Packing for a Tour
If you’re riding on an organized cycling tour, there is usually a van to carry your supplies from one hotel or camping site to the next. When you’ve organized the tour yourself, with friends, you’ll need to know a thing or two about packing.
There’s more to it than simply grabbing a couple of panniers to your bike and cramming them full of clothes and gear. The important things to remember are:
1. Keep both sides of your bike balanced.
If you doubt the importance of this, try loading the panniers unevenly. Double the weight on the left, then try to ride. Feel that strange lilt toward your left? Notice how much harder it is to control the bike? You want balance. It’s important on a long, flat stretch, but even more important on a turn.
2. Keep the center of gravity low – with most of the weight over the rear tire.
This is why panniers hang low over the wheels. But that’s not enough. Take it a step further. Go so far as to put the heaviest gear in the bottom of the bags. It will reduce your center of gravity even more.
If you don’t have much, you can put it all in panniers on each side of the rear wheel. But if you have a lot to carry, be sure to divide the weight, putting about 30% of the weight on your front wheel and 70% on the back.
You’ll know when you’ve got it right because too much weight on the front will make it hard to steer. Too much on the back will lift the front wheel a bit and make it feel loose.
3. Make sure the things you need as you ride are easy to reach.
Unless you plan to interrupt your ride to dig out a powerbar every hour or so, it’s a good idea to keep it in your pockets or in a small, accessible handlebar bag. The same is true for glasses, maps, lip balm, food, gels or anything else you’re going to need on the way.
You may be willing to stop to put on your shell, change to warmer gloves or double-check the map. But they should be kept within easy reach to make the stop quick for you and your companions.
Two principles prevail among packers. There are packers who want to take everything they might conceivably need and packers who prefer to take as little as possible.
After you’ve covered the essentials – extra layers, food, water, maps, spare and basic gear – you’re probably safe to take about half of the rest of the stuff you think you’re going to need.
Chances are, you won’t need it often, if at all, but you’ll be lugging it every kilometer of the way! Give yourself a break. Leave it home.