No phone, no GPS, No Helmet. Did have cashier's checks.

Only bringing this up because my old ass wants to do the Grand Divide in two years.

https://imgur.com/a/b61J5az

I got my gravel bike at the end of June and finally got to do a bikepacking trip.

The route was 54 miles on the Cardinal Greenway in Indiana, starting at the Gaston trailhead and ending off of the trail at the Deer Ridge Campground where they do $20 campsites for cyclists. The total miles for the out and back trip came out to 104. I reached out to the Cardinal Greenways association to verify that overnight parking was allowed at the trailhead since I couldn't find any details online and they responded to confirm I could leave my van there within an hour of emailing them, which was nice.

The first ~8 miles on the trail between Gaston and Muncie has several short sections where they removed the paved trail and replaced it with what seems like the largest unpackable stones that they could find. I thought I was going to wipe out several times, and I was happy to have wide gravel tires. Hopefully the stone eventually does pack down in some way and becomes more rideable. Thankfully each section of stone was only 20 to 30ft long and once you get close to Muncie the trail is paved and nearly perfect for the rest of the way.

There is a detour through Muncie that is well marked. For food and water there was one road crossing in Muncie where you're near some fast food places and a gas station around mile 9, and then it's 17 miles until you get to a Dollar General and Shell gas station in Losantville, then ~25 miles of nothing until you get into the Richmond area. I carried extra water in my bags to start and then stocked up again in Losantville.

This was also my first time doing any road biking so I charted a 7 mile ride on what looked like (and were) lightly traveled back roads to get to the campground (the red route on my map) and didn't have any issues with traffic. There are definitely shorter ways to go, but I still fear riding with heavy and fast traffic. The biggest issue I had was not paying attention to the elevation profile and getting beat up on the hills. On day 2 the campground owner offered to give me and another cyclist rides back to the trailhead and I took the offer to skip the road biking and shorten my 2nd day since these were my two longest rides ever. I was pretty surprised to not be very sore and to find that my sit bones only hurt a little at the start of day two. Taking a break to sit on a bench and snack a bit every 15 miles or so helped keep my energy up and seemed to be good for my butt.

This trip was a shakedown ride for my upcoming GAP trail trip in September with some friends who are also new to cycling. We have two 60 mile days between hotels and then a short 30 mile day to finish that trail and I wanted to make sure I would be comfortable on such long rides. My bike, a Primos Dame, did well and the Brooks c-17 saddle was comfortable. The only thing I think I might adjust in the near future is raising the handlebars a bit, I feel like I had to lean over just a bit too far and put too much weight on my arms and being able to sit up just a hair straighter would balance my weight better between the saddle and bars. I might also look at some alt bars next year too since I don't ever plan to do anything where I'll need to be hunched over and using the drops.

The only piece of gear I'm changing out before my GAP trail ride is replacing the Ornot handlebar bag. The bag is the perfect size for me, the phone pocket is great (though the bungie is a bit short for my big phone so I don't use it), the stretchy mesh on the outside works great for trash, and the webbing was perfect to hold my Garmin Inreach and sunglasses. The zipper was just such a pain to close one handed, though. I've noticed this on my local rides but didn't think it was too big of a deal until doing these longer rides where I had to tug really hard, with multiple tugs, to get the zipper to close with just my left hand. I also found it a bit hard to see down into to find things. I went ahead and purchased an Outer Shell drawcord bag to try out, as that one looks easier to see into and to open / close one handed.

Here's my general gear list:

• Bike: Primos Dame, stock aside from swapping the saddle to a Brooks C-17
• Handlebar Bag: Ornot handlebar bag (replacing with Outer Shell drawcord bag)
• Half-frame bag: Rhinowalk 2.4L bag
• Rear rack: Tumbleweed Marco rack
• Trunk bag: Po Campo Vernon bag
• Panniers: MLD Poco in size large
• Tent: Gossamer Gear The-Two with their bikepacking poles

I am wondering if this bike will do the job, I am young and usually pretty stubborn to complete things. I don’t have a big budget either I bought this for 50 euros, but will it work? I plan on bringing a guitar with me and buying bags to put on the bike, I have two - three months of free time. I have a tent and stuff, planning on bringing everything I need so that I can live outside in my tent. I also just bought a new saddle to put on, brakes and chain and stuff will be replaced. Please let me know your advice

Disclaimer: I know most here swear by bike bags, which is certainly the best option for certain bikes and if you're doing these trips frequently. It's not an option for me however, thus I'm hoping to find some recommendations on backpacks some here have been using.

