What to Pack for Single Day Gravel Rides

download (9).jpeg

We use different service kits depending on the type of ride, the amount of time we'll be out, how many people - if any - that we're riding with, and the time of year.

One of the more tricky kits to optimize is the one day kit.  Don't make the mistake of grabbing your road ride saddle bag; a spare tube and one quick-fill won't do the job on a 12-hour mixed ride.

Here's our ideal pack for:

  • Duration of ride:  6-20 hours

  • Ride Terrain Type:  Mixed-Terrain, mountain biking, road riding

  • Location:  Urban to exurban.  Not 100% rural.

  • Time of Year:  Mid-spring to late fall

  • Co-Riders:  Zero or more

Here's what we carry for a typical mixed-terrain all-day adventure ride.  Our ideal kit for this type of ride includes a saddle bag - and jersey pockets - with six categories of equipment:  Safety, repairs, electronics management, nutrition, weather management, and being a good co-rider.

Safety & Emergencies

  • Identification

  • Cell Phone

  • Emergency contact information or Road I.D. bracelet

  • 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.

  • Brave Soldier Crash Pak or similar first-aid kit

  • Cash

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

  • Credit card - 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.

  • 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 cable for the spare battery to the GPS unit.

  • Charging cable for your cell phone.

    • 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!

  • Camera with enough space in its memory card for all of the photos/videos you might want to take

  • Will you need lights? Regardless, bring at least a Superflash rear and a small headlight, both fully charged.

    • 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

  • Two spare tubes

    • New tubes - 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.

  • CO2 cartridge x 2

  • CO2 inflator head.  Here's our favorite CO2 inflator, by far.

  • Mini pump that you can have mounted behind your bottle cage or stored in your saddle bag.

  • Tire lever x 2

  • Patch kit

  • Chain pliers like these: Wolftooth Pack Pliers

  • 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; unfortunately these are becoming fairly common for stem bolts.  A T25 wrench is really important.

  • Chain tool - that works with your chain type:  11-speed, 10-speed, etc.  A good multi-tool will include a chain tool.

  • Powerlock links - at least 1 set that is compatible with your bike’s chain

    • Note SRAM/Shimano links work, generally, on the same-speed chains across different brands of chains. SRAM 12-speed flat-top chains do need the SRAM 12-speed flat-top chain links.

  • Individually packaged alcohol wipe 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.

  • Replacement spokes or Fiberfix

  • 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 here, but money's for spending, tire boots are for tears.

  • If your bike requires a replaceable derailleur hanger, you should carry an extra. Be sure your extra hanger is compatible with your specific bike frame.

  • If you’re running a tubeless tire setup, bring a tubeless plug kit with bacon 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.

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.

  • 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. While this is almost never needed on a supported/hosted ride, we keep it on the list for consideration.

Nutrition

  • Three food bars of various flavors.

    • You don’t know what you will feel like eating so a variety of flavors offers you options.

    • Plan on not having a stop for food/water since it’s never guaranteed that a business will be open or that you’ll take your planned route.

  • Bloks or gel shots for quick energy if you're starting to bonk. A flask or packet of maple syrup will hit the spot if you’re getting hungry. The more calorie-dense the food, the better.

  • Three 26-ounce bottles of water.

    • You can’t have too much water, but you can have too little.

    • Hot day? Bring a CamelBak and put 2-3 L of water in it, too. Dehydration is dangerous and not worth risking.

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 and offer your riding friends.

  • Bug repellent

  • Sun screen

  • Tweezers - especially good for removing ticks and they end up being useful for other things too

  • Facial tissue - for nose blowing or other general clean up

  • Tampons

download (10).jpeg

For the Very Prepared

If you definitely don't want to end your ride early due to a mechanical, electronics failure, or bonking, here's an exhaustive list of gear:

  • Leatherman with tools not included in a multi-tool. Scissors and knives come in handy more often than you can imagine.

  • Singleator or equivalent - for when someone rips a rear derailleur off.  This is the light weight simple solution for a destroyed derailleur.

  • Spare rear derailleur is our preference to a singleator.  It's really nice to have gears when there's 30-miles of trail riding left.  Carrying a spare derailleur is heavier than a singleator but having gears is hard to beat.

  • Spare cables:  One derailleur cable and one brake cable.

  • Zip ties of three sizes

  • Spare tire - seriously, it's come in handy on rides for us.

To get all of this to fit we use an oversized saddle bag; there are many on the market.  Our preference from trying many options is the Ortlieb 11 L saddle bag.