For those of you slightly less informed than myself,
bikepacking is like backpacking, but you are substituting your back for a bike
to carry your belongings for the adventure you are beginning. So envision a bicycle, it’s tubular geometry
of the frame and then imagine filling each space with a pack that straps to the
frame, handle bars, or seat post. Too
much to imagine…? Google bikepacking.
So, like backpacking, my intent is to be in nature, but to
cover more ground using wheels vs. my legs.
For me, that is the biggest difference, with a bit more emphasis on
adventure.
So where does someone make the shift from walking with a
pack to riding with them. For me the
motivation has come on three fronts.
First, after I got into fly fishing, I wanted to get farther away in
less time and I thought my mountain bike could be the ticket. Secondly, I place some blame on my friend
Greg, who has done the Tour Divide and will again. And finally, YouTube. It’s not hard to find video of incredible
adventures being had by others and with my active imagination; it’s not hard to
see myself in their place. So now I am
in my infancy of replacing them, with
me.
So where do I begin?
First, I have to really, really… really like riding my bike and I do. I don’t always love it, but I like it more
than I don’t. I have to get intimate
with my bike, in a mechanical way and this will be a process as I learn to be
self-reliant when I break down. And then
getting past the stories of the physical and mental stresses this kind of
adventure can inflict, some of them involving your butt (my butt in this case)
and the onslaught of pain that can follow (maybe I should have stuck with my
original title, because I just used the word onslaught). But before I can place myself in the
crosshairs of these potential stressors, I have to spend a small fortune outfitting
my bike and myself. This is where I am
now.
It was my good fortune to use the timing of Christmas sales
recently to help me in the initial steps of amassing the equipment needed to
step into the ring of bikepacking. Even
so, this stuff is not cheap. Remember,
it all has to fit on your bike. Small
and light are the buzzwords.
I acquired a variety of packs to fit on different parts of
my bike. An ultralight tent, sleeping
bag, and sleeping pad, all of which I wish I would have had when backpacking.
And that brings me up to the present. My bag arrived recently and I couldn’t wait
to try some of this stuff out. In an
effort to help my wife and I not pass our colds back and forth, we have been
sleeping separately for the last few nights.
I got our bedroom, while she took to the couch to sleep in a more
upright position. And yesterday she was
ready to move back to the bed and I was given the opportunity to take my turn
elsewhere (did that sound positive?). So
lemons to lemonade…I decided to put my camping purchases to the test. The weather briefly warmed up and I pitched
my cool ultralight tent, inflated my new ultralight sleeping pad, and debagged
my down sleeping quilt. That’s right,
not sleeping bag…quilt! A new innovation
in the ultralight world.
At this point you may have a mental picture of the scene, as
I get ready for bed. I’ve got my
flashlight, Kleenex box, and 3 large pillows to keep my head elevated to
maintain good drainage (remember, I have a cold)…the 3 pillows of course not standard
bikepacking gear! The forecast is for
rain to develop overnight and turning into a wintry mix the following morning.
The night went well.
The quilt kept me toasty, too warm at times. The sleeping pad will take some adjustment to
get the air pressure fine-tuned, but worked well too. And as I awoke to the pitter-patter of rain
and realized I did not put the rainfly on the tent, I was so glad that I had
pitched my tent in the living room for my maiden voyage into ultralight camping
instead of the backyard. Now if I can
just have some major mechanical breakdowns in my garage instead of 70 miles
from the nearest town, that probably doesn’t have a bike shop, I think I am
well on my way to scratching the surface of this whole bikepacking thing!
My Zen from Home: “A journey of a thousand miles begins
with…” This is my single step…well a step
into my wallet, but a step nonetheless. Hopefully my body will be able to keep
up. One step at a time.
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| Indoor testing is my preference! |
