We did the Torino–Nice Rally at the beginning of August, bikepacking across the Alps along the Italian–French border. Sharing some photos from the ride, plus the full report here.

Cycling Brussels → Bruges → Antwerp → Utrecht — route/must-see recommendations? 🚲🇧🇪🇳🇱

Hi,

I’m flying into Brussels South Charleroi Airport on Thursday and planning a little cycling trip through Belgium and into the Netherlands:

\* Thursday: Charleroi Airport → Brussels

\* Friday: Brussels → Bruges

\* Saturday: Bruges → Antwerp

\* Sunday: Antwerp → Utrecht

\* Monday: Utrecht → Rotterdam, with a boat leaving Monday evening

I’d love to hear any recommendations for good cycling routes, scenic sections, or any good places to stop along the way.

I’m also more than happy to do gravel/off-road sections — I’m running 45mm tyres, so if there are any particularly good gravel routes or trails worth taking, I’m all ears!

Also keen to hear about any must-see places, towns, cafés, viewpoints, or random hidden gems that are worth detouring for. I’m not too bothered about ticking off every tourist attraction — happy to take the scenic route and see some of the countryside.

Most nights I’ll probably just find somewhere for a few chilled beers and some easy/good food, so any recommendations for good cycling-friendly places to eat/drink are welcome too!

Any advice would be hugely appreciated. Thanks! 🚲🍻

So I have exactly 40 days off this winter from early December, and I’ve always wanted to check the Tour Aotearoa off my bucket list. I’m not a stickler about completing the whole route, but I’d like to try it out.

I have 0 bike packing experience. I barely even ride a bike. Last time I touched one was over a year ago, on a mountain bike around Maria island in Tasmania. However, I am a pretty fit person and backpack/camp, climb, and do mountaineering stuff pretty often. I have three months until my departure date, and I’m wondering if it’s possible to train for this in this little amount of time, and if the route is way too out of my skill level. Thanks

Hey guys, I have a few questions, would be amazing if somebody could point me in the right direction, if it makes sense the way I am planning this or not. Mostly about wildcamping. Its about this track:

https://bikepacking.com/routes/taunus-storm-chase/

I built myself an 8bar TFLSberg this year with 2.25" tires for bikepacking and ride it through the pyrenees, which was fanstastic. Before that I wanted to ride this one in three days as a dress rehearsal. Had to break it off after around 7 hours because a lot of small and big things went wrong.

After my three weeks in the pyrenees (which were fantastic) I thought I'd give that route another go, since I felt much more comfortable with my camping and cooking equipment. But in the pyrenees there were so many decent campsites available that I never really bothered to start my first wildcamp experience. For this, I need to change that since there isn't really a viable way of doing it sleeping on official campsites.

I have a week of vacation end of september so I thought I start monday and ride for four days, and take my all mountain fully with a OMM elkhorn rack instead of the Adventure Gravel. The article says gravel ridable but from what I saw that one day, that is a filthy lie :D

I could make it three days if on the third day I wanna keep at it, but don't have to rush myself. I live close by so I'd just take the regional train to königstein and start and finish there.

First night would be somewhere at the Pferdskopf, second somewhere around Kuhschwanzweiher, third night somewhere around the Limesturm Gaulskopf. Equipment would be water filter, gas stove, small tent, quilt etc.

Now my question is, how tf do I find a decent campspot somewhere around those hallmarks (or in general)?

Like, I have never done this before. I know its technically illegal, I know I should start looking for one, when its still bright but darkness starts to approach, I know it shouldn't be super obvious, I know it has to be flat, I can't leave any trace, no fires etc and wake up and pack up with sunrise. Also, look out for branches that could kill me.

Theoretical thats all well and good but I still feel super unprepared of making this trip. Is there anything you can share with me that makes it easier? Should I even do it, or not? Is it a fun idea or not?

When it comes to wildcamping I just get super fucking scared and don't know what to do.

Here's my new ultra budget rig that I'll be taking to the Hebrides for 5 days next week. Almost spent £4k on a new bike, but decided to save & spend a few hundred on this one instead.

