# Beginner's Audax kit - What would you take?



## badgerjockey (10 Jul 2011)

So, I've got the bike, now I want to work up to my first century and complete a couple of audaxes this year. 

Trouble is, what do I need in the way of kit? 

I am guessing some sort of a bag, either racked or saddle is necessary - what do people use? 

Off the top of my head, this is what I'd put in it: 

-flapjacks 
-skittles 
-multi-tool 
-spare tube(s) 
-waterproof shell 
-pump or air cartridges 
-map 
-emergency tenner 

anything else? 

Cheers!


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## Svendo (10 Jul 2011)

Pen/pencil to write answers to information controls.
Tyre levers, it's always twice as difficult in the wild as in the kitchen/shed.
If long distance consider puncture repair kit (solution and patches or self adhesive patches).
Pump, CO2 cartridges optional extra.
Mobile Phone.
Consider a cash card.


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## vernon (10 Jul 2011)

That's more or less it.


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## Banjo (10 Jul 2011)

Unless your using GPS some sort of route card holder is usefull. Some people just elastic band them to their arm. I prefer to have it ontop of the stem on a homemade holder.,


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## zacklaws (10 Jul 2011)

hazzeryoda said:


> -skittles



Skittles! Your supposed to be out for a flaming bike ride, not carrying a compendium of games with you and stopping by the road side now and again for a game of skittles, whatever next.

But what would come in useful as I have found on Audaxes, is a waterproof map holder, and also a lamminator for laminating route cards, providing you get them at home before you ride. It always seems to rain on Audaxes.


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## Baggy (10 Jul 2011)

Think the above posts have it covered, although I also take Ibuprofen, wet wipes and workshop gloves.


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## ACS (10 Jul 2011)

Chain power links
Cable ties
Toe straps (emergency strapping; handy for lashing things down)
Spare brake / gear cable
tyre boots

Sun tan lotion if taking part in a Scottish event


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## badgerjockey (10 Jul 2011)

Brilliant, thanks for all this.

And what bag do you all pack it into??

H


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## rusty bearing (10 Jul 2011)

Have used a Camelback before but now I've got a nice shiny Tortec rack and use a top bag on that. Got a good deal so I couldn't resist.


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## YahudaMoon (11 Jul 2011)

Camping Stove/ gas / empty tin can for boiling water and ground coffee
Lights
Spare socks incase it rains (I hate wet feet)
Bonk food
Doss bag (extream distances only) though I did fail a audax once as I was so tired and fell asleep on a bench on the way home. I was cold and had'nt taken my doss bag.


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## ACS (11 Jul 2011)

I use a Carradice Barley hung off a Brooks B17 supported by a Bagman Support - Sport 

The support stops the bag swinging around.


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## yello (11 Jul 2011)

You've got most of it but, yes, tyre levers are an essential. 

Levels, multi-tool, tube(s) and patch kit should go in a small saddle pack - nothing fancy, several makes to choose from and all do the same job. If you look at one of the brand names (Topeak, etc) then you can't go far wrong. You could just pop into your LBS and buy whatever they've got. You could save a couple of quid buying on-line but I'd not bother at that price (£10-£15).

I personally use the medium sized Ortleib saddle bag but that's because I tend to carry more stuff for longer audaxes - you don't need something that big and expensive for a 100km.

For the other non-tool items, when I started audax I just fixed one of those 'bum bag' things to my bars. Plenty big enough for brevet card, phone, cash, phone card, camera, munchie bars, pen, etc. In fact, I used the same bag for several years. I didn't buy a 'proper' bar bag until a couple of years ago... which I wouldn't actually use for a 100 these days, I just carry everything else in my jersey pockets!

Without wishing to sound blasé or gung-ho, you don't really need a lot of stuff for a 100km audax. Little more than you'd take with you all the time (certainly tools & tubes-wise). The biggest factor is weather - do you need an extra layer/waterproof etc? In good and stable weather, you can pretty much stick stuff in your shirt pockets and go.


