The charity ride packing list
One-day rides need a jersey's worth of stuff. Multi-day rides need a duffel and a system. Either way, the rule is the same: nothing new on event day.
Charity rides are supported — rest stops, mechanics, gear trucks — so you need less than you think. Here's the honest list, tuned by getting it wrong a few times.
Every ride, every time
Helmet. Kit you've already ridden long in — chamois included, nothing fresh off the internet. Two bottles. Chamois cream. Sunscreen (the desert taught me: reapply at rest stops). Flat kit — tube, levers, CO2 or mini pump — even with mechanical support, because waiting costs an hour. Phone, ID, a card, and the printed or digital ride packet.
The multi-day additions
One kit per riding day, or two kits and a wash routine. Off-bike clothes that pack small and feel like a reward. Recovery sandals. A battery brick and every cable. Earplugs if it's a camp ride — a thousand cyclists snore like a weather event. Whatever your body needs at hour 20 that the rest stops won't have: your specific chamois cream, your specific electrolytes.
The five things first-timers forget
Lip balm with SPF. A trash bag for the wet kit. Safety pins. Cash for the roadside lemonade stand run by someone's kids — the best dollar you'll spend all weekend. And a plan for your bike box or travel case if you're flying in.
Flying with the bike is its own project — that guide lands in the travel hub next. For the training itself, start with the first-timer's guide.
I do the miles. You decide who they’re for.
In 2027 I ride 10,000 miles, all on the bike, every one of them for queer communities. You pledge a few cents a mile and pick which org it goes to. It starts January 1.