The starting caveats here have to be that (1) I was at the back of the race, and (2) I think I had more kit than everyone else. That second is obviously unlikely as a matter of fact, but I kept looking around and wondering at the amazingly small and presumably lightweight luggage of my fellow racers.

The bicycle (a nearly stock Canyon Exceed CF 5) is discussed in another post, but also a little bit here.

That said, there’s not much that I took that I wouldn’t take again. Here’s the full list in no particular order.

Didn’t need, wouldn’t bring again: Spork (21 g), stakes (21 g), emergency baggies and undies (245 g), packable musette (redundant with race vest, 58 g), pillow (could have slept on a bed of sea urchins, 61 g). The message is… not a lot.

Suboptimal, would revisit: Saddle bag was basically not waterproof, also slow for access and required careful packing. Bidons got absolutely disgusting on the frame, would consider a full frame bag with hydration pack instead. A lightweight long-sleeve jersey would have saved me some sunburn and bug bites.

Kit that came up big:

• Bibs (a little fancy, but, credit where it’s due, they’re amazing, and I would take them again on any big ride: kostume.cc)
• Tires. Not to be a shill, but I spent a little bit of consideration on the tire choice, and went with the René Herse Fleecer Ridge (Endurance casing). They were amazing, grippy and fast. OK, were they better than another (probably cheaper) tire? No idea. A lot of people were riding on tires born of a similar concept, like the Mezcal or the Race King. There were at least three of us who finished the race on Fleecer Ridges, though, which makes for 20% of solo category. (I had an unlucky puncture, where a woody thorn, 1 cm long, pierced the tread less than a millimeter from a knob. Wouldn’t blame anyone for that except me, for pushing the bike through a spiky plant.) After 1000 miles, there are some superficial cuts to the cladding on the sidewall but nothing more. The central knobs are not unworn, but they have thousands more miles of life left.
• Race vest. So much capacity (>> 2 pizzas, for crying out loud), very stretchy, not too uncomfortable. There are better solutions than the one I had, but it worked great.
• Big bag of sport mix. Felt stupid carrying the weight, but it meant that I didn’t need to get it exactly right on the resupply. A bottle of sugar and caffeine was a guaranteed happy hour’s worth of riding. I ended the race with an empty bag.
• Powerbanks (20,000 mAh)
• Cafe locks, bike alarm
• Filter, though it was really, really slow. So I would consider doing some more testing before next time.

I weighed all the kit without the sport mix (1.4 kg) and race vest (a couple hundred grams), also minus my shoes and on-body kit. So my measured “dry weight” of 23.4 kg (including bicycle) is probably safely a little over 25 kg.

Typical resupply would add 5 L water and soda, two pizzas, random cereal and protein bars, and mixed nuts (and immediately-consumed ice cream), so an additional >5 kg. Resupply would go in one stem bag and the vest.

Obviously further optimization is possible, particularly in the weight/bulk of the sleep system and cold weather clothes. The front roll is great–waterproof, easy to pack–but it’s deadly in terms of aerodynamics (…). With a lighter sleep system, I think the kit could all go into a full frame bag and well-packed saddle bag, which I think would make a meaningful difference in the setup’s speed.

As for my pre-race waffles, here’s some quick post-race attitude:

• Aero bars would have been helpful for some longish tarmac sections (Ciro trail, end of Bosnia through Plužine to Šavnik, Kosovo), and another position would have been welcome. But they would have mocked me for exceedingly long sections of gravel climbing and descending. Still on the fence.
• To do it again, I’d bring flat pedals, even if it was just for the hike-a-bike on the last day.
• I wished I had rear suspension, but there were heroes who went fast on rigid bikes.
• Gearing was OK.
• No need for a dropper post.
• Carbon rims would be nice I guess, but hardly necessary. Not sure there would be much noticeable gain given the total system weight and lack of aerodynamic optimization.
• Still no take on tubeless (I just gotta try it, I know), but it would probably have saved me one flat tire on the last day, maybe two.
• I was happy with the oil-based lubricant given how much it rained.