Bikepacking Trips

Sometimes, it rains. Sometimes, there are mosquitoes and other bugs. Sometimes, the ground is wet. If you don’t like the idea of sleeping with bugs, in water, or both, a tent is an essential piece of camping equipment. I’d be happy to discuss the pros and cons of hammocks or tarps, but I think a tent is always the best place to start. 

• Tents are often relatively small. You will likely be more comfortable with one person in a 2-person tent, or two people in a 3-person tent. A bigger tent will be heavier, and a cheaper tent will be heavier too. This is okay. A bicycle is very well suited to carrying extra weight. 

• Tent poles are used to keep a tent upright, holding the fabric that protects you from bugs and water over you. These poles can be folded into smaller pieces for storage while traveling. Some “bikepacking” tents have poles that fold into shorter pieces. These shorter pole pieces are easier to fit into panniers. If you have poles that are too long to fit in your bags, don’t worry! They can easily be fastened to your rack, top-tube, or the outside of your bags.

• If you don’t want to wake up to find the interior of your tent wet, and carry a wet tent with you on day two, I recommend a tent with good airflow. When you breathe, you exhale some moisture, and that warm water can easily condense on a relatively cold tent.

• Even on a hot summer day, the night will be colder. To stay comfortable while you sleep, a sleeping bag or a camping quilt (basically just a sleeping bag that opens up more) is essential. 

• Sleeping bags range from small, light and thin to big, thick and heavy. You will need to choose a bag that fits your use case (how warm will it be where you’re going to camp), your preferences (how warm do you need it to be to sleep comfortably) and your budget. For camping in relatively comfortable weather, I recommend a bag rated to 40 degrees. 

• Sleeping bags are generally filled with either down or synthetic material. Down is lighter and compacts more, so you get more heat from less weight and volume. Synthetic bags are more water resistant and cheaper.

A sleeping bag liner is like the sheet, while the sleeping bag itself is more like a comforter. The liner will keep you a little bit warmer, but more importantly, it will help to keep your sleeping bag cleaner and dryer. Sleeping bags tend to be expensive. Sleeping bag liners are much cheaper and much easier to wash, making them an important way to protect your more expensive investment

The ground is cold. I could go on a tangent about geothermal heat pumps, but for now, I’ll ask you to trust me on this. There are very few places and very few climates where you want to spend the night sleeping directly on the ground. A sleeping pad is the easiest way to insulate yourself from the cold ground. Folding sleeping pads tend to be cheaper and bulkier and almost indestructible, while inflated sleeping pads are normally more expensive, lighter and more compact. For camping in the summer, essentially anything will do. In cooler weather, a pad with an R rating of 2 or higher might be a reasonable investment.

If you use a pillow at home, you’ll probably appreciate a pillow while you camp. It’s possible to make a pillow by stuffing your sleeping-bag bag with some extra clothes. There are lots of articles about the pros and cons of different types of camping pillows. It’s worth thinking about one, at least.

Really, this can be anything you feel comfortable wearing. Everyone is a bit different, but odds are, you’re going to sweat. With this in mind, I recommend against cotton t-shirts, and suggest something made of wool or synthetic material.

• For longer rides, some people, including me, like to wear shorts with pads, or “chamois”. If you’re not into the style, it’s easy enough to wear another pair of shorts over them. It’s possible to get a sore bottom with padded shorts, or to ride all day comfortably without them. Every butt is a little bit different.

• For most people, bicycle travel is not a race. If it’s cold when you start riding, but you warm up quickly, or your comfort level changes depending on whether you’re going up a hill or down, it’s a good idea to add or remove layers. It’s much easier to take off a jacket before you get sweaty than to dry it out afterwards. Many fancy synthetic garments can dry out pretty quickly, but a little bit of patience here can save you hundreds of dollars and some discomfort later.

Anything loose and comfortable to change to once you’ve finished riding for the day. Your biking clothes will almost certainly be sweaty, and on a multi-day trip, you may not have a chance to wash them every night.

Healthy humans urinate. When it might be a few hours to the nearest Stewart’s, you might need to do it in the woods. Dehydrating yourself to avoid this is a bad idea. 

Many campsites, and even primitive ones, have toilets in one form or another. Not all do. Even if you plan to sleep within walking distance of a toilet, it’s not so strange to find that a campground toilet is out of paper. At the very least, make sure you have a bit of toilet paper with you. It weighs almost nothing, is a great firestarter, and can save you an extraordinary amount of discomfort if you end up needing it.

