Tom Stormcrowe

First point: Keep it light weight

Basic camping needs:

• Sleeping pad, Thermarest (Expensive) or Closed Cell foam (Cheap), both are light weight, Thermarest packs smaller
• Stuffable camping pillow
• Sleeping Bag
• Lightweight tent or tarp tent.
• Single Burner backpacking stove
• Small cooking kit

Food:
Go lightweight, Mountain House makes some pretty good meals, just don't mess with the Freeze Dried eggs. They taste ok, but have the consistency of leather! Hydration and snacks will be needed as well, but can be replenished along the way.

Raingear, well ventilated, a rain cape or well vented rain suit. Shoe covers are also nice.

Clothes:
A nice pair of Crocs make great camp shoes after a day in the pedals! A Pair of camp shorts, a couple of jerseys, a couple of shorts or bibs. Extra socks, personal hygiene stuff.

Bikes:
Not especially important as to type, but a list of tire/wheel sizes would be helpful, so we can have extra tires/tubes on the SAG. Have a frame pump or other airing system.

BDinger, here's where you can be extra help, if you get that truing stand, emergency spoke repair!

More later and suggestions are of course welcome!



If we have a SAG vehicle, weight isn't as important, by the way. (We should have a vehicle though!)

Scummer

From my experience riding in the massif central in France with self sufficient gear the heaviest and most important gear is: Water!
My friend and I used to carry 6 liters of water each in our saddle bags. This would last for about 2 days max, sometimes only one day, depending on how heavy the climb was.
Additionally we had one pair of underwear, cooking gear and a sleeping bag. We did not take a tent. If it rained we made a cover out of a rain cape.
For food it was mostly baguettes with different kinds of cold cuts and some cookies for dessert.

Tom Stormcrowe

Very good point and I agree! It can be HOT in Iowa.

Caincando1

Maybe one of the people that have been on the ride can chime in. Is there food available all long the course or will some food need to be brought with? Also will there be watering stops along the daily ride or will we need to carry a full days water?

JumboRider

There is food available at the towns. There are sag vehicles that service everyone, but that means it can be a long time before help comes along if we don't have our own. Showers will be available in town. Sometimes supplied by the race in portable fashion and sometimes by the town for small fee.

Army training packing list:
Toilet paper. Lots and lots of corn in Iowa
Prophylactic non lubricated. Used to encase the toilet paper and socks (not sure what to use in our case)
Dry socks.
Pencil with tape rapped around it.
Did I mention toilet paper?

chunkyd

Jumborider - is that the Mac Guyver packing list? heheh could you make a rain jacket from a Prophylactic and a pair of socks but would also double as a machine gun. lol

Tom Stormcrowe

TP falls under the Hygiene category.

Wet Wipes are great also if you are in a "Dry camp", not really connected with RAGBRAI, but a good touring tip anyhoo!

JumboRider

I saw a wad of fresh tp sold for $40 bucks once. I have also taken a snow bath on purpose.

fifthcircle

If we have a vehicle, weight is not a big deal. Food is not a biggie either. As long as you have plenty of water and snacks, you should be fine. There will be plenty of spots to eat all day every day. That is why the small towns like RAGBRAI to come through. It brings in a ton of money in one short day.

If we don't have a vehicle....I am not sure how I will go. I don't have a touring setup on my bike. I would have one HUGE backpack

JumboRider

We have a volunteer already for the sag. It is still a year away so we will need to closer in to dial it all in.

BeckyW

I found this interesting... and funny. I know it's WAY ahead, but it's so exciting to think about (when I can't be training for it!)!

https://www.bikeiowa.com/asp/misc/packinglist.asp

flip18436572

Each of the towns you stay at will have food galore waiting for you to buy and there will be people setup along the way with ice/water/fruit/corn/breakfast foods/drinks/corn/snacks/ice/water/corn/fruit/corn. Did I forget to mention corn. You will see it a million different ways for sale and ready to eat. If it comes through Red Oak, I will probably skip riding that day and setup and southern boil stand (shrimp/potato/corn boiled together in a spice).

CardiacKid

I believe they will transport 1 large soft bag for you to every overnight stop. You can attach your tent and sleeping bag to the bag. I would recommend you spring for something a little more comfortable than a Thermarest. REI has a 3.5 inch thick pad, they call the Base Camp model, which is a lot more comfortable than a Thermarest and a lot cheaper. It weighs about twice as much, but you can fit it in the bag the organizers transport. I have slept on a skinny pad after a long, hard day and I can tell you it isn't fun. A comfortable night's sleep is right up there with hydration as a top priority. I also recommend REI's Half Dome, 2 man tent. For us Clydes, that translates to a 1 man tent.

Caincando1

So basically all you need is cash instead of food. Sounds great in threory, but might get a little expensive after a week. I might have to do a little of both. If I bring the wife and motorhome, I won't have to worry, I(we all) will eat like kings and queens. MY wife is a great cook and loves cooking for groups, so she would make a great team chef.

fifthcircle

PLEASE COME I will chip in for gas/food/and other expenses!

Caincando1

Careful what you wish for. You might end up weighing more after the ride than you did when you started. There's a reason why I used to weight 350lbs. Shacking up with a good cook has it's draw backs.

BeckyW

You know, I was worried about the camping aspect of this at first - whether I'd be well enough rested to ride again the next day. But if there's room for things like bulkier camp mattresses, and if we have good food... this could be quite comfortable!

I'd definitely pitch in for either/both of those resources! I can see how having our own SAG transport could make things much easier - I bet sorting your stuff out from everyone else's is a nightmare.

Wogster

Water is heavy, 1L weighs 1kg, (~2lbs per US quart), one should have enough to drink 1L per hour of saddle time, more if your a heavy sweeter or the temperature feels like more then 30C. This is probably the best use for a SAG wagon, in that the SAG can carry much of the water supply.