Originally Posted by
VT_Speed_TR
Ditch the tent, you should be able to save 3-4 lbs easily. I use a Tarptent Cloudburst 2. Sleeps 2, but has lots of room for 1 and weight is a little over 2 lbs. After that, just minor things:
1) forget the spare batteries. Put fresh batteries in everything. You can always find a store with batteries along the way.
2) Is that Ipod a new one with built in camera? If so, you could forget the camera.
3) Ditch the Camp Lantern, you have the mini headlamp to provide light
4)Alcohol (for the stove) - do some test to determine qty required to boil a cup of water, then multiply by # of meals you'll be cooking. Don't just fill that saline bottle full of alcohol, that's a waste of weight for a short trip. Also I found that the bottles from gasoline stabilizer work better since they have graduations on them. That helps in dispensing the correct amount of alcohol.
Like I said, tent will be purchased soon. Don't have the money at the moment.
1) The batteries are pretty much required for my headlight. I'm paranoid about visibility and I think battery life is only like 15 hours. I want to be sure my headlight works and my paranoia keeps it on flash mode any time I'm riding.
2) It's the older 3G iPhone, so yes, it has a camera, but no, it isn't really any good.
3) I like a lantern. This may change, but it's generally nice to have. I'll see how useful it is on this trip, but it definitely gets used when the wife and I are on a trip.
4) The bottle is not full, but again, I didn't measure it down to the ounce either. I'd rather have too much rather than too little. It's nice if something weighs a couple of ounces less, but it's not nice when that couple of ounces less means you can't boil water for your breakfast on the last day.
And valygrl, I didn't bother putting bike clothes on the list because I will be wearing pretty much everything and the list was mainly for the purposes of loaded bike weight.
I'm a Texas boy, and it will be a cold trip, so I'll be wearing bib shorts, insulated tights, long sleeve merino wool base layer, short sleeve wool jersey, full fingered gloves, descente jacket which is also extremely water resistant (not waterproof) though there is no forecast for rain, wool skull cap, helmet, glasses, wool socks, shoes, shoe covers and that's about it. If I'm sure I'll be having a fire, I'll wash the shorts and tights in the bathroom sink on site and dry them that night. All the wool stuff can take quite a bit of wear before it needs a wash.
Oh and my route will be from my front door, which is close to Six Flags, Texas Stadium, etc. all the way down to Granbury for the night, which is about 65 miles. Then I will wake up and attempt to ride all the way to Dublin and back to Granbury, 90 miles total. Then ride back home.