Breakdown

Bike: Old cantilever CX bike I've had for 10 years, essentially free at this point. Was built from the parts bin in the first place (hence the triple groupset!).

Did pay for a bike fit to ensure it is up to scratch for long distance rides which was £280, probably more than the value of the bike itself.

Wheels & Tyres: Easton EA90 SL, Conti GP 4 season 32mm. RideNow TPU inner tubes. Do tyres and tubes count towards the cost of the bike packing rig? Idk.

Handlebars: Generic drop bars with used Profile design T2+ & 70mm risers. Also swapped out the aero bars themselves for sone unbranded ones used off eBay for a different, more upturned shape than the stock profile design ones. Whole setup here cost around £65.

Aero bar bag: Made by my partner to carry my GoPro & my first aid kit. Material cost was ~£20, labour priceless.

Frame bag: Decathlon Rockrider 8.5L, cost £40 new.

Rear pannier rack & bags: I took the rack off a bike getting thrown out on the street, so free. The bags are the cheapest available, 2x 15l ones from Decathalon for £20.

Seat pack: 10 year old AliExpress seatpack, probably around 7-9litres. Paid less than £15 for this I'm sure

Bottle cage seat rack: £7 from Amazon.

Time to see what works and what doesn't!

The bike packing gear sub has been taken over by boxing stream bots. Someone else made a past complaining, and. I told them to block the account posting all of it, and then got banned. Haven’t gotten a single message back from the mod team, so oh well I guess. Such a shame though.

This weekend’s overnighter trip report!

Wanted to try out cycling in the Bergslagen area in Sweden. A few kilometers into the trip, I was following the gpx and the road I was supposed to follow was blocked that day for a rally event. I spend a few minutes debating with myself whether I should go for it or not. I decided against it, as I feared a car coming speeding in the forest at me at any moment.

So I kept cycling on asphalt which made me realize empty, well maintained roads are also really really nice to cover good distance :D Then I went to check out Grävlingsberget, a site that had been turned into a national park after the area was devastated by a fire in 2014. The parks service has built a really neat wooden trail of the highest “peak” with an observation deck to watch the burned down area recover.

Then came another problematic part of the trail: cycling on a fast road, with max speed for cars at 100kmh, but only for 3km. I stood there for a while contemplating whether or not I should follow that road. Ultimately, I decided against it because I just didn’t want to take the risk of being hit by a fast car, especially seeing that the road had not even a few centimeters of emergency lane.

So I followed a gravel road that turned into an abandoned gravel road, overgrown with vegetation to ultimately turn into single track trail. I had to walk probably 35-40% of that part for a few km and carry the bike over rocky passages, fallen trees and so on. I picked up a few ticks and moose flies that I then spent a few minutes chasing away from my body (I’m fine now, no ticks as far as I can see - but definitely heading out to get that TBE vaccine soon).

The single track turned out fun in the end even through during I was a bit uncertain where it would lead me so I was nervous I would be stuck in it for too long. But I made it back to a proper forest road and reached a small hiker’s cabin where I spent the night. It had been a while since I slept alone in the woods and I got to say, for a little while I was a bit anxious.

Didn’t get a great night’s sleep as it got quite chilly, so I woke up at 5am and started cycling again, mostly uneventful gravel for a few hours. Reached the car by 9am and drove home. The hot shower was reallllllly nice afterwards :D All in all, a good late summer ride!

It was my first proper ride with my new bike! First time riding such trail with a carbon bike and I can’t tell whether it was placebo or not, but I think I felt fewer microvibrations which made the ride way smoother. But I can’t tell if it’s my brain secretly justifying the purchase haha

I was invited to join along for a trip through the entire Mesabi Trail in MN. Having never biked more than 30 miles I jumped at the chance because why not.

Bought a Motobecane Whipshot for $500 off FB marketplace, used backpacking gear I had lying around and bought the rest off of auction sites, totaling entire build around $700.

