Imagine strapping everything you need for an adventure onto your bike and pedaling straight into the outdoors. That’s the magic of bikepacking—and we’re psyched to be getting ready for our first trip. We’ve got plenty of questions—what to pack, how to pack, and whether we’ll have enough room to bring enough snacks—but that’s all part of the fun. This post is our way of sharing the preparation as we count down the days to our first bikepacking trip.
The Route
Let’s start with our route – the Moody Forest Loop in eastern Idaho. We made a deliberate choice to start with an overnight gravel trip. We want to start small but not too small, and this loop seems like a great introductory bikepacking trip. It’s supposedly 100% rideable (yay for no expected hike-a-bike… but you never know how conditions may change) and passes through forests, near a couple hot springs, and has a short singletrack section for a little spice. Sign us up!
Bags, Bags and Bags
We are basically starting from scratch when it comes to bikepacking bags. We each have a small top tube bag that we use on our day-to-day rides to stash our phones and snacks, and small seat bags for repair and spares kits. And that’s it.
Based on advice from Laura’s cousins, who rode the Lewis and Clark Cycle Trail from Oregon to Illinois, and referencing the Bikepacking 101 Handbook, we’ve gathered up a few bags for our first bikepacking trip. We’ve been scouring used gear shops, online resale, and trying to take advantage of Labor Day sales as much as possible, and have these bags to show for it so far.
- Seat bag: we now both have a Revelate Terrapin 14L, one new and one used
- Ryan’s handlebar bag: Revelate Harness + Saltyroll Bag
We’ll also take our Apidura top tube bags. Those live on our bikes for all rides at this point.
We skipped frame bags for now, since most are custom fit—but Laura’s been experimenting with making a DIY one. Can’t wait to see if it works out! Worst case, we’ll throw a small backpack into the mix.
Sleep System
It’s arguably the most critical gear for any overnight adventure – what to use for sleeping? We’ve accumulated tents, sleeping bags, and sleeping pads for camping and backpacking over the years. For our first bikepacking trip, we’re doing our best to make use of the gear we already have.
I tested putting our current backpacking tent into the handlebar harness. The poles turned out to be too wide for the drop bars on my gravel bike. I considered splitting up the parts of the tent and strapping the long poles to the top tube as a makeshift solution. But in the end, we ordered a bikepacking specific tent, the Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL3 (shoutout to our USARA membership for another good deal), which will fit in nicely between the drops.
For our sleeping bags and pads, we’re planning on using our current gear. We’ll stash most of it in the seat bags or use Voile straps to attach it to our bikes. But after this trip, we may switch to backpacking quilts for weight savings. Stay tuned!
OTHER ESSENTIALS
- Hydration: I plan to wear a small Camelback pack with 2 liters of capacity, while Laura is expecting to wear her USWE trail-running vest. We’ll bring a Sawyer water filtration system.
- Clothes: For an overnighter I’m hoping to get by with one set of bike clothes and a change of clothes for non-bike time and sleeping. We’ll bring rain gear as well.
- Medical kit: Bare essentials only. We’ll likely use the kit that’s required for most of our adventure racing.
- Bike repair kit: For any bike related issues, we’ll have spare tubes, tire levers, a multitool, patch kit and sealant. Crossing our fingers we’ll avoid any major complications!
Counting Down The Days
We know we won’t pack perfectly—and that’s okay. For us, this adventure is about getting out there, figuring things out on the go and enjoying every mile as it comes. Whether we overpack or forget something obvious, this first bikepacking trip will hopefully be the beginning of many more adventures on two wheels. And honestly, we can’t wait to see where those pedals take us next.