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Jayboflavin04
06-10-2009, 09:59
I bought a mt. bike last weekend. Love it! Started riding it to work. Wanna do some bike touring with camping. What is some of the essential gear. I am talking 1-3 day type stuff.

mister krabs
06-10-2009, 10:06
It's much easier to slackpack with a bike. I did a bit of credit card touring when I lived in looziana. Didn't bring anything but some clothes and a pair of shoes. Stayed in motels, ate in restaurants. Lost the taste for riding when I moved to Atlanta, too much traffic.

Rocketman
06-10-2009, 10:26
Your equipment is pretty much just about like backpacking. Pick your choices.

Shelter - motel/hotel/hostel, tarp, tent, open air ......

Sleeping - motel bed, sleeping bag/quilt, ground cloth, bivy sack

Water

Clothing

Camp shoes - yes, no

Stove - if cooking, if eating out no

Cooking Gear - See Stove

Food - snacks - for meals, see Stove

Raingear - Chance it?, Probably no poncho, various rain jackets and pants

Lights - motel, probably don't need, camping sure, same as backpacking unless you want something big to light up the whole camping area so you can play cards on the picnic table.

Bags To Haul Equipment - Don' recommend use of a backpack, but it would sort of work. Panniers on the bike (with rack for holding them), maybe a front bar pack for snacks, maps and so on. DIY haul bags modeled after panniers but made from daypacks.

Water - bottles on bike, maybe more bottles in bags.

The lighter and smaller the better.

TRAILER
Good if you like to haul kitchen sinks and lots of gear "just in case". Also good if low slung/ground hugging and you stop packing it when the minimal equipment is in it.

Satellite TV Dish - think twice about this one. Good if your bike is hauled on a big RV.

mudhead
06-10-2009, 12:21
Brainbucket.

woodsy
06-10-2009, 12:33
Band-aids...

MyName1sMud
06-10-2009, 12:34
extra tubes are a MUST

leeki pole
06-10-2009, 12:36
Get a friend, significant other, or spouse to follow you in a vehicle to your destination with your gear. That's how we did the Natchez Trace and it's a lot of fun, you take turns driving.

JAK
06-10-2009, 12:43
I did a 80km bike and 40km hike a few weeks ago. I didn't have my rear carrier on but I got away with wearing a 10 pound daypack. Wouldn't recommend going that route though. It would be way more enjoyable and better on your lower back with a rear carrier. Keep the load light, just as light or lighter than usual, and load it onto your bike somehow. Pump up the tires really good for road sections also, and if you can leave the food off the bike as long as you can and buy the food at the last place you can before hitting the trail.

Other than that, same stuff as for hiking plus the following:
1. might need rear panniers because hiking packs don't fit well on bikes.
2. might want to transfer some weight to a front carrier also.
3. should be able to use the same water bottles, so 2 on bike is good.
4. might get away with trail runners rather than biking shoes with clips.
5. might get away without bike shorts, but you probably need the helmet.
6. at least a pump and way to tighten adjust seat etc.

I used my road bike, with tires pumped to 115psi. At slow speeds especially, weight and tire pressure makes a big difference. That got me the 80km to Big Salmon River without much fuss. I refueled and bought hiking food in St.Martins before the final 20km to Big Salmon River. 15 km/hr is easy, 10 km/hr is even easier. As long as your butt and hands don't get sore you can bike a long way even if not in great biking shape. Then I did 40km on the Fundy Footpath over 2 nights and 1 day plus a little on the other 2 days. I could have biked home on the 3rd day if I had gotten more sleep and the weight was on the bike and not my back, but I'll fix that for next time. So I called my wife for a ride home instead. She is awesome.

Saved a bundle on gas. I'll save twice as much next time. :)

JAK
06-10-2009, 12:47
Also UV protection way more important on bike, at least compared to where I hike.

JJJ
06-10-2009, 14:12
I have an old mt bike. I put thinner tires on it since I don't get out on real trails.
I ride to Damascus on the Creeper Trail to trail run on weekends and even hauled my pack up to Lost Mt and hiked up to Buzzard Rock for a weekend two weeks back.
Last week, 10 of us toured the Skyline Drive thru SNP and over between the Massenutten ridges. We had a blast.
I wrote up the two trips on my blog -June 7 (http://jjjessee.blogspot.com/2009/06/revolution.html) and May 25 (http://jjjessee.blogspot.com/2009/05/missing-tent-stake-throws-suspicion-on.html)
I ran into a section hiker once who said she was Nobo to HF where her bicycle was stored and then was pedalling to Chicago or Seattle.
That sounded fun.
jjj

