Spring Adventurefuel Taster Trip: Becoming Bikepackers

Words and photos by Lewis Brindley

The idea of the Adventurefuel Bikepacking Taster Trip was simple. To create bikepackers in just three days. If I did it right, after this weekend, I could watch my riders go off on their own adventures like a proud parent waving their kids off at the airport. The tricky part was trying to distill 10,000 kilometres of bikepacking experience into a three-day course.

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Seven years of hard-learned lessons: wet sleeping bags, mosquito attacks, homemade stoves, roadside mechanics, and countless hours in the saddle. Also, seven years of wonder: beautiful sunrises on crisp autumn days, miles of smiles with friends in remote huts with raindrops on the roof, long siestas under the shade of a tree whilst the sweat evaporates into fine salty dust, endless gravel roads unfolding under your wheels. It’s a lot to squeeze into just three days, but even if I can give people enough to go out and do it, they can make their own adventures.

Prep Day

The day before the trip, I head to Hawea in the South Island of New Zealand to do a final scouting of the route we are going to take. The wind is howling with unusually cold northerly gusts. It bites hard on my fingers and cheeks as I take in the deep greens of the surrounding mountains.

Hawea is the quiet little sister of the Southern Lakes area, with Queenstown being the brash, loud middle child and Wanaka being the quiet, cool older brother. Hawea is just a one-hour drive from Queenstown airport, but it feels like a whole new world. There are no tourists here, just a few locals and some quaint tiny homes.

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I ride a short 30-kilometre loop along sleepy backroads and wide, flowing cycle trails. There are no new surprises, and I get back to the car to call some of tomorrow’s riders with last-minute details. My fingers are too numb to text. There is a pile of kids’ bikes scattered by the bus stop. They wait there all day for the kids to get back from school. Not a single one is locked up. This is why I love Hawea and New Zealand in general.

I head to our campground to spend the night. It starts to rain and continues all night as the temperature drops. Welcome to autumn in New Zealand.

Day 1: Packing Day

We meet at the Hawea Flats Community Hall, and I immediately get the kettle boiling and the heat pump going. There is fresh snow in the mountains, and we can see the Treble Cone Ski Field out the window. We start the course by packing our bikes, and lots of discussion and questions follow. Turns out my riders aren’t just preparing for an overnight ride. Hamish is planning to ride the Tour Divide and go from hiker to bikepacker. Sara and Richard have even bigger dreams of spending a year cycling the length of Africa!

All of the gear is provided, including a selection of New Zealand-made bikepacking bags. I have my own bike set up as an example of what worked for me on the Southern Highlands Traverse and my many other rides. We also go through my tool kit and first aid kit, showing what I take when guiding around New Zealand.

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It takes us through to lunch getting everyone’s bikes set up with everything we will be taking for our overnight trip. Then we head out for our shakedown ride. There are some groans and wobbles as people get used to having a bit more weight on the bikes, but we make a good pace riding up the Hawea Back Road to get a view of Lake Hawea. The wind has died down completely, and long, lazy beams of light ooze into the valley. The dusting of snow gives great definition to the peaks that surround us. Everyone quickly finds their pace, and we meander through the 30-kilometre loop, taking pictures and getting to know each other. We finish up the day with excitement, replacing nerves, and looking forward to tomorrow.

Day 2: Mechanics Day and Overnight

Bright and early, with a mild frost on the ground, we meet back up at the hall and jump straight into bike mechanics. I cover the basics, just enough to get you back out on the road in a pinch. Replacing inner tubes is quickly dealt with, and fixing tubeless follows. Lots of questions and pros and cons are discussed.

After morning tea, we replaced brake pads, fixed snapped chains, and take care of a snapped gear cable. The mysteries of bike mechanics are starting to be unveiled. After any final last-minute packing, we hit the road again, heading for our overnight camping spot.

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We wind next to the Hawea River as it surges past us with cerulean playfulness. We stop and discuss hike-a-bike techniques as the dam releases a fine haze of spray over the trail. Then, we meet Lake Hawea for the first time and follow its crumbling shoreline. Again, the autumn light filters slowly through the yellow leaves of the poplars as we head to the final gravel road to camp. There is still some riding to do, but the gravel is well-packed, and we stop for snacks at every hilltop.

Finally arriving at our camp, we pitch up in the eucalyptus trees. The fallen bark makes for great kindling as we get a campfire going and sit and watch the prolonged sunset drop behind the mountains on the other side of the lake. The sky takes several encores as it transforms the clouds into beautiful paint swatches in the gathering darkness.

Day 3: Homeward Bound

I got the water boiling first thing, as we needed a few cups of tea to get us moving in the morning. It was a chilly start to the day, but after breaking camp, we had a steep hill to warm us up on our way back to Hawea.

Everyone is pleasantly surprised to get back to Hawea so quickly and realizes the amount of climbing we actually did yesterday. We stop in the sunshine for some breakfast burritos (there is no point in being a chef for 10 years without using it from time to time, right?) with a view.

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I ask the question I always ask at this point, “Do you feel ready to go bikepacking on your own?”

Agreement and affirmations all around.

I consider that a job well done! Like anyone who is passionate about their hobbies, I love nothing more than sharing them with others and getting them as stoked as I am. Mission successful. That was my last trip of this season, and what a great one to end on. I can’t wait to start again next spring (November) with another summer of turning people into bikepackers!

Learn more about the Taster Trip series at Adventurefuel.org.

Further Reading

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