1 - Bringing Too Much Clothing

We've all been there, packing for an adventure, about to set off on a journey and going through the final checklist of all the packing essentials. Somehow, time and again, we layout everything we might need for the journey and think to ourselves, well, I might just need that extra piece of clothing. The majority of the time, those extra pieces are really necessary and just end up taking valuable space and on average adding around 150g of weight to your setup. The common beginner problem is packing too much clothing, rather than good quality, multi-purpose pieces of clothes. On my trip across Western Canada in 2020, where temperatures ranged from 2-35 °C, I packed a light pair of leggings for cold temperature riding, which could be paired with my rain pants for extra insulation. I alternated between a chamois bib short and merino underwear paired with MTB shorts on alternate days and two loose fitting shirts that could be worn in a variety of situations, be it on the bike, in a shop or while sightseeing in town. For additional warmth, I carried arm sleeves and a rain jacket.

2 - Water Management

Managing your water intake is single-handedly the most important aspect of having a successful bikepacking adventure. I've seen people go on a 1200km bikepacking adventures with only 1 water bottle in 35 °C temperature and other people do an 800km adventures with bottles strapped all over the place. The importance is not in the number of bottles but how often you drink. Carrying too few bottles only means you need to stop more often to fill-up. With regards to drinking water, it's also important to take it some extra electrolytes during really hot, or really cold, weather. Sweating causes you to lose a lot of your sodium stores, and it's important to try to minimize those losses by taking in some salts. There are a ton of products on the market, but some of my personal favourites include NUUN, Skratch Hydration Sport Drink Mix, and Salt Stick Chewable Tablets.

3 - Eating the Wrong Foods

As a person that enjoys the challenges of bikepack racing, I have gone through my fair share of struggles with regards to eating the wrong kinds of food while out on the bike. During a more relaxed bike adventure, such as when I rode 5500km from Vancouver to Whitehorse to Winnipeg, I make it my mission to eat as much 'real food' as possible. Having a warm breakfast and supper can go a long way towards ensuring you are getting some proper nutrients into your daily calorie intake. I would always make some sort of porridge for myself in the mornings, as well as a pot of coffee. Because I was packing minimally, I didn't have the luxury of having both of these at the same time, but it was something I looked forward to each and every morning. If not in a rush, the same can be said of lunch and dinner. As I was aiming for some big distances each day, lunch would often constitute a mix of healthy and unhealthy snacks eaten while riding on during short rest stops. When racing, this is more important than ever. My experience has led me to make radical changes to my nutritional intake during long-distance endurance events, as I tend to suffer from acid reflux and indigestion when only eating 'junk' on the bike. When racing, I try to eat one proper meal a day, if possible, with the rest being a mix of candy, chocolate bars, trail mix, homemade maple syrup, and a high-carb drink mix. Using Skratch Superfuel on a daily basis during long adventures has helped keep my body feeling more energized, and also helped me digest more easily while riding and not having to worry about things such as acid reflux.

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4 - Using Untested Kit

Too often, you see someone lining up for a Grand Depart, wearing some flashy piece of new kit they just got. Whether helmet, shoes, bib shorts or saddle, the actual list goes on and on. A general rule of thumb is that all new gear and kit should be tested out ahead of the big adventure. Shoes should be worn and broken in for an extended period of time. Back in my military days, we would soak our drill boots in hot water and then put them on with two pairs of socks, lace them up nice and tight and wear them for the night. After a few nights, they should be perfectly fit to your feet. Saddles and bib shorts also require some good mileage on them in order to make sure they are comfortable, and you aren't going to suffer from chaffing and saddle sores.

5 - Using Untested Gear

Similar to the aforementioned problem of going on an adventure with untested kit, it does on occasion happen that people get a new piece of gear last minute and decide that they are bringing it, no matter what. Unfortunately, this can lead to you arriving at camp and struggling to get that tent up or start that new stove. I remember one of my early biking adventures when I packed my new Trangia stove and while deciding to leave behind the extra pot and pan, I also inadvertently left behind the pot gripper, leaving me with no way to hold my hot pot when cooking dinner that night. On another occasion, I wanted to test out my new down quilt and decided to pair it with my bivy sack. I purposely planned my overnight adventure so that I would be camping quite close to my house, should anything go wrong. t's really important to do a couple test runs of your gear at home before any adventure. I would also highly recommend getting out on a shorter shake-down ride as I mentioned above, so as to give yourself the chance to test out all your different gear while not being too far from home in case anything should go wrong.

