Self-contained bicycle touring provides a great opportunity for adventure.
Not only does cycling allow you to cover more ground faster than other modes of adventure travel such as foot or paddling, but also you keep adventure travel costs low by carrying camping gear, food, and supplies on the bike.
Bicycle touring may require some upfront investment if you don’t have access to a touring bike and touring gear, but beyond a couple potentially big ticket items like the bike, self-contained cycling gear has modest costs and overlaps with typical backpacking gear.
In our article on creating an adventure travel budget, we detail how we went about budgeting for adventure. Below are some links to gear lists and budgeting tools that may help with your long-distance, self-contained cycling adventure.
Download Self-Contained Cycling Gear Checklist or Checklist plus Budgeting Calculator
Self-contained Cycling Gear Checklist (Word document)
Self-contained Cycling Gear Checklist plus Budgeting Calculator (Excel spreadsheet)
Self-contained Cycling Gear Checklist
Cycling Related
- Maps / guidebook
- Touring bike with rear rack
- Panniers (rear) with rain covers
- Panniers (front) with rain covers
- Handlebar bag
- Fenders
- Cycling jersey
- Cycling shorts / pants
- Cycling socks
- Cycling shoes with pedals
- Bike multi-tool
- Tire irons
- Helmet
- Spare bike tubes
- Spare tires (if needed)
- Bike pump
- Bike lock
- Bungee cords and such
- Electronic devices (i.e. speedometer)
Camping Related
- Tent or hammock
- Sleeping bag
- Sleeping pad / pillow
- Cooking stove (with fuel)
- Pot and utensils
- Camp shoes
- Camp shirts
- Camp shorts / pants
- Waterproof, breathable rain jacket
- Warm jacket / synthetic fleece
- Flashlight / headlamp
- Water bottles / hydration system
- Water treatment
- Assorted dry bags, ditty bags, heavy trash bags, zip locks
- First Aid Kit
- Sunscreen and lip balm
- Bug spray
Can you think of something that should be on a basic list for self-contained bicycle touring? If so, let us know in the comments.
Thanks for sharing this great checklist of biking necessities! I’ve done some cycling in the past, but I want to get more serious about it this year, so I want to purchase all the necessary gear. I didn’t realize there were special socks for biking, but I’ll be sure to grab some of those as well!
First timer on a coast to coast with no unsupported touring experience , using adventure cycling maps . Will those maps be enough to guide me across the USA
I was similarly inexperienced, and the Adventure Cycling maps got me across the country without assist from smartphone / GPS.