Friday Debrief: Seat Bags Filled with Sealant, the Music of Bikepacking, and more…

The weekly Debrief highlights little, but important, bits of news, products, and things that caught our attention on the website, in the conversation, and elsewhere around the community. These include upcoming events and interesting things our readers shared in the comments. Being the “holiday sandwich” week, there weren’t a lot of new products in our feeds, but we still managed to find some interesting things. Check out this week’s findings below.

Bits & Bobs

New products that are worth highlighting but didn’t make the Dispatch…

#GoodNight2022Campout

Good Night 2022 campouts are popping up all over the world on Instagram and the comments area of the event page. Give them a look at #goodnight2022campout and the post here. And don’t forget to post yours! We’ll be sharing a few on our Instagram stories over the coming days.

Restrap 2022 Stats

Restrap put together several stats to illustrate what they were up to in 2022: 1. We’ve made enough Saddle Bags to hold over 85,800 litres of water. That’s enough tyre sealant for 1,073,100 tyres. Enough sealant to prevent the entire population of Luxembourg from getting flat tyres. 2. The combined length of Fast Straps we’ve made this year is just over 60km. Enough to fast strap all of the skyscrapers in Manhattan, New York. 3. Stacked end-on-end, our Canister Bags come to just over 1900m. That’s the same height as the legendary Mont Ventoux.

Ride With GPS New Start Location

Ride With GPS has been showing off new features on their Instagram account lately, including what’s new in the right-click menu. Now you can reposition the start and finish of loop-oriented routes to any point along a route’s track line. Located within the Route Planner’s revamped right-click menu, this excellent new feature was one of RWGPS’ most frequently requested feature updates. See it on their Instagram post here.

In Conversation

Exchanges and ideas that caught our attention in the site’s conversation section…

Music of Bikepacking

There are lots of encouraging comments in our 10 Years of Bikepacking article from Monday. Thanks, everybody! One reader suggested a “music of bikepacking” series, suggesting several bands that made them think of specific rides. How about you? Do you have a playlist you made for a particular route? If so, post it in the conversation below.

Around the Community

News from around the bikepacking world…

2023 Colorado Trail Race Info

Event organizer Jefe Branham just shared some important info on the 2023 Colorado Trail Race, which is scheduled for August 13th at 4 a.m. The grand depart will take off from Durango, Colorado, with the exact location to be announced closer to the event. The route is all set up to be the same as the last two years, with possible exceptions for wildfires, reroutes, etc. New for 2023 is a mandatory $50 donation to the Colorado Trail Foundation, which will be used to support work crews out on the trail. Find all the details here.

A Fundraiser for Leo Rodgers

Earlier this month, inspiring cyclist Leo Rodgers was hit by an SUV while on his bike, resulting in a broken neck and a long-term hospital stay. Crust Bikes has organized a fundraiser to support Leo and his family through his recovery. From Crust: “This is a shock and heartbreaking situation for our community and friends. Leo survived a motorcycle accident years ago that left him with one leg. He adopted the bicycle as an extension of his body, as he says. Beyond just riding a bike, he brings so much fun, laughter, and excitement for the people around him. An overall powerhouse of a human being!” You can make a donation to support Leo and his young family on GoFundMe.

Sahara to High Atlas Mountains—Bikepacking Morocco

Nils Opgenorth and Johannes Hemm just finished a two-week trip through Morocco, including a three-day stretch through the Sahara carrying 22 litres of water. Their route started from Tata, dropped to the edge of the Sahara, meandered through dunes to the heights of the High Atlas Mountains, and finished in Marrakesh. Nils put together a quick edit from the trip that you can watch above.

HUNT RE:NEW

HUNT RE:NEW is a refurbished wheel program that allows riders to save significantly on lightly used HUNT wheels, which in turn helps HUNT keep perfectly functional wheels right where they belong. This allows HUNT to reuse materials and components, reducing their carbon footprint, while offering an option for riders seeking more sustainable post-consumer products with lower environmental impact. Savings are between 10 and 40% off, depending on the condition of the wheels. Learn more here.

Events Starting Soon

What to watch this weekend and bikepacking events starting soon…

Fat Pursuit 2023

The 2023 edition of the Fat Pursuit kicks off on Thursday. This 60 or 200-kilometer bike race takes place on a network of groomed snowmobile trails (groomed is relative). Follow along on Trackleaders here.

Wish We Were Here

Shedding a little light on a route one of us is dreaming about riding at the moment…

Virginia Krabill: Bahía Concepción

A little over one year ago we were camped on the beach at Bahía Concepción, along the Missions segment of the Baja Divide for our Good Night 2021 campout. Thinking back, it was a beautiful evening of solitude and silence, with only the sounds of fish jumping in the calm bay.

Weekly Social

Some things we found around the ‘gram and elsewhere. This week, several Good Night 2022 Campout posts…

Happy New Year, everybody! See you in 2023…

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