Top things you must do to have a successful Bikepacking expedition Part 1
Author's note: This is based on my experience bikepacking, bike touring, and commuting. I am not a racer, but this advice might be good for novice racers as well.
Keep your butt area clean and ride on your sit bones
No one likes saddle sores. Stop wearing the diapers it is a haven for bacteria that make their way into your open skin pores, you ride, then you stop and cool down and the pores close, trapping in the little blighters, and ‘voila’ the beginning of the sore-a pimple or boil. It is your own fault for not keeping your ass clean. If you are multi-day rides, and camping out, buy some baby wipes, clean your crotch in the evening and in the morning when you first rise, and don’t toss them in the woods or burn them, pack out what you pack in. During the day rinse off in in bodies of water or at a bathroom in a convenience store and change shorts midway in the day, wash the soiled ones and hang them off the back of the bike to dry. Next, make sure you are sitting on your sit bones while riding and getting out of the saddle often to let the blood flow in the bum area. I’ve had friends who got excessive numbness and developed Erectile Dysfunction (ED), and others who bruised their labia, both by putting too much pressure on soft tissue of the private parts area. Additionally it is good to throw on some baggy bottoms when off the bike in camp to let the skin dry, I remember one multi week trip in early Spring, lots of rain and moisture, ended up getting some kind of fungus in my crotch area and all over my ass, it was just an itchy rash, had to using an antifungal to knock it out, took about a week- Tea Tree oil is good as well. Best to prevent, so, keep your ass clean. I also got ringworm on another trip, and most of you think it is a worm, it is not, it is just another fungus.
If you lance the boil (saddle sore), if it gets that bad, just keep the area clean and change shorts as much as possible, use wipes with alcohol, but don't use petroleum-based crap like Neosporin, it will clog the skin pores and possibly make worse, and again, sit on your sit bones and keep your ass clean. And if really bad take a few days off the bike.
Drink Gatorade, get proper rest, and eat like a pig
Many people bonk while on tour and can get themselves in trouble. Bonking is when you have expended more calories than you ingested your body starts to cannibalize itself for fuel and a whole series of unpleasant things happen.
Bonking Symptoms
Extreme physical weakness
Nausea
Poor Coordination
Shaking hands
Dizziness
Cognitive impairment
increased or erratic heart rate
My rule of thumb on a tour, any tour, is to eat twice your normal amounts when you start the tour and drink an electrolyte replacement drink. Additionally, if you have not been training before a tour and you shoot off at an unrealistic level, your body may retaliate by causing swelling of the legs and all over your body- which is just your body telling you take it easy, ‘why go so hard?’ Usually rest, drink and the food will take care of it. But it may take a few days for your body to come back to normal appearance. I have guided and ridden with many people who overdo it in the beginning- bonk and swell up. It sucks. But they always live to tell the tale. On a side note, if you start new medications, make sure you won’t have side effects, so train beforehand, know your body and its limits.
Two strategies: train before a tour and experiment with nutrition, I even sometimes will let myself bonk, to remember what it is like to feel that way, so I can understand what is about to happen while on tour and can take preventative measures. If you feel like you are about to bonk, than it is a good idea to stop, rest for a couple of hours and eat and drink, and even try to take a quick nap.
Become a Bike Mechanic
Don’t know how to change a tube, or fix a tubeless stem that leaks air? You will when you are on tour, unless you are one of the chosen few who have no issues with your bike while on a trip. And if that is you, I hate you. I always have issues of some kind on multi week tours. People ask me, “you ride so much, are you a bike mechanic?” and I say “only while on tour” when there is no one else around. And learn the basics before you hit the road, it isn’t that hard, and better than pushing your bike to the next bike shop. And if you ride with a companion, don’t count on them to help you. I would ditch you and let you fend for yourself. It is good to be self-reliant. What tools should you carry? Bikepacking.com has the best advice for tool kits from those who have the experiences in using them. My person kit is very similar.
