Mountain Bike Every Day Carry: Cy Whitling

What’s in the bag? Empty Sour Nerd Clusters wrappers, with a few crusty candies floating around mostly!

Deven kicked this series off last week with his ride essentials, so now it’s my turn. Full disclosure: I waffled a fair bit about whether this was going to be an honest or aspirational article; I often don’t carry a few things that I objectively know that I should. Ultimately, I settled on honesty, so here’s what I actually carry on most bike rides, along with a note at the end about the items that I know I should be carrying but am not.

On the Bike

My most consistent ride companion is a Specialized Zee Cage II with tool. I own three of these cages, and I make sure that every review bike I’m on has one. I love having a multi-tool handy and I feel naked without either one of these cages or a top-tube mounted SWAT tool. Sure, the OneUP EDC pump is nice, but for quick trailside bolt checks, the cage-mounted tool reigns supreme. My only frustration with this tool is that it doesn’t contain the correct bit to adjust or remove Outbound lights .

I also recently picked up one of Wolf Tooth’s excellent EnCase pumps , complete with bacon strip applicator, so I’m working on always putting that in my pocket or the bike’s in-frame storage.

For shorter (sub-20 mile) rides, from my house, that, and a full water bottle are often my only companions. Yes. I know, I’m playing fast and loose. And yes, it will probably bite me eventually and I’ll start carrying more again. But for now, I rely on thorough pre-ride checks to ensure that everything that needs to be fixed is taken care of before I leave the driveway. I always use the same digital tire pressure gauge, I always check my AXS batteries, and I always do a quick shake/rattle/roll test before I get out of my cul-de-sac. My goal is to fix issues in my garage, where I have all the tools and parts I could need, not out on the trail.

If I still lived in the Tetons, with an excess of jagged rocks, I’d probably carry a tube and levers. But here in Bellingham, if I’ve got an appropriate amount of air in my tires, it’s much easier to avoid flats.

Which pack?

Last year I tried to get back into wearing a backpack. All the cool kids were doing it, and I’ve had good experience with running vest-style packs in the past. Unfortunately, it just isn’t for me. I’m a very sweaty man. My back gets very wet, and then my pack gets wet, and it’s all gross and terrible. So I’m back to using the same High Above hip pack that I’ve used for a bunch of years. It’s an older, discontinued model, with fewer pockets, and more capacity than their current line, and it’s great. I’ve got it set up with two bottle holders, so that I can carry three bottles for big, warmer rides, or stuff gloves or glasses into one on shorter rides. I can generally get everything I need for a 6-8 hour day on the bike into this pack.

I’m a big fan of High Above products: they’re well-made, durable, and practical. This pack has been to hell and back, perched above my butt, with zero issues. I did use one of the jacket ties to hold a makeshift bandage onto a broken friend while we waited for the helicopter, and later the EMTs cut it off, so I had to replace it. Otherwise, it’s been bomber.

Snacks

I’m usually a sour candy guy, but the dentist says my mouth is a mess, so I’m trying to cut back and stick to dried mango (yeah, it’s just as bad for me, but let me live my life!). But most of the time there’s a fair amount of gas station snacks in there, too.

Stickers and Cash

I like giving stickers away, so I’ve always got a small bag of them in my pack. If you see me out and about, feel free to ask for one!

I always carry cash because there’s a donut shop between the trails and home, and I’m consistently down for a post-ride raspberry bearclaw.

Tool Bags

Maybe because of SAR influences, I like to keep my gear modular, so that I can just grab a bag full of similar things, instead of digging through a mixed mess.

This little High Above accessory bag contains lube (just in case), zip ties (I need to add some smaller ones), and spare contacts. If you ride in contacts, you should carry spares. They are so light, don’t take up any space, and it’s really cool to be able to see.

I got this slightly bigger pouch from SRAM’s Chris Mandell at the GX Transmission launch. Originally, it contained his “all-day ride essentials” but I swapped some things around. The CO2 went into my Slash’s frame compartment (I really don’t use CO2 and only carry it as an emergency blanket). Similarly, the Dynaplug is clipped onto my REEB. But the Wolf Tooth tool lives here, just in case, along with a spare AXS battery, and a spare remote battery. I also snagged the Leatherman Skeletool from my ski pack. It’s nice to have pliers, a knife, and a bunch of random not-quite-bike-specific bits, just in case.

Med Kit

I know, my med kit is a little thin right now. I promise I’m going to re-up it right after I finish writing this.

I’m currently carrying High Above’s med kit. I like the flat form factor and matching bag. I need to get more bleed-stop materials, as well as more bandaids and more tape. In practice though, when I look back at the last five years of riding accidents, I’ve consistently used gauze and tape for lacerations, and a Patagonia Houdini, or other riding jacket for makeshift slings. I’m three for three with Houdini-made slings for broken collarbones. Sure, a triangle bandage works, but for me at least, it’s easier to set up something comfortable and secure with a jacket. Just make sure to wash the blood out when you get it back from the hurt homie.

Camera

I realized recently that I miss the days of trying to be a photographer and always carrying a “real” camera. So I’ve resolved to bring a camera anytime I’m riding something cool with friends. At the very least, I can take pictures of neat bugs with it. Right now I’m rocking the trusty Sony A6000 with the Sony 20 mm F2.8 lens. I love the A6000: it’s so small and easy to use, and the 20 mm is a great fit. I’ve got an off-brand case that exactly fits this combo, and it all fits nicely into the hip pack.

Painting Supplies

I have live-painted a few bike events over the years, and I’ve gotten questions about the kit for that, so here’s the details. I generally pre-draw most of my art so that I’m only painting on the trails, not ideating and sketching. That means I can get the “cool looking” part of the process done out in public, and move quickly.

I carry everything in the case to an old BCA snow science kit. It’s got slots for everything I need, and fits in my pack.

I use a homemade clipboard - it’s just the clip part of a cheap clipboard riveted to a BCA snow safety crystal card. My friend Bria gave me this Winsor & Newton watercolor kit a few years ago, and it’s excellent. I added a dab of white gouache to the top palette so I can make things lighter and more opaque. Another friend, Trisha, gave me an ArtTookKit gift card a few years back, which I used to buy the water brush, collapsible cup, and water syringe. Throw in a few random pens, and one white ink gel pen, and I’ve got everything I need to doodle in the woods!

Changes for the Future

Because I’m often swapping from review bike to review bike, I don’t have my on-bike essentials as dialed as I should. Before this job, I always had a tire plug, tube, pump, and tire levers strapped to my one bike. Because so many bikes have in-frame storage now, I think I can afford to just set up one downtube bag (probably one of Specialized’s because they’re nice) with those essentials, and swap it between review bikes. So, in the future, I’ll have a 29” tube, Pedro’s tire levers, and spare AXS battery on every bike.

Beyond that, I’ll re-up my med kit, and snag some more candy next time I’m at the 7/11!