Bikepacking Is No Longer Just for Endurance Junkies

Johann Vanzyl’s idea of the perfect vacation involves strapping packs on his bike, pedaling 80 to 90 miles a day through remote wilderness and camping under the stars. The past four summers, he has ridden around the U.S. on trips ranging from about 500 to 1,400 miles.

Vanzyl is one of many outdoors enthusiasts who have embraced bikepacking, a relatively new sport that marries backpacking and off-road bike touring. Cyclists ride with packs on their bikes filled with food, clothes and camping equipment, mostly on dirt trails or gravel roads.

Bikepacking used to attract mostly endurance junkies who had the time, technical prowess and survival skills to ride narrow, so-called single-track, trails, and then camp in the backcountry. But lighter bikes and improved GPS technology have made long-distance trail rides less intimidating, and shorter, beginner-friendly trails have vastly broadened the sport’s appeal.

Vanzyl, 53, tackled the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, a trail of more than 2,600 miles that crisscrosses the Continental Divide, in two chunks between this summer and last summer. Considered by many the birthplace of bikepacking, the trail was established in 1997 by the Adventure Cycling Association, a Missoula, Mont.-based nonprofit devoted to developing biking routes, and is almost completely off pavement.

For some, this is a family pursuit. After watching YouTube videos of bikers on the Great Divide route during Covid, Natalia Kunze told her father she wanted to ride the trail. In 2021, Paul Kunze chaperoned his then 12-year-old daughter on a 770-mile section of the trail from Jackson Hole, Wyo., to Kalispell, Mont. “I’m still amazed she was able to accomplish that feat," he says. “When I was that age, I thought riding 10 miles was really far." He is now 44.

This summer, the father and daughter from Duluth, Minn., spent 13 days bikepacking 1,020 miles of the Great Divide route. They endured muddy, rainy weather (and a leaky tent) and had to navigate snowy mountain passes, but Paul believes part of bikepacking is being able to “embrace the suck."

“You’re going to get dirty, wet, hot, cold and face adversity," he says. "But it’s going to make you stronger, more confident and better suited to excel in other areas of your life."

A wide range

The Great Divide route is the Everest of bikepacking, but there is a range of trails in the U.S., from relatively short and sweet to much, much longer and punishing.

Vanzyl favors the latter. In addition to the Great Divide route, he has completed the Arizona Trail, a desert route of about 800 miles that runs between the state’s northern and southern borders, and the Colorado Trail, a journey of about 500 miles that runs through the mountains between Durango and Denver. He has suffered saddle sores and had to resort to drinking out of a cattle trough on a desolate stretch of trail in Arizona. “It’s worth a little grit to escape the crowds and be deeply immersed in nature," he says.

But bikepackers don’t have to suffer. Looking to appeal to a broader demographic, the Adventure Cycling Association has started to map two- to five-day, beginner-friendly routes close to cities. The first 12 launched last May. The association also offers six-day introductory courses that teach essential skills like how to negotiate loose dirt on a loaded bike and travel responsibly in remote areas.

Purists pitch a tent and camp along the way, but even Vanzyl, who owns a travel marketing company in Boulder, Colo., will occasionally stay overnight in a hotel. And some trails are now being designed with accommodations. On the recently completed Aquarius Trail that covers about 200 miles between Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park in Utah, five solar-powered huts dot the route. They are stocked with fresh food and equipped with kitchens and grills, as well as bathrooms, showers and generators for charging e-bikes.

“This is bikepacking light," says Jared Fisher, chief executive of Escape Adventures, the Las Vegas-based bike touring company that designed the trail. “Instead of hauling 80 pounds of water and food, riders can get away with carrying snacks and a sandwich to fuel them until they reach the next hut." If newbies crave more support, the company also offers guided trips where someone cooks for you along the way.

Preparing for a trip

No matter the length or difficulty of the ride, there are a few basic skills bikepackers should have before setting out on the trail. You don’t need a fancy bike, but gravel bikes, which are designed to ride on and off road, are recommended. A bike fitting can help prevent knee pain or saddle discomfort, says McKenzie Barney, a professional adventurer who has cycled across Australia and Africa. “To avoid saddle sores, I always recommend padded chamois shorts," she says.

You can use bike-touring packs called panniers, which require racks to be mounted on your bike to hold them, but bikepacking bags mount directly to the frame of your bike with no additional hardware, making them a lighter option. Since you’ll be carrying supplies, it’s important to get used to riding a weighted bike. Sarah Swallow, a professional adventure cyclist in Durango, recommends that to prepare for a trip you also ride up and down steep hills or off big curbs near your home to ensure your bags are securely mounted and not rubbing on your tires.

Bikepacking often takes you to remote areas. So while you don’t need to be a bike mechanic, you should know how to perform critical tasks such as tire repair and brake adjustment. Some trails cross paved roads or small sections of highway, which means you need to make yourself and your bike as visible as possible by wearing bright, reflective clothing and putting reflective tape on your bike and bags, says Swallow. No matter the type of road, a helmet is a must, and having a rearview mirror on your helmet makes it easier to spot approaching traffic on paved roads.

Once you’re ready to go, leaving some wiggle room in your plans can be rewarding. Paul Kruze says his worst trips were those that were fully planned out. “The stress of having to make a certain point every day really impacted my enjoyment of what would have been an epic adventure," he says.

Swallow recommends creating a loose plan and says beginners should leave more time than they think they need for their first few trips. “Have a route and note its distance, elevation, and food and water resupply points," she says. “But be prepared to be flexible in case of weather or mechanical issues. And remember, this isn’t a race. Build in breaks for mid-ride hikes and swims and photo opps."

Jen Murphy is a writer who lives in Maui and Colorado. Write to [email protected].