Cry
Bikepacking can be very demanding on the body and mind. Stress can bring out some wild irrational emotions that will make you want to: scream, kill, or cry…sometimes all three. This is sort of a mental bonk. Cycling day after day, your body will rebel in many ways and those early dopamine and endorphin hits become a thing of the past and madness abounds. One solution only, rest. Take a day or two off. On a personal note, there is nothing better than being in a remote area, and just start yelling, screaming, and crying- get it all out. You will sleep like a baby. As a Master Yoga instructor, I can tell you that Breathwork and meditation will help as well. More on that in Part 2.
Open your eyes and mind to the beauty of nature and humanity
In my opinion too many bike travelers are in a rush to get the trip over, so they can go tell their friends and family how great it was. They forget travel is about the journey itself and not the destination. The friends and family are more concerned with the really important stuff-mortgages, car payments, bills, the assholes in accounting. You get the drift. They will listen to your ranting but cannot relate. Cresting that mountain pass at dusk while talking to God and then going on a 45-minute epic descent into the sunset and seeing a bear and her cub bounding up a hillside because they could hear you crunching gravel yelling “Wa-Hoooo!!” Take the time to look around and reflect on the beauty around you, the Earth is amazing, treat it kindly, and talk to folks along the way and I am sure you will find, despite all of the depressing news, humanity is alive and well. So, say hello to your fellow sojourners on this journey of life.
Tip well
Last summer, instead of going on a multi month bikepacking expedition, I decided to live and work at one of my favorite bikepacking destinations off the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, the small remote off the grid community of Polebridge, MT, just outside the extreme northwest side of Glacier National Park, and a ⅛ mile from the Flathead National Forest. I worked as a bartender and server.
While on tour I always tip 15-20%. Last summer I was impressed on how many people over tipped me, and under tipped me. Tipping well doesn't just mean paying, it means treating the service folks well, being kind to them, looking them in the eyes, and learning their names. We as bike travelers are ambassadors to the Bike Travel world. People want to know us, and most people will never do anything in life that is close to what we do. They live vicariously through our stories, and part of the tip is to share your story. Most of the service people are living paycheck to paycheck. While bikepacking, the universal law of Cause & Effect is engaged, aka karma. If you treat people badly and don’t tip well, something bad will happen. It is the Truth of the road- I have seen it happen over and over.
Get naked and go for a skinny dip!
If it is warm out, it is important to rinse out your salt-soaked clothing as much as you can and stay clean. In hot weather, I always get heat rashes, so I bathe frequently by either a sponge/ wet bandana bath in a restroom or taking a dip in a body of water. If no one else is around, then it is time to get naked and go for a natural dip! The cool water will rejuvenate you as well. It is good for the soul!
Embrace a head wind as a time for self-reflection and humility.
People seem to fight headwinds. I have. But I also see the winds as a time for self-reflection and humility. What is the hurry? Why do you have to go faster? What's really important? I always take that time to reflect and become very self-aware of what I am doing in that moment and grateful to be alive. It is a good lesson of humility as well; you are not stronger than mother nature.
Be Authentic
Finally, I admire people's authenticity. I always want people to be themselves, including myself. I have ridden with people who smoked, unapologetically, nonfiltered Lucky Strike cigarettes and had a beer for breakfast. And people who opened up emotionally with a show of their vulnerability, and dark side. We are all human. Be yourself. Dance like nobody's watching, because no one is watching. Bike travel is a time for being genuine, authentic, and self-reflective. It is a time to heal and a time to find the inner being that the universe created.
Did you like this? Part two will be coming out next week and I’ll talk about finding the right bicycle seat, riding solo, using warm showers, navigation, and what it really means to get lost, it may be a few other things.
Bill Poindexter is an American writer and poet. He is the author of Bikepacking School-What ‘They’ don’t Tell You in the Guidebooks
My work and research I put into this Substack Page are entirely reader-supported. If you enjoy the content I provide and are not ready to become a paid subscriber, you can simply make a one-time donation here at Buy me a Coffee If you can. I appreciate each one of you who follows this page. Bill
How to have a successful Bikepacking Trip