Want to extend your range and expand your horizons? Multi-day tours and bikepacking trips are the answer!
Today we have road bikes, gravel bikes, and hybrid bikes. Then there are mountain bikes designed for offroad trails. With all these options, you can ride virtually anywhere. But what if you find yourself wanting more variety and longer adventures? If you want to explore new areas, roads, and trails more than a day’s ride from home then bike touring is your next step.
You are not alone. The popularity of bicycle touring has never been greater. Search Facebook and you will find that the “Bikepacking” group has over 80,000 members, while “Ultralight Bikepacking” adds another 22,000 subscribers searching for information and ride reports.
Of course, bicycle touring is far from new, and probabaly started the week after the first bicycles were sold!
The “safety bicycle” dates to the 1880’s. Almost immediately, the “Bicycle Touring Club” was founded in Britain, followed shortly by the League of American Wheelmen. In July of 1896, three friends set off from their homes in Britain and were the first to travel around the world on bicycles. Their expedition covered 19,237 miles over 26 months, spanning 17 countries on three continents.
Military use of the bicycle dates to 1886. Initially, bicycles were employed by couriers, and then scouts and infantry troops. The U.S. created the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps which later became known as the “Buffalo Soldiers”.
In the summer or 1896, 20 members of the 25th Infantry set out on a 1,990-mile route from Fort Missoula, Montana to St. Louis, Missouri. The objective of the expedition was to study the feasibility of using bicycles in the military rather than horses - which were much cheaper to obtain and required no food, water, or rest. Roads were few and crude, but the soldiers completed the journey following wagon trails and foot paths in 41 days – on their single-speed bicycles!
Gold-seekers turned to bicycles to reach the Klondike region of Alaska in 1897.
While most of the greenhorns traveled by foot, cyclists made better time on the 400-mile Dawson-to-Whitehorse trail down the frozen Yukon River. When their gold claims didn’t “pan out”, they traveled to new gold strikes near Fairbanks and Nome, including bicycling across the frozen Norton Sound at temperatures reaching -40-degrees!
Our modern, lightweight touring bicycles are truly “space age” marvels in comparison to the single speed bikes available to these historic bicycle travelers.
We also have access to countless books, articles, videos, and maps for information and guidance on bicycle touring. An invaluable resource is the Adventure Cycling Association.
The "ACA" was founded in 1973 as “Bikecentennial” to celebrate the bicentennial of the United States by promoting a cross-country group ride. In 1976, more than 4,100 cyclists took part in the event, riding all or part of the coast-to-coast, 4,250 mile “TransAmerica Bicycle Trail”.
Following this enormous success and the exploding awareness of bicycle touring, Bikecentennial developed many other bicycle routes, eventually changing its name to the Adventure Cycling Association, which now has over 50,000 members.
We can now experience " bike touring" and "bikepacking".
Traditionally, “bicycle touring” has followed primarily paved roads. Touring also includes thousands of miles of former rail corridors which have been repurposed in the "rails to trails"program into bike paths.
Bike tourists use combinations of front and rear panniers to carry everything they need to go camping on the weekend, cross multiple states, or circle the globe. Tom Allen literally wrote the book on bicycle touring and has visited more than 40 countries by bicycle. He writes in How to Hit the Road: A Beginner’s Guide, “Cycle touring is about enabling one to live on the road.”
On his website, TomsBikeTrip.com , he makes the distinction between bicycle touring and bikepacking. "Once an obscure synonym for bicycle touring, bikepacking now describes a much more specific, faster, lighter, often dirt road-oriented, exploratory type of bike trip.”
Tom contrasts traditional bicycle touring and bikepacking by saying, “The bikes look different. The stuff people strap to them looks different. The places people ride often look different.”
Summarizing bicycle touring, Tom says, “One type wants to go traveling.” Indeed, many bicycle tourists carry everything they need for weeks or months on the road. The bicycle is the vehicle, as opposed to trains, buses, hitchhiking, or backpacking.
In contrast, Tom writes, “But bikepacking is primarily a way of riding your bike self-sufficiently for longer. Bikepacking therefore attracts people for which riding is the main attraction.”
You can "tour" on nearly any type of bicycle.
I used to tour on a racing frame complete with “sew-up” tubular tires. As you can imagine, we went out of our way to avoid any unpaved roads, and even avoided routes with road construction. In contrast, the ACA has mapped the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route which spans over 2,500 miles primarily OFF paved roads from Canada to Mexico. We now have "gravel bikes" which split the difference between road bikes and MTBs, and are capable of adventures with a mix of paved and unpaved roads.
You may lean toward one category of bicycle travel or another – or all the above at different times.
