https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/the-hate-guide-to-bikepacking/
(Not written by STW) Gave me some proper lols, I hope you enjoy.
WTF is "bikepacking"? Is it when n+1 gets out of hand and you have to disassemble a bike and pack it away for storage so you can fit the new one in?
WTF is “bikepacking”?
Touring
Touring
Ahh, you pack the bike into the back of the Audi for a bit of cruising round the countryside.
Rough Stuff touring. As per Fred Wight, before the internet invented a special word for it.
My 1991 edition of Ralph Storer's 'Exploring Scottish Hill Tracks' uses the term bikepacking...
Published 1982
My 1991 edition of Ralph Storer’s ‘Exploring Scottish Hill Tracks’ uses the term bikepacking…
Don't be so level headed.
The latest must-have bikepacking accessory is a lightweight cuben fiber chip on your shoulder about how some British guys (and gals) who you'd not heard of until you bought a nice glossy coffee table book about them last year were the real inventors or mountain biking and bikepacking, they just weren't in America and didn't have such cool moustaches, or go on to found the companies that made the bikes that actually enabled mountainbiking to take off.
My mate told me about this.
Its basically sleeping rough a few miles from home, with a grand & a half’s worth of Alpkit gear.
were the real inventors or mountain biking
To be fair to the Americans they have got better mountains than we have and the bikes they used didn’t have drops. Those two things kinda make me side with them on this.
or go on to found the companies that made the bikes that actually enabled mountainbiking to take off.
Only pausing briefly to steal an Enigma Machine and hence win WW2. 😂
Does he mention what I should feel when someone describes what I do as touring?
Does he mention what I should feel when someone describes what I do as touring?
Don't you just tell them you're on a Microadventure™ ?
My mate told me about this.
Its basically sleeping rough a few miles from home, with a grand & a half’s worth of Alpkit gear.
😂
Your not far from the truth there but in my defence I've at least gone further afield at times as well.
Its basically sleeping rough a few miles from home, with a grand & a half’s worth of Alpkit gear.
I’ll stick to rough touring then. Don’t make a fuss and spent only £200 everything, including tent and panniers. I’d like to get some cages on the forklegs. Will that upset anyone?
Being a child in the 70s I remember when stuff was celebrated and cool and fun.
Nowadays it’s cooler to hate stuff and be world-weary, sarcastic, ‘edgy’ and label/stereotype ppl while judging their supposed motives through the same lens. What a chore!
I was a child in the 60s. I remember when folk had a sense of humour. The linked article is funny because it is so true and I (and others) recognise ourselves in it without having to take offence.
Oh - what mug for dangling? Classic white enamel, double-walled titanium or something with an amusing anecdote?
The latest must-have bikepacking accessory is a lightweight cuben fiber chip on your shoulder
Do you mean Dyneema? Out of date. Sheesh.
Do you mean Dyneema? Out of date. Sheesh.
Cuben is dyneema.
It's called cuben as it was developed for America3 (America Cubed) in the Americas Cup, but is made from dyneema fibres. It's really just a stronger version of Polyethylene though.
Cuben is dyneema.
I assumed this was a coverup for a typo. But it seems to be A Real Thing!
Owned by a different company and rebranded. Yes I know what is. I've even had a good conversation with Richard Craddock about having a custom Dyneema frame built for me. The answer broadly is no. Probably.
I like Cuben, you like Dyneema, let's call the whole thing off! *jazz hands*
recognise ourselves in it without having to take offence.
No offence taken, just noting a trend!
‘Two, Four, Six, Eight, What Do We Appreci-hate?‘
The cover of that bike packing book looks soooo attractive! Who wouldn’t want to spend the night in a ploughed muddy field in a leaky tent 😂
Its basically sleeping rough a few miles from home, with a grand & a half’s worth of Alpkit gear.
Excuse me, alpkit? Is it even possible to spend that much on bikepacking kit from alpkit? 🤔
I find it amusing that people are doing the Yorkshireman sketch about how little they spend (how much have you spent on your bike(s)? Eee, I’ve done three week tour wi out but a Sainsbury’s carrier bag an a tin o sardines
Ive spent a bob or two on my kit. But as it’s used regularly I’m happy with that
seatpack/bar pack/front pouch/frame bag 350-400£
Tent/pole/pegs ~300£
Sleeping bag 140£
Sleep mat 120£
Stove/cookset (ti, natch) 80£
Sure I’ve also a couple of bivvy bags, a tarp or two and another ‘proper’ tent. And a winter sleeping bag (I had before I started this malarkey though) But even then it doesn’t even come close to my Cotic bill over the same period 🤪
It’s what help’s me enjoy my trips (that expensive air mat transformed my comfort levels dramatically, al age, disnae come itsel). Even if some of are only an hour or two cycle from Aviemore (with a pizza and couple of pints en route). Better than a night in front of the tele...
Don’t you just tell them you’re on a Microadventure™ ?
: ) Not since the google search and hashtag ranking went down for that term, no. And since the fixed-gear crit crowd got into #gravel racing it's all about getting the jump on them to the next must-do, so I'm into anything where I can say 'ultra-'. Ultra-endurance gravel looks good right now.
My mate told me about this.
Its basically sleeping rough a few miles from home, with a grand & a half’s worth of Alpkit gear.
