It’s a simple concept: strap everything you’ll need to spend the night in the woods onto your mountain bike, ride until you don’t feel like riding anymore, camp, eat, sleep, wake up, and do it all again. Bikepacking is a logical and wonderful combination of two of the best kinds of adventures: mountain biking and backpacking. Bikepacking is exploding right now, as more and more people realize just how much sense it makes to combine two of their passions into one human-powered adventure. More bikepacking routes are being developed, and more bikepacking-specific gear and accessories are designed. So while bikepacking is an idea as old as the bicycle, there’s no better time to get into it than right now.

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Sometimes when you try to combine two sports you enjoy you end up experiencing the worst of both worlds. You end up mired in your least favorite parts of the activity, barely getting to experience the highs that drew you to the sport in the first place. But bikepacking does a really good job of taking the best parts of mountain biking and hiking and combining them in a way that eliminates some of the less interesting parts of both as well.

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Pros of Bikepacking vs. Backpacking

For a lot of folks, backpacking is a chance to really immerse themselves in nature. You get to spend a few days away from your screens, living in nature and the moment. But the tradeoff is that you’re moving really slowly, carrying a bunch of heavy gear on your back. Add a bike to that equation, and you can spin through the boring sections of trail, but still take your time and appreciate the beauty of nature. And your bike does most of the work of carrying gear, you can switch to a light riding pack with just some snacks and water for the ride, and let your wheels shoulder the weight of all your camping and sleeping gear. So you can cover much more ground in the same amount of time, all while doing less work.

If you already have a mountain bike and some camping gear, you are mostly ready to go bikepacking. All you really need is a frame bag, a seat bag, and some straps to attach your sleeping pad to your handlebars, and you’re set; your regular bike gear is also bikepacking gear! For example, your mountain bike shorts will be perfect for the riding portion of your day, and you can just ditch the chamois to hang around camp after you’re off the bike.

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How to Transition from Backpacking to Bikepacking

If you’re new to bikepacking, take a moment to re-examine your typical backpacking setup and repurpose it for wheeled travel. Perhaps you’re already a hammock camper, you’re perfectly set up to start bikepacking. It’s easy to pack a hammock in your frame bag, and as long as you’ll be camping somewhere with mature trees, you can make a campsite just about anywhere. Or maybe you’re a tent camper. It’s easy to fit a tent into most frame bags, and you can divide the parts up amongst your group. The same goes for your stove and fuel; lay out everything that the group will all need, then divide it up so that everyone can help share the weight. Then, just make sure you’ve got a robust bike repair kit, and you’re not forgetting anything important like your helmet or spare socks.

Tips and Tricks

Try to distribute weight evenly over your bike. Your sleeping pad and a drybag with your sleeping bag in it should fit on your handlebars. They’re not too heavy, so they won’t mess up the bike’s steering too much. Try to put heavy stuff like food and the stove as low in your frame bag as possible. The lower that weight is, the more your bike will handle like normal. Your seatpost bag is a perfect place for spare clothes and lightweight gear like the tent fly. You can stuff most seatpost bags with soft, light gear, and they won’t affect the bike’s handling too much. Once you’re all packed up and have your route planned, the real magic begins.

Because of the time commitment necessary to go backpacking, it makes sense to go on four to five day trips. Bikepacking removes that pressure. Look at a local trail map and figure out somewhere nearby that you think you might like to camp. Stringing together a short route of trails that gets you out into the woods in just a few hours is absolutely possible. You can go camp in the woods, wake up early, and pedal back in time for work. The impromptu overnighter is one of the best parts about bikepacking. You are moving fast and light enough to make even short trips worth your time. Bikepackers have even coined the term S24O (sub 24-hour overnighter) for these quick and easy trips.

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In Conclusion

Everybody loves hiking and backpacking. Add a bicycle to that equation and you get something magical: all of the outdoor experience and time to rewind and relax with fewer blisters, more mileage, and lighter packs. It’s no wonder bikepacking is so popular, now you’ve just gotta get out there and try it yourself!

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