bike-packing

“does anybody here do this? after reading Ray Jardine's latest trip report, i find myself intrigued with the idea. it looks incredibly fun.”

“Nigal wants to do it badly, and I wouldn't mind giving it a try. They have some old RR tracks that they made into bike trails in Wva. that would be perfect for a long trip like that. Unfortuantely, 2 years ago when I looked into it, there weren't too many campsites. Maybe it's changed?”

“Nope, not me. That Ray Way guy sucked me into his cult for a while. I escaped.”

“SS, i understand that for a while there Ray was a bit of a lunatic. but he seems to have calmed down considerably, and the man certainly does an awful lot. no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

“hey I would be interested too if someone wants to try. I love moutian biking and packin so sounds like a blast.”

“i'm wondering if i can still have fun with a cheap bike model. i have zero desire to shell out $1000+ when i'm not sure i'll be able to do it much.”

“I saw a dude doing a cross county expedition from Seattle to the outer banks. He had a real nice cross country road bike hybrid and one of them racks on wheels thingys...pretty freakin cool...he didn't have any paineers. Only a handle bar bag. the guy had been on the road for 35 days and was half way to home base. cool stuff.

I;d like to do that sort of thing too.”

“I saw a dude doing a cross county expedition from Seattle to the outer banks. He had a real nice cross country road bike hybrid and one of them racks on wheels thingys...pretty freakin cool...he didn't have any paineers. Only a handle bar bag. the guy had been on the road for 35 days and was half way to home base. cool stuff.

I;d like to do that sort of thing too.”

“I wanted to do some back forest roads this summer but didn't make it. Tarbubble you can pick up a really good bike for around $300. I've been thinking about doing the Little Miami Trail that goes from east of Dayton to Cincinatti but with most bike trails, no campsing along the trail. There are some parks though that you can camp at.”

“thanks Nigal. do you have any recommendations as to brand or model? i tried asking on a mt. bike forum but they're a little unrealistic about price over there.”

“Trek and giant make some decent hardtails around that price. Don't be afraid to buy a used one either, last year my scoutmaster made it the 200+ miles across michigan on our high adventure riding an old peugeot found in someones trash.”

“LOL! i know somebody at church who has a Diamondback she doesn't want anymore. she'll sell it pretty darn cheap, but are they OK bikes?”

“Treck has a sister company called Gary Fisher Bikes. They are as good as Treck but cheaper. I got a bike with front shocks for $300 and it's a nice bike. It really depnds on a few different things...weight (I'm a big guy and needed a stout bike), use (if you aren't going to be shredding and beating the hell out of the bike why pay the extra bucks?), and weight of the bike (the lightert eh bike the more it costs).

I feel that the most important thing to have in a bike is good running gears. Everything else is pretty standard. Shimono running gear is pretty much the industry standard.

I've heard people say good things about some of the bikes at WalMart.”

“I bike packed for many years in the summer and it replaced summer backpacking for me in that time. I liked it better because you can avoid bugs and it's cooler. I haven't bike packed since 1997, but I'd like to get back into it. I still have the Trek 970 touring bike and all my bike packing gear.”

“I have a MOTIV (Read: Cheap) Mountain bike, no shocks, but upgraded gearing and wheels, that I bought for $25 at a yard sale...it had the little rubber injection tibs still on the original tires when I bought it, and I proceeded to mount the rear rack and panniers on the bike, i'm still looking for a front rack for the bike.

My first trek was through the Sipsey Wilderness over county then onto Forest Service roads....I've found that as ols as i am, trail riding with weight is not doable, but the road trip was fun, and the campgrounds located in the Forest are acessable to Bike Packers...the Hennessy Hammock was the ticket for this trip, with a 10 X 10 Tarp replacing the fly, I had all the room beneath to keep me and the bike out of the weather...”

“I just got off the phone with my dad, he's always coming up with ideas that he thinks I should do - I know it's things that he wishes he'd be able to do but doesn't have the time/energy to do. This one caught my attention, I have a month between when i finish school for the year and I begin work (getting paid to backpack, can't get better than that). I would like to try this - I have a decent bike, I will need to upgrade some of my equipment - a good excuse to get better backpacking gear.

This would probably be a 1 week loop from my house, I've done a few bicycle rides, 3 organized rides, but nothing more than a single day. A solo journey, facing my fear of being alone, will be a test of my mental capabilities, but I'm ready to give it a try.

I know for real advice on the topic i should probably find a different forum, but does anybody have experience?”

“I've done a little and the thing I had to learn the most was what a difference 10-15 pounds over the back wheels can make in shifting. I had to kind of relearn when and where to shift. Definitely go ultralight and minimal.”

“I've done one overnighter on a bike trail and will do a few more this summer. I wore a daypack and balanced my tent on my handlebars. While that worked on the easy trail I was on, I'll switch the tent for a tarp/bivy next time.

Only advice I could give is what Nigal already said - go as light and simple as you're comfortable with.”

“Good advice T Mac. Also if you do go out and buy a set of paniers and you big feet make sure you get a set that will allow your feet to clear the bags. I have a little trouble with that. Here's the google list for "bike packing"...

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=bike+packing”

“if you go to Dirtworld you might find a link to some bike clubs in the area, they might have their own forum, one down here does.

Good luck.”

“Or, just throw your stuff in a Baby Jogger, like these two guys, and Run Across the Country.”