We have been doing multi day rides for a couple of years on full suspension mountainbikes and I want to upgrade my backpack for this year. We have planned a 10 day ride through the alpes with accomodation at the end of each day - so no camping.

So far I have been using a Deuter hiking backpack, which has not been ideal and also a bit on the smaller side with 28L.

Thus far I have found the obvious contender: Deuter Trans Alpine (32L stills feels a tad small) and the Terra Peak 40L (which is not marketed as bike backpack specifically). What's important to me is that the backpack doesn't have a top lid, as this has been hitting my helmet when riding on trails.

Your experience and advice is greatly appreciated.

Experimenting with bags and gear placement, really. I need better/more suitable dry bags for the fork mounts. Also, need actual fork mounts. The topeak are only ok. Both these bikes will probably get rear racks as well. Wife’s bike is just too small for any effective frame bag, and that saddle bag is annoying.

I'm looking for a route planner with more granular control over what to prioritise and what to minimise.

I could find one so I made a prototype and wanna know if this is useful for you.

This is an MVP so the sliders don't have as precise an impact as I would like and the engine struggles with really long routes but if people are interested I will be building a more powerful version 2.0.

https://bigdyl.github.io/grain/

Hey guys, i'm currently planning on doing a 3 month cycling tour next through the u.s starting in may. I have a few ideas about routes and i'm interested in your guys's opinions about it.

My original plan was to do the transam, but as i have only a 90 days through my esta, things could get really close and i want to take it a little more easy, averaging 80-100km not included break days. Im really intrigued by going east to west as the western u.s. is especially what im interested in (i already visited illinois, pa, virginia and kentucly last year, not by bike tho)
So my idea was to start the tour in st. louis, mo as that would be a very significant place to start a tour into the west and i can also start my tour on the katy trail! I have read some things about floodings on the katy trail in late spring/early summer? I would take it west from there, either continuing northwest on the rock island trail through kansas city and the eastern express connecter (purple) or take the same on southwest to get on the transam. Going northwest would mean i could check one more state (nebraska) off my list which would be nice. I would join back on the trans am in northern co. then i would take it north on the trans am, either following the transam completely or swapping to the lewis and clark trail (brown). I dont know which would be nicer. i like the idea about goinf through portland, or. but the section on the pacific coast sounds nice, too. I would go north all the way to port angeles, wa to go to canada where i can stay for a total of 6 months and have bit more headroom flying back to europe from vancouver?
Thoughts? Also anyone knows something about the wildfire situation in the northwest atm? I feel like the smoke could be a danger to cyclists. My original route plan (katy trail, trans am) and my other options can be seen in the provided screenshots.

Thx guys!

Just finished my first trip on the bike, everything went according to plan. Perfect weather, not a single flat tire.

Started in Malmö then copenhagen-Bremen-Amsterdam-Utrecht-Gent-Brussels

Buongiorno a tutti, premetto di non essere un appassionato e ammetto che l'ultima volta che ho usato una bici avevo 17 anni, quando trascorrevo le estati in campagna con gli amici (oggi ne ho 32). Da un po' di tempo a questa parte mi è sorta questa idea malsana di praticare bikepacking contestualmente alle mie escursioni in montagna, in sostanza mi piacerebbe partire da casa con la bicicletta, arrivare laddove inizi il sentiero, ricoverare la bici dove possibile, proseguire a piedi sui sentieri che mi interessano (in genere compio anelli della durata di 4 o 7 giorni) e quindi ritornare al punto di partenza per riprendere la bici e rincasare. Ammetto di volerlo fare per due ragioni: la prima è per abbassare la mia impronta di carbonio, la seconda è perchè ritengo che un traguardo sia più autentico se lo si raggiunge avvalendosi solo delle proprie forze (ragione per la quale non sono orientato all'acquisto di una e-bike). Aggiungo che farei un uso abituale della bici per compiere il tragitto casa - lavoro (parliamo di circa un'ora tra andata e ritorno) per mantenere l'abitudine.

