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Originally published in 2015 thanks to Salsa Cycles, Bikepacking Roots has just announced this 90-page field guide is now available for digital download after you donate $5 to the non-profit. This guide was written by Kaitlyn Boyle and Kurt Refsnider and was created to help incite a love for those looking to get into bikepacking by providing helpful information and various pointers to get your bike loaded up and pointed down the trail.
Head to Bikepacking Roots to check it out!
When it comes to ultralight bikepacking and cyclo-touring, redundancies in gear don’t cut it. Hydrolight’s new 2L reservoir is now available. It’s a clever solution for those looking for a substantial way to illuminate their campsite, without having to carry the extra weight of a lantern. Their innovative design allows you to plug in your favorite headlamp into their bladder to create campsite illumination, all for $35. Not bad if you ask me. Check out their video above, see more information at Hydrolight, and let us know what you think…
Author’s Note: This article was originally written almost 4 years ago, but was shelved after thinking I had lost a majority of the photos to a failed drive. After I managed to find many of the lost photos on an old SD card, I figured it was still worth sharing the last trip that inspired me to quit my job and travel the world by bike…
Our friends at Freehub recently bikepacked the AZT and created a beautiful video showcasing this ride. “Without an agenda, time becomes irrelevant. When it comes to bikepacking, this is the perfect mindset to have. Void of all expectations and obligations, Jackie Paaso and Stan Jorgensen set off on a three-day, 90-mile mission on the Arizona Trail, embracing the moment and abiding only by the rhythm of mother nature.”
This is exciting! Jan Bennett and Bikepacking Roots have been working on a few new routes, including the Pony Express. This past summer, Jan became the first person to pedal the old mailing route, officially and now they’re working on making it an official route but they need your help. Read on for more…
Today at the Radavist we’re featuring a very unique bike, from Bellé Cycles and the Service Course, for the Atlas Mountain Race. With the recent debate about patina and faux finish on custom bicycle frames, I think you all will enjoy this one!
“A one-of-a-kind beast, hungry for scratches and scars.” – Enrico “Kico” Bellé
Here’s a film teaser from Race Around Rwanda, a 1000km race through the country of a thousand hills, by Ryan Le Garrec and Lander Deldime. It’s a bike packing race, non stop and unsupported, the fastest riders will finish it under 50 hours.
Apidura, makers of dang tough bikepacking bags have evolved their Backcountry Saddle Pack to be compatible with dropper posts. This is thanks to a nylon sleeve that glides up and down the dropper stanchion while securing the pack to the saddle rails. This pack has reinforcement in the form of a skid plate in case it hits the tire at some point, a loop for a light on the back, reinforced stitching, and weighs a mere 265g with a retail price of $156. See more at Apidura.
Up since the break of dawn, all day we’d been rolling on washboard roads. Yet it was hard to complain. We’d just spent a few days hiking around Ikara/Flinders Ranges National Park and it felt good to be headin’ north again. As the sun dropped toward the horizon I stopped for a bit of a feed. Dan rolled up beside me and we began to look for somewhere to camp. It was dead flat aside from the occasional patch of scrub. You could’ve pitched in anywhere but for some reason, it still felt good to choose a spot. It was then, with bikes stationary and no wind to speak of, that we were struck by the immense silence of our surroundings. This was our first proper encounter with the vastness of the Australian desert. The endless horizon. We had made it to the edge of the outback, and thousands of kilometers of dusty track lay in wait.
Bontrager just announced the newest addition to their footwear catalog, marketed towards gravel riding and bicycle touring. The GR2 is an off-road specific shoe, with lace closure, a grippy sole and visual cues to the outdoor industry. This vibrant mustard-yellow with red laces and a speckled sole is quite the looker, or there’s a more muted all-black model. A Tachyon rubber outsole gives the shoes plenty of grip, while the Gnarguard upper reduces wear and tear from hike-a-bikes. The GR2 retails for $139.99 and is in stock now at Bontrager stores.
Deane Parker sent over his latest video, showcasing some epic terrain in the familiar, yet foreign landscape of New Zealand.
The Craigieburn Forest Park has many trails, follow 3 friends over the highest line in the park, and around a circuit in the heart of the Craigieburn Range. This is backcountry bikepacking to the extreme.
Antonin Michaud-Soret’s film ‘Onboard the Transcontinental Race’ is now available for VOD purchase via Vimeo. This video looks at the beauty and the struggle of one of the hardest ultra-endurance races, the TCR.
“To ride the TCR is to explore who you become at the side of a road in the Alps or the Balkans, low on sleep, lucidity, hygiene and any notion of comfort: in the saddle, rolling over rough tarmac sixteen or eighteen hours a day; finding what exists beyond fatigue and exhaustion.”
At 7am the alarm went off (feel free to cue up the “waves” ringtone on your iPhone to set the mood). We were in our cushy-ish hotel in Naryn city after having a couple of days off to rest. This is ALWAYS when it is hardest to pry yourself from the grips of city comforts. Knowing that we had more than a week between towns of any significance on the horizon only added to the challenge of getting moving.
In the summer of 2019, Bjørn Olson and Kim McNett completed a fat-bike and packraft route, entirely above the Arctic Circle of Alaska – Kotzebue to Point Hope. Enjoy the trailer for the upcoming film about this human-powered expedition.
THE GREAT DIVIDE
Like my four-year-old son said the other day: “You can’t survive death.”
Somehow this made me think of this race. It’s all about surviving in the end. But it’s mostly about being alive, to the fullest.
The outdoors can mean many different things to people. For those into bikes, especially mountain biking, the woods are a place to send and shred. We trade leads and follows, lines and trails. We might not admit it, but for a lot of us riding is a form of therapy. Instead of therapists invoices we sink our cash into new bikes and wheels for the same mental result, and a lot more sweat. Those of us who enjoy unrestricted access to outdoors might be unaware that not everyone experiences that same ease of access. As a result, the benefits one gets from riding through through the woods or in the mountains with friends are not evenly felt by all.
The WTF Bikexplorers Summit – part skill share, part retreat – is a forum for WTF folks that aims to change that imbalance. This year, the second annual summit (the first one was in Montana) featured a pre-summit camp out and ride from the Chris King Farm outside of Portland, OR to the summit in Vernonia.
Deane Parker recently took on a 250km bikepacking trip in the Canterbury high country of New Zealand and has a nice video short showcasing the tour.
… to ride our bikes but we’ll see you first thing tomorrow morning!
