Packing for the C&O bike tour

So what should you pack for a week-long tour? That’s something  that’s different for everybody, but this is what I packed. My load is  fairly heavy, but I don’t need to carry much food or any cooking gear  since we’ll be near restaurants most of the time.

I definitely could have packed fewer clothes and worn things dirty  more often. I know there’s a laundromat at one of the campgrounds, so I  brought some detergent pods and I’m hoping that will let me freshen  things up partway through the ride. Multiple pairs of bike shorts are  essential, since that’s something you definitely don’t want to wear  sweaty and dirty. It’s rough on the material and invites infections.

I actually swapped out the bug spray for a smaller, more concentrated  container. I packed a big tube of chamois butter, too. I’m really  looking forward to wiping down with baby wipes in the heat of the day or  right before bed if showers aren’t available. I haven’t used dry  shampoo before, so I’m interested to see how that works out!

The outlet adapter can charge up to five things at once (two on the  three-prong adapters, two via the USB ports, and one micro USB that’s  integrated into the device). This will be handy when we stop for food  and want to juice up. The cycling computer will help conserve the  battery in my phone and has offline maps. Having the Kindle for downtime  is something I’m really looking forward to.

All the basics for sleeping here! I’m actually borrowing Kathryn’s  tent this time around, since we’ll need to sleep in it the first night.  The other nights, one of us will sleep in her hammock. The hammock  straps pictured are mine, and the hammock sits in the Salsa Anything  Cage up front (not pictured in this post). One of the secrets to more  comfortable camping is a decent pillow. It makes a world of a  difference!

This is mostly breakfast and snack food for the ride. We’ll be buying  lunch as we go, and I plan to eat leftovers for dinner each night. I  included a koozie in case we want to bring cold beverages back to the  campground, and I also brought a silicon pint glass (not pictured) in  case we have anything I might not want to drink out of a can.