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Having walked Stevenson in early July it was time to go cycle camping. Checking out the weather forecast central France seemed a good bet so we booked tickets on a BlaBlaBus to Paris with the idea of cycling south and taking a train when we'd had enough. That meant Bromptons. The bus got into Paris as light appeared in the eastern sky and we made for the Seine:
The bike route is a mix of roads tracks and even singletrack. At the Loing we turned right up the canal:
Then over the hill to the Loire and upstream to just before Nevers. The municipal campsites were excellent with lots of happy cycle tourists to chat to. That's our green tent in the background:
The Canal du Berry took us to Montluçon and the "Vagabonde"
The Vagabonde is on shared roads apart from about 5kms of cycle path but there's very little traffic in la Creuse or la Corrèze. We sometimes used Mapy.cz to take variants. We should have avoided Rocamdour where we were treated to our only close pass - frustrated tourists in traffic jams. Your may have seen Indurain or Lemond on the Tour time trials around Lac de Vassivière:
Tempertures were perfect until Rocamadour, sometimes even chilly, but then it got a bit warm which combined with loaded inefficient bikes and 1000m+ days wore down our enthusiasm. We arrived in Cahors with a forecast of 39°C for the next days:
and took the train home.
Final night was Vagabond bunkhouse in Betws which was fine and did good pizzas. Breakfast at Alpine cottage in Betws was a good choice.
I'm not a particularly OCD type person but that image has me twitching. A bacon sarnie eaten with knife and fork? Wtf is the garnish? It's cheap, sliced bread, the provider has deemed that a mug isn't the preferred choice, but a teapot and cup and saucer*. Cafe trying to be posh and failing completely. 🤣 Don't forget to stick the pinkie out....
* I hate cups and saucers!
The Deeside Trail should be on every mtb bike packers to do list. So much sweet singletrack 🥰
I rode it last weekend and will be back again at some point 👌👌👌
I’ve never bikepacked in my life, and honestly, I have very little intention of doing do. But this is a great thread, and very inspiring. Maybe someday, this will actually be me (but I doubt it!!).
There is something very liberating knowing you are carrying everything you need for a day or so, and can sleep pretty much wherever I fancy (within reason, but as I live in Scotland, there are ample places IME).
When I do the Deeside Trail again I might stay in a b&b in the middle and not carry any bags as they do limit how fast you ride over rough terrain.
Just found this thread, and it's great for information and inspiration.
I've decided to dip my toe into the bikepacking world, so have spent the last few months curating various kit from ebay/FB marketplace/drunken online impulse purchases.
I'm pretty much there now other than a stove and recommendations welcome for one or two night trips
For short trips you can either go for a simple BRS 3000 or Alpkit Kraku stove and small gas canister, or my usual preference is for a trangia meths burner, stand & windshield.
The meths stove is slower to boil water, but is cheaper to run, packs smaller and is completely silent, which is nice when you're relaxing in your tent.
The gas stove is better in cold weather when you want to get a brew ready asap. Always feels a bit wasteful due to the gas canisters.
Have a look here for superlight/packable stoves. For solo trips up to a week I never use anything else. Longer trips and and trips with Mrs Spin, something a bit more versatile like the Kraku may be better.
I tend to go with a tiny gas canister, smallest burner attachment I can find, packed away inside a ti mug of some kind. You can get the weight down a bit with a meths burner and tin foil windshield, but I found it a bit more faffy and actually less compact once you start taking meths containers and the need to take precautions in case of leakage into account.
The annoying thing about meths burners, i find, is their tendency to blacken the outside of pots with soot, which then finds its way onto everything else. Otherwise they're a good option. (Longtime user of an old Trangia)
The annoying thing about meths burners, i find, is their tendency to blacken the outside of pots with soot,
Have you tried small meths burners like this
?
