I got wifi again , hell.

I caught this beautiful and unusual setup driving by today. Don’t know if it is custom made or even DIY, but I love unusual setups. Although the trailer wheel seems connected off-center or maybe that he’s just starting to make the turn.

Thought I'd add one more video of the next day based on some people's interest on the other video. I have wifi tonight so I'm using it. But this probably won't be a habit. You'll see me pop up again later with a video in Angola or Namibia 🙏.

Had this great grand adventure planned out to cycle from cape sata to cape soya in less than 30 days with my wife , unfortunately; we landed in Osaka in the last week of June and the rains from the multiple typhoons and the heat from the Japanese summer was pretty extreme.

After 1 flat tire, 2 crashes and a bent derailleur hanger and thru a combination of cycling and train , have finally reached cape soya today . Didn’t manage to do the full journey by bike but the wife is happy.

Also thankful for the Japanese people who gave us food by the sides and a bicycle shop in itoigawa for giving me directions and a tire lever set when I lost my entire toolset while on the train .

I would like to take a sabbatical next year and do some hut to hut trekking + bikepacking across Europe. I am thinking about the Camino de Santiago, tour de Mont Blanc, eurovelo 10, etc.

My question is: How do I pack for both? I would need similar gear but the packs would be different (backpack for trekking, saddlebags for biking) - has anyone done this? I am pretty new to cycling so not too familiar with the gear/packing yet but I was thinking one option would be to put the bike bags inside a backpack and leave the backpack in storage when I go biking but then I would have to return to my starting point.

Suggestions welcomed!

Just wanted to share some film photos from a weekend trip! The first day was pretty chill: around 47 km, followed by a night in a tiny cabin. The next day we cycled 104 km to The Hague (not counting the city ride to the station afterwards). Mostly flat, but with a persistent headwind and some drizzle. Shot on my little Olympus XA with Kodak Gold.

I often put the bike in luggage compartments , doing this for years, ​and finally had the brake cable knocked out of the lever and it was a pain with the sharp wires where the end cap was knocked off etc

Replaced now, but how do you prevent that?

I could take the handlebars off for a long journey​, but that's a pain

Any tricks you use?

Second day fresh off the border of Gabon

Hi everyone,
I’m travelling in Copenhagen and I have a problem with my VAUDE saddle bag. I forgot the saddle attachment bracket (the part that fixes under the saddle rails and allows the bag to clip on).
The bag is a VAUDE Try/Trail Saddle, size M (I think). Does anyone know:
where I could buy a replacement VAUDE Twist/KLICKfix saddle adapter in Copenhagen?
if there is a compatible alternative?
or if someone has a spare one I could borrow or buy?
I need a temporary solution to continue my bike trip.
Thanks a lot for any help!

Hey y’all

I’m going to be bikepacking from Chemult up towards Bend in late August for a few days. I’m a lifelong Californian and never been up that way! Crazy I know.

It’s my first time and I wanna see some cool sights near the area. Lakes, forests, trails, rivers, mountains, peaks, whatever!

I’m just planning my route now but would love a local perspective on what I can’t miss.

It’ll be a full four days, 3 nights. Getting off Amtrak at 9am at Chemult and will bike up for the next few days. Let me know if there are some good places to camp in between, too.

It’s a birthday trip of sorts, so I’m planning on spending the final day in/near Bend, and then will try and get a ride south back to Chemult to catch my train.

Appreciate it :)

TL;DR

4 days, 3 nights bikepacking
Chemult -> Bend
Where should I camp? What should I see?

Hi, I reached France almost a month ago from Freiburg, Germany, and planning to stay here until late October or early November. My original plan was to go to Dijon and down to Montpellier with a detour to Annecy and Grenoble, then slowly go back north by getting lost in the Massif Central, then based on how much time left I have I would improvise some routes.

Well, my plans got fucked up by the unbearable heat, I explored Alsace and took whatever route komoot suggested to Calais, which I'm now about to reach. So now my plan is to follow the coast from Calais to Le Havre and then go to Dijon, I have no idea about routes there, I just know that Le Loire is quite popular.

Do you think it's good to do Le Havre - Le Mans - Tours - Orléans - Dijon? The route in the picture is just approximate, I'll then plan properly in small segments.

Planning a trip that will be overwhelmingly on paved roads.

Before setting out, but the same trip (some rest days in between), I am doing some gravel riding, so I am planning to use my gravel bike with 30mm internal wheels so the lowest I can go is 42mm.

Currently I have Tufo Gravel Thundero 44mm, they are fine but they're not completely slick and even the small tread seems unnecessary for this trip. I want to buy fresh tires anyways as while they still have plenty of life and I'll use them afterwards, they've had some small punctures (all sealed with no plugs or anything) and I don't want to set out on a 1000mi trip with used tires.