RockStar
06-10-2009, 14:18
I bought a bike when I moved to Denver, last year. LOVE IT. My friend who is an avid biker said I would never want to hike again. She was WRONG. :) I still prefer hiking, but do love biking. I can't get into the road bikes yet because I still like jumping things and off-roading. Smooth ride though, those roadbikes.

middle to middle
06-10-2009, 14:52
I love biking and bike camping too. Locally here in Maryland the C@O canal along the Patomic River from Cumberland to Georgetown is great. I have done it several times. Can go swimming at end of day in river; talk about NICE.
Also there is a bike path along the canal from Albany to Buffalo very nice too. Not quite as cool as the C@O though. The C@O is a National park and the Park service has maps available. The Rangers drag blowdons into the camp sights and cut them up !
Most camp equipment is usable on bike too. The bike people are are ultralight nuts of course.
I found it a real pleasure to do.
Coming out of Harpers Ferry just across the river you walk on it.

garlic08
06-10-2009, 20:20
Lots of long distance hikers are bicycle tourists, too. Same state of mind, I guess, most the same stuff in the packs. You'll be tempted to take more stuff on the bike because it's on wheels, and it took me a long time to get over that.

I love cycling, but I love hiking more. The big advantage to cycling is that you can actually get somewhere faster if you really want to. And way more restaurants! But it's dirtier, more equipment, more hazardous, and you're way more limited to where you can camp, usually.

Be safe on the bike!

gdw
06-10-2009, 21:08
You should check out the this site:
http://www.bikepacking.net/
There are quite a few of us out there who combine mountain biking and camping. I've been doing weekend or longer solo trips as well as leading groups on multiday backcountry adventures for a number of years. The bikepacking website has a section where various members list their set-ups and you can learn a lot from reviewing their gear choices. Most of us travel with a minimal amount of gear. Enjoy.

kolokolo
06-10-2009, 21:23
I love biking, too. I have some nice panniers for my bike, and also a trunk. The mobility on a bike makes it a lot easier to resupply, too, so you would seldom have to carry food for more than a day or two.

Toolshed
06-10-2009, 21:27
I have done a little. I used 700x35's road tires on my mountain bike back in the 90's and then when I started bike commuting, bought a Trek 7700FX - a Fast training hybrid. Put my panniers on it and used to carry my clothes to work. I would second the idea of not biking with a backpack or heavy daypack. It significantly changes your COG.

I have used our Burley Copilot in the past on Rails Trails in PA. It hauls a lot of stuff, but it is tough to pull uphill or at higher speeds. If you can go ultralight (and you should really be able tostopping for food daily as you pass small towns on raisl trails), you can probably get away with everything in the panniers and a trunk box. If you have lighter wheels and you are a big guy though (Like me) you might wish to upgrade your wheels to 36 spokes to handle the additional load and stay truer longer. The last thing you would want is a pancaked wheel or one that goes out of true every 50 miles.

The Will
06-10-2009, 23:19
Eight years ago I did a 2,400 mile trip from Inuvik, NWT, to Calgary, Alberta. Approximately 700 miles of that trip was on gravel roads, glorified with names like the Dempster and Robert Campbell Highways.

As has been mentioned, there is a lot of crossover between backpacking and bike touring as well as other forms of backcountry travel. There are a few differences worth mentioning with regards to cold weather dress. Even in temperatures below 0 F, my feet stay warm in uninsulated boots while hiking. I made the assumption that in colder temperatures my feet would stay warm while cycling. Not the case. It was almost like there were steel rods attached from my knees directly to the pedals there was that little muscle action in my calves and especially my feet. Some neoprene overshoes would have come in handy. Secondly, on a bike you create your own wind chill. When backpacking in cold weather I often dress for how warm I will be 10 minutes after I begin hiking--I start cold knowing things will change quickly with my activity. On the bike I was often warmer before I began cycling do to the wind chill that riding created. Also, because of how fast you are moving you really feel the dense pockets of cold air that settle in the lower areas of the terrain.

A difference that is obvious but one that deserves mentioning is that you have to maintain a machine when cycle touring.

I have not used panniers so let me admit my bias but I pulled a BOB trailer and saw some advantages. The trailer drafted behind my bike (on the downside it could be argued that the increased rolling resistance offset this) and when I was stopped I could jack-knife the bike and trailer and it would stand up, wind be damned. It was also nice to have everything secure in a drybag. I had a rear rack with a single bag for my camera, snacks and other essential accessables. A front rack has been mentioned in earlier posts--there's benefit to this in addition to storage space. Whether you use a trailer or panniers (worse w/trailer) the front wheel is going to travel really light and can easily wash out especially on gravel surfaces.

Fenders are very important in wet conditions. I was showered in beautiful arcs of water that froze to my brakes, clothes and beard while going over high passes in Banff/Jasper.

