
Update: 2022 gear list for racing the triple crown events is located here.
Katie | Andrew | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|
Sleep system | |||
Quilt | Locolibre 30ºF quilt | Locolibre 30ºF quilt | With DIY shock cord quilt straps |
Pad | Z Lite SOL (cut down) | Neoair X-lite (small) | |
Tent | tent poles | Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL2 | Considered bringing a groundsheet. The floor held up well without one. This tent was fairly new, we’re impressed so far. |
Food/water | |||
Utensil | Light My Fire Ti spork | Sea to Summit spork | |
Water purifier + bladders | Sawyer Squeeze | – | Only needed to filter once on day 2. Would consider just bringing purification tablets. Sawyer bladder leaked after first use. |
Bladder | 70oz bladder | 100oz bladder | Kept in frame bags. Bladders were easier to carry into a gas station than 4 bottles. Ended up buying some disposable bottles for additional capacity in the desert after talking to northbound riders. We had 6L each, which was more than enough. |
Bottles | 1x 20oz | 1x 16oz | |
gallon ziploc for leftovers | – | x1 | |
Compact drawstring bag | x1 | x1 | Drawstring bag was nice to have for extra food, but not comfortable to ride with. Katie started tying it to her aerobars, but it was floppy on rough roads. Something with slightly more substantial straps? Sent one home halfway. |
Bear bag line | – | 40ft | Only used a few times. Sent home in Sargents, CO. |
Camp gear | |||
Lighter/firestarter | – | Bic lighter | |
Toiletries | – | Teeth/lipbalm | Toothbrushes cut in half |
Sunscreen | x1 | – | |
Bear spray | x1 | x1 | Left at Brush Mountain Lodge (out of grizzly country) |
Bug spray | – | x1 | Only used it a couple times. Otherwise we just kept moving or got into our tent. We treated some of our clothes and our tent with Permetherine before leaving. |
First aid kit | x1 | – | Purchased KT tape in Whitefish to address achilles tendon pain and knee pain. We will bring another roll on the next long trip. Constantly resupplying on ibuprofen. |
Wet wipes | – | x1 | |
Butt kit | A&D, hydrocortisone | – | |
Whistle | x1 | x1 | |
Clothes | |||
Bibs/liners | Patagonia liners | Giro Expert bibs | Katie used liners a few days when seams of underwear were causing issues. |
Riding shorts | Patagonia Dirt Craft | Prana Mojo | |
SS wool t | Icebreaker wool | Icebreaker wool | |
Lightweight socks | Pearl Izumi wool | Swrve wool | |
MTB gloves | Giro DND | Giro DND | |
MTB shoes | Specialized Motodiva | Giro Terraduro | |
Helmet | Smith | POC | |
Cap | – | Walz thin cap | |
Sunglasses | Oakley | Spy | Plus clear lens |
Rain jacket | MB Versalite | MB Versalite | Pit zips kept us from getting too warm and helped cut down on layer changing stops. |
Rain pants | Patagonia Houdini | Patagonia Houdini | Water resistant pants wet through in the heavier rain and Katie ripped hers. Ended up buying more substantial waterproof pants halfway. (Andrew was right, buying those pants meant we wouldn’t get any more rain) |
Rain socks | Sealskinz | Sealskinz | Kept feet dry in light rain, had a wetsuit effect in substantial rain. Sent home in Sargents, CO. Might try Rocky Gore-tex socks next time. |
Gloves | Pearl Izumi lobster | – | Lobster gloves were definitely overkill, but they were a nice luxury at times, especially when other gloves were wet. Sent home in Sargents, CO |
Gloves | Giro liners | Giro wool | Katie sent hers home in Sargents. |
Waterproof mittens | eVent mitts | eVent mitts | DIY project. Worked well except for in hours of rain. Need to seal the seams better. |
Latex gloves | x1 | x1 | Brought as an emergency layer under wet gloves, didn’t end up using these. |
Wind vest | Giro | Castelli | Used almost every day |
Buff | REI Wool | Endura Wool | Sent home in Sargents, CO |