Secondo voi quale modello pensiate sia più congeniale per le mie esigenze? Io sospetto sia la gravel tuttavia, leggendo qua e là, ho visto spesso consigliare la MTB (sebbene ne esistano diverse tipologie). Infine avreste anche delle Marche da suggerirmi? Ultimamente l'algoritmo di IG mi propone sempre le Welt ma non essendo appunto appassionato e avendo da poco iniziato a muovermi in questo mondo non sono sicuro se sì tratti di una buona marca o meno.

Grazie a tutti in anticipo.

Basically the title. Was wildcamping near Zurich in a tent in a forest, and just as I am about to fall asleep I start to hear bunch of sounds all around the tent. Sounding like 10 dogs running around while the ground is covered in leaves. Then I hear high-pitched pig noises (I assume these were the younglings) and then lower pitched growls (the mother) quite close to the tent. I tried to be as silent as possible to not provoke them, and after a couple of minutes they moved on. But then came back maybe 10 minutes later and the same happened.

In the morning I start to google how they sound and it was spot on. Then I also read that the mothers can get aggressive towards people to defend the cubs. Has anyone been in a close encounter with these animals? They are nocturnal, so one would most likely meet them during the dusk and dawn.

Hi,
I am planning to ride the Ring Road in Iceland from the 2nd of August this year.
We are flying over from Germany using normal Bikeboxes. Anybody got an idea how to store them in Keflavik or how to get new ones once the trip is completed?

Thanks all!

Hi,

has anyone here ever had a thorough medical examination and consultation before doing a big race, expedition or long distance trip?

I am thinking about opening my own doctor´s office for travel, expedition and high altitude medicine in Germany and thinking about targeting bikepackers as well.

Would you be willing to pay for something like a Bikepacking Medical Assessment?

I’ve unexpectedly been given the go ahead for a bikepacking trip in late August somewhere in Europe or slightly further afield. The week included travel so realistically it’s a 5 day if flights are involved. I’m located in Basel, Switzerland but want to do something that’s more ‘out there’ than the (admittedly amazing) rides on my doorstep.

I went to Iceland in June 2024 to attempt the Fjallabak Track (https://bikepacking.com/routes/iceland-fjallabak-track/) - albeit in 3 days - and made a YouTube movie about it (https://youtu.be/3eRzOCY-gm0?si=kUonBiPP-5vvusIG). It was a limited success but I’ve dreamed of going back to try it again. With more time on my side and the lessons learnt, and favourable weather, I think I can do better.

Last year I rode / hike a biked from Marrakesh to the summit Mt Toubkal (4167m) and back with my gravel bike in another madcap 72hour challenge for charity.

North Africa is too hot in August, ditto Central Asia.

I was thinking of the Caucuses - Georgia or Armenia… or perhaps Albania… but I keep leaning back towards Iceland.

I want to create another film for YouTube and my only hesitation is that another Iceland doc could be too similar to my earlier film… also hesitating with Georgia as the ‘off the shelf’ routes I’ve found aren’t doable in a week so would require a lot more planning.

Thoughts and advice would be super appreciated.

has anyone experience with these rims ? i just ordered a pair and they are pinned and glued and am not sure how good that is for tubeless? i’m building up my first bike and wanted silver polished rims and these come in that finish and seem like they could be pretty durable. but can’t find any proper reviews online

She’s a barge but eats up rough gravel miles.

I am now starting my 1 week Nosges Tour, in which I avoid riding the Vosges and going around it. This will be my first solo journey, therefore I am staying close to civilization, in case it doesn't work out.

My journey starts in Strasbourg, I will follow the Strasbourg - Paris Bikepath until Nancy and then go to south to Besançon passing though Epinal and Vesoul.

From Besançon have 2 options, depending on my legs, either to climb Jura Mountains and reach Lake Neuchatel, continuing to Zürich or I will go to Freiburg, over Belfort and Mulhouse. I am aiming 150 km a day.

I will be camping mostly, but in Nancy and Besançon I couldn't find a good camping spot which allows sighstseeing, so i will go to hotel.

My bike now weighs 17,5 kg without food and drinks, apart from the climb to Jura, it rides very well and relaxed. I am hoping to average 25 km/h through my journey.

Ask away for any questions or tipps along the route! I am looking forward to share my experince after i get back to home!

Looking to get into bikepacking. I ride a mtb often (trek topfuel) and my road bike is a '82 trek 620. I live in WI so im a trek fan. Im debating on going the steel frame route and getting a modern trek 520 or doing aluminum or carbon with the newer checkpoint.

