Packing Our Bags, Getting Ready to Go


So what do you take on a long-distance tour pedaling a bike when you have no "sag" and you've got to carry everything?

Good question.  What do you take along and what gets discarded?  The answer varies with each rider, but generally you might want to lug and tug things like . . .   

• bike bags (I'm carrying 5 of them)
• lots of water (I've got 2-70 ounce platypus bladders)
• 2-changes of clothes (including rain gear)
• 1-4 ounce bear deterrent spray (worn on wrist)
• toiletries
• sleeping bag (I've got a goose down--light and warm)
• air mattress (Thermarest)
• stove (I'm using a Jetboil)
• a spork (plastic combination of fork & spoon)

• week's supply of breakfast, lunch, and supper foods
• a 12-ounce can of bear deterrent spray
• a bear barrel (placed 100 yards away from camp site)
• a tent (mine is "Bivy Advanced" by Outdoor Research)
• bear bells (for alerting bears when relieving oneself)
• satellite phone(allows user to send SOS if in trouble)
• emergency bike repair kit
• journal, prayer book, copy of the Psalms (especially the version that translates "enemies" as "grizzly bears")
• body identification bracelet (hey, guys, this arm over here has an ID bracelet on it)

So that's what I'll be hauling along with me--plus or minus a few other items.  What's nice about this part of the tour-planning is that we have to choose as much what NOT to take as what we will take.  

Not a bad idea in our normal day-to-day operations, I think.  Every once in a while, it's good to apply this long-distance tour to our daily life 

• determine what sustains you on your journey and what is simply unnecessary baggage  

• identify what moves you forward and what hinders you from living into the person you know you can become  

• what, from your own resources can you share with others that will nourish, sustain, and encourage them?

So practice Packing YOUR bags and get ready to go!