Sunsleeves | Pearl Izumi | Pearl Izumi | These are fairly new to us, but we used them almost every day. We didn’t have to apply as much sunscreen, and we used them as an additional layer in the cold. |
Knee/leg warmers | – | Pearl Izumi | Sent home in Sargents, CO |
Extra socks | Icebreaker wool | thick wool | Andrew sent his home in Sargents. |
Down jacket | REI | Montbell EX light anorak | Katie was jealous of the hood on Andrew’s down jacket on cold nights. |
Underwear | Icebreaker wool | Icebreaker wool | Andrew didn’t have a need for his underwear and sent them home in Sargents, CO. Katie brought 3 pairs for riding, but really only needed 2, sent one pair home in Sargents as well. |
LS top | Patagonia Capilene | Icebreaker wool | Sent home in Sargents, CO |
Wool bottoms | Icebreaker | – | Andrew brought knee warmers instead of wool knickers. Happy with that decision for ease of changing. Katie liked having the warm layer for sleeping. |
Warm hat | Smartwool headband | Icebreaker wool | |
Stuff sack | 5L drybag | quilt stuff sack | Kept small clothes items organized, acted as a pillow |
Tool kit/spares | |||
Tubes | – | Schwalbe SV19a x2 | Kept in a small peanut butter jar for protection |
Patch kit | – | x1 | Including plugs and tool, floss and needle, tire boot |
Tire levers | – | x2 | |
Mini pliers/scissors | – | Gerber Dime mini pliers | Mini pliers are a must-have |
Multi-tool | – | Blackburn Wayside | Loved the individual hex wrenches on this tool |
Spare cleats | – | 1 spare set | |
Spare brake pads | – | 2 spare sets | Andrew’s needed to be replaced in Sawtelle, ID. Katie’s never needed to be replaced. Fortunately, both of our bikes use the same brake pad type. |
Sealant | – | 1x 2oz Stans | |
Quicklinks | – | x2 | Plus a few extra chain links |
Chain lube | – | Dumonte Tech | Plus a small rag for cleaning |
Pump | – | Crank Bros Klic HV | Great pump |
Spare spoke | – | FiberFix Spoke | |
Derailleur hangers | – | x1 | Brought a derailleur hanger for Katie’s bike. Andrew’s bike has sliding dropouts, so SS setup was the backup plan. |
Tape | – | duct tape around lube | |
Misc small parts | – | ziploc bag | Extra bolts, zipties, shift cable, super glue, chainring bolt, valve core and valve nut, spare spoke nipples, presta to schrader adapter |
Electronics | |||
Headlight | Garmin UT800 | Sinewave Beacon | Andrew had a SP PD8X Dynamo and a Sinewave Beacon headlight, which has a USB output for charging electronics. We never had to worry about having enough power, but we didn’t do much night riding. |
Tail light | Cygolite | Cygolite | |
GPS | Garmin Edge 1030 + Charge external battery pack | Garmin Edge 1030 + Charge external battery pack | Andrew split the route up into 7 sections, corresponding to the ACA maps. They loaded quickly each morning and turn by turn directions were helpful. It was nice to have a big screen and long battery life. The external battery pack boosted the battery life to 3-4 full days of riding. |
Cache battery | – | Ravpower 12000mah | Charged at resturants/hotels and by the dynamo |
Cables | – | USB-C, micro, mini | |
Headlamp | BD Revolt | BD Revolt | Zip tied to helmet |
GPS tracker | – | inReach Mini | Topped off the rechargable battery a couple times, but probably could have let it die and charged it once. Battery should last 20 days on 20min extended tracking mode. Sent and received messages to friends and family while outside cell coverage (majority of the route). Checked the weather a couple times too. Impressed with the size and functionality. |
Camera | – | Virb Ultra + extra battery | |
Phone | IPX7 rated phone | Lifeproof case | Everything will get wet. We wished we had a bluetooth speaker |
Waterproof bag | – | 3L drybag | Small drybag for non-waterproof electronics |
On the bike | |||