Bike touring is great. It's nice to see the country roll by, getting 15-25mph out of the same energy expenditure that yields 3mph in hiking.



I recall how fast the country rolled by I could put out the same effort it took to hike 3mph and actually make 15-25mph.

Fenders!

Jayboflavin04
06-10-2009, 23:29
Thanks for the great info. I have a nice bike trail miles from my home. It follows the Ohio Erie Canal and extends to cleveland. I should be able to hit the trail here in Dover but it is not complete. I bought a "Specialized-Hardrock" . Nice entry level bike.
So essentially I have most of my gear.
First investment is going to be a nicer seat.....my biscuts are burnin from the last 4 days of riding.
Can you recommend a good brand of rack/pannier manufacture to help me start shopping
I also realize I will need to be able to do repairs...what kind of extra garbage dont I need(that someone is gonna try to sell me)...
Well I had better hop on over to the bike forums...thanks again for the info.

psyculman
06-11-2009, 06:29
I take all my backpacking necessities.

Any bike equipment you need will be available from Nashbar, or Performance, at a good price. I have many 100's of miles on them. All my stuff came from them. Some items available out there are more specialized and expensive, but not necessary. Though not shown in this picture, front panners are also really good for balancing the whole load. Fenders are a must as any commuter will tell you, as you will get a face of spray in rain, and, for New England, salt in the winter, both which make for a sore throat. You can't have too much visibility, don't be afraid of looking like a live geek.

Check all shift cables carefully for wear, daily, especiallly under the bottom bracket. Oil and clean the every night. Carry two tubes & pump. Get a good bike seat, and wear padded shorts, they are worth it. Don't wear shorts more than one day with out washing them. Synthetic bike clothes dry quickly, rinsing them out at night, and hanging them out on the back of the bike saves time at the laundrymat. Get broken into your seat, equipment, and diet before going on a long trip. Hydrate!

I carry a pair of bathing trunks so I can do %100 of my laundry, thus carrying less clothes. And, you can rinse yourself off in a car wash. (<$$$)

Never ride without a helmet

Rocketman
06-11-2009, 07:46
First investment is going to be a nicer seat.....my biscuts are burnin from the last 4 days of riding.


I have found that the Brooks leather saddles with suspension coil springs are very comfortable. Rather, that they become very comfortable in the way that a pair of leather boots can become very comfortable as they are worn often and the leather conforms to fit the foot or "biscuts".

A dialog happens when I get on my bike.

My Bottom: "Wow, Man, it's great to be back"
Brooks Saddle: "It's great to have you back."

Not every bottom appears to respond to a well broken in leather saddle like that.

My first Brooks leather saddle lasted 17 years, and finally required replacement. My second one is now 5 years old, and is going fine.

Your mileage may vary.

JAK
06-11-2009, 08:31
There are definitely some places that are better for biking than hiking, and other places that are better for paddling than biking or hiking, and some places where it is really tempting to do a little of all three. It gets a little tricky combining all 3 in one week or weekend without using a car, unless you have a place to stash a bike or canoe/kayak on alternate trips, but combining bike/hike in one weekend or paddle/hike in one weekend can be very gratifying and save alot on gas. I'm lucky here because it might not be the best place in the world to hike/bike/paddle but I can do all three right out of my back door more or less, and cross country skiing also in winter. I sail also. It is good to mix it up, and most of the gear and clothing is transferable from one to the other. Sometimes you find better gear or clothing from the other activity also. For winter paddling I got a neoprene balaclava from a dive shack. I don't wear is all the time but I keep it handy on my deck in case I get in trouble and go hypo.

JAK
06-11-2009, 08:36
I have done a little. I used 700x35's road tires on my mountain bike back in the 90's and then when I started bike commuting, bought a Trek 7700FX - a Fast training hybrid. Put my panniers on it and used to carry my clothes to work. I would second the idea of not biking with a backpack or heavy daypack. It significantly changes your COG.

I have used our Burley Copilot in the past on Rails Trails in PA. It hauls a lot of stuff, but it is tough to pull uphill or at higher speeds. If you can go ultralight (and you should really be able tostopping for food daily as you pass small towns on raisl trails), you can probably get away with everything in the panniers and a trunk box. If you have lighter wheels and you are a big guy though (Like me) you might wish to upgrade your wheels to 36 spokes to handle the additional load and stay truer longer. The last thing you would want is a pancaked wheel or one that goes out of true every 50 miles.Good stuff there thanks. I like wider road tires also, like 35mm, so even if you get a road bike its good to make sure they can fit 35mm. You can still pump them up to 115 or 120 and they lose air slower and you can drive off on to the shoulder and back onto the road alot easier, and even do some trails and dirt roads if not too loose. Contrary to popular belief wider tires of the same pressure have less rolling resistance than skinny tires. Its just that skinnier tires can usually hold more pressure.

