Skyler Des Roches
Contributing Editor
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We have over 300 original and curated bikepacking routes in our global network spanning nearly 50 countries.
Start at our worldwide routes map to dig into our detailed guides with GPS maps and inspiring photography.
The Local Overnighters Project is a unified effort to document and map one-night bikepacking routes all over the world—by locals, in their own backyards.
The Bikepacking Journal is our biannual printed publication. Each issue features a collection of inspiring writing and beautiful photography. Find details on the three most recent issues below, join the Bikepacking Collective to get it in the mail (anywhere in the world), or click here to find a collection of selected stories in digital format.
Skyler found bikepacking after falling in love with mountain wilderness via skis, crampons, and rope.
He first toured on a bicycle in 2008, and despite an inspiring trip overseas, quickly lost interest in the paved highways around his hometown of Vancouver, BC. Meanwhile, a siren song floated down from unseen mountainscapes and he found his way on foot, touring skis, and climbing gear. All of the mountain sports he has tried are means to a common objective: to discover and to experience the expansion of his own universe. Thanks to an accidental impulse purchase of a fat-tired mountain bike, the way Skyler looks at a map has once again been altered.
In 2013, Skyler lived in a $100 minivan for six months while working full time in the forest. In 2014, he’s spent more nights in a sleeping bag than not. When he grows up, he’d like to get paid to write and take photos, but for now, he does it for free at OffRoute.ca.
Joining the ever-burgeoning ranks of the ‘adventure bike’, Trek’s 920 aims to rewrite the classic touring rulebook. For a start, it uses a lightweight aluminum frame, the latest in industry thru-axle standards, and sports clearances for 2.2in 29er tires. There’s custom racks and provision for 6 water bottles too. But does this mean it can really go where no touring bike has previously been? Skyler Des Roches takes one to British Colombia to find out…
In August 2015, I was lucky to get my hands on one of the first pairs of pre-production ARC 45 rims. Easton’s design team let them slide with the promise that I’d get some photos of them in use, in the wild. I was never expected to write a review, but after almost 4000km of hard, loaded riding, I feel compelled to do so. Its combination of features, size options, and a competitive price, sets the full ARC rim series apart as a potential “staple” mountain bike and bikepacking rim.
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