That looks awesome!

Can you tell us a bit out the route?
How long was your route? Is camping allowed in the dunes?
It looks like most of those beaches only exist at low tide and the water would come right up to the dunes/ headlands at high tide, is that true?

Great ride and very nice and informative articles.

The arrowhead is on a snowmobile trail, I would not call it similar to a rail trail. It has some fairly steep hills and it runs across swampy, rocky and grassy surface, not smooth gravel or pavement like a rail trail.

NEOair thigh length in summer.
Womens(higher R value) ankle length NEOair on top of 25" wide, full length 12mm closed cell foam in winter.

despite being off the ball on ideal gear, it's cool that tens of thousands of people just got a mailing with 'bikepacking' as the title. can't help but give a few more people the bug to start checking it out.

great video of bikepacking in peru

Huayhuash on Vimeo

just like this

Here's a nice bike packing story trying to follow a historic trading route in northern Minnesota, USA;

Story and photo's by Hansi Johnson.



http://salsacycles.com/culture/northwest_trail_part_one_a_gift_from_misshepeshu

http://salsacycles.com/culture/northwest_trail_day_two_rolling_with_the_punches

http://salsacycles.com/culture/northwest_trail_day_three_the_day_the_little_men_crawled

Yes, on a few occasions my hands are actually sweating, but most of the time it is more normal perspiration, not much you can do about that, short of wearing VBLs.
Mine are actually quite vented, since they don't have a fancy seal around the cables and are wide at the cuff.

The same issues applies to boots and sleeping bags, but unlike those, there seem to be no breathable pogies, since even the one made with breathable fabric often have a plastic sheet inside, plus so many layers of material.

I would stay away from the Candys if we are talking about filling up with snow/ice. The small platform forms a nice trap for such stuff. They asol don't offer any grip when not clipped in.

The eggbeaters would obviously be best, but they don't offer much support, so, in cold weather you'll need to make sure to have some very stiff soled shoes with good insulating insoles to keep from getting cold spots.

The mallets are better, and if for some reason the clip in doesn't work you at least have some platform size and pins for traction. The new ones are supposed to be better in the bearing life. However, if the OP was stating platform pedals ice up in his conditions, Mallets surely will, even the DH. If you do get them, only the DH version, is even even worth considering, wider platform, bigger pins and much more room for ice to fall out.

To the OP:
What flat pedals where you using that were icing up? Thinner pedals with big openings are much better than thick ones with small openings.

I have very bad experiences with Tioga Zeros, the bearings didn't last two wet rides.

Currently I am using 45NRth Helva pedals. It has been below zero here, so ice-up is not an issue, but I expect them to do alright, they are so thin, and the openings quite large, ice would be hard pressed(pun intended;-) to stick in there.

This should be better than Eggbeaters and even if there is some ice, you still have some grip.

hi,

How do people deal with their pogies? mine seem to accumulate a fair bit of moisture in even a short ride(haven't used them for an overnight yet), as they are a non-breathable coated fabric, lined with pile.

They are not super warm, so I wear thin fleece gloves underneath, also to keep my hands warm when I pull them out of the pogies.

 This combo is perfect down to about -10F/-25C which is about as cold as it usually gets here.

But this creates two issues;
1- my liner gloves get very damp
2- the pogies get quite damp, how to dry them on an overnight trip.

I've been thinking of VBL gloves, maybe dishgloves?

anyway, what do you use?

You were asking two separate questions in your original post:
1- why do Euuropean bike packers favor backpacks and American riders bikepacks.
2- what are the pros and cons to each setup.

I think question one is not so important. Except for people who are only using one style out of ignorance, because they simply don't know they have other options.

Question 2:
Backpacks keep your bike light if you have to carry it, and make it easier to get behind the seat.
Bike mounted bags are more comfortable and easier to access on the bike.

If you have a lot of gear you will need both!

I usually prefer a lightish weight Wingnut backpack, handlebar and frame bag. I don't do trips with much bike carrying.

Enlightened Equipment Revelation X quilt.
by far the most affordable option in ultralight bags/quilts.

Golite can be a good deal when they are '50%' off the full price.

Check out the wheelbase of the Jet9 - I don't think you could have fit anything bigger, lengthwise. www.ninerbikes.com/jet9

As I mentioned. I fit a MUCH longer bike in, but with more disassembly.
A Rigid 29er L would probably be okay. You might have to flip the fork around and remove the brake caliper, this shortens up the length a lot. After that there isn't a whole lot you can do to shorten/lower a rigid bike.
If you are worried, measure your bikes length without the fronjt wheel and I will measure the box.

I like my Specialized Rimes a lot. They have fairly good stiffness. My friend loved his X-alps(not sure which model) on the Colorado trail.
The Candy's offer no support, so if you try them out with your bikepacking shoe and find you get pressure points, you could switch out for a pair of the Mallets. They have a large platform that provides a lot of support for pedaling. Additionally, if something were to happen to your cleat or the spring mechanism in the pedal, you can still ride well.

Yeah, that shot is what made me afraid to use the standard cardboard box. Guess the arrows pointing 'this side up' are just to hard to read.
 I also have an aircaddy. my bike does require some serious disassembly to fit:

Remove pedals and rear derailleur. Deflate rear tire. Unbolt rear shock(This lowers and shortens the bike a lot)
Deflate and compress front fork. remove stem-handlebar from steerer. Remove front brake. Remove seat/seatpost. Secure all the parts that are now dangling  by cables and hoses. Squeeze really hard to make bike go into box.

Not quite as easy as they make out on the website. However, this is for a XL sized 130/140mm travel full suspension 29er. If you have a hardtail, or 26" wheels, or a size S bike, you will have far less work to do[/left][/left].

If she is ok with some climbing, there are several 'trans-alp' routes that are almost entirely on (gravel) roads and bike paths. I would probably still prefer a true mtb, in order to have the low gear for long climbs and fat tires for better rolling on gravel.


For example:
http://www.mountainbike-magazin.de/touren/touren-der-mountainbike-redaktion/alpencross/alpencross-oberstdorf-gardasee-die-leichte-variante-infos-und-gps-daten.36679.2.htm

I apologize if this was already posted before.


In the fall of 2011 Cyclists pioneered The Virginia Mountain Bike Trail, an 480 mile (772 km)  off-road connector route spanning the length of Virginia's Allegheny & Blue Ridge Mountain Ranges.

http://virginiamountainbiketrail.com/

http://shenandoahmountaintouring.blogspot.com/2011/11/virginia-mountain-bike-trail-it-is.html

Or how about getting shuttled to somewhere up high, for a net loss route? Any chance of a extra curricular activity like swimming or exploring a cave?

I have trip reports up. Generally I've found that its great if you can take a friend along, even better if you bring their parent along too.

A very nice trip and a very impressive video. thanks for putting the sub-titles on, now i can show it to my american frineds without having to do a voice-over ;-)