We asked 8 Nationalities from 4 Continents why do you like Bikepacking?

Every week people from around the world contact me about cycling in Norway. I decided to take advantage of this and interviewed some of them. They all come from different backgrounds, cultures, and cycling experiences but all share the love of exploring an area by bike. I asked them a very simple question - why do you like bikepacking?

A big thank you to those that gave their time to this video:
Joe from New Zealand 🇳🇿
Kathrin from Germany 🇩🇪
Martin from Chile 🇨🇱
Karen from Finland 🇫🇮
Bart from Belgium 🇧🇪
and Johanne from Norway 🇳🇴

Note: only two people out of eight have English as their first language. I'm very grateful to those who didn't feel too comfortable using English to explain their passion for cycling.

#matthewnorway #cyclevlog #bikepacking #cyclists #norway #whycycle #biketouring

[matthewnorway]

Let me know your reasons for Bikepacking/Bike Touring?

[ErwinNiezing]

Why I love bikepacking? Absolute freedom..

[christopherhood]

To travel by bike it feels your submersed in the landscape - smells, sights, noises & the wind in your hair.
Compared to walking / hiking you can really cover ground. And the best bit - a guaranteed seat :)

[rascal]

Cycle vacation in Norway is going great. Epic ride over the mountain from Voss to Dale. Perfect weather

[hoser]

A beautiful video of beautiful people with beautiful and perfdct answers. We get to exercise, explore, eat food, drink, camp, hotel it or do it however we want. It satisfies gearhead needs, exploring needs, foodies, camping needs, exercise needs, all while outdoors!

[njlillegard]

Inspiring video. I bikepack to see the places I know are amazing at a pace that lets me experience it deeply.

[naturesdose]

For fitness and making my students and others aware of its importance 🚲

[c.d.]

Recently met a Chinese guy in Cornwall doing a 10, 000 mile trip around the British Isles.
Was I jealous, yup, very.

[markwilkinson]

Slow Discovery. The flexibility to explore “That path looks interesting”.
A miserable day on a bicycle is still a good day (sometimes, in retrospect).

[heliopeixoto]

I would like to thank you for present your country in a such way (series of fyords) that my wife and I were fascinated! One day we gone go to see with our one eyes!! Thank you so much! We are from Brazil, Rio de Janeiro.

[robindodson]

Self sufficiency. Which raises an interesting question. To dynamo or not for bikepacking?

[mrsporty]

Personal freedom and close to nature plus exercise 🚴🏋️

[Dennis-E-Sebastian]

Traveling by bike is almost like flying. Although sometimes I am literally flying but the landings are very painful. 🚴‍♂

[safe-keeper]

This has inspired me to maybe do another long trip by bike. I did a relatively long one (50km) a long time ago and absolutely loved it, so why not again. Just need to decide on where to go first.

[zoladkow]

I like it for freedom, for full liberty to choose my own pace, for space, for silence at night, for sights. and, at times, some really enjoyable people I happen to encounter.

However my ocd makes me point out that i would not call myself a pro - just an experianced vagabond 😁 also the term bikepacking makse me think of those bigass bags strapped under the seat, rocking left and right, which i find silly 🙃 (i'm the bring-your-kitchen-sink kind of guy, everything that i might need tucked in panniers, heavy stuff low, and that suits me - while heavy as a tank, it's predictable, stable and allows me to burn those few extra calories more 😁)

[alexjohnson]

It is a bit of a shame from a athletic-tourism perspective that Norway is so far from the United States, as I guarantee that Norway is far more well known in the United States than it is in most all of Europe.

Among endurance athletes of all kinds in the United States, Norway is pretty much known as the mecca for endurance training be it cross country skiing, biathlon, and in more recent years running and now even triathlon. It has a reputation for cutting edge exercise physiology and endurance coaching.

While those things are a little more 'high energy' than bikepacking, I guarantee the landscape of Norway with its dense mountains and endless rural roads and gravel has not escaped the atrention of many gravel riders and bike tourers in the U.S. Bike touring is now more popular than at any point in history, and we would be some of your best customers if not for the unfortunate distance problem. Well, between that and the U.S. being so immense in size and varying topography such that we don't really need to travel elsewhere for tourism purposes.