Mountain Bike Every Day Carry: Ariel Kazunas

My friend Lily attended a demo day for women I hosted once that included a quick chat about: “Here’s the bike, here are the parts of the bike that usually cause problems, here are some trailside fixes, here’s what I have in my pack to make those fixes happen.” Afterwards, she kinda laughed at me: “Wow, I had no idea you carried so much stuff with you. Maybe I can just start leaving my pack behind when we ride together.” I told her not to, mostly because she’s an incredible cook and her pack is usually full of the world’s best homemade trail treats.

But she's also not wrong about how kinda absurd my daily carry list is. I think my propensity for overdoing it comes from years of guiding for an active travel outfitter: inevitably, the day I didn’t bring that one. niche. item. would be the day that, of course a client needed it. And since my paycheck was mostly tips, disappointing a client just didn’t feel like an option.

Then, I moved on to event production, where I was often a ride-leader responsible for groups of participants, or pedaling demo bikes I had no control over the maintenance of, which made me a little nervous to fully trust on long rides. And so the same desire to be prepared for anything and everything followed me into that setting, too.

Which brings us to me, today, riding mostly for personal enjoyment, not work, but still carrying a laughable amount of crap. I'd be remiss if I didn't give credit, also, to my general desire to be self-sufficient on (and off) bikes: like a lot of women, I’m dogged by the societal assumption that I won’t know enough to get myself out of a pickle, and that irks me enough to put up with the extra weight of all my gear just to prove the haters wrong.

Also: I live in rural Wydaho, and even though we have an incredible SAR team, there are plenty of trails I frequent (often riding solo) that are just out of cell service range, and just far enough from trailheads or access roads, that not being able to self-extricate would really, really suck. (Not to mention it would ding my pride a bit to make that call...)

Also also: I know what that full-body sense of relief feels like when your ass gets saved by a good samaritan carrying the tool you forgot, so I’m also always conscious of whether I’d be able to be that person for someone else some day, too. Which brings me to, THE LIST - or what I bring along for a typical ride:

IN-FRAME (Specialized Enduro):

Some coworkers and I started calling the SWAT space within our bikes’ frames the “twat box” right when it first became a standard system for the brand, because, well, we are us. So the things you can find in my twat box are:

• Spare tube
• Tire levers
• Wolftooth Master Link Combo Pliers + quick link
• Zip ties
• Bacon + applicator
• CO2 + applicator
• Stan’s sealant (note below)
• Valve core remover
• Full water bottle in cage covering the access space

Most of these items are metal and clank around a lot, so I’ve got them all stuffed inside of extra sunglass pouches. I guess I could get something more “professional,” but then what would I do with all those spare pouches?

And a note about the Stan’s, because I know you have questions: I love love love the little single-use bottle with the hose that allows you to squeeze more fluid into your tire through the valve, without unseating the tire or spilling Stan’s everywhere, just in general and in life. Working smarter not harder never felt so gratifying.

I have also been the hero to someone else’s ride (and more than once, oddly) when the simple flat they got that should have self-sealed didn’t because ope! it’s been a full season of hot and dry riding weather, and they had only boogers inside the tire, not usable, liquid sealant. No, I don’t always carry it, especially when I’m cruising solo and know my own tires are in good shape... but it’s in there more often than not. And again, I know it’s absurd, and, again, I’m apparently okay with it.

HIP PACK (High Above Lookout):

• Layer (Wild Rye Alden Anorak or Patagonia Houdini, depending on what’s clean)
• Snacks (usually a bar, some leftover, possibly expired GU products from an event I worked last year, meat sticks, and/or Annie’s White Cheddar Bunnies, etc.)
• Full water bottle (I bring two on every ride, yup. I am never not thirsty here at 6,000 feet, in an arid, high-desert environment, especially during wildfire smoke season).
• Charged phone for maps, photos and in case of emergency (it's usually in Do Not Disturb mode because omg leave me alone world for even just one stupid hour).
• Shock pump (a friend once tried to adjust their PSI with a little stick and fully emptied the chamber - that scarred me for life).
• 1st Aid Kit:
• Sterile gloves
• Gauze + non-stick pads
• Painkillers (Ibuprofen and Aspirin)
• Benadryl
• Tweezers
• Scissors
• Bandaids
• Sugar
• Tape / wrap
• Alcohol wipes

I’m a wilderness medicine nerd. I love taking my WFR and OEC recerts, and some days wish I’d pursued nursing or getting my EMT cert because I find patient care to be fascinating and rewarding. So my first aid kit is always in my pack, and while it does all fit into a High Above Trail First Aid Kit bag , I’ve swapped in and out some of the items and it’s pretty maxed out. (On that note: you should see what I do with the space in my backcountry skiing pack with regards to first aid supplies…)

HEAD TUBE (stock):

• SWAT multi-tool

There are obviously some things that tag in and out depending on the day and the mission. For downhill-only Pass laps, I often skip the water bottle and shock pump and most of the snacks to lighten and tighten my hip pack load going off jumps.

But I honestly feel naked going anywhere beyond the bike park without the pack, and have certainly used my light layer to keep an injured friend warm and/or slinged before (and to shelter me in the case of the frequent midsummer hailstorms we got in the Tetons pretty much daily last season) so I am hesitant to leave that behind, and the hip pack is the only place it fits.

So, that’s me. A snack-fiend with a heavy bike anyway, and a small chip on her shoulder about the assumptions folks make about how capable women can be, so why not bring everything but the kitchen sink along, too?