Day 14: what i packed for 75 days of biking & teaching across the US

Sunday, June 18, 2023

Berea, KY -> Lebanon, KY

73 miles. 3,964 ft elevation gain.

hello everyone! today was another lovely day of biking (much better than yesterday), but we’ve had many blogs about such days recently, so i figured i would switch it up and instead share what i packed in my suitcase and drawstring bag for a 75 day trip of biking and teaching across the US! hopefully, this list will be helpful to anyone who may be planning a similar trip, and for next year’s Spokes team!

while i was packing, i felt like i was overpacking, but it turns out that i am one of the lightest packers in our group. Here are my personal belongings (the camping and teaching equipment are packed separately in the van).

SUITCASE (carry-on size)

workout clothes

• padded bike shorts

• padded bike leggings

• bike shorts

• leggings

• long sleeve shirt

• workout tops

warm/outdoors clothes

• rain jacket

• rain pants

• scarf

• gloves

• turtleneck heattech

• fleece

• zip-up jacket

• wool socks

regular clothes

• spokes shirt (check out the T-shirt design!)

• T-shirt

• blouse

• shorts

• comfy pants

• underwear and socks

biking stuff

• gloves

• glasses

• water bottles

shoes

• clip in cycling shoes (the clips scared me at first. i got used to them quickly though!)

• On sneakers (these are great for both teaching days and hiking days!)

• slides (specifically the Adissage ones — i can’t live without them)

other

• toiletries (kind of a lot of them, but most of them are travel size and you never know when you’ll need antibiotic cream, aloe skin gel, or tea tree oil)

• towel

• small first aid kit and advil (first aid kit came in handy after Andrew’s front tuck with his bike — read more about it on his blog!)

• foam roller (this takes up close to a sixth of my suitcase but i’m so glad i brought it. it is a game changer to be able to foam roll at the end of the day, and my muscles thank me the following day!)

• small cross body bag

• small fanny pack (works well as a bike frame bag too)

• headlamp (thanks Lucy!)

• water bottle

SMALL BAG (consisting of a tote bag inside a drawstring bag)

electronics

• laptop

• headphones

• bone conduction headphones (these are great for biking so that you can still hear your surroundings well)

• phone

• battery pack

• chargers

books/stationery/supplies

• book that i’m currently reading: War of the Worlds (i’m hoping to leave it in a neighborhood library box once I finish it and snag a new book!)

• journal and planner

• pencil case

• sketchbook, color pencils, and markers (some may say all this is not quite necessary, but i do love drawing and want to do more of it this summer!)

• embroidery kit (not a big fan of embroidery because i’m impatient, but i recently started a project that i hope to finish!)

• playing cards (i forgot i had these, so we haven’t played any card games yet…)

other

• hat and sunglasses

• wallet and coin purse

• pack of gum

What would you bring on a 75 day trip that I didn't include? Let me know in the comments!

PS. check out our playlist below and continue adding songs at this link!