New Series: Bikepacking, Explained
Hello all! Hello lovers of cycling or just friends of the shop. My good friend, Paul, told me that he had patrons coming to his shop and asking about a buzzy new term called “bikepacking.” People were coming to him asking what it was, where to start, what to buy, and he knew I had experience in it because, well, we’re friends, and he’s had to endure my stories about it.
After decades of “bikepacking,” it’s hard to know where to start. Let’s start here: Strapping up your things and heading towards the horizon is not new (regardless of new terminology), and the most important thing isn’t gear you can buy; it’s a mindset (sorry Paul).
Let’s start with the new term: Bikepacking. It sounds like backpacking, but if you’ve ever been backpacking, you’ve probably wondered why your body didn’t have wheels. It sounds stupid, but if you have been, you know what I mean. You know from every time you heaved a pack up a mountain, just to strain your knees going down, and you thought it could all be easier. Now, strap that stuff to a bike, and you have “bikepacking.” You can go anywhere. Singletrack. Gravel. Trail. And you get to coast down the hills.
Wherever you go when bikepacking, you get to say “yes.” It’s like pedaling a Jeep but more reliable. It’s a type of travel done on bikes with bigger tires, wide gears, lots of little bags, and an adventurous spirit (though there are ways to do it in more comfort – see future articles). That’s really what it comes down to. Do you want to really go somewhere, and are you fully open to where it takes you? If you are, you will find bikepacking to be hands-down the best way to travel.
That spirit, the one that looks at a horizon and wonders what’s behind it, isn’t new. People have been “bikepacking” pretty much since the advent of the bicycle. I’ve read books of people biking single speeds over the Swiss Alps in the 1930s. I read a book about a young Irish woman loading a bedroll, some clothes, a carton of cigarettes, and a .32 pistol on her 3 speed and biking from Ireland to India in the early 60s (spoiler: she used that pistol a few times).It caught on faster in Europe, with closer towns and the early European invention of the “youth hostel.” The bicycle boom of the 70s (aided by the environmental movement) brought about a whole bike touring movement with the proliferation of the 10-speed, culminating in the Bikecentennial ride across the entire US. All the while, it was simply called bicycle “touring.”
Now, in the 2000s, we have “bikepacking,” which cynics might call a repacking of an old idea, but just like every iteration before it, it has become more…big-tent…egalitarian…inclusive. Now, more than ever, the equipment makes it so anyone can go anywhere, with the primary deciding factor being one’s will to do it. We have more gears, better bags, lighter gear, GPS, “sleep systems”, social networks (more on this later), and the list goes on and on. Since my first tour when I was 19, my kit has shrunk, lightened, gotten more comfortable, and streamlined, but my desire to see the world on a bike has only increased. It is now the best, easiest time to start bikepacking.
That being said, I outfitted and helped a 19 year old kid get ready for his first tour two years ago. He was riding the bike he owned (an old mountain bike), he was mostly using used gear (because like most young people, he was broke), and he even sewed some of his own bags. What he had was the will to do it.
So, the question is: do you have the same wanderlust? Do you suffer the same affliction? Do you love looking at maps and following the lines toward the edge? Do you spy planes and dream about where they are going? Do you get the sense that there’s more to see, even in the familiar, if you could just slow down and enjoy it? Your bicycle is the way to get there. Stay tuned for the rest of this series. We will discuss gear, destinations, tips and tricks, places to stay, and so much more.
Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you on the road!