Personal setups » Set-up for a fall trip with 2 yr old

by slim

Conditions:

A sub-24hr overnight trip with 2 adults and a 2 year old.

Weather:

Rainy and 35-45F on Saturday, dark at 5:30 pm, mid 20’s F at night, Clear and possibly windy on sunday, 35-45F

We used road bikes but wanted to see if we could pack light enough  that we could go MTBing also.

Jessica’s bike:

Niterider Minewt Dual bikelight

A Jandd frame bag with some snacks, windbreaker and other small items. Not full yet.

A small seatbag with tools and tubes

2 Panniers: food, cooking, clothes, diapers, changing pad

On rack: Tent and stuffsack with my and Sanne’s insulated jackets.

My bike:

REI handlebar top bag with snacks, headlight, wallet, phone etc.

Niterider Minewt Mini bikelight

Compression sack on handle bars with sleepingbag

Sanne’s trailer:

2 long skinny stuffsacks, one on each side of her, one with her sleeping bag, one with raingear, Under her seat diapers and some other smal stuff, under her feet 2 closed cell foam sit pads.

This gear could go on the MTB’s as well: The contents of the panniers would go in a backpack for each of us, the tent would go on Jessica’s bars and the other stuffsack could go on a seatpost bag or rack.

For clothes I brought a pair of bike shorts and a pair of merino underpants lightweight merino socks and a midweight merino zipneck.  This was my warm weather riding option(unlikely but you never know).

Then Pearl Izumi Optic jacket (an ultralight windjacket) and Sporthill 3sp pants. Fully zipped up this is plenty warm for active use and fairly wind resistant. It is still very breathable though for slightly warmer conditions. Also very lightweight.

A pair of long finger bike gloves for the riding, a pair of paclite mitts for rain/wind and a pair of liner gloves for colder weather or to wear in camp if the bike gloves were wet. A midweight headband for riding in cool weather and a lightweight craft balaclava and fleece stocking cap to add in camp (none of my jackets or sleeping bag had a hood)

Then Powerstretch tights for in camp use and a Golite Polarguard vest and Bozeman MW Cocoon pull-over (also polarguard) and heavy weight wool socks. This was my stay warm sitting still after dinner outfit, as well as part of my sleeping insulation.

An ultralight rain suit from 3M Propore. Walkable bikeshoes. Shoe covers.

Sanne’s clothes:

2 set’s of Patagonia onesie/long underpants

1 REI thin fleece zipneck sweater

1 midweight fleece vest

1 patagonia Puffball suit: a very thin insulated suit with hood

2 pairs of heavy weight wool socks

A waterproof pair of pants and parka from Cioch Direct, using the Paramo Pump liner, a fabric that feels and breathes like a fleece and microfiber shell.

A REI skullcap for under her helmet and a thin balaclava, some thin gloves and thick mittens. And Disney Princess winter boots.

This we figured would give us a warm enough system for cold camp morning, a fully waterproof system if it was raining in the evening (I’d rather not eat in the tent with a toddler) and enough spares in the case of something getting wet, and all quick drying too.

The clothing systems worked well, except for the fact that I forgot how thin her sleeping bag is, and how I had planned to use it with one of her sleepsacks from home. Now she actually had less insulation in the tent that at home! So she started squirming and moaning a biot in her sleep after an hour or so, so we brought her into our sleeping bag.

I stayed up outside reading for a while and used the bike lights to light up my book, saving my headlight for emergency nighttime prowlings.

Sanne loves camping in the tent and this time was no exception. She enjoyed the campfood and collecting sticks, she really liked hanging out in the tent too, with one of the bike rear lights as a tent light we read stories and played with small toys.