Bikepacking Culture

With small businesses in various states of flux and turmoil during the COVID-19 pandemic, we decided to reach out to the people who are the lifeblood of our community. We asked eight different bag makers how the lockdown is affecting their businesses, and if there’s a silver lining to it all…

Tucson’s Campfire Cycling is on a mission to connect people, bikes, and the great outdoors. Through their web store and full-service bike shop, Josh Lipton and his small team are eager to provide gear, knowledge, and service for everyone with an interest in bikepacking. We joined for their inaugural Breakfast By Bike ride last winter, and stopped by the shop to see what they’ve been up to…

For the many riders who head south over the winter to ride the Baja Divide, Salvador Basurto from FASS Bike is something of a savior… or at least, he’s known to go to extraordinary lengths to help when mechanical grief strikes. Cass drops in on his way through to share some trail time with him, and finds out more about the role he’s been playing in the growing success of this wonderful 1,700 mile desert route…

Our decision to launch a printed publication devoted solely to bikepacking raised some eyebrows, but we think the future of print is bright, assuming enough people are willing to support us. Here’s some insight into our goals for The Bikepacking Journal, reasons on why we need your backing now more than ever, and a look at where your money goes when you choose to support us…

2019 was a big year for Bedrock Bags. Not only did they move into an abandoned junior high school, the Durango-based bikepacking bag manufacturer also launched sister company Nightfall Overland, and one of their employees has started offering creative titanium finishes as Agave Finishworks. We stopped by their beautiful new space to learn what the Bedrock team is up to…

Part three of our 2019 Bikepacking Awards pays tribute to the people who’ve been influential with inspiring trips and acts of goodwill in the bikepacking community. In addition, we’ve awarded the year’s most incredible routes and rides. Find all of our nominated people and routes here…

Celebrating its 70th anniversary, Sam Jones recounts the history of the Cape Wrath Fellowship, founded by cycling journalist Rex “Ragged Staff” Coley to encourage more adventures by bike. What’s more, it’s still open membership to this day. Watch the film, enjoy the accompanying images, and find out more about this fascinating slice of bike touring history… then brave the weather, head up to mainland UK’s most remote chip of land, and join up for yourself!

The third annual Bikepacking Summit took place last weekend at Mulberry Gap Mountain Bike Getaway, just outside of Ellijay, Georgia. Like at last year’s event, we were overwhelmed with positivity after three days of storytelling and community building with fellow bikepackers. Here’s a massive collection of photos and a summary of what went down during the weekend…

The 2019 PEdALED Silk Road Mountain Race is a wrap! Out of 140 riders, there were 70 finishers, including 46 solo riders, 10 pairs, and 4 additional split-pair singles. Here are portraits of each rider, with names, finish times, and nationalities…

We stopped into Curve Cycling’s Melbourne HQ and chatted with the team to learn more about the brand and their range of adventure-focused titanium all-road and off-road bikes. Read on for our full conversation with Curve’s small family of passionate riders…

The race continues… Official media team member Rugile Kaladyte brings us into the 2019 Silk Road Mountain Race with another incredible set of photos and first hand account from days 5-10, including the first five finishers…

Sam Erhard, a graduate at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, designed a unique collection of modular bikepacking frame bags as part of his senior design thesis. We reached out to learn more about the program, the bags, and his inspiration for the project. Find details (and a video Sam produced) here…