CommunityEducation

Announcing the Bikepacker's Guide, 2nd Edition!

As spring is transitioning into summer in the northern hemisphere, we’re thrilled to release the second edition of the Bikepacker’s Guide into the wild! A year in the making, this edition expands on the original Bikepacker’s Guide that was published nearly ten years ago. In this time, the popularity of bikepacking has grown exponentially, as have the resources available for bikepackers. This new edition of the Bikepacker’s Guide provides a wealth of knowledge and resources in a handy format, whether you are a first-time bikepacker looking for guidance or an experienced bikepacker looking for new ideas. The guide still breaks down trip planning and bikepacking skills and now includes additional resources on navigation, positive impact practices, mindset, and all the checklists you need for a successful bikepacking trip.

The Bikepacker’s Guide, Second Edition is available in a full-color 5”x 8.5” print book as well as digital versions. Your purchase of this guide will support continued route development, maintenance, and advocacy at Bikepacking Roots. Buy one for yourself or consider gifting one to friends or family who may be curious about bikepacking or who you are hoping will join you on a future trip!

More about the guide:

The first section of the guide, Go Bikepacking: Planning, addresses all the topics necessary to consider when planning your bikepacking trip in order to be set up for a fun and successful ride. In this section route planning, bike and gear planning, food and water planning, packing your bike, navigating, getting started, and Leave No Trace skills for bikepackers are presented. 

Then, the Going Bikepacking: While Out Riding section breaks down the knowledge and skills we’ve found are imperative to developing bikepacking competency: self care, finding and managing water, camp skills, risk management, riding solo, and the bikepacker’s mindset.

Next, in Gone Bikepacking: Field Reports, contributors who inspire us through their perspective and experiences bikepacking share their stories to inspire you to consider all the forms and roles bikepacking can take for us. Annijke Wade shares her powerful story of learning to bikepack as a newly adaptive cyclist. Jim Blount shares how bikepacking with his dog, Charlie, in the mountains facilitates his sense of security in his gender identity. Brooke Goudy lets the reader into the joy and sacredness of sharing bikepacking in affinity spaces. Patrick Farnsworth shows the reader how parents can bring their young children to discover the wonder of the world through bikepacking with kids. And Crystal Kovaks connects bikepacking with her family as a means to travel self-supported across the landscape to her mission to empower women to bikepack – regardless of their perceived limitations. Each of these stories enrich this guide. The knowledge and skills to bikepack is imparted in the first two sections of the guide, but these stories from bikepackers from a variety of walks of life are what help you see what is possible, and for who, through bikepacking. 

Lastly, the new Resources section of the guide is meant to be a quick reference of checklists for you as you prepare for your trip. From trip preparation to bike maintenance and common mechanicals to a resupply and a camp checklist, these resources can be screenshot, torn out of your guide, printed, or jotted down as a tool for you to make sure you cover your bases when preparing for and when out riding. 

About the Author

Kait Boyle (she/her) loves moving up and down mountains, through canyons, across deserts and down rivers. She discovered the mountain bike amidst a decade-plus career in outdoor education where she taught for Prescott College, NOLS and Outward Bound. In 2011 she fell in love with bikepacking which led to pursuing long bikepacking expeditions around the world. She raced bikes to see if she could, which turned into wondering what her best looked like. She has since co-founded Bikepacking Roots, won a 24-hour World Championship, set records in self-supported ultras that rival the strongest men, survived and overcome a traumatic car accident, and found her voice and passion as an advocate for wild landscapes, trails, and climate.
Off the bike she loves time at home in the Tetons with her partner, Will, and their dog Hank. Kait has a M.A. in Environmental Education and brings expertise to Bikepacking Roots in adventure-inspired conservation and education efforts.

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