18-Hour Required Gear
Access to Gear
See the Race Update for gear bin details.
Provided
- Canoes, paddles, PFDs.
- One boat for two- and three-person teams (cushion provided for middle seat but you can bring your own seat)
- Two boats for four-person teams
- You may bring your own canoe, paddles and/or PFDs. You’ll drop them off at the livery. They will be waiting for you at Caberfae after the race. Contact us if you choose to do this.
Required Per Person
- Bicycle. Standard mountain or cyclocross bike. Road bikes and tandem bikes are not allowed.
- Bike helmet
- Front lighting system – headlamp or bar-mounted white light (bar-mounted recommended; both is ideal)
- Flashing red tail light (check brightness)
Headlamp (can be same as used for biking) or flashlight
- 70 oz. of hydration capacity
- Whistle
- Twelve-hour chemical light stick – minimum of 4” length (zip tie to life vest)
- Zip tie to tie chemical light to life vest
Emergency/space/mylar blanket, full-size, metallic style, $2-$3 each at Meijer, outdoor/camping store or online. Buy early, local supplies often run out.
- Water-resistant jacket. If the forecast calls for good weather, we may drop this requirement in advance of the race
Required Per Team
- Mobile phone, fully charged, powered off and sealed in waterproof or double-ziplocked bag
- 4 twelve-hour chemical light sticks – minimum of 4” length, (two back-ups since they sometimes fail)
- 2 zip ties per boat for chemical lights (bow and stern)
- Compass, must be base plate or sighting type
Waterproof protection for maps (zip lock bag, map case, contact paper)
- 8 x 25 mg Benadryl/ diphenhydramine (epi-pen if prescribed)
Recommended
- Basic first aid kit (gauze pads, compression bandage, band-aids, medical tape, etc.)
- Water filter/LifeStraw or iodine tablets
- Spare tires (one per teammate)
- Small tire pump and/or CO2 cartridges
- Tire levers
- Allen key set
- Chain repair tool
- Long pants, tights, long-sleeved shirt
- Synthetic, wicking t-shirt
- $5-10 cash for emergency purchases
- Trail running shoes
- Outdoor/athletic socks
- Food (energy gel, bars, etc.) for 20 hours
- Hat
- Sunglasses
- Sunblock
- Bug spray
- Zip ties, duct tape
- Bike shorts
- Bike gloves
- Bike computer (non-GPS)
We recommend Gazelle Sports, Bill & Paul’s Sporthaus, and West Michigan Bike & Fitness for the items above. Not every store has every product so call ahead if you aren’t sure. They sponsor many of our races so please thank them when you stop in.
Bill & Paul’s is offering a 10% discount up until the day of the race on the following with proof of registration: hydration products, trail footwear and socks, compasses/navigation tools, fitness watches (except Freestyle or Timex), headlights, nutrition, and paddlesport clothing.
Prohibited Gear
- GPS that allows you to determine your location on a map is not allowed. A GPS watch is ok, but only to check your route after the race
- Motorized anything
- See the Rules page for additional details.