6 - Too Far Too Soon

Another common mistake is to try to bike off more than one can chew. We tend to get so excited to go on a big adventure, especially when we have a limited time frame, that we forget to take into consideration the time necessary for our bodies to adapt to long days on the bike. It is really important to take into consideration all those elements that you don't need to account for during your daily rides or shorter training rides. Factors such as weather, temperature and elevation can have a massive impact on your ability to hit those big days like you originally planned for. Add on the fact that you are now riding a significantly heavier bike than you had been training on and all of a sudden you are dealing with aches and pains you didn't expect to have to deal with. I recommend cutting the distance you anticipate you will be able to cover by 20-30% for the first couple days, so that your body can adapt to the day-after-day riding.

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7 - Going Light on Safety

Safety while out on the trail is another area where people can easily go wrong. No one ever intends for things to go wrong, so it's quite natural to think of safety gear as wasted space and extra weight that is just slowing you down. I don't have a very advanced first aid kit, but at a minimum I always carry some medical tape, alcohol swabs, gauze, second skin, acetaminophen and ibuprofen. Obviously, there is so much more that I could take with me to increase my chances during an emergency, but these are some of the bare necessities I always have with me. In addition to this, whenever I'm out on an overnighter, I also carry an extra light, emergency bivy and water purification tablets or filter. The extra light in particular has saved my ride on a couple occasions.

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8 - Bike Spares

In a similar vein to carrying safety gear, it's important to carry the right spare parts so as to make your ride successful. I'll be the first to admit that I don't always carry all the necessary extra parts that one should carry. Some of the basics I never leave home without are a multi-tool, tire levers, tire plug kit, CO2 cartridge and extra quick links. It's a good idea on longer adventures when you are too far away for a quick extraction to carry a more comprehensive supply of spare parts. This will be detailed in an upcoming blog post.

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9 - Under and Over Biking

There's an age-old adage that the right bike for the adventure is the bike you already have. The truth in this can be taken with a grain of salt. In simple terms, overbiking refers to using a bike with more suspension and bigger tires than is necessary to ride the trail or route you are on. While there are definite benefits to this, such as improved comfort and reduced wear-and-tear on the body, you are making a compromise of speed over comfort. Underbiking is quite the opposite, whereby the bike you are using definitely doesn't provide enough suspension (if at all), too narrow tires and a more aggressive biking position that definitely makes things a lot faster but can impact all-day comfort and put strain on the body over multiple days of riding, particularly in the back, shoulders and arms.

While, in theory, any bike can be used on a bikepacking trip, it might be necessary to modify and adjust the route in order to make things fit in with the bike you are planning to use. In my experience, while overbiking will slow you down, you will likely still have an amazing time on your adventure. Underbiking on the other hand, can easily ruin what would be an otherwise amazing adventure by leaving you feeling beat-up physically, and even put you at risk of losing control when riding technical trails, which could lead to serious injury.

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10 - Give Your Bike a Little TLC

We all get a little bit excited when getting ready for a big adventure. And if you are anything like me, you are probably trying to finish packing your bike and gear the night before - and sometimes the day of - the big adventure. It's really important to take some time while getting your bike ready to give your bike a solid once-over. I remember on a trip to Quebec City from Ottawa, all of a sudden, my chain skipped off the front chainring, got jammed up in the bottom bracket area and bent a chain-link. Not only did I have to remove two chain-links to fix it, but I also chewed up a bit of the carbon near the bottom bracket. The assumption that after almost 15,000km alternating 2 chains and not changing the cassette and chainring would eventually come to bite me in the ass. It certainly wasn't the smart thing to do. Needless to say, it wasn't long after that I did a complete drivetrain overhaul.

While on your adventure it is also very important to take care of your bike. Daily chain cleaning after arriving at camp is a great habit to develop. The same could be said for checking that axles are tight and brake pads are not too worn.

11 - Proper Packing Techniques.

We've all been there, on the side of the trail, having to empty an entire bag while trying to get out our rain jacket in a downpour, or trying to find a tool that we know is somewhere in our frame bag and having to clear house. Learning to pack in a systematic way, so that you know where things are and that they are packed in a logical order is a very important skill in bikepacking, particularly when bikepackers tend to pack all their gear into a small amount of place. This is something I think I learned fairly well during my time as an infantry soldier, as you always had to know where your gear was. My packing guideline is to keep all my tools and spare parts in the lower part of my framebag, or under the bike in a tool keg. This allows me to know exactly where there are in every situation. I always keep my sleep kit and spare clothes on the front of my handlebars, as they tend to be a bit bulky, but not overly heavy. Food and stove are stored on the forks in small drybags, while bulkier items like tent and air mattress are in the saddle bag. Rain gear is often stuffed at the top of the saddle bag or to the top of it depending on the forecast. There really is no proper answer to this technique, but the idea is to find what works for you and go with it. I've recently upgraded to using the Tailfin system, so currently I am still experimenting to find what works best.... again!