For the ride across America I kept my hands, feet and ears
warm and comfortable
wearing cycling
gloves, shoecovers, cycling
socks
and helmet
caps from GripGrab.
List of equipment
For the ride, I bought a touring bicycle equipped with panniers. I
dropped the idea of carrying a trailer because in New York, I met some
people who have done similar projects. They all strongly recommended me
a touring bike with side bags (panniers). I
bought this bike from Jamis!
Introduction
People who dream about doing a long bike trip like this often ask me about equipment and have ideas about what is necessary and useful that sometimes seem very far off to me. Therefore, I try to bring a list of the equipment that I brought and comment on the different items to share my experiences. So far, the list is still incomplete, so please contact me for more information and requests of elaboration.
It may seem needless to say, but to be able to hold a time constraint, it is crucial that some parts of the equipment are reliable (read: of good quality and most probably expensive), while money can be saved on other parts. I hope this list can help to clarify this issue. Courage and patience are the most impotant things to get started and to finish, but decent equipment is necessary not to get too delayed and/or not to get sick or in some other way have a bad experience.
Bicycle and supplements
| Jamis Aurore 2009. | | |
| Extra stem and a small bar for mounting handle bar bag. | | |
| Shimano SPD pedals | link | |
| Racks | | |
| Fenders | | |
| Lights | | |
Panniers
| 2 Ortlieb Classic rear panniers | | |
| Ortlieb handle bar bag | | |
| 2 Arkel T-28 | | |
Panniers
| 2 Ortlieb Classic rear panniers | | |
| Ortlieb handle bar bag | | |
| 2 Arkel T-28 | | |
Bike clothes
| Jacket: Showers Pass Elite 2.0 | | |
| Gore PacLite Gore-Tex shorts | | |
| Canondale bicycle shorts | | |
| Newline running pants | | |
| Brynje underwear | | |
| Other warm underwear | | |
| Socks from GripGrab | | |
| 2 x ProGel gloves from GripGrab | | |
| 2 x Insulator gloves from GripGrab | | |
| Shark gloves from Gribgrap | | |
| Arctic shoecover from GripGrab | | |
| Orca shoecover from GripGrab | | |
| Hats from GripGrab | | |
| Bell Helmet | | |
Other clothes
| Scarpa boots | | |
| 2*Patagonia fleece | | |
| Fjällräven trousers | | |
| Icebreaker long underpants | | |
| Long underwear from Brynje | | |
| Other long underwear | | |
| Woolen socks | | |
| Underpants | | |
Camping and cooking
| Hilleberg Akto tent | | |
| Western Mountaineering sleeping bag | | |
| Thermarest madras | | |
| Trangia stow | | |
| Gas burner for Trangia | | |
| Mug | | |
| Spoon/fork | | |
| Knife | | |
| Waterproof bags | | |
| Waterproof boxes | | |
| Matches and lighters | | |
| Lightweight can opener | | |
Books and electronics
| USA Atlas | | |
| Diary books | | |
| Fujifilm Camera | | |
| SD cards | | |
| Cell phone | | |
| Garmin Edge 705 | | |
| Litterature | | |
Tools and spare parts
| Screwdriver | | |
| Generic bicycle multitool (thanks Piju) | | |
| Two extra tires | | |
| Three extra tubes | | |
| Spokes | | |
| Gear and brake cables and housing | | |
| Screws for rack mounting | | |