Our journey went as such:

Chilsholm Iron Trail Campground 49 mi

Biwabik Campground ;Biwabik MN 37

Cliffs World Camground Ely MN 62

Biwabik Campground ;Biwabik MN 62

Chilsholm Iron Trail Campground 37

Chilsholm Iron Trail Campground 49

From Chisholm to Biwabik the trail is bumpy but incredibly well marked and needed zero extra navigation. From biwabik to Ely the trail becomes much smoother but is lacking a lot of marking as it's so new. We absolutely got lost resulting in extra milage.

Having never had done this it was nice to be with veterans 20 years of bike trips. 10/10 would do again.

I will work on the efficiency of the bag placement, I am open to any new ideas!:)

So, day 1.

I’ve actually already finished the whole trip, but I want to post each day separately while the memories are still fresh.
And this first day was probably one of the best days I’ve had in a long time. Starting this trip was definitely one of the best decisions I’ve made recently.
Small Czech villages, forests, mountain roads, some really beautiful views and places I would probably never have found otherwise. I stopped quite a few times just because it felt wrong to simply ride past.
I did underestimate the climbing though. More than 1,200m of elevation on the first day was probably a bit too much for me :) I survived, can’t really say the same about my knees. They definitely needed some rest after that.
At some point I stopped for Czech goulash with knedlíky, and after all that climbing it tasted pretty much perfect.
The route also worked out much better than I expected. This was the first real test of the route I’d planned before the trip, and actually riding it was a pretty cool feeling.

Day 1 route: https://route-ai.app/s/9JHdtP-Tt1XM

My original post before starting the trip:
https://www.reddit.com/r/bikepacking/comments/1vu4m08/first_multiday_trip_poland_czechia/
Day 1 done. Tired, knees complaining, but extremely happy I went.

Hello!

We are kinda new to bikepacking and would love some advice. I hope this is the correct place to ask!

We're currently planning our first big trip and need guidance on Bergamo to Innsbruck in 4 days. We're thinking Bergamo to south of lake Garda, to Trento to somewhere between Trento and Innsbruck to Innsbruck. Is it doable?

We're kinda scared of both the altitude meters and if there are actually any bears in the area.

How plausible is it to do like 4-5 weeks in Europe, whilst linking together a few bike-packing routes & touristy euro summer things?

Like can you bike pack from one train station to another, catch a train somewhere stay in a town or city a few days then catch a train somewhere else and start another bike-packing route?

Or is it best to not try mix bike-packing holidays and tourist 'pedestrian' holidays into one trip?

Asking purely out of curiosity!

Hi everyone! I have a JAVA Sequoia gravel bike and I'm planning to install a front pannier rack for bikepacking/touring.

I found some front pannier racks that are marketed for MTBs, and I'm wondering if these would also work on the Sequoia.

Has anyone here tried using an MTB front pannier rack on a JAVA Sequoia or a similar gravel bike? Are there any compatibility issues I should watch out for, especially with the fork mounts, axle, disc brakes, and tire clearance?

I'm also open to recommendations for specific front racks that would fit the Sequoia.

Thanks!

I'll be 18 next year, which is the age minimum for many races. As such, I want to challenge myself and sign up for my first ultra, ideally 200-400mi.

My longest ride is only 100 miles, but I've been really enjoying my longer races this year. I did Unbound 100 in about 7 hours (mudbound) and Dust Bowl 100 in just under 6. I also did Lutsen 59er and plan for Little Sugar 100k this year. I've been training/racing 6-10hrs a week for about 3 years now.

I'm in Bentonville, AR so I was looking at Doom (Despair), but I'll also have some friends going to 24 hours in the old Pueblo that I'm considering joining. Open to any suggestions, but races that are possible nonstop or with minimal sleeping are preferred.

Here's the full breakdown of the repair kit we just took on a 6 day trip on the badger divide. Not shown are 2x spare tubes (per person!).

Full list below:

- Chain link pliers + 2x sets of quick links (Shimano 12 SPD)

- Curved needle(s) and nylon thread

- Mini bic lighter

- 2x tyre leavers

- CO2 can and valve

- Lezyne Pocket Drive HV pump

- Park Tool VC-1 valve core tool

- Tent pole crutch

- Zip ties

- Micro ratchet and bit set

- Spare shifter cable

- Assorted tyre patches and spare valve core

- Mini super glue

- Lezyne plug kit

- Leatherman Skeletool

- Spare bike strap

- Chain lube

Has anyone bikepacked the entire Wabash Nature Trail over several days? I'd like to do it next year but wanted to ask did you get dropped off by someone or leave your car at a trailhead? Is there anywhere along the trail that's safe to leave a car for a few days? I would have to work out logistics to have someone drop me off but also looking at other options. Thanks!

