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...

These are some insights into planning and executing a lightweight unsupported bikepacking or bicycle touring trip. How should you plan? What do you use for mapping? What kit do you take? Where do you camp? What are the pitfalls to avoid? This is my advice for bikepacking and cycle touring... 1 – Use Modern Mapping Technology I love maps. The contour lines, roads, paths, and rivers paint a picture on paper. When it comes to route planning for a bicycle tour though, make use of the incredible resources from online mapping tools. Komoot.com is my preferred service—it utilises crowd-sourced data of the most-ridden roads and trails to optimise a route between two pin points. It makes route planning dead easy, because you know that the roads and paths the software is taking you on are the best of the bunch in the area. Online software will also tell you the elevation profile, and Komoot will even give you a breakdown of the road / trail surfaces that you will encounter on...

On past bikepacking trips  I have had the opportunity to experiment with a variety of meals and foods particularly suited to bikepacking and lightweight cycle touring. The focus is always on eating decent quality, nutritious, lightweight, but varied foods that would supply fuel for the ride and keep your body functioning at its best. These are a few of tips for eating on bikepacking trips, as well as some simple recipe ideas… 1. Carry Seasoning My top tip is to bring a small pot of seasoning that you can add to meals—supplying salt and flavour. I mix up a little pot of vegetable stock powder, mixed herbs and chilli flakes to take with me—adding some spark to evening dishes. 2. Freeze-Dried Back-Up Meals In all of my past ' Gearing Up ' posts you will spot freeze-dried meals from UK brand Expedition Foods. These were a godsend on days like  Day 5 of the #CoastsandCols tour —when I got caught out by shop closures and had to camp at the top of the Col de Portet d...

I have always loved using a bike to get to places. I don’t particularly enjoy car or plane travel, but the feeling of arriving in a faraway destination under your own steam is truly unique and magical. The travel restrictions of the last few years put on hold many of my point-to-point bikepacking plans, but I have been rekindling the pursuit of ‘going places’ in the last few months… The #NorthWestRoad was designed by my riding buddy Joe and I, to make for an easily executed but interesting three day trip through England and Wales. Starting from home on the Isle of Wight, the route would take us north through the New Forest and Wiltshire to our first overnight stop in the Cotswolds. Things would then get progressively lumpier on day two – starting out with the hills of Gloucestershire and Herefordshire, before crossing the border into Wales and enjoying the undulating lanes of the Wye Valley; our overnight camp spot for the second day would be close to Welshpool, well into north...

Lightweight bicycle touring and bikepacking is a unique way to discover new countries and meet new people. It comes with its own challenges though; a personal challenge I often encounter is the need to find quality 'fuel' in the form of good food and drink. At home, I strive to make the perfect cup of coffee to kick-start my day's adventures. Camping in back-and-beyond locations does make that more of a challenge. It is still possible though, and with my experience of trying to create a good coffee in many wild locations, these are my five top tips… 1. Water Storage Water quality is a key component of good coffee. When you are touring or bikepacking I suggest making at least one of your water bottles a stainless steel carrier. Plastic bicycle bottles are easier to drink from on-the-go, but they will leave water tainted—especially if you are collecting it the night before a camp. I recommend the Elite Deboyo Stainless Steel Vacuum Thermal Bottle —as it can also be...

I must admit that I was a little sceptical that a rack-top pannier trunk bag from an unknown brand could be 'Deluxe' when it retails for less than £25. However, the BTR Deluxe Waterproof Rack Pannier Bike Bag is a well designed piece of kit, and offers impressive value as a piece of luggage for cycle tourers, bicycle commuters, and bikepacking enthusiasts. Here is my review... Most rack-top 'trunk bags' retail for at least £40, from major players such as Topeak. So, with the BTR Sports Deluxe bag coming in at £25, I was not sure it would be up to the rigours of everyday use and abuse. Yet, it has shown itself to be a strong performer. The thing that particularly stands out with the BTR bag is the design consideration. Tiny things make a significant difference with luggage that you use every day, and this bag has some notable features that make it a smart choice for a cycling trunk bag. First, the bag attaches to the rack using a universally compatible set of hea...