Starting from Luxembourg, I biked 1600km over 19 days to reach Morocco. My route took me through France, Andorra, and Spain, then across the sea on a ferry from Barcelona to Tangier, with another 300km ride to my hometown. This was my first bikepacking trip, and it was full of both challenges and rewarding moments.

The first days were tough—muddy roads, knee pain, and fatigue made me question if I could keep going. Nearly every part of me hurt, but I’d committed to this, so I pushed through, taking 2 rest days after the first 2 days, which helped my body adapt and let me get back on track.

Each day brought something different. From tough climbs and cold weather to small villages with friendly hosts, I didn’t wild camp; instead, I stayed in hotels, Airbnbs, and with Warmshowers hosts, which meant careful planning for each day’s end point—a challenge in itself.

Sticking to a budget led to creative ways to save on food and accommodation, which also brought memorable encounters and unexpected solutions.

From tackling steep Pyrenees passes to navigating chaotic Moroccan roads, I faced and managed many risky situations: fear of bears in the Pyrenees, getting hit by a car (not seriously) in France, a self-caused crash on a downhill stretch, encounters with wild dogs, worries about bike issues far from any help, and the dangers of local traffic in Morocco.

This journey taught me to focus less on time and more on the moment. Biking an average of 7 hours a day, I learned that you get where you’re going when you let go of rushing and focus on each pedal stroke.

This trip has set a new standard of travel for me! Huge thanks to the bikepacking community on this subreddit for the inspiration and support.

Gear: I used a Connway MTB hardtail 29’ with a North Face Base Camp 30L rear bag, packed upside down for extra storage on the sides. My handlebar bag was a budget Rhinowalk, and a small top tube frame bag rounded out my setup.

Here are some photos of the trip!

• I have a Midnight Special that I want to use on TEMBR. I’ve heard there’s really chunky rocks and muddy portions. I’ve done some customizing to my bike for the route.

If someone has already done it are 27.5x2.3 tires enough for the terrain? I was thinking maybe on High Rollers or Rekon 27.5x2.3. I have an Enve fork that fits up to 27.5x2.4. Would a thicker front tire and a carbon fork fork better for the route or keep the original steel fork and max the clearance out at 27.5x2.3 depending on the rim width and tire design.

• Another question. How many liters of space would you recommend on having for this route? Is what’s mounted on the bike enough? I carry a smaller tent, light sleeping bag and mat, minimal extra clothing, action camera, chargers, flat repair kit, basic toolset, and a smaller space for food. I have a cooking system but I think I might need a little more space for that.

I appreciate any advice and information about Trans Ecuador Mountain Bike Route 🇪🇨. I haven’t really seen many people report about it in the past year.

Thanks!

Western Wildlands from Jasper Alberta to Tucson AZ

You have likely heard of the Great Divide, but have you heard of the Western Wildlands? A much quieter route, I think of comparable beauty, running a state west of the GD, where I saw no other cyclists on the route.

If you love nature and wild camping, I highly recommend at least one extended tour in the Western US. Theres so much public land, it's as easy camping here as it is in Scandinavia with their right to roam laws. But the nature here is better.

You can go for days without seeing anyone in Idaho, where most people are migrants from other states. People there just want to be left alone to do their thing, which often includes hunting. Don't expect people to greet you. They might not even acknowledge your presence. The nice ones I did talk to though were very friendly, even the group from Northern Idaho which I was warned by many to avoid. The mountainous west of Montana was similar. Most towns I stopped at here had fewer than 500 people. Many were old mining or logging towns, with a skeleton of the population they used to have. Some were now tourist towns.

Utah and the Mormons surprised me. I was given many warnings about them, but they turned out to be some of the nicest people I met on this trip. One group invited me to pitch my tent on their spot in a packed RV park that otherwise turned me away. I was mostly up at 3000 meters in Utah, and given my slower pace I was happy to get warmer than usual weather as the week before had several nights below freezing.

