Tag: bikepacking

Penwith Pootle

Hitting the eject button with a two-day micro-adventure close to home in the far west of Cornwall. Linking together a bunch of muddy tracks and trails with a night on the cliffs made for a perfect journey of (re)discovery.

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Cerro Aspero

To my mind one of the greatest things about a bicycle is the ease with which it enables new friendships and shared adventures. The weekend just past I took off to the sierras in the southwest of Córdoba province with new friends from the local biking community for a side-trip of a couple of days and nights. The area is fabulous for exploring on two wheels with plenty of empty space and steep terrain. It …

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The Empty Quarter… Laraos to Huancavelica

Technically “The Empty Quarter” applies to the Rub’ al Khali desert on the Arabian Peninsula, however I’m going to use a little creative license and use it to describe the last few days on my bike from Laraos; it could equally apply to parts of Bolivia and the Puna de Atacama in northern Chile and Argentina so I reserve the right to use it again. As usual I’ll use pictures rather then a tedious narrative to …

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Dartmoor

2-day bikepacking weekender around Dartmoor National Park. 120km loop featuring open moorland, steep wooded valleys, river crossings.. and some hike-a-bike.

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A couple of days of Dorset

I recently caught up with @whileoutriding for a couple of days/nights exploring the trails of southern Dorset on two wheels with an emphasis on great pub and cafe stops, and a good opportunity to do some more bag testing. It’s a part of the world in which I’d not done any riding at all despite it being not much more than ‘just up the road’ (about 4hrs drive). A good time was had. The area seems …

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N+1 = Big Bro

Mk1 Brother Cycles Big Bro. A well thought-out rigid steel 29er for bikepacking and general trail duties, that supports the kind of old-fashioned standards that I enjoy fiddling with.

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Summer Nights

Just a couple of snaps from the just past weekend local ‘adventure’ with friends. I was going to include them as part of a post I’m working on that, for once isn’t about me, ha, and that also, for a change, requires me to think a little about what I’m going to write  – it’s important you see. I changed my mind however on including them in that post so, while  that one sits in my …

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Dirt road touring / bike-packing Crete

I thought that, for once, I could perhaps make myself useful and scribble a general info flavoured post with info on maps and stuff  – especially given that Crete is such an accessible destination  with some absolutely fantastic riding that doesn’t require a big investment in time, messing with visas and so on. So..on that basis here it is.. Maps Crete is absolutely stuffed with dirt tracks and trails.. some harder to navigate than others but …

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Archanes etc

I could quite happily have spent a week on the Lasithi Plateau… however with a flight on Wednesday it seemed like quite a good idea to arrive back in Heraklion (or rather the western beach suburb of Amoudara) on Tuesday afternoon leaving time for packing bikes, enjoying a post-ride beer etc… so that is where we are now, bikes are packed (something of a race against an approaching thunderstorm) and we can reflect on what …

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Lasithi

After 9 days of riding without a break a rest day was in order…I’m lucky in that the temperatures have to be to closer to 40 degrees before I’m affected too much but even so the relentless climbing was beginning to take a toll. I would have liked one last high mountain camp but I’m not here alone so can’t have everything my way.. ;-) Instead a highly agreeable solution of one last big mountain …

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To the east…

It’s warm… as I rolled up my tarp at 8am this morning on the little patch of sand on which we spent the night my thermometer was already showing 30 degs C… and by 2pm this afternoon it was above 34 degs in the shade… about 10 degs warmer than normal for this time of year… it makes riding a sweaty business but I’ve endured much hotter so really just a case of slowing down …

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A quick post beer post…

Oh it’s so good to be on the road again, albeit just for a quick trip. Having arrived quite late last night into Heraklion today was reserved for things like getting up late, drinking beer in the sun while looking at maps, putting bikes together, finding supplies and so on. Easy. It is rather fun to be on the road in a modern European country for a change with well stocked supermarkets full of good …

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ECR Fettling

Mk1 Surly ECR. Original thoughts and fettling from 2015, now with a 5-year update following many months on the trail together in the Andes, Himalayas, and other places.

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