The obsession with cycling as a sport makes it easy to overlook the excitement and adventure offered by cycle touring – a pursuit as old as the bicycle itself.
Now reinvented as ‘bikepacking’ the business of setting off to ride and camp, taking with you only as much as you can carry, is as pure a cycling experience as you can have.
The excellent bikepacking.com describes ‘a synthesis of mountain biking and minimalist camping; it evokes the freedom of multi-day back-country hiking, with the range and thrill of riding a mountain bike. It’s about forging places less travelled, both near and afar, via single-track trails, gravel, and abandoned dirt roads, carrying only essential gear’.
We are led to believe that cycling is best enjoyed using new and, by extension, expensive gear, but this is far from the truth where cycle camping is concerned.
Custom bags and ultralight camping gear are all well and good, but start with the bike you already own and envoke the spirit of the microadventure.
The most recent bikepacking adventure chronicles an epic ride through the red deserts of the American west, but don’t let the lure of far flung destinations stop you starting with a short overnight route near home.
Cycle insurance with 90 days’ worldwide
Cycle insurance from the ETA includes new-for-old, third party insurance (in the case of an accident you may need to seek compensation or even deal with a claim by someone else), personal accident cover, race event cover and if you suffer a mechanical breakdown, they will come out and recover you and your bike. Electric bicycles can also be covered. Includes 90 days’ worldwide cover.
Beware of carrying (or towing) extra weight
Cycle touring in Britain was at its most popular in the 1950s, but a renewed interest in camping over the last few years has seen clubs attract record numbers and an increasing number of people looking to holiday on their bikes. With the increase in popularity has come an influx of gadgets making questionable claims of making life easier.
Two of the day-to-day challenges facing the camping cyclist – carrying the least amount of equipment that is practicable and finding level ground on which to pitch their tent – are addressed by a pop-up tent which doubles up as a capacious trailer and incorporates levelling jacks.
With rudimentary suspension, the Bushtrekka trailer claims to be well suited to uneven terrain, but towing a trailer off road is another challenge in its own right. If bikepacking seems like a hardship, you might be in the market for a QTvan – the ideal accessory for cyclists who demand the height of luxury on their camping trips. We built the tiny trailer five years ago to demonstrate the efficiency of the bicycle, but wouldn’t recommend it for anything more than local trips.
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