8 Tips For Your First Bikepacking Overnighter

trying new things is hard especially with bike packing you've got a lot going on you've got the bike you've got the camping gear and well the planning process so it all can definitely be overwhelming so in this video i'm here to hopefully make your life a little bit easier i'm going to share some things that have worked well for me in the past some common misconceptions and in general get you through the process so that you can get on your bike and sleeping under the stars let's do it before we get into my tips i just wanted to let everyone know that we have an incredible roots resource page on bikepacking.com including our local overnighter project which was created to expand our growing list of worldwide bike packing routes we are mapping and cataloging bike packing overnighters curated by you from your backyard so if you are interested in looking up these overnighters or submitting your own you can do so by clicking the link right here and i'm also going to touch on root tips here in a moment so stay tuned for that number one is building a community a bike packing community so in general finding friends or a group of people that have the same or similar goals will definitely be very beneficial adventure partners will help with roots ideas motivation research and if you go with other folks you'll be able to split up your gear so like kitchen gear potentially a tent stuff like that so that you can make your bike packing kit lighter and finally having other people with you is just going to create that much more of a memorable experience that you can look back on oh and i forgot to mention well some people may annoy you or some friends may annoy you you always want to be nice because you never know if they have some extra room in their bike packing bags for your whiskey or some beer all right so number two is the bike so if you have a bike you're ready to go bike packing no seriously if you have a bike use that bike i think often times people think that they need a specific bike packing bike they don't i started bike packing on my trek fuel ex5 which is a full suspension bike because that was my first bike that i had and it worked sure i didn't have very much frame bag space at all i just carried a water bottle in there but it worked because it was the bike that i had so while that bike worked just fine for me there are better bikes for bike packing so say if you do have a hardtail mountain bike or a gravel bike those probably will work better than a full suspension bike and a road bike but that's not to say that those won't work for bike packing you just might be over biked or limited in the route that you decide to take the most important thing with your bike is just making sure that it is functional that it fits you that it shifts properly that the brakes are working properly that there's enough air in the tires and if you have any doubts about any part of the bike bring it into your local bike shop and have professionals take a look at it and i can't stress this enough you don't need a specific bike for bike packing especially if this is your first time going out on a bike packing trip you're probably not sure if you're going to like it or not so why drop all that money on a specific bike if you're not sure you're going to get into it number three is how do i pack all that gear on my bike so bike packing bags are great because they help distribute the weight really well on your bike they are really snug on the bike and rather small compared to say your rack and pannier system that being said they're not necessary and if you're just getting into bike packing i would definitely urge you to get creative with say a dry bag some bole straps or some rope that front triangle or the main open space on your bike is a great spot for storage but one thing you're going to want to make sure of is that you don't have anything too wide because your legs will end up hitting it another spot is strapping stuff to your handlebars it's a great spot because it's not really used and you can actually fit quite a bit up there another spot is strapping something to your seat or your saddle rails and your seat post itself accessory bags as you see here are great because they're convenient this is a stem bag and this is a top two bag and i can open and close them typically while i'm riding my bike they're also great because well they'll work for your bike packing trip but they'll also work for all of your day rides so the money you're spending on these towards your bike packing trip you can also use for your day rides a simple rule that i use for packing is trying to pack things that i might use during the day in more convenient spots so for instance packing my snacks in my top tube bag and then packing things like my tent or sleeping bag and more tucked away areas that i won't necessarily need during the day so another great option for carrying things is a backpack and a backpack is great because well you don't have to buy those expensive bike packing bags and you probably already have a backpack so i really try to keep the weight off the back so i try to put lighter items in the backpack like a sleeping bag potentially a tent some clothes instead of heavier gear because the more weight you have on your back the more pressure you have on your seat bones which you know what that means it's just not as comfortable so number four is how do i sleep under the stars if you've ever gone car camping before or backpacking much of that gear translates to bike packing and while lightweight gear is super helpful because it will just make your bike that much lighter it's not necessary a few things that you're going to want to have are a tent a bivysack or some sort of shelter you'll want a sleeping bag and a sleeping pad and also having a change of clothes for camp is really nice to have some underwear maybe some long johns a shirt a jacket those will definitely lead to a better experience at camp everything i just mentioned there definitely adds up in weight so you're going to want to be conscious of what you want to bring versus what you need to bring for instance my clipless shoe system here that works really well for obviously when i'm on the bike works well for at camp this specific shoe has pretty good flex to it so it's a comfortable shoe at camp and if you're on flats that's even better you're probably going to be wearing a comfortable shoe for both camp and riding anyways another good example is long johns instead of bringing just underwear long johns are probably going to keep you warmer anyways and just using your trail shorts that you use during the day over your long johns to well just stay a little bit warmer checking the weather before you depart your trip will not only help you pack for the conditions but in the event that the weather is going to be super nice you could probably leave a