Equipment 🎒🧤
You’d be amazed at how much equipment you’ll end up with!
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Let’s discuss some basic cycling equipment.
Riding longer distances means I need to carry water and food, if nothing else. For my Sunday long rides, I got a Camel-Bak. It can hold up to 100 ounces of water; and its pockets allow room for other needs.
Over time I got various bags so I could take along what I need when using the hybrid. One of these is a bicycle trunk. The trunk meant that I needed a rack over the rear wheel. The rack can take a pair of panniers as well as the trunk; and I can bring home a week’s worth of groceries by bicycle.
I eventually acquired a second-hand trailer. It’s really useful when I want to get an extra-big haul from the store; or have something like an economy-sized jug of laundry detergent to drag home.
Other equipment includes a floor pump. I like a pump with a built-in gauge. It’s much easier to determine whether I’ve gotten my tires to the desired psi. Using an automobile-style gauge always had me worried that I had let out too much air by the time I managed to get a reading.
Body care items aren’t exactly equipment; but they’ve got to go somewhere. I began reading about bicycling as soon as I ordered the tricycle; and it wasn’t long before I found out about chamois lubricants. My preference is for regular Chamois Butt’r. This product certainly does make long miles in the saddle more comfortable.
Advice about outdoor activities seems inevitably to stress the importance of protection against UV rays; so I don’t want to be without sunblock. Whenever I go out for a long ride on the road bike, I check to be sure I have it with me. I bought an expandable under-saddle pack for my bike, so I could fit a tube of sunblock in it.
SPF lip balm probably never would have occurred to me had I not read about it somewhere. It really does add to comfort on a long ride, when being out in the sun and/or cold makes your lips dry out.
Sunglasses add a lot to comfort, if only because I don’t have my eyes scrunched up all the time. Squinting for prolonged periods is surprisingly tiring to the entire body.
Something I have to watch when choosing sunglasses is that the earpieces are narrow. I once had a pair of sunglasses that seemed all right when I tried them on in the store. When I actually was out riding, and tried to look behind me, the earpieces were like blinders. I tried to learn to look below them, but with little success. The frame also proved to be to wide; when I turned my head quickly, the sunglasses were apt to go flying. So I took the easy way out: I bought another pair of sunglasses!