Packing for a 24 Hour Bike Ride…
Packing for an event that lasts 24 hours provides the opportunity to forget a lot of things.
Packing for a bike ride that lasts 24 hours results in a very odd assortment of those things.
Tomorrow begins my 24 hour bike riding event, aptly named 24 Hours of Booty. It’s a fundraiser to raise money for the fight against cancer. [Is “fundraiser to raise money” an oxymoron?]
‘24 hours’ is kind of misleading- I’ll be volunteering at packet pickup for 5 hours today, volunteering to help with set-up tomorrow from 8-12, then the ride is from 1pm to 1pm…aka 33 hours of my life will be about 24 Hours of Booty between now & Sunday.
Since I’ll be otherwise occupied, I started packing this morning. It’s the oddest collection of things I’ve ever packed for any athletic event- ever, ever.
Bike Ride Packing List
Let’s see…there’s:
– A tent (in case by any chance I get to sleep)
– Multiple changes of clothes (sweating in 90 degrees for 24 hours? Gross.)
– Deodorant (see above)
– Water bottle, Camel Bak (gotta hydrate!)
– Bike lock (I doubt I need this—who wants to steal my bike? It’s the other people that should watch over their fancy schmancy bikes when I’m around ;))
– Tape (In hopes I can hold my crummy knee together long enough to ride)
– The Stick (because it’s the best thing since sliced bread foam rolling)
– Ice pack (noticing an injury theme yet?)
– Band aids
– Sunglasses
– Bike shoes
– Bike gloves
– Spare tubes
– Brush-ups (which I just happened to have in my suitcase- awesome)
– Headlight/tail light (so crazy 2am drivers can see me)
– Watch (so I can count down the hours? Maybe I should leave that at home….)
– Sweaty bands x2 (my absolute new favorite headband…see below)
So I’m pretty much obsessed with headbands. My head of hair gives new meaning to the word “fly aways”, and I can’t stand having hair in my face- especially when running.
I literally always travel with an assortment of options:
I’ve tried Bondi Bands (which I like for winter but not summer), Under Armour elastics, Lululemon (which I like for daily wear but not sports), and now Sweaty Bands.
Lisa from Sweaty Bands sent me 2 to try out. I think she might secretly know me because I’m in love with the patterns she picked for me- the pink flowered one & the polka dot one, both above. Some of you saw the flowered one at HLS & asked about it!
They have both thick and thin bands, and they both have a velvety underside that keeps the band in place but doesn’t tug at your hair. I’ve pulled them on & off over & over and they’ve yet to stretch out. I’ve been wearing the thin one to workout in (& hide a bad hair day), & the thick one is perfect for biking. (My helmet hair isn’t quite as bad when I have it on;)).
So hopefully having them this weekend will help me stay looking at least a little bit fresh & not like a disaster….ha.
I’ve also got a couple snacks packed, but luckily we get 3 meals (& midnight pizza!) while we’re there (& it looks like they have veggie options!) so we won’t starve- phew!
Have you ever done a 24 hour (or longer) event? Do you have any words of wisdom for me?! What am I forgetting?!!!
