(upbeat percussion) - Going on a bike-packing adventure is a really great way to
escape the realities of life, and there's nothing more exhilarating than sleeping out under
the stars in a bivvy. Now a bivvy bag is essentially a waterproof sleeping bag cover that keeps you and all
your sleeping kit dry. - Now, if the idea of this is
slightly disconcerting to you, i.e. you're as soft as I
am, then fortunately for us Josh is an expert and he's
going to show us exactly how. Or perhaps I should say,
unfortunately for me, because now I'm going to
have no excuse whatsoever. - I'm sure you'll be all right. So today we're going
to be using bivvy bags with a fully zippable cover. Now we've stopped here
in this little valley and I think this spot over here is going to be a perfect
place to sleep tonight. (gravel crackling)
- Like here, mate? (bike wheels clicking)
- This looks good. So, all my sleeping gear is
stored in the saddle pack. So it's quick and easy to get out. A little trick that I like to do is wrap everything up together. We're quite liking this trip; we're traveling relatively light. So we can really maximize
the space in the back here. So this (Simon whistles)
is the sleeping gear. As you can see, it's basically
a sleeping bag cover. So this particular one
has a zipped top on it, which can undo. And inside I've wrapped my sleeping bag and also my sleeping mat. Now a sleeping pad is really
great; it's not uncomfortable. And after a long day in the saddle it's sometimes nice just
to lie on something soft. The sleeping bag is rated
to about two degrees, which should be all right here in Morocco. However, if you're sleeping
somewhere a bit colder, or dare I say, go
bike-packing in the winter, you will probably need to have a slightly heavier sleeping bag. Now one of the downsides
of a bivvy bag is that it's not quite as breathable as a tent. So it can be a little bit sweaty at times, so just make sure you've
kind of got enough of the right amount of
clothes on underneath. And you may want to have the vent open if it's particularly warm at night. - You zip it up over your head? - It depends how cold it
is and if it's raining. - But potentially, yeah. - Potentially, yeah. - Okay. (Josh chuckles) - So despite the fact it's been really warm here during the day, it can get quite chilly at
night as the heat escapes out. So it's worth putting layers
on as soon as you stop to try and keep your body warmth in so you don't get chilly
before you go to sleep. So you probably need
to put your jacket on. - Right, let me grab my jacket. - Now as we're only doing
a short night's sleep and we're not staying out multiple days, you're probably pretty much
ready to go to sleep now. (circus music) - What, mate, seriously? - Yeah, in the clothes you're wearing. - You want me to go to sleep in a chamois? - Yeah it's fine. I mean ideally, we'd have a
nice veranda and a nice hammock, and we could hang our
shorts out and dry them and put casual clothes on. But let's face it, we're
in the middle of a desert; it's going to be getting dark soon, and we want to get in our
sleeping bags, keep warm. And then when we wake up in the morning, we'll be dressed, ready to go. - That's possibly one of the worst things I've ever heard in my life. - Now before you select
your bivvy location you need to think about conditions. Now today it looks like it's going to be a pretty clear night and not much rain. There's a bit of wind, however. So we need to find
somewhere that's sheltered. Now we've chosen this valley here, and there's a few trees as
well, which will block the wind. And you can also use things like, depending on the country,
a wool or some rocks, or if you're lucky enough
even a bus shelter. - Wow.
- That's luxury there. - Yeah it sounds great. - You're not getting that
treatment your first trip. - No, okay. - We're also on the edge
of a bit of a dry river, so if it was really going to be raining, or if there's a lot of snow up high, we would need to consider
the safety of that, because that could come
crashing down in the night. So that's worth considering. The other thing, it's
more of a personal thing, some people will just sleep anywhere. I like to kind of tuck
myself away a little bit from the road that I'm traveling on. So you can just make out the road in the distance here, through the trees. But if you were traveling
on a car or a motorbike, then you probably wouldn't pay
much attention to this bit. So we're going to be out of sight and there's less chance of being disturbed in the middle of the night.
- [Simon] Good stuff. - So now we've got our kit out, and we've chosen our bivvy location. Now we need to think about
the ground we're sleeping on. Ideally, you'd find a nice
velvety grass field to sleep in. However, we're in Morocco,
and it is quite rocky. So we need to make do with what we've got. So we've found a bit of a sandy area which is going to be a
bit nicer to sleep on. However, there's a few things
we need to think about. So, there's a few rocks around here, which might be uncomfortable. - That would be uncomfortable, Josh. - Exactly, you don't want
to be sleeping on that. - No, and that one. - We'll get those out of the way. And also there's a few
little sticks and thorns, and they could either go
through your bivvy bag, and make a hole in it, and then if it does rain you'll get wet. Or even worse, they could
puncture your air mat and then you'll find yourself sleeping on hard ground in the morning. So we need to move the
sticks out of the way. - Right, move sticks. - Just check for anything. And also just check that there's no ants' nests or anything like that, because that might be a
bit itchy in the morning. - Yeah. - Now safety is another aspect to consider when you're camping out in the wild. Now you've already said
you're a little bit nervous, but the fact of the matter is, if you feel unsafe somewhere,
just don't sleep there. Your natural instinct is
pretty accurate sometimes. And if you feel kind of
threatened when you go to bed, you won't sleep very well.
- Yeah. - So it kind of defeats the object of it. So there's a few things
we've touched on already, so that's kind of keeping
out of sight of the road. Personally I find that if I
know that I can't be seen easily I feel more secure. And also when I set out my bivvy, I use a little headtorch
rather than a big bike light. It's just a little bit more subtle and stops people sort
of seeing where you are if they're passing. It's also pretty attractive. - Yeah, that's the real deal right there. Just got to turn myself on. - [Josh] Do you want a hand?
- Yeah. - There we go, we'll put the red light on to keep your night vision there. (laughs) - I've got my red light on. - The other thing is
the safety of your bike. Now at the moment your bike
is laying up on a tree there, and it's kind of quite obvious really. - Yeah okay. - So I like to just lie it
down, sort of out of sight, maybe behind the trees,
and fairly close by, so if it does move in the
night you can kind of hear it. - Right. (helmet crackles) It's a good excuse to actually sleep right next to your bike, isn't it? - Exactly, you don't really
get that option very often. - Yeah I know, I'm not able
to sleep with it anymore. Right okay, brilliant, excellent. - So there we go, so I guess you're pretty much almost ready I think. - So blow up my mattress? - Well yeah, should do that I suppose. Now a top tip for extra
comfort when you're bivvying is once you're in your bag, you can put your shoes under your head, outside the bivvy bag,
as a bit of a pillow. - That does sound
comfortable, Josh! (laughs) That mat's comfy. - [Josh] I did tell you, Si,
this is a luxury bivvy trip. - Right then, so any last
words of wisdom, Josh, before I turn in for the night, mate? - Yeah, goodnight, sweet dreams. - Okay, all right. Well here we go. Where's the air vent, mate? Comfy anyway, right. Well thanks Josh, very
much mate, for these tips. I reckon I could get
used to this actually. So well anyway I'd better
give it a go later on. Do make sure you give
this video a big thumbs up if you enjoyed watching it. And if you want to see any more
of our bike-packing videos, then why not click just on down there? (spaghetti western music) Josh can you do the pointing, mate? Josh? (bivvy sack rustles) Josh?
