What Our Guides Carry (And Why)
I asked a Vietnam cycling guide to empty his pockets.
We were at a rest stop on day three of a tour. Riders were taking photos, stretching, using the bathroom. The guide—Duc, 34, eight years’ experience—laughed at the request but obliged.
From his jersey pockets alone: two energy bars, a tube of sunscreen, a laminated route card, a compact multi-tool, a mobile phone with local SIM, a radio, a small tube of chamois cream, and about 500,000 Vietnamese dong in small bills.
“That’s just what I carry on my body,” he said. “Want to see the saddle bag? The support vehicle?”
What followed was an education in what it actually takes to keep a cycling tour running safely through a country where the nearest hospital might be an hour away and the nearest bike shop might not exist at all. Here’s the complete inventory—and why each item matters.