Possibly Obvious But Probably Essential Bikepacking Tips

1. TRY BEFORE YOU RIDE.

If you embark with a bike you haven’t ridden in final adventure mode (i.e. fully loaded), the adventure will be over before it even starts.

2. PACK EXTRA GLOVES.

You can’t have too many. The weather will always be worse than you expect. The grams you saved by ditching an extra pair of gloves will come back to haunt you.

3. EMBRACE TUBELESS.

Remember 56K dialup Internet? It was great. You’d punch in a URL, go make coffee, and by the time you returned there’d be a cute polar bear on your screen. But you’d never choose it today. Let tubes go the way of 56K and say farewell to pinch flats forever.

4. BRING A BOOK.

Without electricity it’s amazing how quickly it gets dark, and in the middle of the wilderness when no one else is around, you will feel less alone.

5. DEPLOY THE CINNAMON ROLL.

Wrap wet clothes in newspaper, and roll (the paper is the dough; the clothes, the cinnamon). Useful in high mountain hamlets where rain never stops and there are no trees to burn.

6. PRACTISE OPTIMISTIC SCEPTICISM (OS).

A cousin of Irrational Exuberance, OS encourages the wild and ambitious. Unlike its headstrong relation, it demands a wary eye. How it works: your plan was to attain a vista camping spot. But there’s a blizzard, so you camp below the snowline instead. Next day, your party does not need to resort to eating each other.