Bikepacking

Bikepacking 101

Bikepacking can be physically challenging, but it doesn’t have to be, especially if you choose less rigorous routes.

To become a competent bikepacker, you will need to learn how to some basic gravel or mountain biking skills. In addition, you will need to learn some basic navigation, bike maintenance, navigation and repair skills. Finally, we’d recommend developing some basic wilderness first aid skills in case you or your partner experiences an illness or injury.

Gravel and Mountain Biking Skills

Gravel biking is relatively straightforward. Mountain biking is a bit more challenging. To become a competent mountain biker, we’d recommend completing a mountain biking skills clinic and riding with more experienced riders. The Global Mountain Bike Network’s Youtube channel includes numerous videos that can help you develop some key mountain biking skills. But you don’t need to be an expert or even advanced mountain biker to become a bikepacker. Just pick a bikepacking route that is aligned with your skills.

Bike Maintenance and Repair

It’s also a good idea to learn some basic bike maintenance and repair skills. If you have time, we’d recommend completing a bike maintenance course to learn some basic skills. Here are a few of the key skills you will need in your back pocket:

• Adjusting your rear derailleur
• Fixing a broken chain
• Fixing a tubeless flat
• Inspecting and changing brake pads
• Repairing a sidewall
• Replacing a broken spoke
• Replacing a derailleur hanger

Some of the best resources for learning these skills include the Syd Fixes Bikes YouTube channel and the Park Tool YouTube channels.

Bikepacking Trip Planning

Once you have developed some basic skills, it’s time to plan your first bikepacking adventure! Bikepacking.com is an amazing resource for route selection and planning. You can use their map to evaluate and select a route based on the difficulty and length of each route. There are also a lot of great trip reports and videos on Bikepacking.com that do deeper dives into selected routes.

Here are two great articles on selecting and planning a bikepacking route:

• Bikepacking.com route planning
• Bikepacking.com route planning guide

And here are a few additional articles that may help:

• The ultimate guide to bikepacker-friendly lodging
• A guide to international bikepacking trips

Bikepacking Navigation

I use Bikepacking.com to select my bikepacking routes. I then download the routes into Ride with GPS and edit it if necessary. The basic version of Ride with GPS is free. You need to pay for a subscription to access all of its features. Ride with GPS enables you to navigate using Offline Maps. Unlike Gaia (see below), however, Ride with GPS doesn’t offer all of the layers that Gaia does, including the IGN maps for Spain, the USGS maps for the US and various Google and OpenStreetMap options. As a result, I often export maps from Ride with GPS into Gaia and use Gaia for navigation. Google Earth, Maps.me, Strava, Trailforks and Wikiloc are also helpful tools for planning bikepacking routes. However, they aren’t our primary navigation tools.

Once I’m on the trail, I use a combination of either Gaia or Ride with GPS on my smartphone and my Garmin 1040 for navigation.

I use a full suspension mountain bike for more technical bikepacking routes (specifically the Specialized Epic 8 Evo Pro). I use my gravel bike (specifically the Niner RLT 9 RDO 4-Star GRX 2X) for less technical bikepacking routes. My bikepacking gear list is long and constantly evolving. If you would like it, please send me an eMail and I’ll send it to you.