Dean20

I am planning an overnight tour for my wife and I on our tandem. This will be our first such trip, and I am very excited. We have ridden supported rides overnight where we have camped but this will be different. I am asking for your advice on what all you would pack. I of course do not want any mechanical issues to ruin or make this trip any harder than it needs to be.

Day one will be around 90 miles with a planned lunch stop in town and an overnight stay at a nice Bed and Breakfast. They will take us by boat to a restaurant that evening and pick us up for a long tour/ride back after our dinner. Day two will be about 60 miles back home after what I hope is a good breakfast.

I plan to pull my burley nomad behind our Cannondale RT2 with a small sized rear bag as well. I know the burley is probably overkill, but we do not yet have a rear rack and bag and I do not want to purchase one since we already have the burley for now. I have a list of items that I plan on taking, but I just want to hear from the experts to be sure I do not forget anything. We will also have a little extra room so if you have any idea of something that might add a little to our trip, I would appreciate that as well. I want this to go off without a hitch! Thanks in advance.

The route is mostly flat with some small rolling hills around some lakes in Northern Indiana.

tandemracer

A change of clothes and a credit card. What else would you need? Seriously.

mkane77g

I 3000mm cable

Carbonfiberboy 

Rack and bag via 2-day air?

DCwom

We just got back from our 1st overnight tour on our tandem where we packed for a single overnight. Since its summer we kept it simple with cycle shorts, cycle shirts, socks, flat shoes, toothpaste & toothbrush. For dinner we carried decently looking shorts and wore the next day's clean cycling shirt; we didn't plan on eating anyplace to fancy. All of this easily fit in a couple of small front panniers (Delta) that we use on our rear rack.

We carried our normal support gear; tube & tools, cell, wallet, etc in our seat wedge and bento box. In a newly acquired handlebar bag for the captain I carried maps, some snacks, and anything else that needed to be quickly stowed, its good to have some spare space for acquisitions along your ride.

If you drag a trailer then take everything you feel comfortable with, you should have room to spare. I've never pulled a trailer so I can't really say but I'd think you would want to avoid it if you could. BTW the reason we have these small panniers is that we use them for spring & fall riding when we need to carry layers that we add or shed. Like you I didn't want to "gear up" for our first attempt so I used what we had, they worked out just right for a single credit card overnight.

You might want to check out the crazyguyonbike web site and read some of the tandem touring journals there for what folks carry, I found it very helpful in my planning.

steve53mg

If you are bringing tools, or an alien tool pack, I like a drive side spoke, and a one time pin or quick link for your drive chain. As Mkane said, I don't go anywhere without a 3000 mm shift cable...not easy to find in a neighborhood shop. Don't forget handywipes and first-aid.
One article of clothing that I like, is cargo pants with zip-off legs. Columbia or Camp-Mor's own brand makes them in a really light, easy to wash and air dry fabric. I've been out for 10 days and these were my only street pants.
Also, for the future, I would highly recommend a rear rack and panniers and possibly a trunk bag for short trips. Much easier to drag along than a trailer.

mkane77g

You will have no mechanicals. What are the odds of a breakdown on a 2 day bike ride. Enjoy. We have clothes sent UPS to our destination. Have a cell phone also.

Carbonfiberboy 

With any bike I've had, I can't install an ordinary drive-side spoke without a cassette tool, chain whip, torque wrench, the whole bit-a-rooney. So I bring a couple FiberFix spokes. They pack easily, too. OTOH, I've never broken a spoke. I just know from building my own wheels.

Dean20

Thanks for the tips. Like I stated, I realize the burley is overkill, but we have it so we might as well use it. Our typical rides involve hauling our 1-year old in a chariot trailer anyway so pulling a light load in the Burley will be fine. I would not have thought about the long cables, good idea. I guess I just assumed every shop would have them.

I mainly wanted to share my excitement with someone. Living in Indiana there are few people who even care about riding bikes and even then taking an overnight trip on a tandem just sounds simply unintelligent to most folks. It will be our first night away from our son, and our first ride over 45 miles together since he was born. We are excited for the tiny bit of freedom again, even if it's short lived.

Metal Man

My wife and I just did 67 miles on a rail trail to a BnB and back the next day. For me a change of underwear, socks, shorts and a tee shirt to wear out for supper. I had deodorant, a hair brush and we shared a tooth brush. She took a little more, but we carried everything in a medium rack bag and a handle bar bag. I washed my bike shorts and jersey in the room sink and they were dry by morning, she took spares.
We did a shorter trip a few weeks ago and my wife said we better take some towels in case they don't supply them. I said if they don't I'll be air drying in the lobby and I'm sure they will find me some towels. Don't make it a project just go.

andydreisch

Sounds like you already have a good plan of attack given your supported overnight experiences already. Just don't forget the camera and rechargers and such.

90 miles on Day 1 is a stretch on a tandem even if it's generally flat and given that you'll probably have winds to deal with. The second day might be tough on the behind. I'd definitely take two pairs of shorts.

You may want to chronicle your first unsupported overnighter on Crazy Guy. We've done a couple "mini-tours" and we have one coming up soon. Lots of people do mega-tours and it's always interesting to learn from their experiences. Our upcoming tour is here: https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/TandemPCH2010 In any event, even if a one-nighter, yours is still a tour (as your post title suggests) and worthy of a journal.



Whatever you do, take some snaps and post them here.

andydreisch

Uh oh!!!!

mkane77g

Sorry about that. 90 miles a stretch, don't think so, piece o cake. have fun. Yhe cable fits nicely tucked between the seat rails, ah, you have a trailer, bring a spare tire, and your favorite bottle of wine, or, if you drink Bud!

zonatandem

On an overniter you don't need to pack much more than for a daily ride; maybe a change of clothes (you can actually wash quick drying stuff out at the B&B, it'll dry overnight).
Don't bring a bottle of wine . . buy one locally!
Enjoy the weekend TWOgether!
Pedal on!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

DCwom

Now that IS traveling light.