A Brief Ride Report and Advice Request: First Aid Kits for Cycling?

"Glad That's Over!"
Originally uploaded by cyclofiend.

[X-posted to the iBOB list]

Yesterday's mixed-terrain ride was another excellent cyclotouring
adventure, complete with warm sun and great company. After a slight
delay due to the mixed evils of Labor-Day-weekend BBQ overindulgences
and crappy cell-phone coverage, Carlos, Cyclofiend,
new-to-the-group-tho-old-friend Stork, and yours truly embarked early
in the morning from San Francisco and then Sasaulito, headed for Mt.
Tam and Lagunitas Lake.

We rode to Mill Valley and began the ascent
up Old Railroad Grade fire road, past Sammy Hagar's house, and on to
West Point Inn (our usual pause for layer-shedding and
sunscreen-application). Then we continued to the summit of Mt. Tam
where we stopped for lunch in the nice warm sun. Afterwards we
dropped down the main Mt. Tam paved access road and picked up the
Rockridge - Lagunitas Lake fire road which climbs and winds its way
over towards its namesake lake.

I had some new-to-me wheels mounted on my Fuji CX, and I also was
trying out some new tires (700x35 Specialized TriCross vs. my
usual/fav 700x38 WTB All Terrainasaurus). Blame it on those tires,
the fact that I wasn't wearing my lucky jersey, or just the damn loose
gravel on that slight descent approaching the lake: I got in a pickle
with my front wheel going one way and the rest of the bike and I going
the other...my ride was abruptly punctuated with a crash, first time
in a long time. After taking stock I discovered a bruised hip, a
scraped-up elbow, and a dented ego. Fortunately the bike survived
just fine, no clothing ripped, etc.

As I limped down the rest of the hill towards my compatriots, a single
thought surfaced out of the background fuzz in my mind: "Finally I'll
be able to put that first aid kit to some use!"

Now, I've nearly always ridden with some form of first aid kit in my
bag: at first I'd picked up those little "Road Rash" kits containing
some aspirins, gauze pads, band-aides, etc...but when I attempted my
first brevet last January I poured over all the gear-list-advice
online and heavily upgraded my kit to include lots of larger bandages,
first aid cream, handy wipes, spare contact lenses/pocket
mirror/solution, antacids, sunscreen, and more. Everything but the
kitchen sink, it would seem! Problem was, I'd created a monster --
all this stuff now filled up a gallon zip-top bag! Being the proud
wanna-be randonneur that I like to think I am, I've persisted carrying
this kit in my seatbag or Camelbak on all my rides since. "Always be
prepared" and all that jazz, yaknow....

With the help of an extra set of hands and water from my Camelbak's
hose, we got my oozing elbow cleaned and patched up well enough, and
completed the rest of the ride home without additional drama, dropping
down Bo/Fax (or issit Fax/Bo?) Road into Fairfax and visiting the Java
Hut for coffee and snacks as usual. I clocked in at 60 miles for the
ride, and my excellent wife had a roast chicken dinner waiting for me
when I got home. Whew, and a cold beer, too!

Now I'm thinking/wondering/obsessing more on this incident, which
leads me to ask: those of you who ride with a cycling-specific
first-aid kit, what do you carry and why? What's the bare-minimum
essentials and the nice-to-haves?

Date: 9.4.2006
Mileage: 60
Bike: Fuji Cross
Time: 9am-6pm