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Article in the Guardian about bike packing 'glamping'....
Guardian bike packing article
Tent, stove and food set up, along with a preloaded GPS.
Along with some reviews of gravel/bike packing bikes recently.
Time to find a new niche?
Best quote...
"we talk about planning our own trip. We could easily fit a stove and bivvy bags in our rucksacks, but planning a route like this would take time and effort."
That's kind of the point isn't it!
The more the merrier. Doesn't stop me enjoying it so I don't really care if other folk are doing it too. As with any increase in popularity it's been accompanied by an increased choice of equipment and a reduction in cost of the same. Win:win.
Planning a route like this would take time and effort.”
How many times has Trailforks been recommended on here?
Time to find a new niche?
Depends if you have to be in a niche to feel special 😉 If you enjoy it why find something else?
That’s kind of the point isn’t it!
For some not others, people are different and all that
I have posted this with tongue firmly in cheek 😉 people enjoying the countryside is all good in my book.
No sanctimonious comments about people heading off into the countryside without knowing how to read a map?
You've changed Singletrackworld!
(It might be a good point though)
No sanctimonious comments about people heading off into the countryside without knowing how to read a map?
Dodgy bikepacking confession of the day - I navigated in the dark and rain using a phone only out to a bothy, and even thought I'd familiarised myself with the route as much as I could prior to setting off, I almost missed a junction as well as not being able to see the path across to the bothy from about 20m away due to the weather/dark.
I'll try not to do that again, although I got away with it that time!
TBH I can't remember the last time I took a paper map with me. Probably in Spain a couple of years ago.
If you've got the time and have prepared for the consequences, getting lost can be fun. 🙂
If your staying in a pre-pitched tent then its not bike packing is it?
If your staying in a pre-pitched tent then its not bike packing is it?
bike glacking?
If your staying in a pre-pitched tent then its not bike packing is it?
You're carrying a pack on your bike..
Where do you stand on the use of hostels or bothies?
Where do you stand on the use of hostels or bothies?
Biking! 😆
You’re carrying a pack on your bike..
Where do you stand on the use of hostels or bothies?
Id not call hostels bikepacking either, thats like riding somewhere and staying in a B&B.
If the definition of bike packing is that you have a pack on the bike, then does a tool pack under the seat count?
i've 'bikepacked' and slept in fields, bus-stops, behind a Lidl and in B&Bs and hotels, sometimes all on the same trip, the last two are preferable
Id not call hostels bikepacking either, thats like riding somewhere and staying in a B&B.
And bothies? I've slept in doorways, bus shelters, ruined castles etc. It's all bikepacking to me (though if you want to call it touring that's OK too).
It's all just bicycle touring, whether you carry everything, use B&Bs / pre-pitched tents, bothies etc.
Anyone care to develop a proper definition?
I always thought of bikepacking as being fully self supported inc. carrying your own place to sleep (bivvy, tent etc) as opposed to touring, where you stay in proper accommodation.
It’s all just bicycle touring, whether you carry everything, use B&Bs / pre-pitched tents, bothies etc.
Pretty much that. The only modern differentiator seems to be in choice of luggage, but even then the lines are blurred. New words and phrases enter our vocabulary all the time. There's nothing wrong in using them where appropriate and other folk know what you're talking about.
Published 1978...
If your staying in a pre-pitched tent then its not bike packing is it?
It's still off-road touring, bikepacking seems as good a description as any.
Anyone care to develop a proper definition?
If it's that important to you then you probably need to sort the committee first
If it’s that important to you then you probably need to sort the committee first
Good idea! Will get working on a Terms of Reference, a Governance Board and Communication Strategy right away!
It's not bikepacking unless the grumps on Bearbones approve of it first. God forbid you do anything that upsets the self-appointed gatekeepers of bikepacking© over there... 😅
How can an activity jump the shark?
New words and phrases enter our vocabulary all the time. There’s nothing wrong in using them where appropriate and other folk know what you’re talking about.
Written by Lucy Grewcock.
Wouldn't it be simply fabulous if one day she goes through a sex change and keeps that name.
Anyway, if you want to remain niche enough then just ensure your future bikepacking is done on a singlespeed fatbike, that should be adequate.
It seems like a nice, low-hassle, weekend get-away holiday sort of thing. I guess if you were worried other people would think you weren't a proper bikepacker, you could get some sort of 'Real Bikepacker' tee-shirt to distinguish yourself from amateurs.
One like this?
I couldn't give a monkeys about the terminology - but how much are 'journalists' being paid for advertorial fluff like that?
I’ve just boiled my piss. Meths stove, obvs.
Anyone care to develop a proper definition?
Bikepacking.com have it as: "Backpacking with a bike". I don't think it needs to be more complicated than that.
@steezysix - watch it sunshine, there's a lot of BBers on here as well. 😊
It's all just bicycle touring
Pretty much this. Although given current limitations I'd be lucky to bikepack as far as the next village/common, so 'touring' is a stretch, but I can still camp overnight a few miles from home. Bicycle camping is a thing. I just tell those indoors that 'I'm going off on the bike, camping out for a night or two'. Not the catchiest, yet perfectly descriptive.
I would refer to Bicycle Touring Pro when it comes to explaining subsets of bicycle touring. If nothing else it's a useful list for brainstorming about what touring possibilities are available if stuck in a rut/looking for ideas and inspiration. ie
Day Touring
S24O or Overnight Touring
The S24O (or Sub-24-Hour-Overnight)
Credit Card Touring
Light Touring
Ultra-lite Touring
Supported Touring
Guided, Self-Supported Touring
Bikepacking / Cyclocamping
Mixed-Terrain Touring
Expedition Touring
Loaded Or Fully-Loaded Touring
Traditional Bicycle Touring
Bicycle Travel
One like this?
Hmmm, maybe not unless you have some sort of compulsive exercise disorder. If you google bikepacking tee-shirts there's a plague of the things out there however.