They don't produce soot ime, I think because they burn under some pressure. Drawback vs the Trangia is they're a one-shot thing, fill and burn and hope you got the volume of fuel right (generally do if it's just boiling a mug of water) so not ideal for proper cooking. Small gas burners win there.
For sooty pots I normally scrub it with a freshly used tea bag, or a wet wipe which I'll be carrying some of anyway. The pot also goes in it's own stuff sack so the worst of the grime doesn't get on everything else. Some people add 10% water to the meths, but I've found it doesn't make enough of a difference to be worth the less effective heat output.
Agree it's not as straightforward as a little gas stove, this is definitely the easiest/best starter option!
Bearbones do 'rechargeable' meths stoves too
BRS 3000 stove and small gas canisters for me. I don't use it often enough to worry too much about waste. I have a little thingy what's it that can refill one canister from two part filled ones which helps.
There’s levels of achievement isn’t there-
Riding from accommodation to accommodation and dining out - 1 point
Riding with camping kit , but dining out - 2 points
etc etc
I offer my alternative points system. Did you go for a bike ride that felt adventurous? Did you get to see/do stuff that you woudln't do on your normal everyday bike rides? Then you can have a billion points from me once you've finished telling me how awesome the ride was.
Did you get to see/do stuff that you woudln't do on your normal everyday bike rides?
On my last overnighter I camped out on a headland, about 50m from the high tide line. It's a place where we get lots of rare birds blown in at this time of year, so I took my monocular. When I woke up at 6.30 I walked down to the edge of the water, scanned up and down the water and got an eyeful of an old bloke with long grey beard skinny dipping about 100m up the beach. He looked like the hermit in Life Of Brian, except naked. You don't see that every day!
Luckily...
This was a test run close to home, a 40k loop. As it happened, the window I had to do this was in freezing temperatures, but what the hell..
My air mattress is not a thermal one and I wished it was in the night. My sleeping bag is comfort 4°C, minimum -1°C so I was pushing it a bit, and there was a fair bit of fiddling in the night to stay warm. Winter gloves on the toes!
I went for the bearbones 20g stove. It took a few attempts to stay going in the freezing temperatures, but with a delicious pourover coffee and the sun's warmth, it started to become type 1 fun again.
A successful trial run, ready for some more adventures (solo and with friends) in 2026.
Wow! Well done Pisco - that’s great commitment!
When I saw this thread pop to the top, I thought surely no one has been brave enough to stay out in this weather 😄
Nice one. I bet getting out of the sleeping bag in the morning was a mental battle!
fair bit of fiddling in the night to stay warm.
😉
good effort, I am keeping an eye on the forecast, seeing if I can pluck up the courage to do an overnighter!
I haven't been on a trip, just been buying and 3d printing gear for my upcoming trip on foot on the Knoydart peninsula. Went with the Alpkit Tarpstar 1 in the end, and I also bought some new ti pans as I tested out the OEX Jetboil knock-off and found it saved barely any gas during testing.
Hi @molgrips did you have any feedback on the Tarpstar 1 yet? I've been waiting for them to be a) on sale and b) in stock and it seems that the two things have finally aligned! I like the idea of it compared to the small cocoon type minimalist tents for being able to sit up and have a bit of a porch etc.
Just ridden Pau to BSM. 8 days, 950km, Toulouse on roads, Canal du Midi to Sete, Mediterranean route to Aigues Mortes, Viarhona to Valence, Bella Via to Bourg Saint Maurice. 4 nights wild camping, one campsite, 2 booking.
Two days against an 85km Mistral were wearing but only an hour riding in rain. Cold but there's good clothing. I've got some pics and will post when nothing better to do.
Canal du Midi
Approaching Sete
White horses on the Rhone. Some of the slowest kms I've ever ridden, 4h for 24kms
Looks fab. Got a couple of solo trips planned. New rack for the CX bike (doesn't have any mounting points), so have an axel mount rack, and some new Ortlieb Gravel Panniers (saves using the 'work' panniers and removing everything). Didn't do any bike packing last year as I was recovering from a broken pelvis and hip socket.