The Rene Herse Snoqualmie pass seems like the winner at the moment. The competition I have found is:

• Gravelking slicks, which seem like a cheaper but worse version of the Snoqualmie? I don't mind paying more for the best tire.
• Challenge Strada Bianca, haven't heard of this brand but seems competitive for the 40mm on BRR (hoo boy they may want to reconsider that acronym though). But I need the 45mm which is quite a bit heavier. Also, subjectively, I think the sidewalls are an uglier color. Reports only are that they are near-impossible to mount, which is concerning if I do need to get them on and off to throw a tube in until I get to a bike shop at some point.
• Semi-slicks like Pathfinder, etc. - if they happened to be faster and lighter than a full slick then sure, but they probably are not.

Are there any tires out there that I'm missing? Is Rene Herse "the best", ignoring price? Challenge seems like the closest true competitor insofar as it's a near-identical tire at a similar price point.

I have experience with the Rene Herse Oracle Ridge Endurance and had no punctures ever, so I'm leaning towards the Snoqualmie, but I want to obsess over every purchase I make, so here I am. Even if I commit to that I need to decide between Standard and Endurance and I have no experience with the Standard, dunno if it's a puncture magnet or totally fine.

Hello !

I’m doing the Otago rail trail which is 152kms on New Zealand’s South Island in late September / Early October. Ive looked up temperatures around that time and it looks like lows can get a touch below freezing and warming up to tops of anywhere from 10 - 20 degrees Celsius.

I’ve cycle in weather similar to this in my home town and am confident enough I’ll be warm in the dry. However I actively avoid cycling in the wet, which on this trip I don’t think I’ll be able to do necessarily. I’ll be at the mercy of the weather gods and would like to be prepared.

I have good, waterproof hiking shoes, good quality wool socks and a gortex rain coat which has flaps I can close / open as required. I’ll get some waterproof merino gloves. I think that covers my top half and feet…

But I’m not sure what to do wear for my legs. What do people wear for this sort of weather when it’s raining? Similar material as my rain coat, but pants? Or something different?

I also have some leg warmers from caffeine and cranks, but I don’t think that’ll cut it if it starts raining?

Any advice much appreciated 🙏

Edit : I did Victoria to Halifax in 28days... Vancouver to Halifax was 27ays ( I arrived at 11h30am so I could even argue 26.5Days but whatever )... someone just pointed that out to me. :)

Have any questions ?

Numbers ~6145km 26 days pedaling 2days off ~240km average 244 Hours pedaling total ~121000 calories ~34700 D+ ~25.2km/h

You can check the Strava details : Roberto Lemaire

https://www.polarsteps.com/RobertoLemaire/25681093-a-new-adventure

I will be cycling in Georgia in August.

Then, in Tadjikistan and Kyrgystan in September-October. Anyone around?

I have a tour coming up on Thursday, and the forecast for Friday is pretty darn warm. The route is sparsely populated. The only town with services is about 22 miles into the day where I plan to resupply water at the gas station convenience store. But then I have a 1600' climb up, no shade, for 8 miles. The next settlement of any sort is then 6 (relatively flat) miles away. I was keen on getting more water at this settlement, as there would be nothing else until the end of my day - but how? I did a little goo street view tour - the non-residential buildings consist of a fire station, a grange hall, and a community church. The church doesn't have a website, but it does have a Facebook page with the email address of their pastor. I reached out to the pastor, and she's going to leave me a couple of water bottles under the church staircase in the shade for me to pick up on Friday. In thanks, I quoted back to her Isaiah 49:10: They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.

In the past I've posted that I have found success parking cars to begin/end tours in church parking lots. As long as you aren't parked there on Sunday morning (or unless they have a remarkably successful Wednesday Bible Study) they are quite happy to take a small donation and let you park there for all the other days of the week. I usually try to find one that is the most personally theologically compatible, but in the case of my segment on Friday, I have no other options - they'll get a check, and I will get my water.

What is your experience relying on churches or similar on tours? Have you left your car, gotten water, been allowed to camp on the grounds, or...?

Doing the veloscenic this October from Paris to Mont St Michel. It will be my first Bikepacking/touring trip out of the country (USA). I've heard of people wild camping for the night in france (bivouac) and that its generally acceptable as long as you leave no trace and set up late in the evening and take down your tent first thing in the morning. Wondering if anyone has any experience doing that, or any advice.

Thank you!

New Surly BC. Just bought a new 17° stem looking for a more upright, comfortable position. These seem superb but wonder how it looks/feels with that extra hand position.

For context I'm thinking of a Surly Moloko bar too

Cheers!

My friend and i wanna make a bike tour for the next two weeks across the belgian and dutch coastline. We want to mostly rely on camping to get through the nights but we are on a small budget. We would like to maybe just rely on real campinggrounds every 2 or 3 nights, due to their high price in the season.

Thats why i would like to know how you get by with finding cheap places to stay at night in western europe.

I have already heard of warmshowers and Welcome to my garden, but both of them charge fee's upfront. So if you could tell me what you think of these options i would be happy. Like i said, we are on a budget and i wouldnt like to spend money for nothing.

We dont want to wildcamp since to my knowledge it's illegal. But are there like any options you have as a biker? Like are there any regulations that might render it legal? (Like if you have bad weather or something)

Besides that: we are really new to bike-camping in this dimension. So any tips you might have (or about the region) are really appreciated. Thanks!