Whats in Your VQ / CC Mini-Kit

What do you carry in your Race Pack / Kit / Pockets...

(I have my full pack which I could probably run a shop and camp for a couple days if needed ... not interested in that, got it covered

Meaning what do you carry in your pockets / pack more interested in tools etc than nutrition although you can include that.

I am not a finish or die guy so I figure a major mechanical means I get to bag out. Its an event for me not a race, but I will work hard maybe set a PR

I am running an SS with Tubeless for CC

Got me a smaller 2 liter camel back (I need to hydrate pretty good)
Plus I run a bottle of heavy Sustained Energy.
Carry my nutrition, (Bars, Gu, Supplements and 2nd Half Bag-o-Sustained Energy)
I have my multi-tool, single tire iron, small stans, 1 16g CO2 with simple nozzle and a power link (I can slide the rear wheel if needed)
Depending weather just a windbreaker for morn and maybe head sweat.
Little Lite on helmet which I will rip of CK Pt #1 Sunrise at ~6:30AM Day of race..
Keys & (Phone - Undecided)
Full its weighing ~6 1/2 lbs...

Chose not to carry tube, hand pump, boot, patches various other tools and parts etc...... figure if I rip my sidewall that bad probably out... maybe I should go leaner... not sure... I need the water so that's not an options

(BTW Full 3 liter pack fully loaded is at least twice that which I have used on all training rides up to now.. .trying small pack tomorrow)

Soo what in your kit....

and / or suggestions...
(BTW this is my 7th? time...but always looking of suggestions)

 

3CC's and doing my first VQ....pretty much run the same program whether I'm doing a short ride or an endurance ride. I don't profess to be an expert but here it goes:

1. Saddle bag with contents as follows: tire boot, tire levers, (3) allen wrenches for the various allen head sizes, 2 CO2s, tube, chain break, and 2 sets of quick links (I ride an SS sometimes and just have one bag I move between my MTBs)
2. 2 bottles (I swap out at each aid station)
3. Food (variety of gels, shot blocks, granola bars)
4. (2) mustard packs and some endurolytes (let's hope I don't have to use these)....only for CC/VQ or other endurance races/events
5. Light mounted to handlebar that gets ditched at AS #1

 

Steve, time for you to step up and do the VQ(JK)

Saddlebag with tube, patches, tire levers, multi tool. C02 cartridges(2), 2 bottles(refill at aid station 1 and 2), 2 gel flasks, 2 flasks of pickle juice, couple Cliff bars, endurolytes, 1 baggy cooked dices potatoes

Btw, I added this to the: VQ/CC Thread: Questions, answers, tips.

 

Yeah but then I would actually have to commit... This year during training season I went to Costa Rica...Skiing..PCE...worked too much..etc...lots of excuses... Err I mean reasons

Thx

 

You are just better off with a tube.....lots can go wrong that more Stan's may not fix.....but you can always boot/tube it and continue on.



2 Bottles on the bike

Seatbag:
1 tire lever
1 26" tube
2 links of chain
2 Quick links
Glueless patch kit

Jersey Pockets:
Mini Pump
Multi Tool

Extra 24oz bottle

Nutrition.....Bloks, Hammer Gel, Perpetum Solids, Apple slices, extra servings of Skratch for aid stations.

Riding the SS so hopefully mechanicals will be kept away. Same deal, running tubeless with Maxxis Exo tires, so flats....well, we just won't mention it.

 

Training? I wish. I haven't ridden much at all in the past year.

Forgot to mention, quick links kept in small pill box in saddle bag along with extra cleat screws and extra chain links. I only have 1 bottle cage on the Tribal which I plan on riding. So I have carry 1 bottle in my jersey.

 

Forget all the gels, energy bars and whatever food you decide to bring along and just go with some Tailwind in your bottles. Tailwind is legit. I have tried it on multiple training rides solely for CC and this stuff is great. Www.tailwindnutrition.com. Hydration, electrolytes and calories in your water, it cannot get any easier.

 

IF people are refusing to bring tubes, then I think I will stop asking people if they need help/offering my tube.

The extra weight of a tube will not slow you down much, but the penalty of not having a tube could end in a DNF.

 

I normally carry enough to build a bike from scratch... I would never ask someone for a tube on a race.

Was just thinking of trying to lighten the pack / trying something different.. my thought if I tear my Tubeless enough that I need a tube and boot... might be a DNF for me anyways....

I carry a big ole heavy tube and hand made plastic boot made from a bottle, industrial strength... maybe I will change to a lighter tube and patch boot just get me there tube... I have been tubeless for so long and I have only had to tube and boot like once in 5 years of course now I have cursed my self.

Actually a couple extra links of chain good idea for race and full pack especially now that I looked at the SS closer could need that if you dork a couple links.

 

This year is my second VQ on the SS... this year running rigid.
Saddle bag has the usual CO2 cartridges, 29" tube, quicklink, multitool. I may throw in a spare cleat/screw.