Last day near Chambery. The last few kms along the cycle path from Aime were magical. Dark, the torrent rushing by, ski resort lights on the moutains above, crisp cold moutain air.
Nice - early retirement done right?
You should get some 32" wheels - slice through the headwind and get you to 7km/hr 😆
I officially retire in September but I've been a house husband since 2002.
I don't usually worry too much about speed, if I keep pedaling I get there eventually. Though the last day the horse smelt the stable and I managed 200km rather than pitch the tent again at minus something
I fancy doing some bike packing this year - nothing outrageous but York up into the Moors or the Dales, get tea somewhere (I'm not faffing with a little stove!) before a night camping and then home the following day.
Is there a list of must-haves anywhere? I guess minimum:
- as small/packable a sleeping bag as possible
- tent/tarp
- something to kip on
- change of clothes/dry stuff/waterproof etc
- bags for the bike to keep it all in
That with more to eat and drink than you'll think possible and away you go. It won't be dark long but maybe a head torch. Suncream, nail scissors, tooth brush, soap, paper map tissues, mossie net for your head if you use a tarp.
mossie net for your head if you use a tarp.
Cheers! Think proper tent rather than tarp - bugs seem to love eating me.
- as small/packable a sleeping bag as possible
- tent/tarp
- something to kip on
- change of clothes/dry stuff/waterproof etc
- bags for the bike to keep it all in
My essentials for a wild overnight are:
Tent, sleeping bag, roll mat, inflatable pillow. I don't bother with a head torch - I'll have lights on the bike anyway and will make sure that one of them can be hung in the tent.
Warm clothes to put on once in camp. Unlikely I'll be riding out in poor weather, so I'd not normally carry a full change, but I'll carry a riding jacket and buff, and tomorrow I'll be wearing the same clothes as today.
That with more to eat and drink than you'll think possible and away you go
I disagree. For me, an overnighter won't be big distances so I won't carry more than the meals I normally eat and an extra snack or two.
That's sort of it. All the little things - toiletries, toilet paper, bike tools, will find their place. I always carry reading matter and will have my phone, Airpods, and often carry a monocular for some birdwatching.
We've usually factored in a food stop around lunch and the evening (shop or pub). We 'bought' enough for breakfast the night before.
I eat every hour or so on the bike then have a good feed in the evening and my normal breakfast. In total more than double what I normally would. Even after long tours eating that much I don't put on weight and may lose a little.
Eat too little and kms will feel hard work.
I fancy doing some bike packing this year - nothing outrageous but York up into the Moors or the Dales, get tea somewhere (I'm not faffing with a little stove!) before a night camping and then home the following day.
Is there a list of must-haves anywhere? I guess minimum:
- as small/packable a sleeping bag as possible
- tent/tarp
- something to kip on
- change of clothes/dry stuff/waterproof etc
- bags for the bike to keep it all in
I personally find the weather windows where the weather/insectproofing of a tent is outweighed by the benefits of a tarp are few and far between.
For your purposes it seems like a decent kit list. You'll find from experience if there's things you'd like to bring/leave but basically staying warm/dry when you sleep is the main thing and everything else is a preference.
As for food quantity, that's a bit of a personal thing. I personally struggle even in normal life if I'm not fuelled properly so I eat enough on bike tours to give a horse diabetes. Some folk are built differently to that and can get away with less.
I eat every hour or so on the bike then have a good feed in the evening and my normal breakfast. In total more than double what I normally would. Even after long tours eating that much I don't put on weight and may lose a little.
Eat too little and kms will feel hard work.
My watch told me a few weeks ago that day's calorie output was over 1300 kCal compared to the expected exercise output of about 130kCal. So I assumed that since I'd exercised about 10x more than expected then I could also eat 10x more than expected! 😀