Handlebar bag | – | Advanced Elements “lite” 10L dry bag | Thin dry bags wore through when strapped outside. Front bag survived, but wasn’t waterproof after halfway. We didn’t get any rain after that though. |
Voile straps | x2 | x2 | For strapping things to handlebars |
Handlebar extension | x1 | x1 | Cheap handlebar extension provided support for cargo and protected cables. Katie’s sleeping pad and Andrew’s drybag were strapped to the handlebars |
Frame bag | Custom | Custom | Homemade bags. The OG Dispersed Bikepacking bags |
Seatpost bag | Blackburn | Blackburn | |
Extra cages | Blackburn cargo cage and standard bottle cage | – | Katie lost a bolt and bottle on her fork bottle cage, so more frequent bolt checks would’ve been smart. |
Top tube bag | Alpkit Fuel Pod | Alpkit Fuel Pod | |
Feedbag #2 | Alpkit Stem Cell | Alpkit Stem Cell | |
Bear spray holster | Outvi Possm | Outvi Possm | Katie used the Possm to hold a 1 liter bottle once we got rid of our bear spray. These are great tool rolls when not being used for bear spray. |
Bike | |||
Bike | Focus Raven 27.5 hardtail with Salsa Cutthroat rigid fork | Custom Ti gravel frame with 3T Luteus II fork | We both rode rigid bikes with 2.1″ tires for weight and efficiency. Katie would seriously consider using front suspension with a lockout. Lots of rough descents that beat us up. |
Handlebars | Flat bars with bar ends. ESI grips | Easton EA70 AX drop bars | |
Aerobars | Profile Design T1+ w/ Siren Fred Bar | Profile Design T1+ w/ 50mm risers | Areobars are a must. They got the weight off our hands and gave us another position to ride in. |
Saddle | Brooks Cambium C17 Carved All Weather | Brooks Cambium C13 Carved | |
Tires | 2.1″ Vittoria Mezcals | 2.1″ Vittoria Mezcals | Tires were awesome. Between the two of us we had to plug one tire to fix a slow leak. The tire seemed dry inside, so we probably should’ve added more sealant midroute. We both started and finished on the same pair of tires. |
Wheels | Arch rims with Hope hubs | Arch rim with SP dynamo, carbon rim with Hope rear hub | |
Gearing | 2x 38/26 with 11-36 cassette | 1x 34 oval with 11-42 cassette | No issues with gearing. |


When looking at your bicycle link you know what you guys brought on the trip a lot of that stuff is cut off on the right hand side like I don’t know what bikes you guys had I know what one of you had I don’t know what the other had I’m wondering if you can go through that list again in an email to me no break it up so it’s easy for me to understand so I know what bike carried what gear and who wrote it lol. Thank you very much I really enjoyed the video it done extraordinarily well I can tell a lot of work went into the editing in that type of stuff so that’s really cool that suspended bridge I would’ve been across there in less than 30 seconds because yeah I wouldn’t even stop in for scenery photos lol. Thank you guys for doing all the hard work, and when you guys head for tires would be great you know everything that would be really good to know if I hope to make this ride one day soon please no like where you guys are on your route to you know but anyways I know you mentioned it but how many miles in or whatever but anyway who am I to judge or try to perfect your video I would never be able to do that I’d have to do a photo log.
And just so you guys know Maine has over 8000 miles of ATV trails you know well over that actually and so that would make a nice ride for you guys you could get here like in the end of April and you could ride our trails right up until not October. And if you don’t mind me asking on the personal side of things what is it the two of you do for work thank you and have a great 2023
Hey Clay, sorry you couldn’t read the last column. I just updated the formatting, hopefully it’s easier to see now. Thanks for checking out our video, hope you get to ride the route!