Introduction Thread

[Firedog62]

Hi
I'm Chris and I live in Northern Virginia and I'm kinda new to the bikepacking thing. When I was younger I did a lot of backpacking with the boy scouts and loved it. Combining biking and camping seems to be a great idea to get away from the rat race. I haven't posted much but I really like reading about how everyone is setting up there bike and the race reports.

Thanks

[arno]

Hello! My name is Arno and I'm from Germany (south of Munich, near the bavarian alps). I'm new to bikepacking but have some experience hiking  and bike-touring  in the Alps, Scandinavia and Southamerica. This year I will take the full plunge with bikepacking and travel to the US for 3 month in April. First Destination will be the Arizona Trail, and if my bike arrives with me in time, I plan to line up at the AZTR grand depart - and then follow the tracks of the real racers at my more leisurely pace
- in the next weeks I will pester you with questions about gear and more importantly the US specific things and hopefully see one or the other in person in April!
Thanks for this fantastic site!

Here a pic of me bike-muleing in Bolivia:

[revelo]

Hi all, my name is Frank Revelo and I just started bike touring last year, after many years backpacking experience (Pacific Crest Trail, Appalachian trail, various trails in Europe). Here is a report of my tour of Death Valley and Mojave national preserve, mostly on dirt roads:

http://frankrevelo.com/hiking/trips_2011_11.htm

I will be touring the back roads of Nevada next October/November, then returning to my home in Reno for resupply, then heading south into the Mojave and Sonoran deserts in December and January. I'm retired and plan to spend all future Oct-Jan months bike touring the American west.

[Von Petrol]

Hi Revelo,

Good ride report on DV. I am impressed that you went up Lippincott.  Next time you do Saline Valley Road you need to hit the hot springs. From the hot springs you can go over Steel Pass to Eureka Sand Dunes than onto Ubehebe Crater.

In the southern section look into Goler Wash out of Ballerat, near Stripped Butte there are 3 Adopt-a-Cabins with spring water. My favorite cabin there is Geologist Cabin. Heading east will take you to Badwater Road.

Colen

[Bedrock]

Hi all,
Andrew from Colorado here. I've been lurking for some time so an introduction is in order. In addition I have started making bikepacking bags for sale so instead of a total DIY guy, I guess I am, in part, a make things for money guy. I hope it is O.K. that I put this in this forum. I got interested in bike packing about a year and a half ago and found that I love it. Backpacking is nice and all but being able to ride your bike while getting into the backcountry is better.  The online community of bikepackers is great and the folks I have met are top notch. My favorite rides are in canyon country in SE Utah. My bags (only two so far) can be seen here. if anyone is interested.

Cheers,
Andrew

[dann c]

Hello,
My name is Dann (yes, with 2 n's).  I live in Omaha, Nebraska.  I'm an accounting major at UNO.  Now onto more exiting things.  I have that real nature focused mentality to bike/backpacking.  I want to go anywhere for any length of time no matter how easy or difficult as long as I am in the heart of something purely natural.  I'm sure you probably ask yourself "You live in Omaha, how the heck do you do that?".  I don't have many chances to be exposed in the types of beautiful places many of you live in, but those places are my motivation post graduating college.  I am doing the Tour Divide in June of 2013 after I get done with my studies and that is going to be the start of a life filled with any type of adventure my bike and I want to take me.  I've been reading a lot on this board since first hearing about the Tour Divide over a year ago and it has really helped me appreciate the littlest things like gear choices to the big picture of beauty and discovery this culture has to offer.  I hope to meet a lot of like minded people from this board and I hope I get the privilege to someday ride beside some of you.

[Aslan]

As a long time lurker and occasional poster I have been meaning to introduce myself for a while now.  I have been touring since the 70’s thanks to my Dad who took me out on my first overnighter when I was 10.  Thanks to that early start, I estimate that I have around 15,000 miles and well over a year of my life spent on self supported tours.  I have followed the path of a lot of the older people on this forum, constantly decreasing weight and increasing technical difficulty as the gear has improved over the years.  Here is a brief synopsis of my major rides in more or less chronological order.

