By Molly Weaver.
I had planned on doing a flat lay and full kit run through before setting off on the Blaenau 600, but I ran out of time because of all the faffing, so instead here’s a post-ride run through.
With the exception of a pair of gloves and some leg warmers, which were in the wash when I took these photos, and the set of kit I rode in from the start, this is everything I took with me on the ride.
First off, the front bag. I went pretty minimalist with this, opting to use a 3.5l Ortlieb accessory pack, and the only thing I carried in here was my food. I set off with enough calories to keep me fuelled until the first shop at 160km, plus hydration tabs, and some extra OTE bars which I held in reserve for when I really needed them.
I managed to pick up a few sandwiches along the way, as well as some more sweets and chocolate, but ended up craving salty stuff so I ate quite a few bags of crisps and peanuts.
Yes, I did eat Haribo out of the bottom of this bag for longer than I would like to admit looking at this photo.
Next up is the tool bottle, which luckily I didn’t need to open.
In here was a set of tyre levers, two inner tubes, and dynaplugs.
On the back of the bike I used the Ortlieb 11 litre seat-pack, rolled pretty much as small as it would go. In here I kept my sleep system (if you can call it that), which was just a lightweight bivvy bag that I didn’t end up needing, plus an extra couple of layers and a reflective harness.
This is also where I ended up shoving the bladder from my Camelbak, which was a bit of a panic pack when I thought water might be hard to come by, but I had no use for it in the end and could have left it at home.
I also kept some extra spares in the rear pack: tyre boots, zip ties, brake pads, needle and thread, chain links, a cleat, Gerber tool, and rear mech hanger.
Finally, my toiletries, which were also pretty minimalist. I only took a toothbrush and toothpaste, tick tweezers, and some suntan lotion.
On my back I wore the Camelbak Soltice Lowrider. I always keep things I want easy access to in here, alongside valuables like my phone and wallet. One pocket did end up being sacrificed to the mud in a crash, so I just zipped it up and ignored it until I got home.
On the pharmaceutical side of things I took a fair bit of stuff.
For pain relief I took paracetamol, ibuprofen and Voltarol gel, which is more than I would usually pack, but I’ve recently been struggling with a knee injury.
In here I also kept my chlorine tabs for purifying water, which I used a lot over the two days.
A must have for me is indigestion relief, as acid reflux always hits me during this kind of ride, and I also took plenty of diarrhoea relief tabs, which I thankfully didn’t need.
This pocket also contained my chammy butter and sudocreme, which I emptied. No saddle sores over here, which is a first for me!
Lastly, I took my daily medication with me (and surprisingly remembered to take it at the right time, despite being awake for 48 hours which distorted any sense of night and day).
My chain wax and multitool made their way into the backpack after I twisted my saddle in a crash, and stripped my chain of any moisture while wheeling my bike through a flood.
On the electricals side I took a headtorch, backup Garmin Edge 530 GPS unit, power bank, charging cables, tracker, and some spare batteries for my Garmin eTrex. In the end I only charged my phone once, and nothing else, so I could have taken a slightly smaller power bank, but other than that I was happy with all of this.
I also had lights on my bike from the start, alongside my Garmin eTrex 32x, which was flawless as usual.
And finally the bike, which I could not have been happier with.
The Salsa Warbird exceeded my expectations on the road, the really rough stuff, and everything in between. Couldn’t fault it at all for the entire duration!
The bags were all also perfect; the Redshift ShockStop stem was a game changer as always; and I was really glad I fitted some Profile tri-bars as I spent quite a lot more time in them than I expected.
