Hello, I know this is a subjective question and highly individual but I’m after a ball park figure for off road bike packing of what’s realistically possible in a day for a fairly average rider, I live in the Dales I’m a confident climber and can put the miles in but I’m no ultra race rider who I realise would do this in a day and don’t have any experience of being fully loaded up on the bike. I’ve planned a 100 mile route on the PBW and Trans Pennine Trail, thinking two days/one night is this foolish. Cheers in advance

Sounds about right to me, that’s how I’d do that distance and I could describe myself similarly.

50 miles a day on rideable gravel is pretty doable.

Would you normally think a 50 mile ride in a day was a long way? If not, you should be fine.

Bear in mind when you’re fully loaded up, hills are tougher.

My rule of thumb is that a day loaded with kit feels about 1/4 to 1/3 longer than one without.

100 miles bikepacking feels fairly easy compared to a straight 100 mile ride because you’ve got all day to do it in, 5am till 10pm, 50 miles in that time and you’ll be twiddling your thumbs wondering what to do for the other 10 hours of daylight.

Each mile might be individually harder than unloaded but you’re starting probably 5 hours before the usual 10am MTBers in a car park faffathon.

Couple of years ago I did the Coast to Coast, Ravenglass to Ravenscar (ish). Normal ride for me was 30 – 35 miles in the Dales or Peak. We did 30 miles most days, the last day was meant to be two shorter days but due to circumstances we ended up doing about 55 miles in one.

I was far from the fittest I’ve ever been, which isn’t that fit. It wasn’t super easy terrain either, across the Moors.

So yeah, you’ll probably be grand 🙂

I’ve planned a 100 mile route on the PBW and Trans Pennine Trail, thinking two days/one night is this foolish.

I’m about to do the Badger Divide (around 212 miles) in three days. If yours is foolish then I’m absolutely ****ed 😂

As @thisnotaspoon says, you’ve all day to ride. Even a couple of café stops of an hour each and let’s say an hour taking photos/faffing. That means at this time of year you’ve another 13hrs of daylight. 10km/h is very steady in terrain like the Dales and Pennines so that’s 130km.

Generally the difference between touring/bikepacking and racing isn’t the actual speed, it’s the lack of faffing around when racing. Once you get to multi-hour/day rides you have to ride at a steady pace otherwise you blow up – burning too many matches.

100 miles bikepacking feels fairly easy compared to a straight 100 mile ride because you’ve got all day to do it in, 5am till 10pm, 50 miles in that time and you’ll be twiddling your thumbs wondering what to do for the other 10 hours of daylight.

😂 I’ve been thinking this as using hard science and strava I’ve worked out I should be able to do it in 10 hours without breaks so maybe not fanny about with bags and do it in a oner but 100 miles off road does sound a long way where as 50 I’m not too phased by

when bikepacking fully loaded, I usually end up with an average speed between 6-8mph, nothing special, but a nice steady ride and before you know it, the 40-50 miler is done and looking to camp, … enjoy the faff and take in what’s around you and enjoy the ride

This summer I’m signed up for two bike packing trips. The first is the Jen ride which is 100 miles and tones of climbing over Lakeland passes. The second is 200miles from Liverpool to Scarborough with minimal climbing for most of it.

The first will be on my full suss, the second on a fully rigid gravel bike.

So depends on the terrain and climbing for me. They will both be a challenge, but I’m equally worried about both!

My normal rides are sub 20 mile MTB blasts with the odd 40 miles in the peak when I can plus 60-80 mile on the road bike.

Given your choice I’d go for 100 miles with no bags. It’s much easier to ride unloaded than loaded!

Yea, the difficult bit would be finding the motivation to be up and on your bike as the sun comes up. Do that and you’ve got way more time than you need.

Assuming the route is from your door you could always park about 1/4 the way round. That way when you pass your house mid aftenoon you can make a judgement whether to stop or carry on to the car.

the difficult bit would be finding the motivation to be up and on your bike as the sun comes up

You be awake, and not much else to do 🙂

Half the fun of bike packing is the camping/bivy spot, cooking, chatting to your mate and waking up in a beautiful spot and doing all over again.

Why do it fast in one day when you can take your time and have 2 days riding?

If I’m bike packing for fun then I’m looking at 50 miles if it’s hilly, maybe 80 if flat.