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## vorsprung (11 Jul 2011)

If you are doing a 100km or 200km ride then take the usual stuff with you for fixing a flat and tightening up the bolts
300km the same but most times of year you need to be able to read the map in the dark, lights on the bike, spare batteries etc become an issue
400km and up the clothing needed is the extra, as you are going round the clock and the weather may change you need something for all seasons


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## PpPete (11 Jul 2011)

One advantage of a bar bag is that they often have a transparent top - supposedly for maps, but in reality, whilst too small for maps, they are often right size for a route sheet. I've been using a cheap & cheerful one that I got off ebay for a £5 - and subsequently modified with a R&K bracket. It has worked very well for my first couple of seasons audax (100 km and 200 km ) so long as I resist the temptation to overfill it.


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## User169 (11 Jul 2011)

I'd carry an ID card with an emergency contact number and any medication requirements.


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## zigzag (11 Jul 2011)

those rides will take only few hours, so you will not need to carry much stuff. something that tells you where to go (routsheet/gps), multitool+puncture repair kit, small snack and 1-2 bottles of water. if the weather forecast is not great, take a waterproof layer - you can put it either in a small bum bag, drawstring bag or tie it to the saddle rails with a toe straps.


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## PpPete (11 Jul 2011)

No one has mentioned first-aid kit yet. Used mine twice last year - once on myself, once on a riding companion, both times on rides much shorter than a 100 km audax - and very necessary to effect "temporary repairs" on injuries that subsequently required A&E visits for stitches. 

Doesn't have to be big or heavy - just a couple of big (10 cm x 10 cm ) wound dressings, small crepe bandage, roll of elastoplast. Don't bother with commercial small kits - they don't have big enough dressings and full up with lots of un-necesary cr@p.


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## yello (11 Jul 2011)

In truth, I never carry a first aid kit these days. I used to but always had a problem knowing exactly what to carry in it... operating table, MRI machine, etc... nah, sorry, just being silly, no point being made  

I carry ibuprofen (tablets & gel) on longer audaxes because I reckon, from experience, they'll be the things I'll most likely need. But I ought carrying dressings/bandage of some kind too.

So, agreed, it's one of those things that would prove damned useful if you needed it!


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## Nuncio (12 Jul 2011)

After failing to learn from my wasp/bee sting on the Mille Cymru, a similar sting on last weekend's 300 means that on Summer rides I will be packing anti-histamine cream, anti-histamine tablets and will probably look to use anti-insect spray on the french ride. The reaction to the sting above my knee included swelling from the top of the thigh to the ankle and an enforced few days off the bike. Fortunately, the worse effects of the reaction did not kick in until several hours after I'd finished.


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## DooBlood (12 Jul 2011)

No one has mentioned diarrhoea tablets...


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## yello (12 Jul 2011)

...or salt tablets! The list is, in fairness, endless! 

You never know what you'll really need until you need it. And one persons needs will be different to another's (I don't need to take an inhaler for instance). The art of knowing what you'll need to take is probably one you'll refine as your experience grows but there's always going to be an element of chance and luck to it. Always. The day you don't take a crank puller is the day you'll need it, sort of thing. 

One shouldn't obsess about it all. There's a basic list of things to cover most likely events and/or needs but beyond that... how much space have you got?


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## zacklaws (12 Jul 2011)

yello said:


> Levels, multi-tool, tube(s) and patch kit should go in a small saddle pack -



Levels!!! What do you need a level for? I think most of us know how to recognise a hill when we see one, unless your planning on doing a bit of bricklaying enroute and I suppose the multi-tool also has a trowel built in too.

Skittles, Levels, whatever next. You Audaxers are a weird lot, I've always wondered what they carry in their bags when I'v done one. Now I know, the truth is out.


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## yello (12 Jul 2011)

gosh, a spelling mistake, how amusing


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## badgerjockey (13 Jul 2011)

he meant Revels....

I think I should also carry enough space for my pipe, a 1/4 Oz of rough shag and a spare beard...


