Anyone Can Go BikePacking | Bicycle Touring & Bike Camping - A Beginners Overview |

I feel that more people would enjoy traveling by bicycle but they think it is too complicated or expensive to try. In this video I ramble about my journey on learning to bikepack, cycle tour and just simply get out of town on an overnighter with bicycle. This is a rough idea of a beginner's guide.

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I filmed this with my Canon 5DIV and the b-roll with my GoPro Hero 8 Black.

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[oldhippieonabike]

Hey Tim...I happened upon your vids. I was born and raised in Erie. I left 50 years ago to pursue a career as a Hippie in SF. Forty years ago, I moved to the UK, and it is now my home. I thought you would like to know that at age 72, after having a stroke, I did my first trip (strictly low budget) from St Petersburg, Russia back to England, travelling about 2, 000 miles. I blogged my trip as the “Old Hippie On A Bike”...raising money for charity. My 15 year old bike and all the bags was about £150 ($180). Just that bike, me and a tent for 43 days. Loved it!!! Now at 75...planning a longer trip! Keep up the good work, Kid!

[BLDEGLE]

Great to see someone extolling the virtues of keeping it simple. All too easy to fall into the trap of buying more and more unnecessary kit. Loving your content - keep on doing what you're doing, mate.

[zacko]

I’ve never tried bike camping.But after watching this video, i want to go much!!

[alexraul]

This guy’s voice has so much confidence, and so much pure baritone.

His voice is like a deep wind instrument.

[iamsemjaza]

AAA now officially has "bicycle service" as part of their roadside assistance and will send someone to pick up you, your bike, and your bike cart and take you to a place within your membership's range. I got the Plus which has a 100 mile "tow" range.

[rustybrockmann]

Thanks Tim,
Good, solid info for the beginning cycle tourist. I remember my first overnighter and how the minute you get on the road you start realizing what you want to have with and how you want to organize/carry it on the bike. Before you actually roll out of your driveway it's all a big, intimidating mystery, but then it becomes clear mile by mile.
The key is, as you plainly put it, just get out there and enjoy yourself-it doesn't have to be expensive, hard or daunting-have fun.

[tomsitzman]

Very practical help. Have fun. I was on a trip with friends where the women wore their Little black dress and the men dressed in slacks and a shirt for a restaurant every evening for supper.

[MB_MN_]

Safety note: speed shimmy on a loaded bike. Daughter and I just completed a 6-day tour, our first loaded, multi-day bike camping tour. We both rode vintage steel frame bikes, hers a mtb with road tires on, and mine a hybrid “dad bike.” We each took ~27 pounds of gear, loaded in rear panniers and strapped atop the rear rack. First significant descent, (~20 mph or so) daughter’s bike developed severe speed shimmy, aka death wobble, almost causing a crash. Unloaded, her bike wouldn’t shimmy at all at higher speeds, but loaded it was a problem. My bike never shimmied at these speeds. Reading up on this problem, I’m of the opinion that all bikes can shimmy under the right (or wrong!) speed and load characteristics. Next time we’ll try to distribute the load better, front, frame, and rear; lower to the ground; and if that doesn’t solve it we’ll be looking for a different bike.

Something beginning cycle tourers might want to pay attention to, as high-speed death wobble could ruin your day. Expect that a bike which you’ve ridden for years may behave quite different loaded vs. unloaded, and be mindful of load (weight) distribution. Test your loaded bike on some declines at higher speeds, preferably in an area with no traffic. And read up on how to “solve” speed shimmy should it happen to you (briefly: gently lose speed by applying both brakes; gently unload your seat by putting more of your weight on pedals at 3 & 9 positions; hug the top tube firmly with your knees to dampen frame vibrations; don’t grip handlebars too firmly; react quickly, but don’t panic & overreact). Daughter actually got good at speedy descents on our trip by firmly pressing a knee to the top tube, which got her through the tour without having to brake heavily on descents. But that’s clearly a sub-optimal set up from a safety & comfort standpoint.

