Touring...or 'bikepacking'?
- Thread starter Cathryn
- Start date
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matticus
Guru
We had a related thread back in the summer. Happy to stand by what I wrote there:
chriswoody
Legendary Member
- Location
- Northern Germany
This theme of cumbersome and unwieldy seems to be coming through a lot. Let me give you an example of my latest overnighter the other week. The bike looked like this:
So when I arrived at the site, I unclipped two clips to release the red drybag which had my down jacket in. Then two more buckles and my front drybag drops out. In here was the tent, sleeping mat and inflatable pillow all rolled up tightly. Once all that was up, I then unclipped two more buckles in the rear pack and unrolled the end to reveal my sleeping bag, leaving the empty bag attached to my seatpost/saddle. Then I unzipped my middle bag to take out my pan/cooker/gas and popped a coffee on.
I really don't consider any of the above to be any more of a faff than a traditional set up.
As for the wanting to be cool moniker, please give it a rest. I'm not trying to be cool, I just want to tour off-road in more remote terrain and this set up is much more suited to that approach than using racks and panniers. Yes it is touring, nobody is saying otherwise, but Bikepacking is just a more accurate way to describe it, because it's a combination of lightweight backpacking and bike touring.
So when I arrived at the site, I unclipped two clips to release the red drybag which had my down jacket in. Then two more buckles and my front drybag drops out. In here was the tent, sleeping mat and inflatable pillow all rolled up tightly. Once all that was up, I then unclipped two more buckles in the rear pack and unrolled the end to reveal my sleeping bag, leaving the empty bag attached to my seatpost/saddle. Then I unzipped my middle bag to take out my pan/cooker/gas and popped a coffee on.
I really don't consider any of the above to be any more of a faff than a traditional set up.
As for the wanting to be cool moniker, please give it a rest. I'm not trying to be cool, I just want to tour off-road in more remote terrain and this set up is much more suited to that approach than using racks and panniers. Yes it is touring, nobody is saying otherwise, but Bikepacking is just a more accurate way to describe it, because it's a combination of lightweight backpacking and bike touring.
lane
Veteran
I just did, a couple of posts before!
I mean in the general sense, the various blogs, magazine articles and forum posts have moved onto bikepacking as it seems new, even though it isn't really. About 10 years ago you couldn't move for credit card touring articles.
matticus
Guru
I worry about older cyclists staying flexible: well the good news is, their hips/pelvis area should stay trim if they're swinging a leg over these bags twice a day:
matticus
Guru
Indeed.
Marketing is about selling stuff. Luggage, new bikes, new clothing (yes - gravel shorts, gravel shoes etc!). So of course the media is full of this new sexy term. It was bound to knock "credit card touring" for six.
[Plus tbf credit-card doesn't cover camping out, so it was bound to be left out of this latest surge. Sorry
mudsticks
Obviously an Aubergine
So it is all 'credit card' touring in a sense.
Only you just need to use that card upfront a bit more.
I'm probs a hybrid of all three, after a few nights out camping in the wilds, I'm more than happy to check book into some accomodation using my 'credi' (debit) card, and the power of t'internet.
Booking. com has revolutionised my trips, I can turn up wherever, and if its pouring with rain, and I haven't had a shower for a few days, rather than hunker down in the woods being dripped on I can check myself into somewhere warm and dry..
-and wash and dry all my stuff in the en-suite..
lane
Veteran
Camping hasn't really appealed to me, partly carrying extra weight and partly B&B whatever just seems like it is more comfortable. Also because my trips are quite limited the up front cost isn't really worth it. However I am aware that when I retire, if i want to do a fair bit more touring (which I do) it will probably need to be camping purely for financial reasons.
I did do a little bit of cycle camping and backpacking in my teens and was fine with it then.
I did do a little bit of cycle camping and backpacking in my teens and was fine with it then.
I came across the term bikepacking in the early 80s when I checked this out of the school library! (term was used to describe pannier-based loaded touring). Now I associate the term with more lightweight -often wild- touring using seatpost/ frame bags.
matticus
Guru
@palinurus I think you've found the Rosetta Stone of this whole debate. Good work!
Looking at that image I wish I out bikepacking now (maybe on a Jack Taylor instead of a Surly)
