Here we offer links to equipment and thoughts surrounding why items are important. We haven’t addressed every item on our gravel checklist since many of the items are self-explanatory.

Safety & Emergencies

• Emergency personnel know to look for a Road I.D. bracelet or necklace. Useful for when you’re riding but also go

• Accident Report card: When you're 10-hours into a ride, a bit hazy and tired, it's great to have a way to ensure you collect all permanent information if you have an interaction with a car. This card is a reminder of what information to get. Type the info into your phone for safe keeping.

• Brave Soldier Crash Pak is a good example of a simple first-aid kit.

• Cash: Road-side food stands take cash. Small bills are good to have since change might not be available.

• Credit card: Bring Visa or Mastercard since almost all merchants take these

• Pro tip: take all of your important cards like insurance card, credit cards, drivers’ license and photo copy both sides of each card all on one page. Fold this up and put it inside your handlebar on every bike you ride so you know you will always have this information on you.

• 2-4 Food service or mechanic latex/plastic gloves: Useful for keeping your hands warm/clean, but also if there is an injury that involves blood, wearing gloves is safer for all parties involved.

Electronics Management

Electronics are closely related to safety.

• GPS device with the route pre-loaded: Many GPS units have settings to call a loved one or emergency services if they detect an incident. Look into this.

• External power supply that will keep your GPS unit AND cell phone charged for 12+ hours of ride time: Most GPS units won't really last for 12 honest hours.  Having your GPS die 2-hours from home base is miserable.  Don't risk it; bring a spare battery. Your phone will drain faster when the cell reception is weak. Plan for a quickly-draining battery.

• Charging cables for your cell phone and GPS unit: Label what each cord is for since you might borrow something from your kit, and it’s nice to know when you’re missing something or that something belongs in your saddle bag and not on your desk at home.

• Does your bike take batteries to shift? Take an extra of each kind that your bike needs that are fully charged OR bring your charging cable/unit for the rechargeable batteries.

  This is overkill to bring this on your bike if it’s a one-day ride and you’re certain you’re starting with charged batteries. We’ve seen bike batteries drain overnight prior to a ride by leaning against something, so it’s at least nice to travel to the ride start with your chargers & spares!

• Camera: this might be your phone. Regardless, you’ll want to capture memories. Be sure your camera has enough space in its memory card for all of the photos/videos you might want to take

• Will you need lights? Yes. Always assume you will. Bring at least a Super Flash rear and a small headlight, both fully charged. We recommend the Super Flash battery-operated rear lights since you can “recharge” these by buying AAAs at any gas station. Rechargeable tail lights don’t usually last that long.

  • A headlight and tail light are required to start UNBOUND for every rider. For every ride, though, outside of UNBOUND, even if you're sure you'll be back before sunset we still recommend riding with lights; we can't tell you how many times we've rolled home well after dark even when we were 100% certain we'd be home before dusk.

  • When you’re in the trees or clouds roll in, it can get dark as night in the middle of the day.

Repairs

• Spare tubes:

  • Bring new tubes just purchased, not tubes that have been in your repair kit for a season; these will have holes worn in them.  Also, make sure the tubes are the right size for your tires; often riders end up with road tubes that are really too small for mixed-terrain tires.  Those will work in an emergency but will cause problems in the long run.

  • There are super lightweight and tough tubes on the market, look into these. They are a fraction of the size and weight of a traditional tube and most boast their durability.

• CO2 inflator head.  Here's our favorite CO2 inflator, by far. These are not all built the same. Be sure to practice with these before your next ride to know how they work.

• Mini pumps can be mounted behind your bottle cage to save room in your bags for things that need to be in there.

• Light weight chain pliers like these are great and they have a place to store the PowerLinks: Wolftooth Pack Pliers

• Bring a capable multi-tool that includes at least a dozen tools - or the equivalent of this in some form.  

  There are a lot of good choices; here's what we use.  Recently it's become important to have a Torx wrench with you because these are becoming fairly common for stem bolts.  A T25 wrench is really important. Note a torx wrench and torque wrench are two different things.

• Chain tool: Bring one that works with your chain type so be sure to know its compatibility before you purchase it:  11-speed, 10-speed, etc.  A good multi-tool will include a chain tool for a variety of chains.

• There are compatibility challenges across bike parts. Be especially heads up where it comes to 12-speed chains. SRAM 12-speed Eagle is not the same as SRAM 12-speed flattop and these are all different from Shimano 12-speed road and mountain chains too.

• Powerlock links: at least 1 set that is compatible with your bike’s chain. We discussed this at the top of the page.

• Lube: Put your lube in a tiny bottle to carry it on the bike. Only apply it if you have a rag to wipe off the excess.

• Individually packaged alcohol wipes for cleaning your hands/body.