• When people exercise, they sweat, even if the temperature and humidity of the air are such that they don’t see sweat on their bodies. When people sweat, they need to replace what they have lost. It’s always better to drink water before getting thirsty than afterwards, but afterwards is still better than nothing

  • Sweating also depletes your reserves of salt and potassium, or more generally, electrolytes. Running low on them can make you nauseous and generally very unhappy. When riding just a couple hours, this shouldn’t be a concern, but on longer rides, you’ll need to get electrolytes from somewhere

If you’re camping in an official campground with running water, this might not be relevant. If you’re not, or if you could be riding a long distance between water sources, you should consider having a filter, or at least, a small canister of purification tablets as backup.

• Tastes and caloric needs vary widely from person to person, and I’m not here to tell you what to eat or how to diet. I just want to emphasize that you will need to eat, and you will likely burn more calories than normal while Bikepacking. Dried food tends to be lighter and more compact, so easier to carry. Dehydrated “camping meals” can be quite tasty, but also significantly more expensive than similar products from grocery stores. 

• It’s possible to just bring prepared food that was cooked before you left home. It can make things simple and taste delicious. However, if you want to cook food, you will need a heat source. Some campgrounds and public land allow fire, but not all do. Fire can also be dependent on weather conditions. For these reasons, I think a camping stove and a couple of suitably sized pots or pans can be a good investment if you want to bikepack or camp in general, especially on longer trips. 

  • Equipment makes more sense to bring if more people will share it. It’s a good idea to touch base with all of the bikepackers who will be travelling with you and figure out what you will be doing for food. A group of 5 does not need 5 stoves, and on some routes, it might even make sense to eat in restaurants or get takeout nearby! 

For many people, travelling by bicycle is not about going fast. After all, if you wanted to quickly travel somewhere to camp, you probably wouldn't ride your bike. If you’re looking for a new bike, picking between your current bikes, or maybe tweaking the seat position on your main bike, it’s worth thinking about how to make yourself most comfortable after a long day of riding

• One big reason people spend a lot of money on bikepacking equipment is to get light gear so they can go up big hills. The lighter your stuff is, the easier it is to ride up. Different people have different preferences for how fast they like to spin their legs (cadence), but regardless, if you’re going up bigger hills, and if you’re carrying extra weight, like camping gear, (even expensive, lightweight gear), you will likely appreciate lower gear ratios than usual. 

• It’s also worth reiterating that bicycle travel generally is not very fast. If you want to push to go down a hill at 30, 40, or 50 miles per hour, you can, but no one is timing you, and you might enjoy the scenery more if you just roll.

• For many bicycle travelers, panniers are seen as the best way to carry your gear. They offer a lot of storage capacity, can be put on and off a bicycle rack easily, and keep your bicycle feeling pretty close to normal. They are also easy to store when they’re off your bike, and relatively cheap, when compared with the other options

• Waterproof panniers tend to be a bit more expensive. In my opinion, the extra expense is worth the cost many times over. Panniers with “rain covers”, in my experience, do not keep their contents dry when it rains, at least not if it rains for a long time.

  • To use panniers, you need a rear rack, a front rack, or both. For a short trip, especially one where you can share some equipment with other riders, a rear rack and rear panniers should be sufficient. Not all bicycles are designed for racks

• Trailers are another way to carry your equipment. Trailers can offer more space and make balancing easier with more weight closer to the ground. Some models attach to seat posts, and some attach to rear axles. 

Sometimes, things break. Some newer, more expensive things might break a bit less often, but sooner or later, anything is vulnerable. If you’re riding a bicycle out in the woods somewhere, you might be able to eventually hitchhike home, but it’s wise to be ready for some basic repairs. Most of these can be shared, although it’s wise to have some self sufficiency, even when riding with a group.

• Being able to patch an inner tube is the most fundamental form of bicycle repair. If you get a flat tire, you want to be able to fix it, fill it with air again, and continue riding. A basic inner tube patch kit is very cheap and lightweight. With it, you will likely need a set of tire irons to remove your tire from your wheel (probably made of plastic, not iron), and a small pump. You may also appreciate a thin pair of gloves to keep your hands clean while you’re taking your tires off and on. 

• There are lots of thoughts on the best way to address this issue. Tubeless tires, more durable tires, and pressurized gas canisters are a few of them. I think these all have their place. I just think a bit of knowledge and the tools to repair a flat are the most consistent and reliable.

• An extra inner tube is another good item to bring. It’s possible that you will get some sort of catastrophic flat where your tube is damaged so badly that you can’t patch it. Or maybe your tubeless tire is broken. It’s not too likely, but it’s possible, and a good idea to be ready with a spare inner tube of the right size and valve for your wheel and tire. If you’re sharing tools with a friend, make sure you have inner tubes that will fit both of your wheels and tires. 

• A set of allen keys will be what you need most often for minor bike adjustments, like tweaking cable tension, derailleur alignment or similar.