I took my first bikepacking trip—here are 12 things I wish I knew before I went

After my first bike touring trip in Portugal last year, I could not wait to try bikepacking this summer. Swapping paved roads and hotels for gravel and campsites seemed challenging and fun. I couldn’t wait to see what the hype was all about.

Up until last month, all of my bike trips have been what is called credit card touring. This term is used for bike tours where you pay for most accommodation and meals, staying in hotels and eating in restaurants along the way.

Bikepacking, on the other hand, means you are self-sustained while riding and carry camping gear. On a bikepacking trip it’s common to bike through more rural areas. You usually need to pack significantly more gear that includes a tent or hammock, sleeping bag, and cooking materials.

Related: Bikepacking vs Bike Touring: What’s the difference?

Determined to try bikepacking, I set off with Ryan and his mom for a long weekend-tour of Plumas and Lassen counties in Northern California. We didn’t have a set route planned, but hoped to ride a loop of around 150 miles, starting and ending on the scenic Bizz Johnson rail trail.

The trip turned out even more memorable than I initially hoped, but throughout the weekend, I made a few rookie mistakes on my first bikepacking trip. From wearing the wrong clothes to not packing enough cash, there are a few things I wish I knew about before starting the trip.

Here are 12 things I wish I knew before I went on my first bikepacking trip.

I wish I knew I should always carry cash while touring.

In today’s day and age, I’m used to paying by card virtually everywhere in the United States. While on my first backpacking trip, however, there were several times I needed cash, and this was unexpected.

Our first incident with needing cash was when we decided to check out a local fair in rural California—a lumberjack competition of all things! After the entrance fee and a few drinks, we ran out of cash and cards were not accepted.

In addition, two of the campsites during the trip required payment in cash, at $25 and $32 per night. Luckily we were near an ATM before our first paid campsite, or we would have been out of luck.

On my next bike tour, I’ll definitely carry at least $100 in cash with me at all times. You never know when you’ll encounter cash-only businesses while touring, and it’s better to be prepared.

I wish I knew to bring a first-aid kit because I wiped out on the first five miles of the ride.

CRUNCH.

It happened all too fast. As I was riding down the Bizz Johnson rail trail, I cycled too close to a rogue tree branch.

My pannier bag which, by design, sticks off the side of my bike, hit the branch. Within a second I was flying off my bike on what was by far my worst wipe out yet. I was fortunate I didn’t break a collarbone, but my leg was cut and bloody.

At that moment, I realized I did not have any type of first aid kit or antibacterial cream. Not only did I feel stupid for riding too close to the branch, but I felt I had been careless by not packing first-aid supplies.

Fortunately we were only around ten miles from the nearest town when I crashed. After another hour of riding I picked up supplies and cleaned the wound before it got infected.

I definitely wish I knew to pack a first-aid kit on my first bikepacking trip. Even if I had never needed one before, it’s always better to be prepared.

I wish I knew to bring sunglasses even though I always wear clear shades.

I almost always wear clear glasses when I cycle. I often find sunglasses to be too dark, which limits my vision on the ride. I’ll admit I don’t have the words best eyesight (thank goodness for strong contacts!), so using shades seems to make my vision worse when riding.

In most situations, I never have much of a problem wearing clears, but during my bikepacking trip I regretted not putting sunglasses in my bag. During a few sections of the tour, we were cycling into the direct sun. The shade from my helmet only covered so much of the sunlight.

Even though I wouldn’t normally ride with shades, I definitely would have put them on in this situation. My ride would have been far more comfortable!

From now on I will pack both sunglasses and clears in my handlebar bag to avoid any discomfort while riding.

I wish I knew camping could be more fun than staying in hotels on my first bikepacking trip.

After my first bike touring trip last year, I all but swore off on camping while bike touring. The convenience of a bed and hot shower each evening during that trip was well-welcomed. Having to camp after a day of sweaty, hot riding seemed more miserable than relaxing.

Related: Where to sleep on a bike tour

Plus, since I didn’t have any long-distance tours planned, I could easily budget for modest guesthouses or hostels while traveling. Why make things more complicated with camping gear?

I had to laugh at my initial opinion after setting up camp for the first time on our bikepacking trip. After a long day of riding, I absolutely loved the simplicity of setting up my hammock and falling asleep. Listening to the sounds of birds in the morning and the gentle flow of the nearby stream was beyond relaxing.

While I still enjoy staying in hotels in urban areas, I won’t hesitate to spend most nights camping while bikepacking.

I wish I knew to not wear my black cycling jersey.

I love my trusty hand-me-down cycling jersey, but I’ll never, ever wear it again in the heat.

On the second day of our tour, we had to climb over 1000 feet to reach Antelope Lake from the small town of Taylorsville, California. Despite our best efforts to start the climb early in the day, we didn’t reach the start of the climb until noon.

With temperatures in the low 90s, I was already miserable starting the climb, but it only got worse from there.

Two years ago, there were devastating fires in northern California, leaving several forests decimated. Unfortunately, many of these fires happened along our route, and the burnt trees left little to no shade at all.

Related: Bike touring tips and tricks: Our Top 45 Secrets To Know

Riding uphill in the July heat in my black cycling jersey with no shade was not only exhausting, but risky. I found myself overheating several times on the way up with no chance at finding shade. On the twelve mile road I only saw shade a handful of times. Whenever I did I would take at least a ten minute break to cool down.

My other bikepacking-mates did not encounter the same overheating issue I had. They were, unsurprisingly, wearing more breathable clothing in lighter colors.

I’ll never, ever wear my black, hot cycling jersey again in the summer heat!

I wish I knew it would be harder to find a shower than you might think.