[tdiddle]

Thanks for sharing this, and I appreciate your approach. With a bike and some ingenuity, there are endless possibilities.

I did a lot of touring with a very unique set up. I took a frame backpack and mounted it on the back of the bike so that it worked much like a truck bed. I had the frame backpack already, but I made this modification with only having to buy some wood screws.

I was in Florida, and operating on a serious shoe string budget, so I actually mounted the frame of of the backpack on the bike using palmetto fronds. They are weak as one, but very strong together.

I created a system that allowed my cheap bike to carry 90+ pounds of cargo. I figured the fronds would break, so I just carried extras to repair when needed.

This system worked amazingly well, and I carried 90+ pounds of gear all over Florida. The bike was very heavy, and I had to be careful not let it list. And I had to learn new ways to keep the very heavy bike from falling when I was off of it.

I actually found some sturdy bamboo, and I made a system to keep the bike upright when not in use. The bike was as heavy as a motorcycle, but I found a way to ride it and take care of it, and it lasted for as long as I needed it.

The point of my story is what I said before, there are endless ways to hack a bike to get it to so all kinds of cool stuff.

[Wannaridebikes]

I have. A old Brianchi road bike need thicker tires. I have a steel frame specialized rock hopper I plan to use as bike packing. I have a steel frame diamond back I’m converting it with drop bars and things and probably making that the bike packing bike. I own a lot of bikes just not enough road bike parts to use on MTB.

[albertbatfinder]

Good stuff. I like any “chuck it together and go” approach. You have a great narration voice, btw.

[jdschauss]

I love that you said just about any bike can be used for bike touring/bike packing. Seriously, nearly anything that rolls on two wheels can accommodate some extra gear, and then you]re off. I bought a 2012 Trek 7000 from a college student for $35.00 and only had to adjust the brakes a bit and put new tires on it. That bike will be up for sale soon, since I have bought a new Giant Escape 3 for some rails to trails riding and camping adventures. Probably not the best bike for bike packing, but it sure is comfortable to ride and that means everything.

Like you say, just grab a bike and fit it with some gear carrying mods, and get rolling. That's what I love about this hobby, it is so easy to do everything.

Great video with great information. Thanks so much for sharing it with us!

[Kitiwake]

Bike hammocked in the south of Italy 3 years ago.

Man, they spaced those olive trees just right.

[LMG]

Hola Tim, gracias a tus consejos pude hacer mi primer bike packing, solo fue de un fin se semana y lo que me motivó fue lo que dijiste que uno puede salir con lo que tienes mano y no necesariamente gastando mucho dinero. Bajo esa filosofía, pude armar mi bici con lo básico y pude hacer una ida de 140 kilómetros.

[douglasfreeman]

Thanks for upload Mr. Tim. You are a good presenter.

[marionmcnee]

Thanks for the video. I enjoyed watching and found it very encouraging. I love the "give it a go with whatever kit you have" attitude.

[mhe]

Went on my first trip. Wonderful!! Prerides loaded and organized packs. Starting out small is the key to success for new people like me. Can’t wait to go out again even just for an overnighter. Great info and encouragement.

[liammalarky]

Love your channel. Only found it a few hours ago. When I first bike packed back in the early 80's here in the UK I don't think it was even called bike packing? We toured with what we had, it was old school Carradyce gear or army surplus, heavy but it worked. Bikes had "suicide levers" - friction shifters on the down tube. It was our normal. Sleeping bags did NOT pack down and took up a lot of space. So we lined our panniers or rucksacks with them, opened up like a kid's Santa sack, we stuffed them with our gear. This saved so much space, besides they're usually the last thing you need to unpack at camp anyway. Great down to earth vid. Thank you.

[joeljones]

This is great for a person with hiking, camping, biking experience who has been considering a first bike packing trip. Thanks.

[grumpy-dad]

I need a new tent something with more space. Currently have a coffin tent.

I live off coffee during rides. I always take a pot of coffee and sugar.

A couple of beers for night when i stop.
I aways make a curry then freeze it, by the time i stop for the night its ready to cook.