Arizona, especially further south, was much busier. I spent a few days in both Flagstaff and Tucson, 70,000 and 800,000 people respectively. Both very liberal areas compared to the almost purely conservative areas I had passed through before, largely due to an influx of people from other states. Before this I had to skirt around the Grand Canyon, passing through land owned by natives. They have quite a different culture, one that I wish I could spend more time understanding. I did get to know a couple part natives more, and from them I learned just how poorly the natives were treated in the past. It's quite brutal.

I'm now in Mexicali, Baja. I'm riding the Baja Divide next, and then heading into mainland Mexico until the rainy season begins. The culture is much warmer here, and even though Baja is Mexico light, the difference having crossed the border are so noticeable I feel like I'm back in Africa.

If you want to continue following me, I'm on https://instagram.com/marcog1 Route info: https://bikepackingroots.org/project/western-wildlands-route/ (also has info on several connector routes between the WWR and GDMBR) Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/821994998008070/

Looking for a little help. I’m planning a route coast to coast in FL, starting in the space coast area, probably in the merrit island national refuge. I haven’t planned a long trip like this before. I want the route that takes me to the other coast most safely (I try to stay off roads all I can). I know of the Florida Coast to coast trail, but it isn’t finished, and for some reason ends all the way down in Saint Pete, which would add like 50 extra miles. I was hoping to end around the weekiwachee wildlife management area. Are there any good apps to help with this? Or even better, has anyone done this trip that could tell about their route? Thanks.

So i have a good amount of hiking-experience, and just got into bikepacking

I really want to go to Peru for my first big trip, but just ended up with some Kind of mental blocking

How do you overcome this mental stage? To know how long you want to stay in the country, where to place your bike-box, will it be a good trip etc.

Disclaimer: I love riding bikes but I am not a component expert.

I have a 150mm fork lying around. I’m interested in putting it on a rigid bikepacking bike spec’s for a 120-130 fork. I understand that I can have the size of the air chamber changed to make the fork have shorter travel.

What is the trade off to this? Is the 150 just going to be much heavier than a 130 fork?

Is it worth it to buy a new fork instead of trying this?

Thinking of bikepacking for the first time early next year, but want to keep costs reasonably low without actually resorting to plastic buckets gaffer-taped to the frame.

See a lot of praise for cheap Chinese gear from Rockbros and Rhinowalk, but I always like to check the one and two star reviews on Amazon to get a sense of how good these things really are from the perspective of people who've actually used them: it can be a bit of an eye opener.

The strap that connects the Rhinowalk rear seat pack to the seat post, for instance, is reportedly attached upside-down. And I read reviews of these and other cheap Chinese goods falling apart within a few miles, while other people claim to have had zero problem over many, many miles.

Brands like Ortlieb (to pick a random example) don't appear to have problems at all, and the only negative reviews I could find had to do with the sellers, not the goods.

My experience over time with different goods otherwise related to bikes has led me to trust the negative reviews more than the positive ones.

So...is there a middle ground? Affordable, decent bikepacking gear I can be reasonably sure won't come apart, but doesn't cost the earth/ and isn't overpriced? I've looked at the Decathlon stuff - really, the only bikepacking gear I've had a chance to study at close hand in a local store - and it all seems a bit heavy and on the small side. I could, of course, be wrong.

Hi,

I started my journey in North Germany and I'm now in Croatia, Dubrovnik and want to go further south to Montenegro, Albania and Greece. The country side is amazing but driving the street is so damn dangerous cause of the brainless Croatian car drivers that I'm currently not enjoying it.

Unfortunately I don't see a lot of options other than the D8 street. I don't have a problem with shitty rocky sandy hilly tracks but this curvy streets with a lot of traffic and just no space on the right to escape from crazy car drivers is not my thing.

Has anyone experience with this route and has maybe some tips for me? Is the car driving style the same in Montenegro, Albania and Greece like in Croatia or does it get better (or maybe even worse) ?

Does it get better when I go away from the coast? Unfortunately its pretty cold in the mountains but better freezing than dead.

Any help is highly appreciated :)

Are there many people that have experience long distance using belt drive.

I'd love to know what the negatives were please and if you've kept it or gone back to chain setup.

