Bikepacking. Where the worlds of off-road and tour cycling merge with hiking and wild camping. It’s freedom at its purest. Minimalist. With a go-anywhere mindset and everything you need to get by strapped to your two-wheeled steed.
There are many inspiring cycle-travel writers out there, all dedicated to scribing about adventurous cycling. Here are some of our favourites, all of which naturally need a sit down with your favourite cup of Java.
Bikepacking.com is the definitive guide to bikepacking, covering everything you need to get started and need to know. They've pulled produced some great content, such as this great bikepacking '101' video, which includes adventurers' varying definitions of bikepacking. There's also a stunning collection of bikepacking stories on their website. You could literally spend days reading and daydreaming. You'll then want to explore all the gear you can buy, and they have this covered too.
“Founded in 2012, bikepacking.com is the leading resource for bikepacking routes, in-depth gear reviews, inspiration, planning insight, adventure stories, news, and events. Brought to you by folks addicted to campfire smoke, chromoly steel, and getting lost. Our small team strives to inspire readers to get out and explore our planet, discover its wild places, and connect with its diverse cultures, all via the bicycle’s elegant simplicity.”
Follow Bikepacking.com
"Alastair Humphreys is an adventurer, blogger, author, speaker, and film maker. Alastair is a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year and has written 12 books. He produces a monthly newsletter with the highlights of the blog, forthcoming speaking engagements and important expedition news."
There’s one beautiful piece in collaboration with Anna Brones, entitled Coffee Outside, which particularly resonates well with Coffee and Cogs. It's a must-read.
“Humphreys is clearly slightly bonkers and this is a wonderful thing”
Geographical Magazine
Follow Alastair Humphreys
Listen and subscribe to the Living Adventurously podcast on Apple iTunes, Spotify and other podcast platforms
Sea to Summit is a retailer dedicated to outdoor adventures, but they have some really great content on their blog, such as 19 things learned while bikepacking the world, which makes for really interesting and insightful reading.
Follow Sea to Summit
Visit the Sea to Summit blog especially articles filtered by bikepacking posts
Rob Haggan is a freelance outdoor writer, blogger and weekend adventurer, and as well as covering bikepacking, he also writes about hiking, scrambling and running on his outdoor adventure blog.
He’s written some great articles for cyclists, such as The Lost Art of Going Slow, A Beginners Guide to Bikepacking and How I Turned My Old Mountain Bike into an Adventure Bike for Less Than £100
Follow The Outdoor Adventure Blog
Another very comprehensive blog from a well-travelled bike tourer. Not only does this site cover some great stories of trips around the world, but also some great guides, advice, recipes and packlists.
Follow While Out Riding
Tom's blog posts on 'adventures and experiments in two-wheeled travel' cover a vast array of topics on cycle touring and bikepacking, such as tips & advice, inspiration & motivation, tales from the road, philosophy, trip planning and bikes & gear.
Follow Tom’s Bike Trip
The reason we've featured this article from Red Bull about wild camping by bike is that Kent's very own North Downs is number 1 on this list.
Follow Red Bull
Sources and further reading:
http://ridingwild.org/blog/10-inspirational-blogs, https://www.theadventurejunkies.com/best-bicycle-touring-blogs/