•   The Northern California Coast: via the Lost Coast Route
•   The Central California Coast: Hollister, Solvang, Hearst Castle loop
•   Western Europe: Ireland, UK, France, Belgium, Holland
•   New Zealand: Circumnavigation of both islands
•   Australia: Adelaide, Melbourne, Cambria, Sydney with a little bit of Outback thrown in because it was there
•   Southern Europe: Italy and Croatia
•   The Great Divide Route: Canada to Antelope Wells
•   Mt Hood Circumnavigation
•   Mt Bachelor Circumnavigation
•   Many Northern Sierra area overnighters

Now that I have kids I have been looking more and more to bikepacking to provide that needed adventure boost in a much more compressed timeframe than a continental tour will allow.  Bikepacking fits that bill perfectly with its big adventure in a small time frame ability.   Anyway, enough about me, thanks for this fantastic site.  It is a great resource and very much appreciated.  Cheers! Steve aka Aslan.

[triyourself]

Hello! My name is Brian, but I go by triyourself, or DragonBear. I am a 37yr old male living in Denver. I am attempting to go back to school for a Biology degree. I want to be a park ranger for the US Forestry service when I grow up  . I have been a mountain biker since my teens, and started bikepacking about the time this site was created. Wish I had found it then. I am an avid outdoorsman, hunter, fisher, and survivalist. Since college, all my adventures have been 7 days or less, and none on the bike being more than 3 days. I have taken up triathlon in the past 2 years, and have gotten in shape to do some of the longer/tougher adventures I have always dreamed of doing. I am a native Texan who grew up roaming the back woods of the Sulpher River Basin in NE Texas. I moved to CO about 6 yrs ago. Since moving here I have had a yearning to do the CO trail. Whether in portions or all at once. Just to do it, but I was too lazy, busy with life, etc.... to just do it. It's crazy. I have done far more extreme, but for some reason I have let things get in the way of doing this trail. That is why I am so happy to find this site, now more than ever. It is an awesome site, and the creator should be commended.

Outdoor Adventureing Milestones:
-1st Self Supported Backpack: Age 8 with Grandad, 1 week touring Sulpher River bottoms.
-1st open star non bivy experience: Age 10 with Grandad, horse trekking through Texas. Used saddle blanket as a sleeping pad, saddle as pillow, and rain slicker as a cover blanket.
-1st Self Supported Solo Adventure: Age 15, 3 weeks backpacking, hunting, trapping in Sulpher River bottoms.
-1st Bikepacking Adventure: Age 19(1994ish), 6 days in Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas in the Arkansas River Basin. Myself and father spent two days backpacking, and were supposed to spend 4 days floating the river. Had a chance, and spent two riding bikes with our backpacks on our backs. Not ideal, but a blast none the less. Finished wih 2 days floating the river. Awesome journey.
-1st night in an Igloo: Age 36, Guenilla Pass CO in Feb, 2 day micro adventure. I can survive it at its worst. I don't like it, but can survive it. 
-CO Trail Experience: several day hikes on sections 1-6. Bike Sections 2 and 3 several times a year. Biked Section 5-6 twice, Backpacking Sections 4-5 twice. Several 1-2 day bikepacking adventures where I setup a base camp and bike out for 1 night.
-Continental Divide Trail Experience: Day hike on Loveland Pass 1/2 way to Berthoud Pass and back.
Numberous other camping, backpacking, and biking experiences that I have completed.

[DocTrike]

Hi I am DocTrike, life long bike rider, racer, bike builder, and bike designer. I don't have much experience on a mountain bike, but played with a BMX in the 1970's and did a lot of trail riding on alternative bikes from the early 1980's to present. I am here for info about TDR and GDR, mostly research into gear and and training methods for Ultras.

I live 3 months of the year in Taipei, Taiwan and the rest bouncing around the PNW. I was car free bike rider, and in recent years work has got in the way and I have only done a few monthly centuries last few years. I do the STP Bike Classic in one day each year. I am into alternative bikes of all types.

I have ridden all over Asian and the PNW. Ridden hundreds of trail miles in Taiwan and China on recumbents and folders. Work, age, and life have all gotten me out of that routine, I am trying to get back to that mindset. Looking forward to tearing up the trails on my recumbent trikes. I own a custom recumbent trike shop in Portland, Oregon PDXtrikes.com.