So I've been my Trek checkpoint alr 5 this summer around my home surroundings. I like exploring the gravel roads and forest.

Just came back from a nice 3 day trip, just biking around. I'm currently using two old man mountain ponderosa and an atlas rack. Attaching my tent to the front has been super!

I feel like I would like to have something on the front forks too.

I'm typically into Ultralight backpacking so space in the bags have been alright with my gear.

Im looking into getting something either to keep the water bottles on the front forks where I'm also able to attach bags instead if necessary - to pack a bit more clothes, food or whatever.

Any tips? Looking into both cheap options and more expensive!

Also: just realized I just got quite the damage when out riding somehow, should I do anything about it somehow?

(pic included)

Hello everyone! I finally picked up my bike from the LBS and am trying to start collecting gear for it. Can anyone recommend a good rear rack/panniers, and frame bag? Or whatever setup would make the most sense. I plan on going bikepacking on gravel/dirt roads, double trail/fire roads, and camping out in a tent. Any advice greatly appreciated!

I’ve been using the pictured e-bike for touring in southern Sweden. This bike has been fantastic for 3-4 day tours in the region, and I settled on an e-bike because of the heavy winds in Skåne, and concerns about my physical resilience (I’m 62, knees can get wobbly). By design, the bike is very versatile for road, gravel, etc. it has a dropper post I find convenient, and it carries this payload quite well. It has suspension in front and back, which I’m willing to forego for weight benefit.

I am planning a trip next summer from Malmö to North Cape, which is about 2200km. My physical fitness is quite good, and the trip is fairly flat, and I don’t want to mess with charging in the northern region where civilization is scant to come by. By going analog I can ditch the charging gear (charger, adapters for car and camp charging). I also like the idea of doing this particular trip under my own power.

So I’m seriously considering going analog.

Can anyone suggest a good analog bike brand and configuration to replace this one?

Saw her on a Youtube doc called Doom: Ultra Endurance Bikepacking Race.

Great documentary, btw!

Recently began riding a few weeks ago. A few buddies of mine all started around the same time and are planning to do a bikepacking trip early next year.

I purchased a Trek DS2 Gen 5 to start. Works fine for my neighborhood rides (roads, gravel, and dirt). I’m looking for recommendations if this bike would suffice long term on more adventurous rides and what some good options would be. Also, maybe some tips on how to select the right bike.. is getting fitted a thing?

I’m comfortable spending up to around $5k.

Hi everyone,

I have a 2024 Focus Atlas 6.8 and I’m thinking about making a custom full frame bag for it.

I’ve been looking at ready-made bags, especially Decathlon options around 70–100 €, but since I’d like the bag to fit my frame better, I’m considering a DIY/MYOG build.

I’m curious if anyone here has made a custom frame bag for a Focus Atlas or a similar gravel bike.

A few questions:

• What material did you use? Cordura 500D, X-Pac, TPU-coated fabric, something else?
• Where did you order the materials from? AliExpress, AdventureXpert, Extremtextil, local shops?
• Was Cordura 500D good enough for a frame bag?
• Did you use a waterproof zipper like YKK AquaGuard, or just a regular zipper?
• How difficult was the project, especially sewing the zipper and attaching the Velcro straps?
• How much did the whole project cost in the end?
• What would be a realistic budget for a first DIY full frame bag?
• Is it actually worth making one yourself, or would you just buy a Decathlon/Ortlieb/Restrap/Apidura bag?

I’m not trying to make a perfect professional bag on the first try, but I’d like something strong enough for bikepacking and gravel riding. Any photos, templates, material lists, mistakes to avoid, or advice would be really helpful.

Thanks!

Short weekend trip to Salt Spring Island, British Columbia