I just finished the Telluride to Moab trip with six friends. I feel like we nailed our gear: we used everything we brought and did not really need anything we didn’t bring. We had everything we needed and our total kits weighed about 10lbs each. This list should vary depending on the weather and your mechanical skill set as a group. We rode in August with a good weather forecast.
Clothing
This is what I brought and most group members brought something similar.
- Rain Jacket (Helium by Outdoor Research). Something that is totally waterproof and about the size of a baseball.
- Light insulating layer (Patagonia Down Sweater). Last year, when there was more rain in the forecast, I brought a synthetic Patagonia Nano. A fleece jacket would also work for this layer but I like something that packs down to the size of softball.
- Long sleeve wool or synthetic shirt. I mainly wear this at the hut in the evening.
- Arm warmers
- Synthetic or wool T-shirt or jersey
- Riding shorts with removable chamois
- Long underwear or leg warmers
- Rain pants (I opted to leave these behind as the forecast for our trip looked dry. This is a risk you will have to assess on your own. I would recommend most people bringing them. They should be light weight and not have too low of a crotch.
- Underwear. I wear this under my riding shorts in the evening or under my long underwear.
- Two pair of synthetic or wool socks.
Repair Kit
The repair kit should vary depending on the size of group, the type of riding, and the experience and ability to find creative and safe ways to repair bikes. It will also depend on each groups risk tolerance. These items should be strategically divided among group members. If you don’t have a similar repair kit, you can get most of these items from Hero Kits (www.HeroKit.Com). This list was for our group of 6 riders.
- One to two tubes per rider.
- One set of extra brake pads per rider.
- Two extra spokes per rider (these are very bike specific, ask your bike shop).
- Two patch kits per group.
- One extra tire. This is a good item to zip tie to the frame of the bike.
- Two pumps per group.
- Triflow (more if it is supposed to be rainy, less if dry).
- Small bottle of Stans if you have tubeless tires
- Six zip ties.
- Two good multi tools.
- One light Leatherman with pliers
- One cassette tool (there are adjustable wrenches at the huts so we did not bring one or a chain-whip).
- Extra derailleur hangers. These are bike specific so make sure all bikes are covered.
- One extra derailleur. I always bring one on these long trips and this time we used it.
- Extra cleat screw
Other Stuff
- Head light with new batteries (two sets of extra batteries per group)
- Sunscreen.
- Toothbrush and small toothpaste.
- One baby wipe per day (throw these in the trash not down the composting toilet!).
- Four small samplers of chamois cream.
- Iodine for water purification.
- Bike water bottle and two liter Camelback.
- One full group first aid kit and one smaller one.
- One printed out small deck of Cards Against Humanity.
- Two cameras for the group.
- Food and water for the day
These are the ONLY things I brought and I would highly recommend limiting yourself to something similar. We felt that our packs were not much heavier than they would be on a long remote day ride. Our packs were between 9 and 15 lbs. I used an 11 liter pack (Talon 11 by Osprey) and never filled it up all the way. I also had two small bags that fit on my bike by Revelate Designs and Red Rock Bags. I like to put heavy dense things on the bike and bulky light things in my backpack. Please feel free to give me a call at the office if you have any more gear questions.