“I have lots of experience with bikepacking and it replaced summer backpacking for me betweeen 1989 and 1997. You need a good luggage rack on your bike along with panniers and a decent repair kit for flats, broken chains, extra cables, extra spoke, etc. Nothing stinks more than a breakdown with a loaded bike off the beaten path so make sure your bike is in good running order before you leave. Check your brakes and make sure your pads are in good shape, since they work harder on long downhills with extra weight on board. Second make sure you have the skills and tools to fix common problems. I would avoid using a daypack with too much weight while riding. It's hard on your back after long day on the bike. With warm summer days and modern lightweight gear everything should fit in your panniers and on your rack anyway to avoid the need for a daypack. If you aren't a strong cyclist go as light as possible. You don't need a warehouse so this isn't hard to do. You can buy food on the way if you want to so that can lighten your load also. On long climbs just slip into low gear if you have to and take your time to chug to the top. It will take longer with a loaded bike and you don't want to blow up on hills, load up with lactic acid and be wasted when you've got the rest of the day to pedal. If you can, travel with another rider. You can draft together for and easier ride and if you have a mechanical problem or fall you'll have someone to go for help. I've had both problems and believe me it's nice to have someone to help out. If you don't have a friend to go with, go anyway, but be prepared and stay safe.”

“An alternative to racks and panniers (or for the obsessive overpackers, in addition to), look at a B.O.B. trailer. More expensive, but don't make your bike top-heavy. Have talked to long-distance bike travelers who have loved them, but not all do. My wrists went bad before I could put my bike-packing dreams on the road -- even have the panniers, etc. But can't take the pressure of leaning on my wrists -- and I don't expect to have the extra cash to convert to a recumbent bike”

“Those trailers do look interesting. I've never tried one, but I wonder if you are limited to where you can go if you decide you want to head down a trail to camp out for the night. It could be tough getting through in tight spots. They are probably more for the open road.”

“richb, I've read a couple reviews where they were tried on MB trails and are said to work pretty well because of a pretty fat little tire and decent clearance -- though you can't hop logs with them. Certainly fine for two tracks and dirt roads.”

“Sounds nice then. In the old days, if these were available, I would probably have used one, but if I ever went bike touring again, I doubt I'd ever carry enough gear and bulk to justify the use of it.”

“A few years ago I went to a presentation on biking the Continental Divide Trail. They used those trailers, but not sure if they used them the entire time.

I'm sure I'd remember more details, but I did an endo that morning and cracked my helmet. LOL...”

“A couple years ago as I got off the Lake Michigan car ferry, there were some bike-packers in the line to get on going the other direction. One had a trailer, the other had panniers. They said that it was their first chance to compare the systems against each other. Wish I knew how the trip went.”

“Ouch! Good thing you had a helmet on. It's funny how cycling helmets look so skimpy with just styrofoam, but they do work.”

“yep, I was really glad I had that helmet on!”

“I have a cracked helmet myself from a crash. I crashed into imbedded rocks and it saved me from a head injury. Unfortunately, I separated my shoulder on one of the rocks. It was uncomfortable having to sleep in a chair for two nights.”

“I was a the Bicycle Coalition of Maine bike rally when I did my endo, so the Director traded helmets with me. I'm sure he's using my cracked one for educational purposes.

I landed on my elbow first and still have an annoying bit of scar tissue there.”

“Head, shoulders and elbows seem to hit first in a bike crash. Shoulders, especially seem vulnerable and you hear of so many cyclists that crashed and fractured collarbones. My goal now is zero falls on any ride and I'm really careful of not taking chances bombing downhills. If it looks iffy on an off road ride, I just get off and walk down.”

“tempting to sarcastically call "WIMP!" there, but I ain't willing to risk the bad kharma that'll come with it.”

“I did my endo on wet railroad tracks (I really did angle correctly) and I'm anxious crossing tracks since...
I sometimes walk if there's a bad one.
I don't need to hear the squealing of car tires in my ears again, LOL!”

“gotta be one of the worst feelings in the world, when you feel your body rising like it's on a pivot - you just know it's gonna hurt.”

“I have yet to have have caused a "yard sale" yet. I'm sure it'll happen sooner or later.”

“a yard sale? what's that, Nige?”

“A yard sale is when someone (a skier, a snowboarder, a bike rider) wipes out and all there shlt gets thrown everywhere like a yard sale.”

“oh thanks.
I was always kinda worried about wiping out, but then it wasn't that bad. I mean my bike was creamed and I was loopy for the rest of the day, but that's nothing new! :)”

“I had a pedestrian step off the curb in front of me when I was doing about 20mph on my 10-speed. This was during my early '70s college years, the pre-helmet days. Last thing I remembered was tucking my head - next thing I knew I was sprawled in the street with a small crowd of on-lookers, scuffed heels of my palms (it was November, so I at least had gloves on), and a shattered molar. Then I heard my mother's voice -- she'd been shopping downtown and came out of a store to see what the fuss was all about.

The dang pedestrian, a young woman, apparently uninjured by my mowing her down, took off so I couldn't even demand she pay for the gold crown I had to get. The dentist said I probably clenched my teeth when I saw I was about to hit her, and then the impact channeled right to the tooth. It was like the top of the tooth exploded.”

“I'm nervous about falling because my left collarbone sticks out after a grade 3 separation. It's in a gray area now where to make it look right it needs pins in it with surgery. If I fall there again it's going to tear away from the AC joint and I'm definitely going to need surgery then. I don't want to wind up back in an emergency room, that's about the worst.”

“There are lots of organized bikepack rides around the country. I have wridden the BRAG ride many times and have a ball. You can choose to shuttle gear or carry it as you wish. Check out www.brag.org. There is an alabama ride that is cool too.

You have gotten some great advice here. bike packing is really a great alternative and a much lower impact way to see the country side. The older I get the more attractive the bike is to the trail.”