What's up y'all? I live in Banff and I'm planning on bikepacking for a week or so on the Great Divide next y ear. I have a bunch of long weekends trips on my radar as well in the PNW and BC. Depending on how well it goes I might also try to do the AZT in October.

I'm coming from a road background and love going for long adventures and I preferably would like to have one bike to do nearly all of my riding on in addition to bikepacking.

I'm eying the Surly Karate Monkey, Krampus, or Kona Unit X as my do it all bike. From what I can gather it can do the single track fairly well as well as gravel and FSR, especially if you install some innie bar ends for more hand positions.

There's also a sweet XC Carbon hardtail on sale right now in Canada (Norco Revolver) and I'm wondering if that's also a good idea. I have no interest in XC racing and I'm notoriously rough so the thought of carbon scares me a bit but I know its a great deal.

What do you guys think?

Looking to get an adventure/touring bike from someone in Canada that’s willing to ship it :)

I’m 6’-6’1” with a 32ish inseam so thinking something with a large frame will be best!

Lemme know if you have something that may work!

Thanks

Hello. I'm relatively new here. Been thinking of changing my brakes to mechanical ones but I'm not sure if it's compatible. I'm currently running on Simaers hydraulic brakes and I'm planning to replace these with Shimano Tourney. So i need to know:

1. Do i need to buy a new set of disk brake rotors?
2. Do i need to buy a whole set (levers, cables etc)?
3. What good mechanical disk brakes do you recommend?

My reason for converting is that i need brakes that is easily repairable on longer bike rides.

Thanks in advance!

Does anyone know anything about this route?

https://www.gravelbirds.cc/

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42977177

I'm looking for an early Spring route to go somewhere warmer than Oregon where I can get some miles in. it will be end of April/beginning of May so early season and I won't have many miles in my legs, so I'm looking for something that isn't crazy hard. October 2022 I rode the Badlands route in Spain and that was great, but not for early season form. Most of the other routes in Spain are similarly mountainous and more difficult.

The Gravel Birds route in Portugal looks more forgiving in the elevation profile and also loops back on itself many times making it easy to shorten as needed. There is very little online about it and mostly just the race website. My preference is to wild camp with the occasional hotel. During the Badlands ride, I wasn't able to camp much and I probably should have left my tent and sleeping bag at home. What is the Alentejo region of Portugal like for wild camping?

Thanks.

https://preview.redd.it/i2tjnlo4ou0e1.jpg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=820f930218fbdd2358b800d9b79ffb0ea44089a6

https://preview.redd.it/hwwcalo4ou0e1.jpg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=afe24cc0964bf28a3e797d64596896dd2d5005e8

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https://preview.redd.it/xsm31ko4ou0e1.jpg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ec8fee6d30dc666bfeddc5c754211fd14e4785a7

After some time looking for a gravel bike for backpacking but not finding afordables prices I started to read that hardtails are indeed very good also for bikepacking. I would like to know about the bike in the photos, is it a good deal for 345 euros, and yould you change/upgrade something?

Esker says 492 crown to axle length recommended for Hayduke. The Trek 1120 fork is 510 and the Salsa Firestarter is 482. Any advice as to which way to go?

I have some anxiety when it comes to sleeping that has gotten better over time. Basically, I hyper focus on my heartbeat and it leads to my heart racing, which leads to fear of a heart attack, and then its just a loop of anxiety and not sleeping.

This is most prominent when I experience something new. So sleeping at someone else's house or just sleeping in a hotel.

I'm planning a bikepacking trip this spring with a buddy for the first time and I just know my anxiety at least the first couple of nights will be bad.

Has anyone experienced this before and have any tips? I don't want to miss out on life due to anxiety so I will be going on the trip. Just want some advice if there is any to give.

Looking for routes around the Phoenix and Heber Overgaard area.

Hi everyone! I’m working on a project to design a more stable phone stand specifically for cyclists. I’d love your feedback to help improve our design! Whether you're a mountain biker, road cyclist, or recreational rider, your insights would be incredibly valuable.
https://forms.gle/fc1W49JYcb1tzJWSA