Bicycle Touring Cooking Gear

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A look at my bicycle touring cooking gear, including my cookset, cup, camp stove, and some of the food I typically take on a bike tour.

A look at my bike touring cooking gear

Bike Tour Cooking Kit

As I am preparing for a cycling tour around Iceland, I thought I'd go over the cook kit I will use out on the road.

This bicycle tour is around 6 weeks long, the weather can be variable (cold and wet!), and I'll be camping for most of it.

Therefore, I'll be taking a stove, pan, and other items needed to cook for myself during the cycle trip.

Camping Stove: MSR Pocket Rocket 2 

In the past, I've traveled with a multi-fuel style camp stove like the MSR Dragonfly. These types have stove have been particularly useful when cycling in off the beaten path places during my bike tours from Alaska to Argentina and England to South Africa.

While Iceland is wild, and geographically off the beaten path, there's no problem getting gas canisters there. So, I've opted for the Pocket Rocket 2 instead.

msr pocket rocket 2 camping stove

I tested it out on a recent shakedown bikepacking tour, and it does the job well. I only really boil water for pasta, coffee, and rice in any case.

Price: I bought this in 2022 for 36.99 Pounds

Camping Pot: Bestargot Titanium 1600ml Pot

I bought this pot along with a frying pan as a nested set. For my Iceland bike tour though, I'll only be needing the pot.

a titanium cooking pot is part of my bike touring cooking gear

Being titanium, it's super light-weight. There has to be some care in using it though, so food doesn't get burned when making a soup or stews.

I'll take along the lid as it makes boiling water that little bit faster and more efficient.

Price: Can't remember

Windshield: Aluminium Windshield

Iceland is known for its strong winds, so a windshield for the camping stove makes sense.

The one I'm using came with my old Dragonfly stove.

Price: Unknown

Camping Cup: Quechua Stainless Steel Mug

A bargain priced stainless steel mug with a 400ml capacity. All praise Decathlon!!

Price: Bought a few years ago for around 2.99 Euros

Camping Cutlery: Knife, Fork, Spoon

After a recent test run of gear, I realised that the lightweight camping cutlery I had was, to put it frankly, rubbish.

So, for this trip, I am taking regular cutlery from the kitchen draw – don't tell the Mrs!

There's not so much difference in weight, and it's much easier to eat with.

Price: Earache if the Mrs finds out

Note: I am not traveling with a plate at all. I am traveling with a Swiss Army knife, but it is listed in my bicycle camping toiletry gear.

Thermos: Stainless King Food Flask, Red, 710 ml

I know what you're thinking – is this guy some sort of trainspotter?

Yes, I know, taking a thermos on a bike tour seems a bit old school, but hear me out on this one.

Every video I've seen and diary I've read of cyclists in Iceland shows them cold, wet and a little miserable at some point.

Do you know what it looked like they needed? A good cup of tea, or at least some instant noodles to warm them up!

Thermos Food flask

I've opted for a food flask, and tested it out on my shakedown bike tour and have to say that it makes life a lot more comfortable.

Before sleeping at night, I filled the flask with boiling water, and it was more than hot enough in the morning to enjoy a couple of cups of coffee in bed.

I could also just have the one cup, and then use the rest of the hot water to make up my oats into porridge.

Then, before setting out on the day's ride, I would put in a pack of instant noodles and top up with hot water.

This meant I then had a hot meal ready to eat whenever I wanted during the day's cycle ride.

Yes, the food flask has some extra weight and is reasonably bulky, but I think the benefits will vastly outweigh the negatives when bicycle touring in Iceland.

Price: Bought in 2022 for 21.95 pounds.

Misc Items

In addition to the items listed above, there's a few other things in my bicycle touring cooking kit:

  • 2 x Lighters
  • Wax covered emergency matches

Food

And now on to my favorite bit – food!

Bike touring burns a lot of calories, and so it's important to carry enough food.

I tend to carry enough food for 2-3 days when bike touring. During my planned bike touring route of Iceland, there is one section where I may need to carry food for 4-5 days.

The typical bikepacking food I take on a multi-day cycle trip

While I always set out with grand plans of making one pot meals of stew and soup, realism sets in, and I rely more on pasta and tuna type meals!

As Iceland is an expensive country, I have decided to bring some food over with me from Greece on the flight.

Effectively, I've got about 3 days of food. While the makeup of the food bag will change as I cycle around Iceland, it will more or less contain the same things such as:

  • 1 pack of spaghetti pasta
  • 5 pouches of 80g tuna
  • 3 x instant noodles
  • Tortilla wraps
  • Peanut butter
  • Oats
  • Coffee + sugar
  • Electrolyte mix
  • Hard candy sweets
  • Salt and chilli flakes

I've also packed a bag with some energy powders and protein bars I've had left over from the last few months. I doubt these will get replaced when used, as I'll stick to ‘real food'. Or snickers bars. Whatever.

Note: I will pick up fresh fruit and vegetables wherever possible. I'll also treat myself to a meal every now and again… once I've got my head around the concept of a 25.00 Euro burger!

Most of what is listed packs into a Decathlon Forclaz foldable pack, and that then gets carried in my rack pack along with whatever didn't fit there and the stove.

Price: N/A

And that covers my bicycle touring cooking gear and bike touring food list!

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