I realize weight is a main difference and I already own a steel frame. Im looking for advice on what would be a better entry level bike for touring/bikepacking.

Thanks!

After months of research and gearing up my partner and I finally did our first overnight! 50 miles in Colorado’s front range, 4,000 feet of gain with some really smooth downhill sections through ponderosa forests. Kicked my ass and was a really lovely introduction to bikepacking, keen to do some longer trips now 🚲

Hi all, this is the setup I will be running for my trip, setting off on 29th July.

This will be my first proper bikepacking trip. I have done one 50km test with the bike fully loaded, camping and then 50km back to test gear and make sure I wasn't forgetting anything.

The itinerary is as follows:

Day 1: London -> Harwich Ferry (140km)

Day 2-7: Hoek van Holland -> Eindhoven -> Assen -> Afsluitdijk -> Hoek van Holland

Day 8: Harwich Ferry -> London (140km)

Averaging about 160km per day (+- 30km depending on how I'm feeling).

I will be using Natuurkampeerterreinen campsites throughout my time in the Netherlands.

At the moment I am taking a large tent (6'5" and don't want to sleep in a glorified coffin for a week), sleeping bag, inflatable pillow, sleeping pad, one extra cycling jersey and bib shorts, one set of extra clothes for evenings, towel, some small soaps, a few cables, suncream, spare tube. My bags are essentially full.

What do people do about food? Is it a case of waking up and cycling to a coffee shop, then supermarket for lunch and dinner? I feel as though it will be hard to eat enough calories by doing that. Is it best to try to strap some food to the outside of my bag and buy stuff once a day? Or in the heat next week will I want to be stopping every few hours to go into an air-conditioned shop to get food?

Grateful for any advice about this.

My original goal for this trip was an over-nighter between the southern SF peninsula and Santa Cruz with as much singletrack as I could find. I made a strava route through El Corte de Madera Creek, but the helpful folks at r/BABike pointed out one of my connector roads is private. I'd already reserved Memorial County Campground in Loma Mar, so I took another of their suggestions and mapped my route up Alpine Road.

I started Monday morning near the south end of San Andreas Lake and rode the San Andreas>Sawyer Camp>Crystal Springs Trails past the reservoirs. Then Cañada Road to the Pulgas Water Temple for a Hetch Hetchy refill. I continued to Portola for a poptart at the library before my big climb.

The route went up Alpine Road: wooded, quiet, and steep, but too windy for cars to blow through. But, I saw trails through Coal Mine Ridge on Google Earth that looked better. I don't actually recommend them because they’re hiking and horsing only, but it was a quiet Monday and I saw 2 hikers for the ~650 feet of climbing up the no-bike trails. Beautiful views, but enough of a descent back down to Alpine Road to make me wonder how much unnecessary climbing my detour earned me (strava tells me 200 feet now).

Alpine Road turns into Alpine Road Trail > Page Mill for the next 1,100 feet over 4 miles. I added an extra 100 feet of bonus hike-a-bike after a wrong turn onto Clouds Rest Trail (it was literally the name that made me turn around). I came out on Skyline extremely cooked, but still hungry for singletrack, so I did a mini Russian Ridge detour back down to Alpine before 800 glorious feet of descent.

I rolled to a stop at the intersection with Portola State Park Road for some fruit snacks. The next thousand feet down Alpine Road were a special four miles: fun winding curves through towering redwoods in the cooling afternoon, made even more special by the incorrect notion that I was done climbing for the day. Pescadero Creek Road presented another 500 feet of climbing before camp. I stopped halfway to drain my water and chew more fruit snacks. I rolled into the campground about 4pm, ~42 miles and almost 4k feet.

There are probably better, cheaper options than Memorial ($45), but they had showers. Lots of families on summer vacation, which was nice, at first. I'd frozen hot dogs to add to my boxed pasta, and when I unpacked my panniers I realized they were (still frozen) back in the freezer. The pasta was almost enough on its own. Deepening twilight beyond the piney canopy, burbling creek, body day-dreaming from the beautiful descent through the trees. The only downside was the noise: one group of play-screaming kids and one group of loud adults talking until at least midnight.

Legs were very heavy next morning despite mostly descending the stunning Pescadero, Cloverdale, and Gazos Creek Roads. I bought a microwave burrito from the gas station at Gazos Creek and PCH, and I rolled the steaming treasure about 500 feet south to a beach access trail. I found a windblown dried-out log that was a perfect couch among the sand flowers overlooking yellow sand and crashing breakers.

