Hackenpedder gear: fails, wins, & fell in love with a saddle bag

Packed enough snacks for an Iceland expedition.

The second I realized I might have packed wrong was about an hour into the race. After being quite content with my own look and feel at the start line, my feet were now absolutely soaked – and I knew they probably wouldn't dry for the next three days. (This was when I was still thinking we could do this race in three days, bless my naive self.)

And that was the exact second I threw all the "I'll never wear something that looks this ridiculous" rules I had lived by so far overboard. All of a sudden, I was ready to put on some silly looking waterproof neon overshoes and wear them with my shorts (scroll down to the pickle photo in my last post to see the OG overshoes I'm talking about).

Lucky for my feet, when we reached Checkpoint 2 on the third day, a guy called Chris – probably the nicest bike mechanic on the planet – not only fixed my rear brake, but also offered to use his shoe dryer. And his slippers, when I mentioned I didn't bring any other shoes. Desperate times call for desperate measures – I happily accepted. And it did the trick. Once M. and I hopped on our bikes again, I was confident I could finish this thing.

There were some gear decisions I was very happy with, though. Leading up to the race, I needed something to replace my beautiful green Gramm saddle bag because the seat post strap was run down so much under the clasp, I was afraid it would give up while riding. Which would be a disaster that I'm not sure I could fix with cable ties or straps.

In order to replace it, I wanted to get a rack (still torn between Tailfin and Gramm). I was done with wobbly saddle bags, having to tighten the strap multiple times a day. But I couldn't get myself to spend over 400 Euros on one single bag while adding an extra 500g to my bike (that's just the rack). The race came closer and one day it was too late to order anything. So I decided to borrow my partner's brand new Apidura Expedition Pack. I thought the 16L were definitely going to be too much volume and was planning to just roll the extra bit down. But, well, in the end I was happy everything I wanted to bring fit in there.

Everything looks oddly clean in this image.

Once I strapped the packed bag to my bike, I was impressed by the absence of any wobbling. And even more when I started riding over the extremely bumpy trails. I didn't know this level of rigidity was possible for saddle bags, let alone one that fit my complete tent, extra clothes, emergency kit, and an unreasonable amount of snacks. The side pockets are a game changer, too, and it also turned out to be 100% waterproof. Would recommend.

Why I brought my tent instead of a bivy bag however … let me explain. Six weeks before the race, I joined a community overnighter to scout the first stage of the route. I ended up not sleeping a single minute and blamed the bivy bag and the lack of ventilation on it. That's why I packed the tent, which I brought on many bikepacking trips and never regretted. But I also never rode this much on trails this bumpy and slippery with a loaded bike before. And – plot twist – I didn't sleep any better during the race. Even with the tent. Could have been the summer sleeping bag in below 10°C nights, or I'm just not made for sleeping on a narrow mattress any more – but I refuse to accept that. Especially since in both cases, my energy level was fine the next day.

Long story short – no, I would not bring my tent again for a multi-day race.

Things I packed

What else was in my bags? Too much, it felt like. Here's a better overview.

Sleep

1 Thermarest Neolite
1 down summer sleeping bag I don't even know the name of
1 small pillow case (courtesy of some airline I don't remember)
Big Agnes Fly Creek 2P

Planned as luggage, wore all day

Leg warmers (still happy I found some by Assos that don't give me sausage legs a while ago - these look like they also don't have a gripper band at the top)
Arm warmers (wished I had brought a long sleeve jersey instead)

RIP

A previous version of the Maap Women's Atmos Jacket (bought on sale two years ago, wasn't very waterproof anyhow, though I did like the look).

Don't strap any crucial gear to your saddle bag, people. Lesson learned.

Purposely left at home

Camp shoes
Long camp pants
Second bib and jersey

Didn't particularly miss any of these items and am already wondering what else I can leave at home next time (did I just say 'next time'?).

Didn't use

First aid kit (luckily)
Puncture kit (realized I had forgotten tubeless plugs when I got home. Woops.)
Rain pants (I knew I hardly ever put them on, but not bringing them felt naive)

What I was jealous of

Waterproof overshoes
The tiniest bug repellent spray (though Constantin did share his 🫰🏻)
Wider tires with more profile (but only because it kept raining and trails got super muddy, my Schwalbe G-One Rs would have been fine in dry to rainy conditions)
50 cent coins. Would have needed them to shower at a campground (this should be illegal, in my opinion).

Honorable Mentions

Sometimes I'm impressed and humbled by the simple but amazing solutions people come up with, like these setups I saw at the beginning of the race.

Honestly a great setup. Straps are underrated!

Up next: Finding out what to do with a ripped rain jacket. Mount my bike again one day. Maybe go hiking?

✌🏻
Stephanie

PS. I didn't end up buying the neon overshoes (yet), but I did finally get a shoe dryer which was totally overdue, considering I end up in ankle deep mud on almost every ride.