Trip prep, by ride type
Every ride needs the pre-ride bike check, the standard kit and an emergency card. Beyond that, what you sort depends on how far and how high the ride goes. Find your ride type and work down the list.
Every ride — the baseline
- Bike check done the night before; tank full; chain lubed.
- Licence, RC, insurance and PUC on you — not in a bag on another bike.
- Emergency card filled and in your jacket. Lead and sweep numbers saved.
- Riding gear head to toe. Rain shell if there is any chance of it.
- Phone charged, a power bank, some cash. Water.
Meetup ride — add almost nothing
- It is a short evening loop. The baseline is the whole list.
- A light layer for after dark; carry a visible jacket or reflective strip.
- Nothing to book, no permits, no spare fuel — just turn up fuelled and on time.
Hill weekend — one or two nights
- Book the stay. Confirm the meet point and roll time.
- Warm layers and gloves for 2,000–3,000 m — it is genuinely cold after dark even in summer.
- Check the route page's fuel gap: if it says "one long stretch", carry 3–5 litres of spare between the group and fill at every pump.
- A spare pair of levers and a tyre-repair kit. The sweep carries the shared tool set.
- Read the route's road & conditions note and the live conditions board the day before — hill roads slip and close.
Ride-and-camp — bikes at a roadhead, then a trek
- Everything from the hill-weekend list, plus real trekking kit: boots, poles, a pack, a sleeping bag rated below freezing, layers for the camp altitude.
- Arrange the roadhead: where the bikes are secured (a homestay, a rest house), and a local guide and porters. National-park treks (Har Ki Dun, Valley of Flowers) need a forest permit and a registered guide.
- Altitude: if the camp is above 3,000 m, plan an acclimatisation night lower down. Carry basic altitude medication and know the descent plan.
- Leave-no-trace kit: rubbish bags as standard, and a plan to carry everything out. There are no bins on the mountain.
- A satellite messenger or a clear check-in schedule with someone at home — there is no signal above the roadhead.
High expedition — passes, remote valleys, the border zone
- Permits and fees, sorted in advance. Inner Line Permits are still needed for Nelong and the Kutti / Adi Kailash valley — arranged at the district office with ID, photos and, for some, a medical check. Ladakh no longer needs an Inner Line Permit for Indian citizens, but its environment and wildlife fees are paid online; Milam's permit has been relaxed. Carry the receipts, ID and copies for every checkpost, and check the permit list for each route. Foreign nationals are barred from several of these.
- Spare fuel, done as a calculation. Where the route page says the gap is "serious", that means 300 km+ with nothing — carry 10 litres or more per bike and do the sums before you leave the last pump.
- A disciplined acclimatisation schedule. Routes that hold above 4,000 m need staged nights (Rangdum for Zanskar, Gunji for Kutti). AMS is a real risk and there is no fast evacuation.
- A satellite messenger. Not optional. No phone signal for days, and a rescue is hours to a weather-dependent helicopter.
- An ADV or dirt-capable bike where the route says so, recovery gear, a comprehensive first-aid kit with altitude medication, expedition-grade cold-weather gear, and cash for the whole trip from the last real town.
- Spare days. Weather and road closures eat time on every one of these. Turning back is the normal outcome, not a failure.
The route page already has your list.
Each route in the library carries its own "Bike, fuel & getting help" block, a fuel-gap grade, a spare-fuel line, permit notes and an altitude callout. This page is the ladder; the route page is the specifics for that ride.
Not sure which one you're ready for
Answer four questions on the ride finder, or read the first-ride checklist.