The OP is pretty much bang on imo, 50 miles a day with an overnight bivvy.
Remember you need to sort out food and water (you’re not gonna carry enough water for 2 days)
And you don’t want to be setting up camp when the light is starting to go, easy to make a silly mistake in those conditions, like cutting or burning yourself.
50 miles is about 5-7hrs actual riding, plus a few stops.
Sounds pretty good to me.

You could take a fast racer’s time on a route or the FKT / course record and double it for an estimate of time needed for an average fitness rider riding fewer hours each day. Seems to work for most routes – gives you about 7 days on the HTR550, 8 days for the TNR, 28-30 days for the TDR, etc.

My rule of thumb is that a day loaded with kit feels about 1/4 to 1/3 longer than one without.

This is a good type of rule. By the numbers used here I’d guess this poster packs fairly light? It might be more realistic to add 50% to the time you’d normally take unloaded for a first-time bikepacker’s trip in the Pennines as you’re likely to be carrying a fair bit more than the average racer and you’ll understandably be tightening straps/repacking/faffing here and there.

As for being on the bike as the sun comes up, that’s keen but it’s worth it – riding away from a bivi spot in the dawn light with all you need to carry on for a few days is one of the greatest feelings I’ve had on the bike. I’d always pick starting early and finishing early over late/late. Watching the sun come up with a coffee is pretty great too.

So I have been training to ride the GBDIVIDE I can quite easily knock out 100 miles unloaded on my cutthroat in about 7 hours.

As soon as I loaded it up and went bikepacking for real on the ridgeway the most I managed in 12 hours of riding was 60 miles.

I put this down to a few things.

1. Its a lot harder riding with a heavy bike
2. Faffing, as you have bags full of stuff you need you are constantly looking through bags and adjusting them. I think as I do more bikepacking I will pack more efficiently and get this down but it all adds up.
3. Stopping as you need to worry about where you food is coming from I found myself stopping when I see a shop or a cafe as I didnt know where my next water or food stop would be.

So yeah dont set high expectation is the advice I would give you.

I am old and unfit and would ride 30 – 60 miles in a day depending on the climbing and mood so an overnighter sounds about right

The joy of bike packing is that you can just find out by heading off. What could go wrong? As you just stop and camp.

I live in the Dales I’m a confident climber and can put the miles in but I’m no ultra race rider who I realise would do this in a day and don’t have any experience of being fully loaded up on the bike. I’ve planned a 100 mile route on the PBW and Trans Pennine Trail, thinking two days/one night is this foolish. Cheers in advance

I too live in the Dales, happy climbing and putting the miles in, and certainly no ultramarathoner. Managed off-road C2C with two 70 mile days and one 40 mile day with no great drama. In my limited experience, the distance itself isn’t really the issue with fatigue, it’s the amount of climbing within it. Although looking after your arse properly helps considerably.

I’ve done 50-60 mile days bikepacking. Prefer 40 tbh.

But then I like lie-ins, faffing about cooking and cafe/pub stops wherever possible.

I’d do it over 3 and on the last day spend the afternoon getting ****tted before getting the train home 🙂

Faffing, as you have bags full of stuff you need you are constantly looking through bags and adjusting them. I think as I do more bikepacking I will pack more efficiently and get this down but it all adds up.

That’s just down to bad packing surely, depending on what I’ve taken I usually have 2 bags of overnight suff, and one bag of day stuff like food, clothing, tools, maps etc. The last thing you want is to be going through bags looking for something.

In March I had planned a 150km bike packing trip over 2 days. Should have been easily doable.

But day one had me flogging into a 45km/hr headwind in temperatures of around 3′. By mid afternoon I was only around 40km into the route, freezing cold and absolutely knackered. With the hills, heavy bike and the wind I’d only averaged 8km/hr. That resulted in a re-route to a different camping spot as there was no way I was getting to the original one before dark.

Don’t underestimate the weather…

So I have been training to ride the GBDIVIDE I can quite easily knock out 100 miles unloaded on my cutthroat in about 7 hours.

As soon as I loaded it up and went bikepacking for real on the ridgeway the most I managed in 12 hours of riding was 60 miles.

Speed reduction of 65% seems pretty ridiculous, even with your provisos.