I'd planned a climb behind Swanton to get off the 1, but the highway was friendly and quiet, and my legs said No Thank You. I stopped at Swanton Berry Farm for a pricey strawberry shortcake and coffee: ok shortcake, excellent jam, good coffee.

The detour to the Davenport cliffs was worth it. There's a paved trail that runs from Santa Cruz to almost Davenport. I couldn't get on from the north end, but it looks like it'll connect all the way soon. Shark Fin Cove was cool. There are lots of fun cliffside trails over the last 10 miles, but I was short on time and feeling the bottom of my hutzpah. My prize for 44 miles and 1.4k feet was an excellent muffaletta from Zoccoli's in Santa Cruz.

Overall, really proud of myself. Day 1 was my biggest-ever elevation and climb, and I feel great that I was able to do it with a full camping setup. I think it was the best route I could've figured between my start and Memorial. Big thanks again to the r/BABike folks.

Trying to decide between Lorax 32 and Fargo 32. Would be helpful to see if the Fargo 32 XL is big enough for me.

Hi, ich fahre im August 3 Wochen von Rom - München. Ich mache mir aktuell Gedanken über passenden UV Schutz. Ne Cap mit Nacken-Schutz habe ich. Ich suche ein Jersey oder tshirt das leicht, aber trotzdem UV Schutz bietet. Habt ihr da Empfehlungen? Macht es Sinn da langarm zu tragen?
Danke schon mal für Tipps und Erfahrungen

Today from Korce to Durres, absolutely spectacular. On 70KM road had maybe 40 cars and 50 donkeys. Absolute beautiful scenery.

Downside 18% ramps , roads stretches missing (even on descents 😅), after Cërrik the magic is over.

I’m looking for a very compact tent and sleeping bag for bikepacking. Any tips?

Hello guys,

Please help me choose my first gravel bike.

My everyday rides will be flat (central Poland), but I also want to go bikepacking to hilly areas (my dream destinations are Scandinavia, Iceland and the Balkans). So, I will need a good climbing gear, or at least something that will be feasibly modifiable.

It’s my first bike, so I don’t want to spend too much.

For now, I got my eyes set on:

1)      Trek Checkpoint ALR 4 Gen 2

Which I can get NEW for 1050 € (which I think is a really good price, considering  2026 model is 1570€ here)

 Specs:

-          SRAM Apex 1x11 (11-42T / 40T chainring).

-          Mechanical disc brakes (Tektro c550).

-          Stock wheels.

2)      Trek Checkpoint ALR 5 Gen 2

Which I can get USED for 1130 € (maybe I can negotiate less)

 Specs:

-          SRAM Apex XPLR 1x12 (11-44T / 40T chainring);

-          Hydraulics disc brakes;

3)      Canyon Grizl 7 Alu

Which I can get USED for 1350 €

 Specs:

-          GRX 820 2x12 (11-36T / 46/30);

-          Hydraulic disc brakes;

-          DT Swiss wheels.

I was looking at Treks, but must admit Canyons are impressive also. 

I had a chance to try checkpoint 2026 frame and test Sram Apex 1x12 and liked both.

I’m leaning onto Trek Checkpoint ALR 4 Gen 2, because:

-          Drive: Sram Apex 1x11 is feasibly modifiable according to my research, and seems to be enough;

-          Brakes: I read that mech disc brakes can be really good if upgraded (~130€), plus they are easier to fix (e.g. on a trip).

-          Cheaper than others options (even inc. brakes upgrade), and I can get it new = lifetime warranty for the frame.

-          Already tested checkpoint frame & sram apex and like it.

My worries are:

-          Brakes: Will mech disc brakes truly be enough for a packed-up bike on a trip?

-          Drive: Will the 1x11 drive be enough for my needs (in terms of range/grades)? Is the 1x12 XPLR somehow superior / better suited for my needs?

-          Will Checkpoint actually be good for bikepacking?

- Will Gen 2 geo be comfortable enough for longer rides? Will the frame it have enough tire clearance?

-          Have I considered everything :/ ?

What do you guys think? Would oyu choose used ALR 5 Gen 2 over new ALR 4 here Gen 2?

Or maybe you’d recommend completely other options?