Category: Planning & Logistics
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10 Tips For Planning Your First Off-Road Bikepacking Trip
Cycling across Europe, West Asia and the Levant gave me thousands of miles of cycle touring experience. But the dirt tracks of Africa and Mongolia were very different to the smooth, well-maintained asphalt I’d grown used to. This was long before “bikepacking” was a thing, however, and I had to make do with the bike and gear I had. Since then, bikepacking (as distinct from cycle touring) has grown from a niche to a buzzword to a discipline with a whole industry behind it, and making extended bike trips to explore the world’s trails on two wheels has never been more… Continue reading →
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Как отправиться в кругосветное путешествие на велосипеде: три простых шага
Шаг 1. Раздобудьте велосипед. Какой именно — не имеет значения. Главное, чтобы он был удобным и исправным. В любом случае, без велосипеда вы далеко не уедете. Шаг 2. Увольтесь.* На путешествие потребуется несколько лет, так что напишите своему начальству в заявлении на увольнение о том, что вам, конечно, очень жаль уходить с работы, но у вас есть более важные дела. * если вы студент, пенсионер или безработный, то этот шаг можно смело пропустить. Шаг 3. Отправляйтесь в путь. У вас не получится объехать весь свет, если вы никуда не поедете. Поэтому закрепите на велосипеде палатку и спальный мешок, попросите соседей приглядывать… Continue reading →
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What’s Really The Difference Between Bikepacking & Cycle Touring?
Over the last few years we have seen the rise of a new sub-discipline of bicycle travel. It’s called ‘bikepacking’, and it’s become such a hit that almost every mainstream bike manufacturer now produces at least one ‘adventure bike’ or ‘bikepacking rig’, or includes the word in their marketing spiel for bikes that might fit the bill. Specialised bikepacking luggage, too, has proliferated, from a few cottage industries turning out bespoke, hand-stitched frame bags to pannier giant Ortlieb launching a line. Someone I know who helps run a bikepacking website told me they get over one million hits per month. (For comparison,… Continue reading →
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komoot: The Most Powerful Route Planning App For Bikepacking & Cycle Touring?
Full disclosure: komoot provided financial support for my 2018 tour of Armenia, and I published this review as part of that agreement. In 2023 I updated the post to reflect the app’s evolution. Lots of people have been asking about the route planning and navigation apps I’ve been using on my recent bike tours. The app I’ve mostly been using since 2018 is komoot (with a lowercase ‘k’), the creation of a Berlin-based team of developers, which is finding increasing favour with recreational outdoor users – and it also happens to be an excellent route planning and navigation tool for cycle tourists… Continue reading →
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How To Assemble A Fix-Anything Cycle Touring or Bikepacking Toolkit
What tools, spares and supplies would the perfect cycle touring or bikepacking toolkit contain? Is it even possible to curate such a kit? If it is, which products have earned the strongest reputation for reliability on worldwide bike trips? And finally – which of those items should make it into the portable toolkit you’ll be packing for your next bikepacking trip or cycle tour? These are the questions I want to explore in this detailed post on the subject of toolkit assembly for bike touring and bikepacking. Note that if you have a non-standard bicycle configuration, such as a Rohloff hub or Pinion gearbox, hydraulically-actuated… Continue reading →
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Planning A Really Long Bike Trip? Ask Yourself These 7 Critical Questions First
I know the title of this post might sound odd. For the last 15 (wow… 15!) years, I’ve been banging on about the sheer awesomeness of going on bicycle adventures. I’ve been doing it so consistently that I’ve now published more words on this blog than in all six Lord Of The Rings books combined. Why, then, would I want you to question your dream long-distance bike trip? I’ve been around long enough to have seen a great many bicycle journey-based projects come and go. And – though you’d be forgiven for not noticing – they don’t always end well. One highfalutin example… Continue reading →
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Just Released – A Brand New Edition Of The Best Adventure Cycle Tour Planning Guide On The Planet
The very first edition of Trailblazer’s Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook, compiled by veteran bicycle traveller Stephen Lord, didn’t just help me plan my first big journey; it actually inspired that ride’s very conception. I can barely believe that that guide has just seen the publication of its third edition. Have I really been doing this for that many years?! Now with Neil and Harriet Pike (of Pikes On Bikes fame) at the helm, the new edition has been totally revised and updated in light of the changing nature of what’s possible on a bicycle, given a map of the world and a limitless imagination. It’s still… Continue reading →
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How To Cycle Around The World: A New eBook by Tim Moss
Amid all the buzz of the recent Kickstarter campaign (which ended in success – woohoo!), there’s every chance you might have missed the release of Tim Moss’s new ebook How To Cycle Around The World. Link: check it out and download it here. Tim’s website TheNextChallenge.org is one of the UK adventure blogging scene’s long-runners. The sheer volume of practical resources for expedition planning he’s made available online is staggering and frankly puts my own efforts to shame. He’s also just returned from actually cycling around the world himself with his wife Laura, co-founded the Cycle Touring Festival, and set up the largest database… Continue reading →
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280 Years, 196 Cyclists & 4,065,596 Kilometres — But What Does The Database Of Long-Distance Cycling Journeys Really Tell Us?
Tim & Laura’s quantitative study of the achievements of nearly two hundred long-distance touring cyclists makes for some fascinating browsing. Who’d have guessed, for example, that the highest average monthly distance (9,673km) would be 41 times greater than the slowest (234km)? Who’d have guessed that 38% of these cyclists would have chosen to use 700c road sized wheels on their bikes, compared with 62% using 26-inch mountain bike sized wheels? Who’d have guessed that exactly two thirds of those riders would have cycled solo, and for an average trip length of 28,482km? Who’d have guessed that it would be possible to get by on as… Continue reading →
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How To Fly With A Bike For Free, In Business Class, For The Price Of An Economy Ticket
Yes, you read that correctly. It is possible to upgrade an economy flight ticket for free to business class, and get free bicycle carriage into the bargain. Pretty good, right? This lunacy is a classic example of travel hacking. I’ve been experimenting with its various techniques for the last year or so, and I’d like to share what I’ve learned — specifically, I’d like to share how best to put these techniques to use in the context of cycle touring. What Is Travel Hacking? Put simply, travel hacking is the art & science of getting for free (or cheap) what would normally be a significant travel expense… Continue reading →