ActiveCyclingShould you try bikepacking? Yes, you should. Here’s why.I’ve tried it, and this is my honest opinionWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
ActiveCyclingShould you try bikepacking? Yes, you should. Here’s why.I’ve tried it, and this is my honest opinionWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
I’ve tried it, and this is my honest opinion
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Pat Kinsella)
(Image credit: Pat Kinsella)
There is a buzz around bikepacking at the moment that almost rivals the rapture that newspaper travel pages and online influencers usually reserve forwild swimming. If you follow a few outdoorsy types, then scrolling through your feed gives off the distinct impression that everyone’s at it, but how many people do you know who have actually done any real bikepacking?
Could it be that it’s one of those activities that sounds and looks ace but, in actuality, proves too fiddly and uncomfortable for you to truly embrace it? Or do you think there’s just too much specialist kit involved to make it practical for you to give it a proper crack?
Well, I’ve spent several chunks of the last 12 months doing various forms of bikepacking, and I’m here to tell you that – if you have even the faintest hint of an explorer’s pulse or any semblance of love for alfresco adventures – it’s absolutely something you should be doing this summer. And here’s why.
Cycling + camping = bikebacking
Just in case you’ve been in a coma or wandering around a remote rainforest for the last five years or so, I’ll start with a definition: bikepacking is likebackpacking– just swap your legs for wheels and your back for a bicycle frame. Bikes and camping…what’s not to like? Nothing. Just add an exciting destination and some mates and go exploring. Why are you still here?
(Image credit: Pat Kinsella)
(Image credit: Pat Kinsella)
Freeeeedom
Intrepid bikepackers can now explore almost anywhere they fancy the look of. Seriously, pick a place you want to go, plot a route via a mixture of roads, lanes, gravel tracks and bridleways, then get on your bike and go.
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(Image credit: Pat Kinsella)
(Image credit: Pat Kinsella)
Barriers are there to be bunnyhopped
You do, of course, require a bike. And some means of carrying gear – ideally a saddle and/or handlebar-mounted bag, plus a frame bag or two. After that, the key to bikepacking success is reducing the pack size and weight of all the other essentials (and being disciplined about what constitutes an ‘essential’).
This means that summer is the very best time to give bikepacking a go because warmer weather and drier conditions mean you can get away with using a verylightweight sleeping bagwith a tiny inflatablecamping mat, and you can potentially dispense with atentaltogether, and instead sleep under a tarp or in a bivvy sack, or even a smallhammock.
My advice is to start with a two-day, one-night adventure somewhere fairly local, so you can keep an eye on the weather forecast and keep your plans dynamic and changeable according to the predicted conditions. As your gain confidence and build up your bikepacking kit, you can take on longer and more demanding missions much further from home.
And I’m speaking from experience here because this is exactly how I got into bikepacking myself, learning through my mistakes as I bumbled along. It’s a fun ride, trust me.
(Image credit: Pat Kinsella)
(Image credit: Pat Kinsella)
Doing it wrong on Dartmoor
(Image credit: Pat Kinsella)
(Image credit: Pat Kinsella)
Take it to the Ridge
And I was still very much a beginner. I carried more on my frame than before and whittled down my kit, but between us, we made multiple rookie errors – not least visiting a pub for a liquid lunch before we’d even climbed out of the Thames Valley and onto the ridge itself.
But it was a brilliant life-affirming couple of days, during which we retold age-old anecdotes, cursed colourfully during every climb, whooped loudly on each descent, laughed an awful lot, and made some more amusing memories while cycling through – and camping in – the Vale of the White Horse, en route to the prehistoric standing stones (and another pub) at Avebury.
For both of these adventures, I used a mountain bike, and fat-tyred steeds are perfectly good for bikepacking (although you need to be careful about how you position some frame- and saddlebags on bikes with suspension). However, on the Ridgeway, we saw lots of riders on gravel bikes, with their strategically selected gear perfectly packed and precisely positioned. I wanted to get amongst that.
(Image credit: Pat Kinsella)
(Image credit: Pat Kinsella)
Peak Bikepacking
Within an hour, we were rolling along the edge of the High Peak, riding around Redmires Reservoir and climbing over Hallam Moor before dropping off the High Peak via a delicious descent beside the iconic climbing crag of Stanage Edge.
(Image credit: Pat Kinsella)
(Image credit: Pat Kinsella)
Camp smart
This is where, on 24 April 1932, a spectacularly disparate alliance of activists that included members of the Ramblers Society and the Young Communist League staged a large-scale protest about the exclusion of ordinary people from the vast majority of the British countryside. In an act of civil disobedience that became known as the Mass Trespass, they dared walk across the moorland and onto the flanks of Kinder Scout.
Events that day, which included violence from the landowner’s gamekeepers and multiple arrests, arguably led to the passing of theCountryside Rights of Way Act, plus the formation of national parks and a network of national trails in the UK. We have a lot to thank the trespassers for, but there’s still plenty to fight for in the struggle to achieve anything like a real right to roam, and this seems like a good place to address the contentious issue ofwild camping.
Thelegal fight continuesagainst this ruling specifically and for greater access rights in general. But in the meantime, aside from taking a more planned (and restrictive/expensive) approach and booking spots in commercial campsites before you arrive, the most commonsensical and pragmatic way to deal with this is to do what all good wild campers have always done anyway: avoid busy areas and be discreet – pitch late, pack down early and follow strict leave-no-trace camping principles (including the avoidance of campfires).
(Image credit: Pat Kinsella)
(Image credit: Pat Kinsella)
E-bikepacking
Another potential barrier to people trying bikepacking is that they don’t think they’re fit enough to do it. The obvious counter to this argument is that you can, of course, take on a very modest-length route with little or no elevation – canals towpaths are excellent choices for this because they’re always flat, and the surface is non-technical and easy to ride on. (For loads of options and ideas, check out apps such as Komoot.)
But, another way to allay fitness fears (especially if you’re planning to ride with friends who you worry might be a bit faster and more hill-happy than you are) is to use a bike with battery assistance. The evolution ofe-bikeshas taken place at hyper speed, and you can now get gravel bikes with batteries and discreet motors that are excellent for bikepacking, including the excellent Ribble Gravel AL e, which I was lucky enough to take for a multi-day spin around the Yorkshire Dales late last year.
(Image credit: Pat Kinsella)
(Image credit: Pat Kinsella)
My plan this time was to ride to England’s highest pub, the Tan Hill Inn, which stands proud 528m (1,732 feet) above sea level, high in the Dales – a picturesque pitstop for Pennine Way wanderers and, increasingly, thirsty bikepackers – since you can semi-wild camp on the moor outside for £10 (which includes the use of the toilets and shower).
I traced the south bank of the River Swale past Gunnerside under my own steam but made the most of the bike’s battery-assisted motor as I started puffing and panting while pedalling over Black Moor (along a rare rideable section of the Pennine Way). Finally, I crossed Stonesdale Moor and climbed over Lad Gill Hill to catch sight of the famous inn just as the sun started to set.
(Image credit: Pat Kinsella)
(Image credit: Pat Kinsella)
After setting up my bivvy among the boulders outside, I went in, slaked my thirst with a pint of Black Sheep ale and toasted my new adventure activity of choice. And then, over another beer, I began plotting more multiday bikepacking missions to take on. This summer, I have my eye on a rideable version of the Two Moors Way, a coast-to-coast epic across Devon, which links Exmoor and Dartmoor. Maybe I’ll see you out on the trails…
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