In 1998 I bought my first mountain bike and hardly rode it. I did go to Grand Junction, Colorado to ride with a couple buddies in an absolute cluster of a trip that probably deserves a dedicated post. I really started mountain biking in 2019 and since then I have ridden some great trails in Arizona, Arkansas, North and South Carolina, Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Early on, my buddy Jonny told me I needed a ‘Bike Box’ for everything that goes to the trail with me. That simple piece of advice made getting on the trail way quicker. The stuff on the list below has been refined over the past couple years and includes what lives in that box as well as a few other items I would call ‘essential’. I feel pretty good about the system overall and it works well for me. One of my riding buddies has a Nissan NV van that he converted to store a couple bikes and allows him to live out of it when he rides. Until I can work out something like that (which likely will never happen) the ‘Bike Box’ makes getting to the trails pretty painless.
- Osprey Synchro 5 Hydration Pack* – water and my keys/phone while I ride and a small multi tool just in case I need it
- Five Ten flats* – I prefer them to clip ins and use them with Raceface ‘Chester’ Pedals
- Bike Pump*
- Glasses* (sunglasses, clear, and rose tinted)
- Light and Motion Helmet and Bar lights* – essential for the fall rides when the conditions are amazing but it gets dark really early.
- Oakley Drt5 Helmet*
- Dakine Gloves*
- iPhone (the mtb project app is great on trails I don’t know)
- Patagonia Capilene Light Shirt
- Bibs
All the items with an * live in my Bike Box…. makes getting all this in the car quick and easy.
While it definitely isn’t essential I would add a Hitch Mounted Tray Rack to the list as well. I have a Kuat NV 2.0 that makes loading and unloading my bike easy. They are expensive, so I get not having one, but it’s way quicker to load and unload than taking the front wheel off and putting my bike in the back of my Mazda CX-9. It also allows me to add the extension and carry bikes for my family. We don’t do that often, but when we do go somewhere to ride together it really is fantastic.