Because we were staying at campgrounds along our bikepacking route, I naively thought there would be access to a shower some, if not all, nights.

After all, we were paying between $25-32 for some of the campsites. To pitch a tent for this price in rural California should surely come with a shower, right?

Not quite. During the weekend we unfortunately did not find any type of shower facilities at the paid campgrounds. I could have done more research about camping options in advance to find a shower, but I decided to just embrace the stench and swim in lakes and streams instead.

On my upcoming bikepacking trip from Pittsburgh to DC, I’m planning to do more research on shower options so we can at least clean off every few days while riding.

I wish I knew about the app Ride With GPS long before my first bikepacking trip.

I used the app Ride With GPS for the first time on my bikepacking trip. It was a total lifesaver!

Prior to our trip, Ryan purchased the Premium version of Ride With GPS. We downloaded a few routes in the area we planned to cycle through. We looked at these routes several times a day, every day in order to know what to expect.

Knowing what elevation we would encounter, whether or not a road was gravel or paved, and which detours were available took a lot of the stress out of planning a route ourselves.

I wish I knew what a fantastic app Ride With GPS was before my bikepacking trip!

I wish I knew to pack a portable charger, as solar panels can be finicky.

During our weekend bikepacking trip, Ryan’s mom packed a solar charger she uses often during camping. Because we didn’t plan to use our phones much while riding, we figured this would work well for charging our electronics once or twice during the trip.

As it turns out, the solar panel works well when stationary, but it doesn’t charge well while moving. We had trouble charging any of our electronics during the weekend. This made it challenging to use the Ride With GPS app effectively.

Even though it adds extra weight, I will definitely bring a power bank portable charger on my next trip.

I wish I knew to double check (and triple check) my bike maintenance before riding.

My first bikepacking trip was the inaugural bike tour with my Surly Long Haul Trucker. I had purchased the bike from Facebook Marketplace just a few days prior.

Despite fitting the bike to my likings and checking its maintenance at home, I encountered a problem with the brakes while touring. I noticed the brakes required an extremely strong pull to brake. This quickly became painful during a long descent on an uneven dirt path.

Tears ensued and I found myself immediately regretting not doing more maintenance on the bike before the trip. By the end of the tour, my hands were beyond sore from pulling so tightly on the brakes.

Related: 12 most useful tools to pack on a bike tour

Ryan had an unfortunate seat mishap during our bikepacking trip, and it caused him discomfort throughout the weekend. And, as we were cycling through small towns on a holiday weekend, there were no bike shops available to fix his seat.

I wish we knew to do a double check on our bike maintenance before leaving for our tour! Riding my touring bike more prior to the trip would have been beneficial, too.

I wish I knew to keep snacks in an easy-to-grab spot on my bike for my first bikepacking trip.

On the first day of my bikepacking trip, I messily placed my snacks into my panniers wherever I could find room. I quickly realized, of course, that this was disorganized and made finding what I needed difficult.

When we got to our first stop of the first day, I relocated snacks to my handlebar bag and outer pockets of my panniers. This made grabbing a granola bar much more convenient while taking short breaks.

Having snacks all in one place made camping easier, too. I could easily grab my food to place it into the bear box at our campsites. I didn’t have to worry about unpacking my whole bag and gathering food from different areas in my pack.

From now on, I’ll always keep my snacks in easy-to-grab areas.

I wish I knew to pack a camping stove, as it would have been worth the space on my first bikepacking trip.

Because our bikepacking trip was only three days, we decided against bringing a camp stove. We would be passing through several towns each day, so we figured we could eat most meals at restaurants and convenience stores throughout the weekend.

As it turned out, though, we needed to plan for a few meals at our campsite. Since we did not have a camp stove, we purchased easy-to-eat items like tortillas, english muffins, peanut butter, granola bars, and crackers. I also made the mistake of buying cheese which, in the 90 degree heat, turned gnarly impressively quickly. Gross!

While these foods fueled us for the few meals we ate at a campsite, nothing was overly satisfying. Not only that, but my fellow bikepackers were in desperate need of coffee in the mornings. WIthout a stove or instant coffee, we were out of luck.

Yet even though I wish I brought a stove on this trip, I’m not sure I would bring a stove on every weekend bike trip. It does add extra weight, after all, and I guess I can survive on tortillas, peanut butter, and cans of beans for a weekend.

Will I love the meals? Probably not. But hey, everything tastes good after a long ride, right?

I wish I knew it would be worth it to bike longer for a better camping spot.

On the last day of our three day tour, we felt exhausted. The July heat was beating down on us, and we had already ridden around forty miles in the scorching desert. So when we reached Susanville, the biggest city on our route, we were about ready to call it quits.

Luckily, we were only two miles away from the trailhead of the Bizz Johnson rail trail. We had parked our car halfway through the 26 mile trail. The plan was to camp at the start of the trailhead and ride the last 13 miles in the morning. Doing so would allow us to rest sooner and avoid overheating.

After stopping at a local restaurant for a few quesadillas and margaritas, we continued onward. We were celebrating the fact we only had two miles left of riding that day. Yet when we reached the trailhead, we weren’t in love with the first campsite.

Because another campsite was just six miles ahead, we begrudgingly continued cycling. At this point of the ride, we were beyond ready to set up camp and go to bed. However, we somehow missed the entrance to the next campsite. This left us with no other option but to ride the next seven miles to the campsite by our car.

At this point I regretted not stopping when we got to the first, albeit subpar, campsite. Seven miles of tired riding later, however, I was happy to be back at the nicer, more secluded campsite next to our parked car.

On my next tour, I’ll be more open to a longer ride if it means a nicer campsite. The longer ride was well worth it on this trip.