff? The short answer is, no. But it’s a pretty good idea. If you are riding with friends, you can maybe arrange to split things up a bit, rather than having each rider carry a full duplicate load. Our best advice is, carry it! It’s good training. If you are in the habit of carrying what you need, then you will always have it.
One last note: On the emergency equipment, such as tire change stuff, tools, first aid supplies, and so on, learn to use it before you need it!! A trailside emergency is a terrible place to try and figure out how.
Today’s Term(s):
Air; catching air the act of completely leaving the ground (usually in a controlled fashion) while astride one’s bicycle.
epic n. a ride that must last for at least six hours and include at least three mechanicals that add at least an extra hour to the ride time. Epics are usually started with a statement like "the trail is buff, should only take three hours."
Death-march n. similar to epic and three hour tour
This series, running every Tuesday, is intended to help those who are new to mountain bike riding. By no means is it an exhaustive treatment, but it is our fond hope that it will help you, the beginner, to begin to enjoy riding your bike off road.
Future Topics:
Standing and staying loose (expect the unexpected)
Grace
Hydration
Bike Types
Trail Care & Maintenance
Track Stand
Bunny Hop
Wheelie
“Cleaning” the mud
Your next mountain bike or Mountain Biking 201
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