[Closed] Packrafts and bikes - how practical?

This is relevant to my interests. Our inflatable canoe would be impractically large.

I'm going on an "intro" weekend with these guys in May.

http://backcountrybiking.blogspot.co.uk/

Looks good druidh. I'll be interested to hear how you get on.

[url= http://www.amazon.com/Packrafting-An-Introduction-How-To-Guide/dp/0974818836/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332856302&sr=8-1 ]Packrafting by Roman Dial[/url] is a great read.

Me and Sim are off packrafting tomorrow for a future article 🙂

2.2kg plus straps to hold your bike on, doesn't sound too bad.

(I'm quoting one of these: https://www.alpackaraft.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=store.catalog&CategoryID=53&ProductID=67)

Possibly a bit much if you're also planning on camping, but I don't feel my bivying gear weighs the bike down too much and that's about 2kg on the bike and 3kg on my back iirc. I still ride all the same places I would normally.

It sounds great, but I'd want to feel like I was properly getting somewhere I couldn't otherwise. Where are some good ideas for a uk packrafting?

Someone posted a bike and packrafting trip around the Shetland Isles. Within a year or so of now.

Yeah I'd imagine The Yukon, or maybe the highlands and islands might be good. Rochdale canal might be a niche too far though.

If the rafting is fun, then just cycling upstream in order to raft back down is probably good enough.
Just hard in the uk finding legal navigable water with good mountain biking near by.

Or maybe it isn't - surely there's some ideas?
How about the Conwy?

Mugsys:

Is:

"[url=s://vimeo.com/27302646]60° North - A British Adventure[/url]"

... what you had in mind?

😉

Me and Sim are off packrafting tomorrow for a future article

http://www.alastairhumphreys.com/2011/06/microadventure-islands/

Is it the ultimate go anywhere combination?

This vid would suggest so.... I think one of these guys is Roman Dial?

Looks like an awesome trip!

AlexSimon - Member
If the rafting is fun, then just cycling upstream in order to raft back down is probably good enough.
Just hard in [s]the uk [/s][b]England, Wales or Ireland [/b]finding legal navigable water with good mountain biking near by.

indeed druidh

This is the second day of our intro course

How practical?
If your willing to earn your turns anything is possible, The Cairngorms and surrounding area is one hell of a place to explore by bike n boat
Andy

Sound track NSFW

without bikes packrafts are very robust and capable craft considering they resemble childrens beach dingys and weigh 2.3 kg

Does it actually open any new trails up?

It opens up new routes.

Bike + packraft and camping kit, you aren't going to be gnaring full on descents, but it does let you choose two points on a map, and decide how to get from A to B.

It means you can link up trails and routes that you could never do without a boat.

For example, this track leads to nowhere (dead end track)

[img] [/img]

but I was able to bushwhack down to the loch, camp, then float 5k and catch this landrover track

[img] [/img]

that has no connection with any other road (it just joins two lochs), then paddle across another loch and do this trail

[img] [/img]

(more at http://niksbikingblog.blogspot.co.uk/ )

It's more of a bikepacking thing than a singletrack blast thing, although I guess you could do a day trip with bike and boat and keep it as light as possible.

are the rafts so heavy the make the biking a pain, and the bikes so awkward they make the rafting difficult?

No, but it doesn't help. Paddling an empty boat, like riding an unladen bike, is going to be much more nimble, quicker, no luggage to adjust etc, but if you accept that, then the two things can totally compliment each other. There is nothing like rocking up to a loch on your bike, then busting out the boat, packing the bike on it, and heading off on the water.

Cool. I love the idea of it but don't see the point if you are just riding trails or areas you can already ride.

Can you bivi under an upturned raft?

Yes but never tell anyone that you have.Especially on here.Folk will only mock you with pictures of tortoises on bikes.

Then it'll go a step further with comments along the lines of big hitting tortoises etc. Not worth it.

Andy,mind that counter clockwise loop from Incheril (loch maree) where you end up at the loch before descending the mad gulley? They would be great for floating up the lochs into no man's land and making a full day out of it. I rode,pushed..crawled for a few hours in that direction and decided to give in through lack of track. By water on the other hand..

Martin

I went back there just recently (check oot the pics on Backcountrybiking FB titled Loch Maree adventure)

We started at Slatterdale carpark and paddled across, past Isle Maree on towards kinlochewe where we then cycled down the old postie path to Incheril. and on towards Lochan Fada (we camped up near the Loch) next day we paddled across Lochan Fada towards a track marked on the map that ends at the loch (coming over from Kinlochewe) we then did the Hike a bike from hell up to the col above loch Gharbaig then rode a cool trail back down to Kinlochewe and finished with a paddle back across to Slatterdale.

All in all a couple of days on a bike that would not be possible without a boat in some truly stunning and wild country.
[url=

album[/url]

I'd love to give this a go! Looks ace.

Gnnr
It can be ace you certainly can open new trails and ride in areas that were previously dead ends or pure schleps.
Andy

http://singletrackmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/singletrack-issue-74-teaser-dave-and-sim-go-packrafting/