If there were still a 'top 10 forum posts' in the magazine each time this should be at #1 🙂
Excuse me, alpkit? Is it even possible to spend that much on bikepacking kit from alpkit? 🤔
Along with the full suite of bags, if you include down jackets, down sleeping bags, merino base layers, and enough titanium bits, etc, etc, I'm sure we could spend that if we tried... 😂
I have easily spent more than £1500 on camping and touring kit. I do not however sleep rough a few miles from home or the pub- I do not see the point. I do however use my kit a fair bet to allow me to get to wonderful places and to wake up miles from anywhere in beautiful scenery
Being a child in the 70s I remember when stuff was celebrated and cool and fun.
Nowadays it’s cooler to hate stuff and be world-weary, sarcastic, ‘edgy’ and label/stereotype ppl while judging their supposed motives through the same lens. What a chore!
This is a laudible comment, but then you just said this:
I’ll stick to rough touring then. Don’t make a fuss and spent only £200 everything, including tent and panniers. I’d like to get some cages on the forklegs. Will that upset anyone?
So you're doing it yourself!
Anyway bikepacking isn't new, never has been - My first trip was in 1994 and we called it bikepacking without prompting because it was backpacking with bikes and since bike sounds like back it's hardly a stretch.
What you are complaining about is the advertising industry. So direct your ire there, and leave people to enjoy the outdoors however the **** they want. Insisting on saying 'bike touring' instead of 'bikepacking' just makes you sound like an utter pillock, tbh.
^ uh oh, terminology-hate brewing here. Some kind of micro/macro/meta thing happening. Love it : )
In other news ...
Internet keyboard warrior orders new spade after failing to spot joke article.
I do not however sleep rough a few miles from home or the pub- I do not see the point. I do however use my kit a fair bet to allow me to get to wonderful places and to wake up miles from anywhere in beautiful scenery
The two aren't mutually exclusive 😉
Thread Will Eat Itself
They are if you live in Edinburgh. I am not going backpacking to Wester Hailes! or Tranent! 😉
Thread Will Eat Itself
Only if rehydrated in a pour'n'store bag.
My mate told me about this.
Its basically sleeping rough a few miles from home, with a grand & a half’s worth of Alpkit gear.
Haha, yes.
But I like it.
Very dry...
Insisting on saying ‘bike touring’ instead of ‘bikepacking’ just makes you sound like an utter pillock, tbh.
Damn my winkeyface didn't translate.
*must use emoticons*
(Puts up sign)
‘Gone camping. Taking bike’
Its basically sleeping rough a few miles from home, with a grand & a half’s worth of Alpkit gear.
You say that like it's a bad thing.
You say that like it’s a bad thing.
LOL. I know I get grumpy if I haven't slept out for a few weeks. It doesn't have to be a mega adventure. I'm fortunate in that I have a great selection of spots available within a couple of hours riding but I regularly read posts and blogs from folk who've managed a night out close to their more urban locations. It just needs a bit of imagination.
I regularly read posts and blogs from folk who’ve managed a night out close to their more urban locations. It just needs a bit of imagination.
It's the write ups you see of people spending the night in public toilets. I mean, come on, we've all been out on those trips where conditions are a a it desperate and maybe you've cut the comfort Vs fast & light line a little too tight, but that's just grim.
If the weather's that bad, fork out £50 for a B&B, get dry and a fry-up to boot! Unless you're into waking up sore and smelling of stale urine, maybe I'm kinkshaming a niche of bikepackers.
Aye - not one of my choices I'll admit.
Edit: I'm not a fan of bothies either. Only ever used a handful. I much prefer being outdoors.
Not since the google search and hashtag ranking went down for that term, no. And since the fixed-gear crit crowd got into #gravel racing it’s all about getting the jump on them to the next must-do,
and Bang! a couple of posts later and you're there:
Some kind of micro/macro/meta thing happening.
I'm going to spend the weekend on a #metaadventure, reading about lots of other adventures, on my sofa, while it pisses down outside.
.
.
.
#rainonmywindowpane #sumatrandarkroastarabica #wearingmyalpkitjeansandhoodyinside #sonderinthegarage
We have quite a few guests staying in a couple of months including mother and father in law so going to have to give up our bed and kip in a tent in the garden for a few nights. Will leave my bike on the lawn just to get the right effect.
Might also use my camping stove for a brew in the morning despite being 10m from the kitchen. Then write a blog about it.
#ultramicroadventure
It’s the write ups you see of people spending the night in public toilets
Flashback PTSD! Summer 1982 was my first Gravelventuretourpack @ 15yrs old. I called it ‘going camping’ back then. Tied stuff to toptube and the rest went in my Scout hiking rucksack (with steel frame and leather straps that all did bad things to various bodyparts )
My tent was cotton with no waterproofing (parents got it free with Weetabix tokens, then stored it for years before awarding it to me!) and the doorflaps laced up at the front with ties. Wooden poles. 🤣😂
Anyway, pitched up, went to the beach, walked in woods and there was a torrential downpour later on so walked back uphill to tent in the wet dark to find a literal puddle in the middle of sleeping bag, and the ridge of tent nearly touching it.
Game of soldiers. Tried to sleep sitting on (farm campsite) toilet in cubicle. Was grim.
Have since thanked the Gods for an Argos Hike Lite and a pannier rack. Too late by decades, but better late than never 👍🏼