Jersey pockets will hold keys, ID, keys, electrolyte tabs (make me nauseas but when cramp time comes on the shale up to Modjeska I dont care), half-a-dozen GUs (w/ caffeine), and some kind of waffle/cracker (Stinger or something similar).

Carry 2 bottles... one with straight water, the other with Cytomax... and will refill with whatever is at the aid stations (I'm surprised with brand/flavor every year).

This year I am adding a long handle T25 zip tied under my seat, as my XX cranks decide to come apart about once a month, and I'm not in to trying new parts a month before a race.

Most importantly, the stretch between WHT and Trabuco I will be carrying a cheeseburger.. never thought I could climb on the SS with one hand while eating, but was successful last year.

 

Is this even with blue Loctite (242)? I only put in about 1200mi per year, but, have never had my spider/ring come loose.

 

HAHAHA I am funny, rode Motorway today on the hardtail...been a few weeks...Land-O-Embedded Sharp Rocks... definitely a tube and boot!

Also found out with a much smaller pack, its cooler and I can use the pockets on the jersey...

 

I started with this at 20+ pounds


moved to this soft phone case and tube in bag, in jersey pocket and 2 bottles


Which holds zip ties (which I've bypassed a broken deraileur cable and patched a tube with), glueless patch, multitool, ID, bee sting medicine, latex gloves, chain quick link, 1 Co2 with inflator and $26 ($1 bill for a boot, $5 bill for a drink and $20 if I need a ride home.)


And if I run out of Co2, there's this neatly stashed in the seat post



No back pack or seat bag.
Thing is, if you have space, you'll use it and things get heavy. When you have no space, you try to figure what you really need.
I as I see it, for CC/VQ, you don't have to pack for a 40-60 mile race, just some consecutive 20 milers.
Food, etc. in other jersey pocket.

 

You must be looking for a lost safe on the trail with all of the keys you are bringing.

 

@ Strobe - Not the spider / ring, but the center bolt that pulls the crank splines together (drive and non-drive sides). I've used the red Loctite, havent tried the blue Loctite... they have only come apart twice in the last couple months. The first time (had a nice "Walk of shame" back to my car) I slapped back together without loctite. Came apart again a few rides later but had the T25 on me... degreased the assembly and put loctite on it, and it hasnt come apart since. However, I carry the T25 for piece of mind... that first time with a long walk back to the car left a lasting impression.

@ Crispy... What's better is I dont even carry my keys; I just bring the clicker and hide the actual keys in the vehicle. Gotta save them grams.....

 

Single big bottle w/ 4 scoops of HEED and many scoops of endurolytes (1 cage and this lasts me energy-wise for 2+ hours).
Single small bottle w/ water only...dilutes the big bottle.
Swap out for same at bottom of Motorway.
Swap out for same at bottom of HJ.
(note...carry (2) ziplock bags full of powder to refill existing bottles w/ neutral water just in case I miss support)
6-serving Hammer Gel Flask
Tube
Micro-tool w/ chain breaker that fits inside a cut-up 29 er tube...along with (2) 16g cartridges and quick-link. Velcro-strap both to seat post back w/ tire boot and quick-patch kit inside folded up tube.
2small and 2large tip ties.
ipod mini with single-ear headphone.
micro-light (50 lumen...100 if overcast since there's no moon at all this year.

I end up w/ two things strapped to my seat tube, two pockets of powder in the left rear jersey pocket, small bottle in the middle of the back pocket, and gel flask in the back right pocket. If it's cool, skip the small bottle. Remember to consume the entire big bottle before any of the three descents...gotta have that energy at the start of the next pedaling section. Minimal, but if I need any more than this, it's time to cut my losses.

Training ride I'll add a full pump, a second tube, Alien Tool Kit, and roll with a 100oz Camelback.

 

If you don't have a quick link pack a large paper clip to hold the chain together during an emergency repair.

 

You need the Loctite that works with grease otherwise it won't hold.

 

Good topic as I have been wondering what to do with myself.

I have an epic that only fits one bottle on the frame, so last year I just rode with a lightened camel back (not all of the usual stuff). This was my first "endurance race" and my first VQ so I didn't really know what to expect and didn't want to not have enough water or something I needed. I did get a pretty bad flat heading up Trabuco and was glad I had the pack with a pump when my C02 got messed up.

So now its a year later and I have everything I need in s small saddle bag: master link, tube patches, C02, multi-tool, etc, and I'm 98% confident I could make all the stops with one bottle on the cage and one in my jersey. But I would still hate to run out, especially on WHT where you are tired, thirsty, its hot, and you spend so much time hiking. So the question I am going over and over is bottle on bike and in jersey or bottle on bike and a small camel back??

 

There is usually water or something at the top of WHT.....need something to wash down the cheeseburger.