Which equipments are the necessary?

[acc]

Everyone here is happy to help but we need more information. Do you have a bike? What kind is it? How much are you used to riding? Where, in general terms, are you riding?

Best wishes,
ann

[lilybay]

@acc 6414 wrote:

Everyone here is happy to help but we need more information. Do you have a bike? What kind is it? How much are you used to riding? Where, in general terms, are you riding?

Best wishes,
ann

Yes ,I have a road bicycle. I learnt to ride since I was 8 years old, so my skill is not so bad. I just want to know which equipment are the necessary for a 200km riding.

[CCrew]

@lilybay 6484 wrote:

Yes ,I have a road bicycle. I learnt to ride since I was 8 years old, so my skill is not so bad. I just want to know which equipment are the necessary for a 200km riding.

200km? Some practice to harden up your behind, and I’d at minimum carry the essentials.. tire repair tools and tube, a multi-tool, and certainly water bottles, etc. Do you know how to do roadside repairs if needed? That’s a distance that could potentially put you pretty far from home and that can tax getting support promptly.

[lilybay]

@CCrew 6490 wrote:

200km? Some practice to harden up your behind, and I’d at minimum carry the essentials.. tire repair tools and tube, a multi-tool, and certainly water bottles, etc. Do you know how to do roadside repairs if needed? That’s a distance that could potentially put you pretty far from home and that can tax getting support promptly.

Thank you! Actually I am a college student, I am going to ride home this summer. I think that would be exciting!

[CCrew]

@lilybay 6491 wrote:

Thank you! Actually I am a college student, I am going to ride home this summer. I think that would be exciting!

It could be fun, but you’re talking 125 miles here. Being young gets you some credits, but it’s still a lot of miles for someone not used to doing a lot of riding.

[PotomacCyclist]

If you’re riding in a group, you can split up some of the bike repair tools. For example, you don’t need a separate bike multitool for each cyclist. If there are six people in the group, maybe you could just bring two multitools for the group combined.

A Camelbak might be a good idea. It’s going to be difficult to bring enough water bottles for such a long ride.

A bento box on the top tube is handy for carb gels, ID, Kleenex, and so on. Definitely bring some food, whether it’s carb gels, carb chews, energy bars (Clif Bars, Power Bars), bananas or whatever your stomach can handle. You should test out different foods on shorter rides. You don’t want to be 60 miles from home when you realize that your stomach doesn’t do well with bananas in the middle of a long ride.

A GPS-enabled smartphone would be useful. Keep it wrapped up in a waterproof bag, in case it rains. (I lost a smartphone last year when it got fried during a heavy downpour.) Bring a paper map and a cue sheet as backups.

Bring sunscreen and sunglasses. A jersey with rear pockets can be convenient for carrying some of these small items, or even an extra bottle of water or sports drink. You may also want to bring a light cycling jacket, especially if you’re going to be riding up in higher elevation. The jacket will also help if it rains.

Increase your riding this summer so that you are prepared for the long trip. You’re not going to enjoy the bike trip if your legs start tiring out after just 30 miles.

Scout out the route online. Ask other people who are familiar with those trails and roads. Is the route suitable for skinny road bike tires? While you could handle short stretches on gravel and crushed stone, would you really want to ride for 40 miles on those surfaces? Would your road bike tires hold up on that surface? Would you hold up to all of that shaking on a rougher surface?

What are the neighborhoods like en route? Will you be riding through some dangerous areas? At what time of day? Riding through a high-crime area is always tricky, but it’s even worse if you’re riding there in the late evening.

Plan ahead and your trip will go much more smoothly. It may seem more fun to be spontaneous, but it wouldn’t be so much fun to get caught out in the middle of nowhere on a flat tire with no food or water and no cellphone reception.

[DismalScientist]

How did I ever survive my youth without all this equipment?

How many days is this ride going to take? If multiple days, be sure you are comfortable riding your daily mileage. If one day, make sure you can ride 75% of the distance comfortably.

As for equipment, bring spare tubes or a patch kit, tire levers and a pump. Bring extra tools to the extent that you know how to use them. Bring water bottles sufficient to drink between places where you can fill up. Bring money to buy food on the way. Bring maps and/or cue sheets if you know how to read and/or use them. If this is a multi-day trip, arrange for changes of clothes and sleeping accommodations. As a concession to modern technology, bring a cell phone. (I seemed to survive my youth without one.) :p

GPS, cycling clothes, etc may increase comfort, but aren’t necessary in my opinion.

[acc]

Agree with PotomacCyclist — have several backup plans in place. Where would you stop overnight if you had to? Where are good and safe places to stop to buy food/water, where are there likely to be bathrooms? How self-sufficient do you have to be? Riding around here I can probably walk blindfolded into a convenience store but out West you can be by yourself for miles and miles. If you’re carrying a load, practice a bit before you start out. I’d hate to get twenty miles down the road and be forced to either abandon things or force someone else to carry my stuff.

ann

[lilybay]

It very kind of you guys! I still have some questions. I want to carry a medicine kit in case of injuring. But the kit is a little heavy and big, so generally what hurts we will get during the road ,and what kinds of medicine we need to prepare. We also would like to bring a tent, at night or when we all get tired, we can put up a tent and have a rest.Dose anyone ever do that?

[DismalScientist]

When I was touring, I would bring a lightweight tent, sleeping bag and foam pad and bungee it to my rack between the panniers. You need to check ahead about the availability of camping on the route before doing this. You generally can’t just set up a tent anywhere by the side of the road. I found that often it was as cheap to stay in fleabag motel than commercial campgrounds and I have a strong preference for beds, no matter how nasty, to sleeping on the ground.
You need to decide about eating. If you are cooking, you might need a stove and equipment to cook and eat.
As for first aid kits, I would stick to band-aids, gauze and adhesive tape and some first aid cream. I’ve never really actually used a first aid kit on a bicycle trip and, if I had to, I would likely use clean clothing for bandaging in a pinch.

[PotomacCyclist]

I bring those individual antiseptic wipes in the bento box. You can find them at any drugstore. The individual packets are about the size of a credit card. Good for cleaning up minor scrapes.

I don’t know about bringing anything else. Maybe gauze? Hopefully someone else has a better answer.

I’ll have to disagree with the post above about cycling shorts. While you certainly don’t need to wear a bike jersey (I never do), bike or triathlon shorts will help quite a bit on longer rides. Cycling in running shorts can result in a lot of chafing… down there. I’d also recommend something like Chamois Glide, Body Glide or a similar product, to protect against chafing.

[DismalScientist]

I’m not anti-biking shorts. I wore them for long rides and touring. It’s a question of how much you want to invest for a multi-day 125 mile ride.

[Author]

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