Article: Bikepacking - is there a place in the Bushcraft world for bikes?

[Lithril]

You can view the page at http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/content.php?r=697-Bikepacking-is-there-a-place-in-the-Bushcraft-world-for-bikes

 

[John Fenna]

I used to do a lot of bike-packing and found that I discovered a lot more of the countryside on 2 instead of 4 wheels when taking my time getting to venues.
So much so I wrote "Discovering Pembrokeshire by Bicycle" (Gomer Press).
I also used my bike when following/devising long distance paths in Pembrokeshire - "Longer Walks in Pembrokeshire" (Accent Press) as I left the bike at one end of the walk section, took the van to the start, did the walk and cycled back to the start.
A bike is a great way to get you to a location for playing in the woods and wilds

 

[GGTBod]

What John said but without the writing books bit, i find the bike is a great reason to take as little kit as truly possible to maintain comfort in the saddle and still setup a basic camp leaving you the perfect excuse to improvise everything you didn't bring along

 

[Quixoticgeek]

Hitting the bush by bike is a very sensible approach. Takes a lot of the weight off the skeleton/feet so that you can go further, see more, and ache less. I've converted my Brompton for cycle touring (what it used to be called before the term bike packing came about). I've used it as such for a number of trips out this winter, it works really well.

J

 

[Quixoticgeek]

Hitting the bush by bike is a very sensible approach. Takes a lot of the weight off the skeleton/feet so that you can go further, see more, and ache less. I've converted my Brompton for cycle touring (what it used to be called before the term bike packing came about). I've used it as such for a number of trips out this winter, it works really well.

J

 

[andibs]

Check out Bear Bones Bikepaking website

Andy

 

[Lithril]

Cheers for the site, some good info.

 

[Blundstoned Love]

A couple of years ago, after rediscovering angling, I decided, for the first time in decades to go fishing on the opening day of the season.

The venue was easy to chose - the monastic pond I fished obsessively as a youth. I wanted to be there at dawn which meant a 3 a.m. start. Plus I would not have the car.

My preference on any adventure is to walk in. But I had a fair bit of kit and food/drink to make it all viable.

The answer, if not obvious was not long in arriving, I would go, as in my youth, by bike.

So I acquired a long abandoned mountain bike of my brother's and after sorting it mechanically, added some paniers etc.from the local Poundstretcher for about a tenner.

It was an adventure that's for sure and one that connected me with my environment much more than being in a motor by a huge amount.

That bike trip has since become a much loved annual tradition and I can't wait for Little Boots to join me, since we regularly go wombling with food, drink and stoves on the "treaders".

 

[kaizersoza]

this is something I want to get into, but its finding the time at the moment with work commitments, I am fully intending to start getting out riding and conditioning myself now the weather has taken a turn for the better

 

[Lithril]

I know the feeling I've lost a lot of fitness in the past couple of years since taking on a promotion and need to get back into it, finding the time is challenging though. Lots of trails and ideas though, just need to get out and have a go.

 

[decorum]

If it gets you out there then it's all good

I came across this blog a fair while back ~ http://bicyclecorps.blogspot.co.uk/2008/12/introduction.html

In 1897, 20 soldiers, an army surgeon and a reporter led by Lt. James A. Moss, rode bicycles from Fort Missoula in Montana to St. Louis, Missouri. The trip was made as an experiment to see whether the bicycle could serve a useful purpose in the Army. 1890s America was also experiencing a bicycle-craze due to the recent invention of the"safety bicycle" (a bicycle with wheels of equal size and chain driven). Accounts make it clear that Moss had a romantic streak, and enjoyed the outdoors, as well as what he referred to as "the poetry of cycling".

 

[OldJimbo]

I recently read this article at the Gription and it did get me thinking that actually whilst biking might not be as purist or relaxing as walking or canoeing it definitely has it's place.

And I say that biking is just as purist as other forms of transport.

Back when Nessmuk was going on about light canoes interest suddenly dropped to zero because of the bicycle. Back then a bike was a wonder since it didn't need a stable, or feeding - and on a bike you can go further in a day than on a horse. I still look back on my teenage years when with a bike and Youth Hostels I got to see more of Britain than I'd have seen otherwise. And it was a heck of a lot of fun.

Over here we have the locked gate issue. Companies can't keep a person out from looking over what they are actually doing on the ground, but they can put in locked gates to prevent vehicle access. And it takes a lot of hoops to jump through to get keys to those gates. Or you can use a bike and go exploring logging roads at will, or use a fatbike (huge tires) to go sailing over the tundra in winter. I'm still putting tracks from a Garmin62st onto a QLandkarte map from vehicle driving, but soon comes bike, and then walking. I've realized just how much work there is to do.

I guess I can find the pictures of a person in a light pack-raft travelling down a river with packs and bike bits strapped on. That might not be a "Ray" video with his birch bark canoe but it is serious bush-craft as done now.

I guess I'm still very enthusiastic about bikes after all these years...

 

[Goatboy]

In my mind as Bushcraft is so difficult to define if you can couple an outdoor pursiut with the skills we all tak about here then who's to say that it doesn't have a place?
Bikes, skis, snowshoes, canoes, horses, ice axes and crampons can all be used to get you to places.so you can have fun. And if you're.doing them as.an end in themselves then bushcraft skills can enrich that experience by making your time there more comfortable and safe.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

 

[bilmo-p5]

Worth noting here that you can still take your bike on the train.

 

[OldJimbo]

[QUOTEBikes, skis, snowshoes, canoes, horses, ice axes and crampons can all be used to get you to places.so you can have fun. And if you're.doing them as.an end in themselves then bushcraft skills can enrich that experience by making your time there more comfortable and safe.][/QUOTE]

The old YHA credo - we provide the accommodation, and you by your own sweat get there and provide your own sheet sleeping bag of course. I seem to remember some outrage at adding arrival by horse, but since no one in my experience came galloping up, that was soon forgotten. It was only after I worked on a farm in Canada that I realized how much work a horse is.

 

[jelkel25]

I've done bike camping since I was a kid and as an adult it is fantastic exercise and isn't so fast or enclosed as you go by that you loose your connection with your environment. I've had to calm down on it recently for health reasons (I'll be back!!) but I still (only occasionally doc!!) recce a new hiking route on the bike where possible to see if it's not too crowded, there's decent places to have a break and many other considerations. The bike gives you a different perspective than either walking or driving that I value highly and you can take routes that are more concrete covered than if you walked, arriving without the swollen feet which is a good enough reason to do it in itself!!