JAK
06-11-2009, 08:53
Lots of good stuff in this thread. Thanks. That bikepacking link was interesting.

gdw
06-11-2009, 12:46
Bikepacking is becoming more popular every year but we are still a very small fringe group when you look at the overall number of people who bicycle regularly. We are fortunate in that we have some pretty well established trail networks,
http://www.bikepacking.net/bikepacking-routes/
some of which backpackers are familiar with, and are adding more every year. Most of the trails are in the western states and Canada but hopefully some will be developed in the east.

JAK
06-11-2009, 13:04
I was kind of surprised that most of them go with packs on their backs. I've done 10 pounds that way, which is enough for light packing, but it does kind of grind the vertebrae a little. Its probably easier when you are young and in good shape, but it was good to see some of the setups with the stuff on the big, even light setups.

I'm adding a rear rack on mine, but would like to avoid panniers if I can. Not sure I can because of the raised center of gravity thing. It would be nice to just put the backpack on the rack, vertical or horizontal. Might have to go with panniers though, even for just 15 pounds of gear and food. Hope to see more setups on that site.

Thought this one was best:
http://www.bikepacking.net/individual_setups/my-set-up-and-things-learned/

or maybe this one:
http://www.bikepacking.net/individual_setups/tomis-set-up/

Maybe you could still have high volume light stuff in the pack, like 5 pounds, and heavy stuff on the rear rack and a handlebar bag or box, and water in bottles of course.

garlic08
06-11-2009, 13:06
Can you recommend a good brand of rack/pannier manufacture to help me start shopping
I also realize I will need to be able to do repairs...what kind of extra garbage dont I need(that someone is gonna try to sell me)...

Ditto on the Bike Nashbar panniers and racks. For longer life, try to get packs without zippers. Forget rain covers--line them with trash compactor bags.

What you carry for repairs depends on your aptitude. Two trains of thought: 1) carry a huge repair kit including freehub tool and chain wrench, extra tires, spokes, etc, or 2) carry a bike lock and credit card.

On short trips in the US, all I carry is a spare tube, patch kit, pump, tire irons, and allen wrenches (2 to 6 mm).

I do my own major repairs at home and have many of the special tools for my components, which I bought as I needed. I may bring some of those with me on trips to developing countries. It makes no sense to buy or bring them if you don't know what to do with them. If a spoke breaks on the cassette-side of your rear wheel and you don't have the tools or knowledge to remove the cogs, you now have an adventure.

JAK
06-11-2009, 13:14
I only bike to and from trailhead, so my repair kit is cellphone for the most part. I do carry a pump, and something to adjust and tighten seat etc. I get alot less flats since I've gone to wider and tougher tires. If I start doing more distance I'll have to learn to change a tire without putting a hole in it. lol

I find alot of the racks and pannier and stuff quite heavy, which means lots of opportunities for DIY. There is alot of good stuff out there, but its nice that they left us some room for improvement. :)

Marta
06-11-2009, 16:24
After a 25-year hiatus from biking, I've signed up for:

http://www.ncsports.org/cncevent1.php

This seems like a nice compromise for a return to long-distance cycling. For one thing, my husband can ride up front with the hammerheads, while I tootle along slowly at the back. It's slackpacking all the way, with National Guard shower trucks at the campgrounds, and the option of having catered meals.

So I bought a hybrid bike, a Trek 7.5, and have started cycle-commuting to work. I'd forgotten what fun riding a bike can be! I'll still be hiking, but I'll be biking, too.

Jayboflavin04
06-12-2009, 00:18
Well, I have for the most part parked my truck since last sunday. Except for running errands that demanded my vehicle(small truck). I about got caught in the rain today but i missed it. I am going to throw my rain gear in my backpack. I am just enjoying riding, the freedom, the money I am saving, and I am also doing something good for the environment. It only takes me another 10min to get to work...woop-t-doo! The bikepacking thing is a new thing for me so I will see where it leads. I am not gonna blow any cash right now on it.

rainmaker
06-12-2009, 22:43
I usually only go LD hiking one time a year and for about a month. The other eleven months I bike either on my Litespeed road bike or on my Surley touring bike. While I don't intend to ever give up the road bike, my Long Haul Trucker could become my favorite. It has the gearing to allow you to climb the hills with a load and is comfortable. It is not a light weight bike however. I just completed a 360 mile tour of the South Carolina upstate over six days and it was great, just don't be in a hurry. Like several people mentioned, a lot of the gear is interchangeable. If you want to pursue cycle touring further, check out www.crazyguyonabike.com or adventurecycling.org. They both have a wealth of information.