few things at home for example you could probably leave that rain fly for your tent at home or potentially that down jacket if it is going to be super nice dry and warm so a few other notes so down packs down better than synthetic but synthetic works better in wet conditions so you got to weigh your options there another thing is to make sure that you have a patch kit for your sleeping pad because the worst thing would be to have a deflated sleeping pad on your first bike packing experience it just wouldn't sit well so my fifth tip is fueling the engine the engine that is yourself your body i always say that i go mountain biking or biking in general so that i can eat whatever i want and that's kind of what i do but after a long day on the bike after bike packing all day there's nothing more rewarding than a nice delicious meal so for overnighters i often find myself packing a burrito maybe a sandwich anything that i can get quickly from a restaurant and this way i can actually leave the stove at home the same goes for breakfast a muffin or something of this sort usually tastes pretty good even if it is smashed after a day of riding and i guarantee you this cold instant coffee tastes better in the backcountry in the event that you do leave that stove at home but hot meals are really a nice treat after a long day in the saddle and stoves have become lighter and more compact and these dehydrated meals have become well more tasty i really enjoy these good to go meals all you have to do is add hot water and weight and just for reference i end up packing these bags typically pretty deep in my bike packing bags because i don't need them until i get to camp so during the day when i'm riding and i'm fueling i typically put my food in a top two bag or a stem bag and this is just because it is convenient like i was mentioning i'll typically get bars nuts jerky snickers gummy worms when i go to the grocery store or a convenience store i look for calorie dense food when i need to carry some extra food although for a bike packing overnighter i usually am fine with my good to go meal and whatever is in my top two bag but if i am looking for some extra storage if i want to smash up some potato chips i'll just throw it in my frame bag or my seat pack and it really is an enjoyable snack even if they are just smashed to bits so another really important part of fueling that engine is hydrating in the coming months i have a video coming out that's going to share all of the different methods and styles and ways of carrying water for your bike packing trip but in this instance this is your first bike packing overnighter it's going to be helpful to use the resources that you already have on your bike so using those mounts within the frame if you aren't using a frame bag is a great option a lot of bikes also come with mounts on the down tube so that you can mount a bottle cage on the down tube and many forks now are coming with mount so that you can actually mount a water bottle cage on it and if you're running out of capacity options you can always just tape one of these to a suspension fork just make sure it's secure and then obviously that hydration pack that you probably already have is a fantastic way of carrying water sure it's going to be heavy but it's something that you already have all right number six is getting out of a jam or understanding or knowing what you need to do when hits the fan but in all seriousness understanding basic bike repairs so knowing how to fix a flat or broken chain knowing how to adjust your brakes and shifting and just in general knowing how to adjust parts on your bike another great resource is using your local bike shop oftentimes they have really awesome hands-on clinics that can teach you how to replace a flat tire adjust your shifting and what have you and yes youtube is a rabbit hole so if you were looking for a specific skill or looking to learn something i guarantee you can find that specific video on youtube other repair items that you might want to learn about are things associated with your cook kit potentially your tent or sleeping pad and really any other odds and ends where a malfunction would make for an uncomfortable night out we have some fantastic resources on bikepacking.com including a full bike packing repair kit so i'll make sure to link that below so that you can check that out number seven here is figuring out the route and this is what really truly makes the experience so my biggest advice here is pick something that is simple and familiar believe it or not some of my favorite routes are a combination of my day rides and some of my favorite campsites were scouted on day rides so you've got three major options for a route you've got a loop you've got a out and back and a point to point loops are great because you start from home and you just loop all the way back and it's just simple and it's easy out and backs are similar where you gain maybe a little bit different perspective going in different ways but you're not necessarily covering a lot of new ground and point to points are definitely more logistically challenging but oftentimes can be more rewarding a few things to consider when planning your route plan on camping near a water source so that you can not only hydrate but also so that you can get water for cooking this is not a requirement but it makes your life a lot easier so that you're not worrying about water another consideration is having your root go through a town or resupply location so that you can up on water and food another thing is knowing where to camp and where you aren't allowed to camp and this kind of goes back to planning ahead and preparing which is leave no trace principle one and if you missed my lnt video you can click right here to watch that the video i did basically gives guidelines on how we should be acting and treating our backcountry setting and lastly make your route shorter and work up to that mileage as your experience evolves and finally go have fun there's nothing more rewarding than picking out a place on a map biking to it setting up a tent and hanging out under the stars with your best friends thank you all so much for watching if you like what you saw here make sure to hit that subscribe button and notification bell and if you want to help us out a little bit more you can do so by signing up for the bike packing collective and i'll link that in the description below but essentially it's a yearly membership that not only helps support this video but everything you see on bikepacking.com and our print publication the bike packing journal so as always thank you all so much for tuning in and until next time peddle further you

Channel: BIKEPACKING.com

Views: 134,521

Keywords: Bikepacking, Bike Camping, Bike packing, Planning, camping

Id: gBBC7k898KI

Length: 13min 36sec (816 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 17 2021