Don’t think so tbh. I think heavy bike means you naturally slow down – not because of the weight per se – but because you preserve your legs pushing a heavy load, especially uphill.

There’s a reason that people are weight weenies – and it’s not just that 150grams off a bike makes you more efficient in watts/kg – I reckon it’s also because you feel freer pushing a lighter bike.

A heavy bike is a mental slog. So you slow down. But bikepacking isn’t about distance or speed is it – it’s about the journey, the sights, the sounds.

I went scuba diving with a bunch of yanks once. They dived in and then shot off at a million miles an hour – they wanted to see as much of the reef we were diving on as possible.

Their physical exertion meant that they covered the distance much faster than me but were down for 15 minutes less than me. Still, they definitely got further (my partner and I surfaced and waited for boat pickup). However – they didn’t *see* anything other than coral. They missed the tiny seahorses, they didn’t join the queue of fish waiting for the cleaner wrasse (which to this day is still one of my favourite experiences – waiting in a line of fish for my turn).

Slow it down, tbh. Take in the views. Stop for a pint. Enjoy it more.

The joy of bike packing is that you can just find out by heading off. What could go wrong? As you just stop and camp

Unfortunately work and family commitments mean I do need a time scale

I’d do it over 3 and on the last day spend the afternoon getting ****tted before getting the train home 🙂

Like your style

1. Its a lot harder riding with a heavy bike
2. Faffing, as you have bags full of stuff you need you are constantly looking through bags and adjusting them. I think as I do more bikepacking I will pack more efficiently and get this down but it all adds up.

The extra weight has been my concern and as I’ve found backpacking wild camping I’m a Grade A faffer but I’ve found the more you do it the more organised I’ve become. Suppose it’s just working out systems on the bike

Speed reduction of 65% seems pretty ridiculous, even with your provisos.

Seems ridiculous but that’s how it is for me I am afraid.

Re: packing. Don’t pack your fears, i.e. don’t put something in “just in case” or as backup.

With the handlebar bag/ saddlebag combination I use one for “wet” stuff – tent/tarp/bivy bag, and the other for dry stuff – sleeping bag & mat and spare clothes. Depends on volume as to which end is which. That kit doesn’t get touched whilst riding.
> Trail food, tools & spares and the like go in stem cells and top tube bags where they are easily accessible.
> Evening food/breakfast food will go in one of the handlebar/saddle bags depending on weight and volume.
> Stove and fuel: depends on what I’m using, usually it’s an alcohol stove which packs into a mug so that goes wherever and the fuel goes in a stem cell where it’s not going to potentially spill.

Weight wise the bivy stuff will come to 1.5-2kg depending on how specialised your kit is. My racing bivy setup is 900g (actually 920g) but it’s definitely summer only and I don’t expect to get ten hours’ sleep. My touring setup is 1200g or so, really the only difference is a much more comfortable sleeping mat. Swap the tarp and bivy for my share of a tent and the weight goes to 1500g.

Racing setup – wet kit up front, dry kit out back, stove and fuel, tools, etc in frame bag:

Touring setup with tent for three days in the Dales. Dry stuff in the red bag up front, clothes and bivy food in the seat bag:

Has anyone, anywhere, managed to get a convenient and easy dropper-compatible seatpost bag that’s *really* worth it yet?

Has anyone, anywhere, managed to get a convenient and easy dropper-compatible seatpost bag that’s *really* worth it yet?

Get one of these and they all work.

https://www.topeak.com/global/en/products/298-Bottle-Cage-Mounts/1139-DP-MOUNT

Has anyone, anywhere, managed to get a convenient and easy dropper-compatible seatpost bag that’s *really* worth it yet?

I’m trying a Revelate Vole this year. It’s a few litres of storage and a bit of bulk off the handlebars in exchange for losing a bit of drop (half of 125mm, in the case of my bike). I can get sleeping bag/down vest/mat and a couple of other things in it. Whether that’s worth it is another matter.

https://www.bikemag.com/gear/apparel/packs/tested-revelate-vole-dropper-post-saddle-bag/

Has anyone, anywhere, managed to get a convenient and easy dropper-compatible seatpost bag that’s *really* worth it yet?

https://alpkit.com/products/exo-rail-seat-pack-mounting-system