Plan & Prepare

An important and growing part of BIKEPACKING.com is the routes resource, covering rides of different styles and lengths, drawn from all around the globe. Each route post is accompanied by a GPX track to load into your GPS, be it a standalone device or a smartphone. These can be downloaded directly from the site, or pushed via Ride With GPS. To make this process easier, here’s how to go about it, as well as a few potential pitfalls to watch out for and some advice on navigation apps…

Our friend Brendan Leonard recently co-authored and published a camping cookbook titled “Best Served Wild”. We asked Brendan to recommend the simplest and most lightweight recipe from the “Multi-Day Outings” chapter. Here’s one that any bikepacker should be able to make…

Franzi and Jona recently returned from a 15-month bikepacking trip through North and South America. Here Franzi reflects on their journey offering valuable stories and insight that might help others planning a trip, big or small, with their spouse or significant other.

Over the summer, Michael Dammer joined us on the Colorado Trail, miraculously packing two weeks worth of dehydrated food, grown on his family farm in Ecuador, into his homemade leather framebag. Together with a ziplock bag full of quinoa, they helped us complete the route’s 530 mile length and tackle its 70,000 feet of elevation gain. For those seeking a different take on easy-to-cook bikepacking meals, here are three healthy recipes that kept our legs strong and our bellies full.

As intimidating as it may sound to the uninitiated, bikepacking in Africa can be an incredible experience. As a planning resource for those seeking adventure in the Motherland, here is our full guide to bikepacking and touring east Africa. Complete with travel tips and Logan’s full kit list as used on the Trans-Uganda bikepacking expedition…

This past July, Ben Handrich and Andy Brubaker set out on the Colorado Trail. During their time on the CT they documented each of their 13 days in a video journal, complete with incredible drone footage and valuable insight into bikepacking this legendary trail + Ben’s full CT gear list.

We sit down with Josh Ibbett three months — seven countries and over 6,000 miles — into his year long around-the-world bikepacking trip to see if his packlist has held strong, learn more about his Mason Bokeh, and hear from his girlfriend Caroline, who is almost as new to bikepacking as you can get. Teaser alert: he still has all 4 pairs of socks.

Getting hangry is no fun on the trail. But it’s often hard to avoid while bikepacking. In a quest to fend off hunger, and scurvy, we tried Greenbelly Meals 2Go which promise 1/3 your daily nutrition in a small package…

We take a look at Zach Shriver’s all carbon, 29+ trail slayer, the Trek Stache 9.8. We also hear about how it was set up for bikepacking the Colorado Trail, as well as exactly what gear Zach carried. It’s a great checklist for anyone planning to undertake this beautiful, challenging journey.

Who doesn’t enjoy the idea of bikepacking with their dog? Promises of wagging tails and grinning muzzles at every rest stop, topped off with restful bliss at the end of the day. What’s not to love? John Freeman has been bikepacking with Melan for a couple of years. Here are his tips and insight…

Planning a big, overseas bikepacking trip can seem like a daunting task. After spending a month riding dirt roads through the Peruvian Andes, Cass returns with advice for putting together a similar journey.

Dylan Taylor is currently leading the American Trail Race and after 14 days he’s just about halfway through the 5,148 mile route. We caught up with Dylan to inquire about his bike, gear kit, and race experience so far…