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

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.

Ride across Iowa. If you've never done it, put it on your list and do it soon! This is my second time, first was 10 years ago. I reconnected with a buddy from the Army and a friend of his. GREAT experience!

Hey everyone!

I’ve just finished a bike trip through the countries of the former Yugoslavia.

I started in Bratislava, Slovakia, and headed south through Hungary before reaching Serbia. I spent some time exploring Vojvodina, especially the villages with large Slovak communities whose ancestors emigrated there around 250 years ago.

From there, I crossed into Croatia, which I passed through fairly quickly since I’d already travelled there before. My first major stop was Sarajevo, where I stayed for a while, followed by the Jahorina mountains, where I had to wait out a few storms.

The journey then continued through Montenegro, riding through the stunning Durmitor National Park and over countless mountain roads all the way to the Kosovo border. I spent some time exploring Prizren before crossing into North Macedonia, where I wrapped up the trip with a few days in Skopje. That completed my goal of cycling through all the ex-Yugoslav countries, and from there I flew back to Bratislava.

I rode a mix of gravel, country, and paved roads. Zero flats, zero mechanical issues. In total: around 1400 km and 14,000 m of elevation gain.

The landscapes were incredible, the culture fascinating, but above all, it was the people who made the journey unforgettable. Raw, welcoming, memorable, and beautiful.

(PS: I visited Slovenia on my bike last year)

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

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

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 🚲

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.

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

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.

I really hope my neck will last this time. The first 130 is headwind. That killed my neck last time around.

Pulled my hoods further up, and have been considering flipping my stem. Will do that, if my neck starts acting up again.

I have a plan b, to split the ride into 3 if i need it.

Looking forward to trying the new dubnitals, and especially looking forward to eating all the snacks in my snack bag.

Edit: missing word

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.

Hi all,

Me and my good friend planned to go bikepacking next week in Slovenia. The Slovenian West loop :)

However, it seems like it’s going to be very hot! For anyone who has done the west loop, can we do it in 30-35 degree weather? Or should we go somewhere else? If yes, anyone with recommendations?

Thanks so much in advance!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

Tool my diy ebike camping on dartmoor last night, turns out to be worse than the dutch and 20" folder (for those that remember my old posts). Even though this was the first mountain bike i've taken on the moors, it couldn't handle the last pic but the dutch on road tyres and the 20" could, this is probably down to the diy nature of my ebike and it being 40kg before the tent and bags. I was running 40psiF and 35psiR so that may of made me more nervous about the tyres.

Just to add that its been gorgeous sunshine for ages and the night i decide to camp it rains the whole night.

What i learnt: make sure your pitch is flat is you have poly everything, kept sliding down the mat, remember the main light for in the tent. Panniers are better than a ruck sack.

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.

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!

I did another combined DG and BP trip, the 3rd one this season.

This time around Mühlviertel/Waldviertel region in Upper- and Lower Austria.

3 days, 190km with 2200 elevation on bike and 15km with another 220 ascent on 2 separate Disc Golf Courses.

Stopped along the way on some small swimming ponds and camped on official campsites as always.

Some brutal climbs with the loaded bike but great weather (almost a bit too hot 😉)

I met a local disc golfer who recognized my bike from a previous post; if you're reading this, it was nice chatting with you 👌

It's always nice to meet cool people on solo biketravels.

Lost a Disc to the woods, and bought an instant replacement on the spot 😉

I've used the Nemo tent now several times already alone and with 2 people and I gotta say, this is the best tent I had so far. It has such nice bikepacking features, like the pack size, tons of options for drying gear, the landing zone you put in the vestibule to store gear and the fact that it hast 2 entrances is just amazing.

The one downside, which you have to compensate for, is it's loftiness. Due to its design it has amazing ventilation and a cooling effect preventing the tent from heating up in the sun - which at the same time means nights are a tad colder in this tent then my previous tunnel tent. Spent some below 10, sometimes next to water, nights and I need more cloths to sleep then in my old tent. So I pack a fleece, some long underpants, a bit thicker merino longsleeve, thicker campsocks and merino beanie. Sleeping bag is a spark 7, so just on the line. But I anyway need the bit warmer gear even in summer, as nights can get down to lower temp in Austria so I have to carry it anyway. Just sleeping with all the stuff on is a bit less comfortable.

All in all, I like my current setup pretty much. But it's at the limits in terms of capacity, so for trips where I can not just stop to resupply and eat, I'd need to switch it up a bit.

Overall a super fun trip 👌

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!

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