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## badgerjockey (13 Jul 2011)

Can you also get patch kits for sandals?


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## ColinJ (13 Jul 2011)

Fellow CycleChatter tubbycyclist suffered a wrecked tyre on a recent forum ride in the Yorkshire Dales. We didn't have a spare between 14 of us. So ... it might be worth considering carrying a folding spare tyre, and if not, at least carry a tyre 'boot' (cut from a scrap tyre) and a length of duct tape (wrap the tape round itself until it is about the size of a matchbox).

If your multi-tool doesn't include a chain-tool then carry one of those as well. If you don't carry one, a broken chain is a real show-stopper. Over 15 years or so, I have fixed broken chains for 3 riders, and 2 other riders have fixed their own on my rides so it isn't something that happens regularly, but it does happen and not just to old chains - one was on a bike that had only done 200 miles!

I'm a fan of GPS navigation so I'd suggest adding one of the Garmin models to your list! It is perfectly possible to navigate without one, but it is great never having to worry about getting lost, and being able to enjoy the scenery without having to keep looking at your bike computer and route sheet to keep track of where you are.


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## Tynan (13 Jul 2011)

I was about to throw in tyre on the basis that we didn't have enough to collapse a removals van yet, bag of peanuts is my answer to salt

Colin, you'll be thrilled to hear that I've just loaded the DD track in with a waypoint for every significant junction, quite frankly, after following the route on a OS online map I was stunned I'd managed the route three times by nothing other than following others and waiting at junctions for a group decison, not this year, oh no

atfer two snapped chains, one of them after hours and far from home, I carry a breaker and a magic link, that's all I need isn't it? I won't need links will I? I've done in the front hall with a cup of tea, not sure I fancy it in the dark, it's bloody fiddly getting the pins out, likely because it's a ten speed chain and the breaker is 8 speed I suspect, my current chain is very very worn


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## asterix (14 Jul 2011)

Team car, at least one camera crew and vehicle per news channel, medical back up and legal advisers.


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## ColinJ (14 Jul 2011)

Tynan said:


> Colin, you'll be thrilled to hear that I've just loaded the DD track in with a waypoint for every significant junction, quite frankly, after following the route on a OS online map I was stunned I'd managed the route three times by nothing other than following others and waiting at junctions for a group decison, not this year, oh no


My life is not so sad that such news is enough to thrill me, but I am indeed _very pleased_ for you! 



Tynan said:


> atfer two snapped chains, one of them after hours and far from home, I carry a breaker and a magic link, that's all I need isn't it? I won't need links will I? I've done in the front hall with a cup of tea, not sure I fancy it in the dark, it's bloody fiddly getting the pins out, likely because it's a ten speed chain and the breaker is 8 speed I suspect, my current chain is very very worn


A Powerlink/magic link is my first choice too. I used to carry two but I haven't replaced the one that I donated to my pal. It is pretty unlikely that you would need more than one in a given ride anyway. 

I don't think that there are different chain tools for different speed chains, but I could be wrong. There are definitely different Powerlinks though. I've always used the right type so I don't know what would happen if you tried using the wrong one. (I suppose a narrow link wouldn't fit a wider chain, and a wide link might get jammed on a narrower chain system?)

Rejoining a chain in the dark without a Powerlink could be fiddly. You have to be really careful not to push the pin all the way out when removing damaged links because it is extremely difficult to get it back in again. (I had to do it once and it was a pig!)


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## ColinJ (14 Jul 2011)

asterix said:


> Team car, at least one camera crew and vehicle per news channel, medical back up and legal advisers.


I must own up to carrying far too much stuff on my early 200s but then I remembered that I'd done 140 mile non-audax rides with just my normal Camelbak bag's worth of kit ... What difference did it make that I was on an audax ride!


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## ian_oli (20 Jul 2011)

The usual beginner's error is to take too much food. There are things called convenience stores and supermarkets -but you will probably want a bike lock for stopping at the latter.


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