10 Tips For Your First Bikepacking Trip

The following companies (that you'll see in my content) support me either financially or with free stuff, so huge thanks to these guys for helping the channel thrive:
Attacus Cycling,
SCOTT,
MET Helmets,
Shimano,
fidlock,
Hutchinson Tyres
Sungod
Tailfin
GT85
Garmin
Parcours Wheels

#cycling #bikes #bicycle

[lncs]

Tips: start a day leg as early as possible; take breaks and power nap; arrive as early as possible to set camp (avoids ground damp), get your tent dry as late afternoon is often the warmest air (assuming good weather); if touring longer and self-supporting send care packages ahead via post if remote; take x3 riding gear as x2 might not dry quick enough in dodgy conditions; pack flip flops; have an emergency comfy and warm set of clothes kept in a separate dry bag to fall back on as needed; use flight mode on phone; get micro usb lights/GPS etc to charge with Power-Bank easily; get a bike stand with multi contact points; assume needing 4-5l of water every 24h; set time limits to remind when to look for a pitch (if wild camping); check bike setup every morning (clean brakes/rims, check lights etc); know your routes in advance (Google Maps, OS maps etc); gauge speed to appropriate HR rather than average speed or cadence, as latter may vary due to conditions; always rest when tired; eat even when you don't necessarily want to (on longer rides); lip balm and sun screen in 50-60SPF

GPS: Bryton 420 has a 35h battery life; can be charged by Power-Bank when in use

[veijopitkanen]

Funny. I've done long biketrips for fifteen years and absolutely disagree on every single advice here 😄 . I'm guessing it's because your starting point (of view) is road biking and mine's trying to mentally get as far as possible from the idea that travelling by bike is a race. I also never wear bicycle specific clothes or use a smartphone or garmin. Just good old paper maps and panniers. I do text home every now and then to tell my family I'm safe but I try to get along with limited amount of information as I've found it very relaxing.

[jodeskid]

#11. Stick to tried and tested! Know your kit and how it works for you especially if you're going multi day adventures and camping/bivvying. Nothing worse than getting somewhere and its pishing of rain or you're getting eaten alive by midges and it's the first time you've tried to pitch your tent. I would suggest loading up your bike and going for a short ride to see how it feels and make sure it feels balanced- no wagging tail packs or floaty steering. Then unpacking it and repacking again to see how it all fits together. When packing think about the order or frequency you use the thing or the criticality of the thing. Finally, unless you absolutely have to, don't use anything new on your contact points eg new cleats, shoes, saddle, shorts, grips, gloves etc. Keep to tried and tested.

[EscapeePrisoner]

Tip for getting clothes even dryer. Once you've rolled the towel up, stand on one end of the roll to clamp that end to the floor, grab the other end without letting everything fall to the floor end, and twist the whole towel roll really hard really tight. When you slowly release the twist the towel draws maximum water out of the clothes. Much better than the folk dancing.

[Choccytube]

Very useful set of tips, I knew all of them except the clothes drying trick, I've booked all accommodation for trip that have radiators. From now on I'll try the towel trick. The sleeping and overpacking stuff I've learnt from hiking, use a bag size for what you need, or you'll just fill a bigger bag with stuff you don't need. Another little tip for packing is to lay all your stuff out before you go and keep what is essential, remove what you MAY need and pick one luxury item. Another great video.

[felixjackson]

Very good. Just want to say a big thumbs up to Chris for his excellent talk through of his gear on a previous video. So articulate and thorough. Brilliant. Thanks.

[AndrewCoakley]

Pro tip that I've learned from this series: Francis should have packed lip balm 😬

When camping, make sure your tent is facing east in the morning. If it's a sunny morning, this will help drying up your tent when it's wet from morning dew or rain.

[jergleason]

Excellent advice and simple strategies to use. Couple of things with the Garmin that have been a big help for me on bikepacking trips. Using the ClimbPro and battery-saving mode have been a game-changer... The ClimbPro feature categorizes most of the big climbs for the ride; distance, and gradient. Battery -saving mode will give you three days of riding for every charge. A big help when charging devices can be tricky on the road. Looking forward to you guys riding together on future trips. Best friends on bike adventures is always fun to watch! 🚲🚲🤟🏽

[peterwilson]

Great you included Josh Reid's segment. Also excellent just to watch you two travelling together and always respecting each other.

[rrrseajay]

+1 for inline bags. Huge difference with efficiency. Makes the trip more fun.

[NickSmith-hvzi]

Tip 11. Don't take annoying friends with you that often wine about everything.

[jevonjennings]

I've used my old climbing chalk bags for ages and it works great, some are bigger than others which helps. If you're on a budget these are the way forward until you can afford a specific bag

[Jim-ubqy]

Two of my favorites right there. Thanks for sharing the ride with us...I'm really enjoying your daily download.

[BrumCraft]

Great tips especially the food bag. I use 2 climbing chalk bags as 'cockpit' bags on tours, so useful

[thebikepackingdad]

So I watched this a while ago before I got stuck into the bikepacking world. Good tips that have served me well so far. Just wanted to come back and say thanks now that I’ve started my own blog / YouTube set up. Good stuff mate, cheers.

[chrisc]

Ooh the showering with and drying your gear is excellent! I did that for years with my rowing spandex and it was a natural progression to my biking shorts
(also useful when not bikepacking to save money on more gear without smelling...ripe)

[PumpkinVillage]

Very good tips. Checking out a head unit for my birthday. A lot to look at. Thanks for the video. Take care, Al

[monochromebluess]

Excellent run down of the tips. Especially setting up a tent in higher ground and late at night to keep nosey folks away. Glad you two are back up and running after a few days away. When I saw the green bread I thought both of you had come down with food poisoning. And where have you guys now reached at the moment.

[neilt]

Good tips. And thanks for the reminder about Garmin head unit tracking facility - I was thinking of unnecessarily buying an InReach Mini, but really don't need to at the moment.