Randoneering: Gear Check List

Do you ever wonder how far you could ride a bicycle? Think, how far can you pedal and pedal and pedal until you couldent pedal any more? 50 miles? 100 miles? 300 miles? While a group of long distance riders call randoneers attempt to answer this question. Randoneering, acording to wikipedia, is long-distance unsupported endurance cycling. It has a series of rides ranging from 200 kilometers (~125 miles)  to a 1200 km (~745 miles) event in France taking place once every four years. Each ride is self supported by the rider themself and must be done within a given time range. 13.5 hours is allowed for the 200 km, while 90 hours is allowed for the 1200 km.

    I recently had the chance to renew my spirit in randoneering with a local 200 km ride. The whether turned out great, and there was a good group of 14 riders participating. In the past I have done a different 200 km ride and a 300 km ride but it has been a few months since I have done a longer ride, so I wanted to get back into randoneering with a shorter 200 km. All went well with the ride taking 10.5 hours.

    

In randoneering there is a lot this entry could focus on, but for this entry I figured I would document the list of items I pack for the ride. I wrote this for a previous ride, but used it again for this ride, and it worked as a checklist for all the gear. Heres the list:

GEAR

• Bike
• Headlamp to be apllied to my head when it get's dark
• Hand pump
• Spare derailer cable
• Patch kit - loaded with chain link, power link, pactches
• Tire Irons
• needle nose pliers
• Chain tool
• Bike front light
• Bike rear light (attached to bike
• Allen wrenches
• Water bottles full of water
• Screw driver for + and -
• Cresent wrench (small)
• Spoke tool
• 3 spare spokes (attached to bike frame)
• Jandd Handlebar Bag

FOOD

• 6 cliff bars
• 3 Gu /quick energy packets
• Packet of Tums

CLOTHES

• Gloves
• Helmet
• Bike shorts
• Shirt
• Light weight jacket
• Bright Reflective Vest

MISC

• Gorrilla tape
• Sunscreen (brought and applied before race)
• Spare batteries for lights
• Pen
• First Aid kit
• Walet with $35 cash + cards
• Ipod suffle loaded with the best motivational music I could find
• Iphone Fully charged
• Ipod/iphone headphones
• Spare bike tube

This was a basic checklist I used for my 200 Km and 300 Km brevets. Yours may vary, but it should give you an idea about what to bring. Since the ride is a long distance, but self-supported the gear you bring is a trade off between weight and having everything you may want. While this wasn't the easiest bike ride I have done, I do plan on doing more of these longer rides. Some future entry could include details about my diet, before, during and after the ride, training before the ride, or just simply the ride itself.


-Matt