In my biased opinion, bikepacking can be one of the most awesome things you can do. Close to nature, totally self reliant and exploring wild places all over the world. But getting into it can be a pretty daunting task. From my last couple of years of experience (aka mistakes), here are my top 5 pieces of advice for anyone looking to give it a go!
1. Start Small
We get it. You’re inspired by the incredible cinematography of the countless bikepacking films you’ve been binging on, across barren Kyrgyzstan, the mighty Tour Divide and crossing the continent of Europe.
Although it’s great to have big aspirations, the best move when it comes to bikepacking, or any new skill for that matter, is to start small. There’s so much more to learn than simply riding longer hours than the weekly club run.
Kit selection, camping technique, reading the weather and terrain are all skills that improve over time and experience, so it’s best to make the beginner mistakes on smaller, closer to home trips before you go big.
Why not start with a single night away – under canvas, bivvying or hammocking? One of my favourite ways to get friends into bikepacking is our School Night Bivvy Club – read more on that here.
2. Don’t buy everything at once
So you want to plan your first trip but are overwhelmed with the amount of kit you’ll need. Even at entry-level, bikepacking kit can be pricey, and who knows if you’ll even enjoy it – or whether it will be confined to the dusty depths of the garage for evermore.
The good news is that you don’t need all the gear to get started. A lot of kit and expense can be negated simply by starting out in summer, choosing a time that’s predominantly warm and dry. Winter kit needs to be able to stand up to the lower temperatures and higher precipitation, so you can invest in that later.
Seek out the essentials first; a sleeping bag, bivvy or hammock, plus a way of attaching it to your bike. My favourite option is the hammock as you can pick up a great one for only £27 and you won’t need a roll mat either – more on kit choice here.
Don’t limit yourself to new kit either – there are loads of Facebook forums like Outdoor Gear Exchange UK, plus eBay, Gumtree, Facebook Marketplace etc. where you can usually pick up really good kit for a fraction of the price of new. I got my summer sleeping bag for £40 barely used from RRP £200!
There are a few great bikepacking gear hacks which can help you gear more bang for your buck too. John’s favourite is the dry bag handlebar bag – an Exped £10 drybag looping onto the bars to make a perfect and cheap storage solution, which you can also fit to other bags later on. Genius.
Having said all this, it’s always better to carry knowledge than equipment, which brings me nicely onto point three…
3. Make a friend or mentor to learn from
It cannot be emphasised enough how important this is. Most people will know at least someone by loose association who is more experienced than they are. I’d be happy to bet that 95% of these people would be more than happy to give you some advice on kit choices, suggest a good camp spot, lend a hand with route plotting or even take you out on a trip themselves. The bikepacking community is a really friendly and helpful one that I feel proud to be a part of.
Don’t worry about asking for help. These people will be able to impart wisdom from their experiences to make yours more comfortable and you should totally cash in on that.
Personally I’ve been really lucky to build a close group of friends (once acquaintances) that are all into this with varying levels of experience to learn from. Darroch is an ex-military adventure guide and is pretty handy with most things, Dan has camped and photographed the length and breadth of the UK and is pretty nippy on an MTB too, Ewan is a leader at Explorers (part of Scouts), John’s sailing knots and campfire cooking are top notch, Geoff brings a Canadian perspective, I could go on…
What I mean by all of this is surround yourself with people who know more than you do. It’s like road cycling – if you only ever ride at your pace you don’t get any faster. If you ride with people that are faster than you then you certainly will. Be curious, ask questions, learn – and then teach others.
4. Pack the lateral thinking
No matter how well you prepare for your trip, inevitably things will go balls-up at some point or other. Whether that’s something minor like forgetting your spork or more serious like getting caught in a freak thunderstorm, stuff happens. If you remembered to pack your outside-the-box mentality then you can get around 99.9% situations, and again, this is something that comes with practice.
Photo thanks to Geoff Campbell.
One of my favourites was turning up to the pub midway through the Pannier.cc Route Beer Ramble in the dark and drizzle at about 8pm expecting trees to hang the hammocks from. It was a bare camping field with a solid hedgeline, so with a bit of lateral thinking we got the hammocks and tarp strung up on a right-angle of fencepost. Then there was the downpour on our Welsh trip when we stayed the last night of Gritfest strung up in a marquee – all fun and games!
5. Don’t be afraid
We need to break down the barriers in adventure sports and this could big the biggest for many. Whilst not trying to belittle the potential hazards of the great outdoors in the UK, it’s far, far more dangerous simply stepping into a car on British roads, which is something that most people do every day without second thought. It certainly was an eye-opener seeing the bear, rattlesnake and mountain lion warning signs in Colorado just how lucky we have it here!
Taking a friend or a small tribe with you is a great way to help you feel more comfortable venturing into the outdoors, and certainly a good idea if you’re heading to more remote trails. If you are certain about travelling on your own, make sure you tell someone where you’re going and your expected ETA so they can keep tabs on you for your own safety’s sake. Modern tools like Strava Beacon and Wahoo Live Track are also great tools to share your location in real-time with select people.
Going back to my first point, starting out small here can also help you whilst you work on your bikepacking skills in relative proximity to escape routes, hostels etc. should the worst happen.
So go for it! If you have any anxieties before your trip then why not voice them with friends and bikepacking buddies – I’m sure they’ll offer you some great reasoning.
I hope that provides some good ideas for you, whether you’re new to the concept yourself or a seasoned bikepacker looking to pass on your skills. Please do share it with anyone who is new to bikepacking or is tempted to give it a go. There’s so much more that you learn through your own experiences (which I’m sure the most seasoned riders can tell you is a continuous process). Do let me know in the comments below your if you think there’s anything you’d like to see included here.
Oh, and one last thing; always take a raincoat to Wales.
Great article.
Thanks for your insights on the wonderful world of freedom and cycling.
Thank you.