Beginner's Audax kit - What would you take?

[zigzag]

those rides will take only few hours, so you will not need to carry much stuff. something that tells you where to go (routsheet/gps), multitool+puncture repair kit, small snack and 1-2 bottles of water. if the weather forecast is not great, take a waterproof layer - you can put it either in a small bum bag, drawstring bag or tie it to the saddle rails with a toe straps.

 

[PpPete]

No one has mentioned first-aid kit yet. Used mine twice last year - once on myself, once on a riding companion, both times on rides much shorter than a 100 km audax - and very necessary to effect "temporary repairs" on injuries that subsequently required A&E visits for stitches.

Doesn't have to be big or heavy - just a couple of big (10 cm x 10 cm ) wound dressings, small crepe bandage, roll of elastoplast. Don't bother with commercial small kits - they don't have big enough dressings and full up with lots of un-necesary cr@p.

 

[yello]

In truth, I never carry a first aid kit these days. I used to but always had a problem knowing exactly what to carry in it... operating table, MRI machine, etc... nah, sorry, just being silly, no point being made

I carry ibuprofen (tablets & gel) on longer audaxes because I reckon, from experience, they'll be the things I'll most likely need. But I ought carrying dressings/bandage of some kind too.

So, agreed, it's one of those things that would prove damned useful if you needed it!

 

[Nuncio]

After failing to learn from my wasp/bee sting on the Mille Cymru, a similar sting on last weekend's 300 means that on Summer rides I will be packing anti-histamine cream, anti-histamine tablets and will probably look to use anti-insect spray on the french ride. The reaction to the sting above my knee included swelling from the top of the thigh to the ankle and an enforced few days off the bike. Fortunately, the worse effects of the reaction did not kick in until several hours after I'd finished.

 

[DooBlood]

No one has mentioned diarrhoea tablets...

 

[yello]

...or salt tablets! The list is, in fairness, endless!

You never know what you'll really need until you need it. And one persons needs will be different to another's (I don't need to take an inhaler for instance). The art of knowing what you'll need to take is probably one you'll refine as your experience grows but there's always going to be an element of chance and luck to it. Always. The day you don't take a crank puller is the day you'll need it, sort of thing.

One shouldn't obsess about it all. There's a basic list of things to cover most likely events and/or needs but beyond that... how much space have you got?

 

[zacklaws]

Levels, multi-tool, tube(s) and patch kit should go in a small saddle pack -

Levels!!! What do you need a level for? I think most of us know how to recognise a hill when we see one, unless your planning on doing a bit of bricklaying enroute and I suppose the multi-tool also has a trowel built in too.

Skittles, Levels, whatever next. You Audaxers are a weird lot, I've always wondered what they carry in their bags when I'v done one. Now I know, the truth is out.

 

[yello]

gosh, a spelling mistake, how amusing

 

[badgerjockey]

he meant Revels....

I think I should also carry enough space for my pipe, a 1/4 Oz of rough shag and a spare beard...

 

[badgerjockey]

Can you also get patch kits for sandals?

 

[ColinJ]

Fellow CycleChatter tubbycyclist suffered a wrecked tyre on a recent forum ride in the Yorkshire Dales. We didn't have a spare between 14 of us. So ... it might be worth considering carrying a folding spare tyre, and if not, at least carry a tyre 'boot' (cut from a scrap tyre) and a length of duct tape (wrap the tape round itself until it is about the size of a matchbox).

If your multi-tool doesn't include a chain-tool then carry one of those as well. If you don't carry one, a broken chain is a real show-stopper. Over 15 years or so, I have fixed broken chains for 3 riders, and 2 other riders have fixed their own on my rides so it isn't something that happens regularly, but it does happen and not just to old chains - one was on a bike that had only done 200 miles!

I'm a fan of GPS navigation so I'd suggest adding one of the Garmin models to your list! It is perfectly possible to navigate without one, but it is great never having to worry about getting lost, and being able to enjoy the scenery without having to keep looking at your bike computer and route sheet to keep track of where you are.

 

[Tynan]

I was about to throw in tyre on the basis that we didn't have enough to collapse a removals van yet, bag of peanuts is my answer to salt

Colin, you'll be thrilled to hear that I've just loaded the DD track in with a waypoint for every significant junction, quite frankly, after following the route on a OS online map I was stunned I'd managed the route three times by nothing other than following others and waiting at junctions for a group decison, not this year, oh no

atfer two snapped chains, one of them after hours and far from home, I carry a breaker and a magic link, that's all I need isn't it? I won't need links will I? I've done in the front hall with a cup of tea, not sure I fancy it in the dark, it's bloody fiddly getting the pins out, likely because it's a ten speed chain and the breaker is 8 speed I suspect, my current chain is very very worn

 

[asterix]

Team car, at least one camera crew and vehicle per news channel, medical back up and legal advisers.

 

[ColinJ]

Colin, you'll be thrilled to hear that I've just loaded the DD track in with a waypoint for every significant junction, quite frankly, after following the route on a OS online map I was stunned I'd managed the route three times by nothing other than following others and waiting at junctions for a group decison, not this year, oh no

My life is not so sad that such news is enough to thrill me, but I am indeed very pleased for you!

atfer two snapped chains, one of them after hours and far from home, I carry a breaker and a magic link, that's all I need isn't it? I won't need links will I? I've done in the front hall with a cup of tea, not sure I fancy it in the dark, it's bloody fiddly getting the pins out, likely because it's a ten speed chain and the breaker is 8 speed I suspect, my current chain is very very worn

A Powerlink/magic link is my first choice too. I used to carry two but I haven't replaced the one that I donated to my pal. It is pretty unlikely that you would need more than one in a given ride anyway.

I don't think that there are different chain tools for different speed chains, but I could be wrong. There are definitely different Powerlinks though. I've always used the right type so I don't know what would happen if you tried using the wrong one. (I suppose a narrow link wouldn't fit a wider chain, and a wide link might get jammed on a narrower chain system?)

Rejoining a chain in the dark without a Powerlink could be fiddly. You have to be really careful not to push the pin all the way out when removing damaged links because it is extremely difficult to get it back in again. (I had to do it once and it was a pig!)

 

[ColinJ]

Team car, at least one camera crew and vehicle per news channel, medical back up and legal advisers.

I must own up to carrying far too much stuff on my early 200s but then I remembered that I'd done 140 mile non-audax rides with just my normal Camelbak bag's worth of kit ... What difference did it make that I was on an audax ride!