Bikepacking revisited

Next week Dave and I are off on vacation, and we are bikepacking. I haven’t been bikepacking in a long long time and am excited!! Thinking about bikepacking sent me on a trip down memory lane and scanning some old photos.

Back when I was a teen in Scotland we had bikes, not cars and just went wherever we went on bikes. Lots of bikepacking was involved.

When the Romans tried to invade Scotland they built roads. The Highlanders kicked their ass and sent them home but the old roads were left behind and made for great exploring. Some are rockier than others…

We started out with panniers and rear racks then broke them and threw them away. It has been interesting to watch the recent parallel that has happened in the ultra endurance gear trends recently with rack-less set ups becoming more common.

We were not so smart as to use handlebar bags and seat packs but stuffed it all in a backpack. My pack was so big it pushed my helmet forward!

..and sometimes we got epicked. There is a long story behind this pic… This is the middle of Glen Affric 12 miles from the nearest town. The world was green when we bivvied down to sleep and white in the morning! It turned into a full hike-a-bike in snow day.

So now I am older and smarter (but not any taller…) and have a slick set up with 3 bottles, 2 feedbags, a handlebar bag and a seat pack. Jeff Boatman at Carousel Designworks made the handlebar and seat bag and I must say he does fine work.  Top quality stuff.

Bikepacking vacation report to follow in 2 weeks time… We’ll be gone until 7/6.