Touring - Supplies for long and short tours

My darling and I are planning a tour to LA and Santa Cruz respectfully from San Francisco in the near future, but I suggested that we do a test run of 40 miles to see where we are both at physically. (I know that I could do it, I've done it - but she was hurt earliar this year and could not cycle for some time) But what we were wondering is what should we take with us? I wrote up a brainstorm and here's where its at;

2 luggage racks
4 water bottles & cages on the frames
1 small pack per bike for tubes/patch kits (I suggest three tubes per bike for the LA trip)
1 pack per bike w/ small cache of supplies (rudimentary First Aid, supplimental food stuffs, map, journals)

We shall also have our bags (which are Chrome messengers bags) which we can put some supplies in. Mostly, we would like to travel light and use our wits and cash to find necessary supplies given circumstances.

So, any more ideas for items and supplies? Did my brainstorm overload our bikes?

She's riding a 1980-something Schwinn Super Le Tour and I am riding a 1974 Motobecane Grand Jubile.

Just a couple of questions:

How much riding have you done with the messenger bags and will they be truly comfortable after 40mi, and particularly for your wife, who may need to be unimpeded if she is still in extended recovery?

Why the racks if you have the messenger bags? I know it's a bit of a vice-versa question with the one above, but I would opt for a rack bag of some sort (even a backpack bungee-corded to it) rather than the messenger bags.

I am never going to begrudge anyone carrying extra water bottles, but my impression of that part of California is that fluids of some sort are available at every gas station and convenience store, and you may not need to carry all that extra water from the start.

I have done extensive riding with my messenger bag and find it to be perfect for long rides, however she dislikes hers. Her knee (which was hurt in about May or April) has recovered since then, however she has upper back issues - so she may not use a backpack of any sort. We may, therefore, outfit her bike with the rack and bags. We don't have much money so we're getting only what is necessary.

As for the water, we really don't like bottled water for a multitude of reasons I won't go in on here. Plus, if we have iodine tablets or a filter we can get water anywhere in a pinch if we need it. (Gross taste aside)

I should also say that we have a pump on us, almost always around town and we will have it on our trip - whichever one we embark upon.

If you haven't got much money and don't want to take camping gear, I don't see how your are going to handle the distance between Carmel and San Simeon. Unless you are very strong riders, you will not be able to make it between these two places without either camping or staying in relatively expensive accomodations.

There is cheap, state park camping all along the California coast north of Santa Barbara. However, it can be cold, windy, and foggy so a tent is necessary. Also, with the exception of Big Sur, there isn't much to eat on the above mentioned stretch, so a camp stove is a nice addition.

Ray

Could get a trailer and give her the lighter load? I'd say try to mimic the real thing. All the gear you'd take doing the actual tour. From San Francisco. I've done that tour. I'd suggest go one day into Big Sur. That's a pretty arduous day.

My packing list:

http://www.machka.net/packinglist.htm

And see photos at the bottom of the page for my setup.