Life In The Saddle

Wild camping and bicycle touring or bikepacking go hand in hand. Camping in fields, on beaches, and in remote rural locations means you can choose your camping spot; allowing far more freedom in terms of route planning and far more scope to account for adverse or favourable riding conditions. Wild camping is also an incredible way to get closer to nature. It lets you experience sunsets and sunrises in secluded places, and lets you truly escape from civilisation on your bikepacking adventures. There is also the fact that wild camping is free, and it is often the only choice for back-of-beyond bicycle touring. This blog post details my personal top tips for wild camping. The advice comes from experiences on hiking trips, and bicycle touring or bikepacking adventures such as the #RoadsFromRome , #7Countries7Passes , #CelticCrossTrail , and #CoastsandCols tours. Camping in the wild is an unforgettable experience—one that should be enjoyed by all. Hopefully, this wild camping g...

Boundaries were made to be broken. Comfort zones made to be crushed. Three days of diverse and incredible riding on the Italian Dolomite Giara… The idea for this adventure was born at the end of the #5MaratonasChallenge , when my host Igor Tavella from Holimites gave me the GPX file for a ' wild card ride ', which took me on several sections of gravel road — it opened my mind to a great opportunity… Igor said that when I returned to the mountain range I should bring a gravel bike; so that we could further explore these ' roads less travelled '; roads that can take you high above the asphalt, onto the plateau of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The idea of a three day adventure was born: starting from Badia, we would complete a figure of eight loop of gravel passes and paths in the Alta Badia region; stopping overnight at two remote alpine rifugios, which themselves perfectly complement the idea of a 'back-and-beyond' far-flung adventure. Ideas became p...