[Rawhide]

Hi everyone!

Dug here, although my PCT trail name this last year was 'Rawhide."

I'm newer to the whole idea of packing up a bicycle and hitting the trails for an extended period of time, and was planning on doing the GDR this summer, but my plans got changed. I'm not going to be riding a bamboo recumbent across the US instead, camping 90% or more of the time. (the change had to do with the 'mission' of the ride, so to speak, but I'm looking forward to the GDR in a year or so hopefully!)

I get excited seeing everyone's bikes geared up and looking beautiful shiny or beautifully muddy. I'll have a picture of my bike up as soon as I get it built & put together.

Glad to be here!

Dug
AKA "Panda Food"

[Flounder]

My name is Christophe from awesome Prescott, Arizona. I'm a reformed road racer, although I do have relapses. I've been racing road, mtb and cyclocross since 1986. My family was into backpacking my whole life, so you can imagine how stoked I was to combine the two several years ago.

I'm the technical editor for Overland Journal magazine. I write various gear reviews, many relevant to bike travel. I'm also a buyer for a large backcountry travel store, so I guess that makes me a professional (and shameless) gear whore.

This is a great forum. Thanks for having me.

[J.Paks]

Hey everybody,

Been lurking here for awhile gathering much info and finally took the time to sign up proper.
I live here in Denver CO, I am an Eagle Scout, Industrial Designer, mountain biker, climber, camper, bikepacker, etc...
If it deals with the outdoors, I'm all in. Riding is my life.
I began making frame bags and other assorted custom gear under the J.PAKS name http://jpaks.blogspot.com/
Looking forward to posting more personal trips and gathering more info!

Joe

[fedrlbiker]

Newb here... I've been on a bike most of my life and took up triathlon, xterra and xc racing the last 3 years. I've always loved camping and hiking which lead me on my first couple bikepacking trips in the last year or so. I've done it overloaded and with pieced together gear on road so far and decided I want to take it off road / gravel road with the proper equipment. I've pieced together a single speed from mostly old and acquired used parts as well as ordered a custom set of bags from Porcelain Rocket that I expect any day now. Perhaps after a granny gear flat Texas trip or two I'll upgrade to an Alfine hub (maybe even the new Di2 if it's reasonable) for more terrain options. Anyway, I hope to start getting more and more information from all of you in the future!

- Matt

[Sidewinder]

Hi, new guy here. Started mountain biking pretty heavily in the mid-80's stopped around the mid-90's. Haven't owned a bike since. Recently bought a new bike and some packs. Looking to get out in to the wild with my dog, bike and hammock. I came here to learn and contribute what I can. I live in San Rafael, CA and looking to do my first Bikepack this Spring.
 
Glad to be here,

S

[Dusza]

Hi! Przemek here from Poland, saw some of my country men around and decided to join the crowd an finally introduce myself after lurking around for far to long.
I'm currently on a "mission" in South Wales UK - enjoying lots on liquid sunshine!
I've always liked cycling in my local forests much more than those abominable tarmac roads (hate "dances with trucks") but never thought about long distance off road touring (bikepacking?) until last year when I decided to combine my love of hiking together with cycling.
Last year I had the chance to tour around Wales with panniers but found myself having much more fun on the off road parts and decided to stick with them in the future. If time allows I would like to cycle some of the trails in UK like Sarn Helen, Pennie Bridleway  and West Highland Way most preferably in one go.

just by lurking around I've had a chance to read some great discussions and learn lots of stuff,
so Thanks for having me here!

[csm]

Hi, I'm Chris and I am from the Harrisburg, PA area..
planning a couple trips this summer....

[Rabid Hillbilly]

Hello,my name is Daniel Howard(rabid hillbilly),i'll keep this short and sweet: retired mechanic(due to medical reasons)

[Rabid Hillbilly]

I'm typingon a browser(extremly cheap one)been riding on 2 wheels since i was 7(25+yrs)been camper just as long.

[Rabid Hillbilly]

I live in s.e. Ky. so there's places to ride here(not as many as there used to be,though)

[Rabid Hillbilly]

I don't care for log trucks much(spent most my life wrench'in on 'em)my nephew was hit and almost killed on his bike.