Bike Packer's Packable Kingdom

The multiple-day bike tour is looming ahead.  And you want to know what to bring along on the trip besides socks.  Good question.  This is where most rookies make their first big mistake:  they overpack.  I've traveled--albeit slowly--with cyclists whose packables weighed in at 150 lbs--excluding their body and bike weight.   Try pedal-pushing 400 pounds up Mt. Pisgah.  So, shortly into the tour, my overpacker friends will dump their unused, well-it-looked-good-in-the-Adventure-Cycling-Mag stuff into a box and ship it back home.   That would be around $30-40 postage.  

Of course, others occasionally underpack.  A pair of underwear and a toothbrush won't get you too far down the road, although I once met a crazy Czech guy traveling through Alaska in nothing but a tee shirt and speedo underwear.  Happiest biker I ever met as if it didn't register with him that he'd forgotten to put his pants on that morning.  The drawback of traveling so lightly is that we're forever stopping in at the RX or Walmart or convenient stores to pick up some item that they desperately need.  

As a long-distance packer, here's what I normally assemble for a long-distance tour:

•  a blue Sea to Summit bag for toiletries 
•  a green Sea to Summit for all things electrical (hubs, cords, etc.)
•  a yellow Sea to Summit bag for "civilian" pants and shirt and two bike shorts /shirts, additional     underwear and tees
•  a dark-green Sea to Summit bag for bike battery charger
•  an orange Sea to Summit bag for maps  books, journals, notebooks, reading material
•  a small front bag for wrenches and tire repair tools and pump
•  a small rear pannier saddle for snacks and to quickly store "unlayered" clothes

Of course, there are more items to place under the miscellaneous or honorable mention categories like . . .

a tent (I use the 3-second tent--google it!  Pretty cool!), a self-inflating air mattress, snack bars, electrolyte powder (like Skratch Labs, considered to be one of the best out there), a power strip, a small amount of duct tape wrapped around a wooden pencil, an extra pair of shoes (optional), Mountain House freeze-dried foods, a hydration bladder, bike tour towels, and several pairs of disposable gloves for chain derailment or flat tire repair. 

Remember, long-distance cycling is all about the long haul.  So, don't skimp nor overload your metal steed.  You're not on a race or setting records at the Tour de France.  You're simply going from Point A to Point B and enjoying everything and everyone you meet in between.