Hello again! In the latest installment of this series on bikepacking, we talked about the many forms bike touring or bikepacking can take. Throughout each article, I have repeated important declarations: A bicycle is the best way to travel, and you meet the best people on a bike.
In this installment, I want to talk about the community you join when you bikepack.
Look, I’m going to get a little philosophical here. It seems to me so much of the American Dream in 2026 is about making and having enough money to insulate oneself from other Americans. We’re all patriots…who seem to dislike each other. As Sartre said, “hell is other people” and we have seemingly been acting accordingly. In the last 100 years, we’ve gone from being a front porch culture to a backyard culture. We leave our houses in our sealed, four-wheeled pods, work, then come home and drive our pods directly into our houses. No interaction needed.
If we have enough money, we can have our own swing set, so we don’t have to go to the park. Our own pool, so we don’t have to use the public pool. Maybe we can buy off-grid cabins so as not to need the community being routed by our running from it. The goal seems to be to not rely on others, though we do. And strangely, many would still lament the loss of public life, third spaces, and community.
The truth is, it’s hard to have a community when you insulate yourself from others. As my friend, Lauren Weis (a fellow Evansvillian) says, “if you want a village, you have to be a villager.”
Well, I tell you here today that traveling by bicycle is an invitation to community and connectedness. On a bike, you are fabulously un-insulated from the world around you. That’s what makes it so exciting; It opens you up in a world that seems closed off.
On a tour, your bike will connect you to strangers. A loaded bikepacking bike makes for a long list of easy questions. Where you headed? Where you coming from? How far have you gone? You have a bedroom packed in those bags? I once had a farmer drive his tractor straight out of his field in Southern Minnesota to intercept me and ask me such questions. We were both tired of going in a straight line and happy for the diversion.
Frequently, you get an important final question: Where are you staying tonight? Often, this question is asked before an offer for a place to stay or camp. No matter how much we seem to be pulling away from each other as a culture, we all still yearn for connection, and, most of all, to help others when we can. I have had travelers from other countries tell me they can’t believe how friendly and hospitable Americans are. I’ve had many great nights on tour trading stories and food with people who let me camp in their yard, or even put me up in a room. I’ve heard from many bike tourers that bike touring reaffirmed their belief in their fellow man, and made them more optimistic for the future (try to tell me that a days-long trip stuck in traffic in the Family Truckster ever did that!).
If you’re worried you might not get the spontaneous, fortuitous connections and conversations I have had (you will), the community is already built and waiting for you. An incredible website for bicycle travelers is Warmshowers.org, an international network of cyclists who believe in paying it forward, offering goodwill and hospitality to fellow travelers. It’s really a beautiful thing. It’s people peppered all over the world who know the kindness of others, want to pay it back, and who, feeling the constant pull of the horizon, are happy to host others for a night or two in exchange for only stories as currency. I’m the only host in Evansville and receive a few riders a year. There are hosts in Brooklyn, New Glarus, Exeter, Monroe, Janesville, Stoughton, all over. Check out the map to see all the places you could find new friends.
When I travel, I arrange a stay with Warmshowers approximately once a week, just to enjoy the company of like-minded people, but I’ve known others who plan their trip in advance and will arrange a stay every 40-80 miles for a whole week, thus not needing to pack a tent. It’s an incredible resource, and I’ve never had a bad experience. The worst I could say of any of my guests or hosts is that they weren’t my kind of person, but they were gracious. At best, well, we’ve had some really fun nights, and a few even still get Christmas cards and phone calls.
Traveling by bike is the best way to travel, and you meet the nicest people on a bike. If you have ever been interested in bike touring or bike packing (bike curious?), or if these articles have piqued your interest, there is an international community of fellow cyclists waiting to welcome you. At the very least, countless people will surprise you with their kindness.
If you are looking to dip your toe into the world of bike touring/packing, Shifting Gears Bike Shop will be hosting a jaunt over to New Glarus Woods State Park in early May. We will have a sag wagon if you get tired, mechanic support, the vehicle can schlep your gear, and you can meet people in both the Evansville and Bikepacking communities. Contact Paul at the shop if you are interested, so we can plan for numbers!