Don’t get intimidated by the sub classifications. In many cases, the same bike may be outfitted for paved roads or unpaved rail trails or backroads by changing tires. Other bikes can swap wheels for optimum performance on different routes, or different seasons.
Of course, bike manufacturers and equipment brands offer different models for every touring niche.
You can buy a bike and assemble the gear that is perfect for a narrow slice of touring. This is especially true in the extreme ends of the road bicycle touring versus mountain bikepacking spectrum. These two groups of travelers may never cross paths, except at an intersection in town as they follow their distinct routes.
Round-the-world bicycle tourists often compromise. They tend to favor a long wheelbase, steel frame, and wider wheels and tires for versatility on poor paved and unpaved roads. Strength is the priority over weight, and their bikes need sturdy racks for luggage as well as accessory mounts on the front forks for food, fuel or water. The components on these bikes are usually traditional - that is, what some would call old-fashioned but also “bombproof”!
Modern "gravel bikes" also fall in the middle, with road bike style frames, but geometry to accommodate wider tires and MTB gearing. The photo below shows five different bags attached to a gravel bike for fast and light bikepacking on any terrain.
There is no right or wrong. Your travel goals, destination, route, and terrain may determine whether your next trip is bicycle touring or bikepacking.
The GOOD NEWS is that some bike luggage (and most camping gear) is adaptable to different bikes so that you can be ready for anything – if you own more than one type of bike. Then again, even if you prefer traditional bicycle touring on paved roads, embracing the new standards of lightweight bikepacking has many advantages.
Justin Lighter and Justin Kline are the authors of Ultralight Bike Touring and Bikepacking. They have toured the world by bicycle, combined with thousands of added miles of hiking and backpacking experience.
They acknowledge that bicycle tourists have circled the globe on many types of rigs. But they emphasize that a lighter rig simply travels further and faster with less effort. They write, “Racks, panniers, trailers, and backpacks all have their place for bicycle touring, but when you are looking to cover more ground, turn the pedals over more easily, and enjoy the simplicity and freedom of a compact setup on your bike, then an ultralight/bikepacking configuration, utilizing only frame bags is the way to go.”
Recreational bicycle tourists have adopted the ultralight designs and mindset developed on long-distance, self-supported races on routes like the Colorado Trail, Arizona Trail and the 2,768-mile Tour Divide race.
Justin Kline is a Tour Divide veteran and writes, “Carrying less weight means you can cover more ground, have less fatigue on your body and bike, and enjoy a better-handling bike, which is especially important when exploring single track.”
The lightest load will be most appreciated on the roughest routes, steepest climbs, and highest elevations. This is true regardless of the route, and ultralight bikepacking equipment paired with a lightweight gravel or road bike has made long-distance touring fun and accessible to older adults and novice adventurers!
Alee Denham is a full-time bicycle traveler from Australia. He has logged over 170,000km of bike travel spanning five continents over 12 years. Here is a look at his touring bicycle and how he manages to pack everything he needs for full-time travel:
Finally, there is still another category of “bicycle touring” that might be a perfect match for your tastes and comfort level: organized, supported tours.
These tours include scenic and historic destinations around the world. Some tours follow specific routes, such as those mapped by the Adventure Cycling Association and may include knowledgeable tour guides. Supported cross-state routes like the legendary RAGBAI across Iowa also fall in this category. These supported tours focus on bike riding, with all luggage transported by a vehicle from day to day. The nightly destinations may be hotels, remote cabins, or campsites - or cruise ships, in the case of river cruises in Europe. Participants only need to ride. The route and logistics are handled by the tour organization.
Darren Alff is “the Bicycle Touring Pro”. Darren has biked across the U.S. in every direction SIX times! He is an author of several how-to books, has a YouTube channel with hundreds of videos and maintains his website at BicycleTouringPro.com where he discusses all forms of bicycle touring.
Darren writes, “Bicycle touring doesn’t just mean road riding and bikepacking doesn’t just mean off-road riding. It’s not uncommon to hear the two terms (bicycle touring and bikepacking) interchanged with one another.”
What is YOUR style of bicycle touring? Do you enjoy several types of travel, depending on the destination?
Bikepacking or bicycle touring need to be defined by each rider. You are ALLOWED to make it up as you go! One bike may serve both styles of touring. Or you might want several bikes in your "quiver" for different types of adventures. The choice is yours – but the benefits are the same: immersion in the local communities, access to the best scenery, along with self-discovery that is impossible to match.
Bicycle touring is a worthy goal and creates memories that last a lifetime. Your bicycle is up to the challenge. The rest is up to you!
Thanks for reading!Please leave your comments below - what type of touring is YOUR favorite? Please also subscribe to the GreatOutThere.online blog for more bicycle touring and bikepacking content. Follow me also on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram!
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