  • If you change a tire during poison ivy season (even when it’s not poison ivy season), you are likely to have poison ivy oils on your hands. If you hold your bike via the rear wheel between your legs, you’re getting poison ivy oils on your skin. You want to be able to wash with soap or at least wipe off the exposed area of your skin/clothes.

  • Tubeless sealant is gross and it’s good to get it off of any skin if you get some on yourself.

• On the list, next to replacement spokes, we added: Fiberfix - visit the link to learn about these.

  Store extra spokes by using electrical tape to secure them to one of your seatstays.

• Duct tape: fixes just about anything.

  Wrap the tape around your hand pump as a handy tape holder so you don’t have to take a big roll of duct tape!

• Tire boot: a dollar bill also works to boot a torn tire to protect the new tube you’re about to install, but money's for spending, tire boots are for tears.

• If your bike requires a replaceable derailleur hanger, you should carry 2 extras. Be sure your extra hangers are compatible with your specific bike frame.

• If you’re running a tubeless tire setup, bring a tubeless plug kit with bacon, Dynaplugs and/or a Stan’s Dart tool. Bring all of the other flat fix tools, including spare tubes, as if you were riding a tubed setup, because all of this stuff will be necessary in worst case scenarios. Tubeless flats-gone-bad happen more than you imagine they do. Practice plugging an old tire in advance. Know how to deal with the tire and try fixing it in advance. Just how hard is it to remove the tire from the rim? FIND OUT before race day.

Weather Management:  Depending on the season this could be a number of items:  

• Wind jacket, vest, rain jacket, knee warmers, balaclava, etc.  Not a lot worse than being cold when you're tired and bonking. A long day can bring ALL of the weather.

• Note that a rain jacket is useful for rain, keeping you warm on a chilly day, and if it’s lightweight, is easy to carry. This is a catch-all piece of clothing that comes in handy nearly year-round.

• While it’s not glamorous (or aero!), a large trash bag (like the size good for yard waste), will save your day if the weather turns for the worst. Yes, you poke holes in the bag for your head and arms, and wear the bag. This is something you bring if you think your friends might not come prepared since a good rain jacket should serve the same purpose.

• Emergency blanket. A space/emergency blanket can be a life saver for someone who is chilled and needs to be warmed up.

Nutrition

• You don’t know what you will feel like eating so bring a variety of flavors of food bars, and pack as much real food (that you’ve tested on yourself in advance) as possible, too.

• Bring many gummies and gels for quick energy. A flask or packet of maple syrup will hit the spot if you’re getting hungry. The more calorie-dense the food, the better.

• Anything in a difficult-to-open package you’ll want to open in advance of the start. You don’t want to waste time and energy trying to dig out your calories.

• Big bottles of water and water bladders.

  • You can’t have too much water.

  • Bring a hydration pack and put 2-3 L of water in it, too. Dehydration is dangerous and not worth risking. Practice riding with a hydration pack in advance.

  • People are getting creative with top tube bags and hydration bladders. Whatever you employ, be sure to test using it well before the event.

  • UNBOUND requires riders to start with 2 L of water.

Being Ready for Nature, Staying Pain-free, and Things to Share with Your Cycling Companions

• Chamois creme - single serving packet: Always start with chamois cream applied to your body. Bring extra packets to re-apply. Make sure you have “reapply chamois cream” on the list of things to do at the aid station. Be ahead of your comfort.

• Bug repellent - Bug repellent wipes are easier to manage than the spray, and easier to carry on the bike.

• Sunscreen - start with it on and make sure your support crew helps you reapply. There are small suncreen packets, sunscreen sticks that don’t melt in the heat, and wipes. See which one works best for you, especially after you’re sweaty and tired, so you know what is easiest at aid stops for reapplication.

• Tweezers - These are on the list because they’re especially good for removing ticks and they end up being useful for other things too.

• Tampons - This is a serious matter and could be a very uncomfortable situation for a friend if this item doesn’t apply to you.

Checklist for the aid stations:

• Like with your nutrition and your inability to predict what you’ll feel like eating during the day, also recognize that you won’t necessarily be thinking clearly throughout the day. Prepare a checklist for your support crew and for you to refer to at each checkpoint. You don’t want to roll out and a few miles down the road realize you forgot to do something important!

Curious as to who was watching the live Panel Conversation?

• 146 total people

• 50 from Massachusetts

• 96 from the rest of the US & World

• Attendees who came from outside of the US are from:

  • England

  • South Africa

  • Scotland

  • Philippines

  • Canada

• Who is doing UNBOUND & which distance?
  

  • 5 = XL Distance

  • 42 = 200 Miles

  • 24 = 100 Miles

  • 7 = Shorter than 100 miles

  • 43 = Hope to do it in a future year

  • 11 = Never want to do it