r/bikepacking

I finished Bright Midnight this year and have been meaning to post about it because I think Justinas is getting so many things right with this event, and I’d love to see more like it.

Obviously the landscape is a huge part of what makes this event special. Norway is ridiculous. But honestly my biggest takeaway wasn't the scenery. It was the people and the atmosphere around the event.

There is something really refreshing about Bright Midnight. Ultra racing seems to be getting more commercialized these days, and this felt like the opposite. Justinas, who organizes it, seems very intentional about keeping the event focused on the riders and the community. It felt much more like a group of people coming together for a really hard adventure than a commercial race. There was a great mix of people in it to win it but just as many looking to finish. 

There were plenty of great moments and plenty of moments where I was questioning my life choices, so I ended up writing a pretty detailed account of the whole experience. Partly because I wanted to share it, but mostly because I wanted somewhere to keep all the little details that I'd otherwise forget.

A few things that surprised me about the route:

• The route is a challenge, but I still think it is quite manageable. There isn't a huge amount of technical riding, so you don't need incredible bike-handling skills.
• The distance and elevation are big, but the cutoff gives you enough time to break it down into manageable chunks if you choose.
• The amount of daylight makes a massive difference. There are no real overnight shifts, which I found made the whole thing considerably more manageable.
• The resupply options were also better than I expected, both in terms of the number of options and their opening hours. Including 24hr self service stores.

One thing I really wanted to mention is the women's field. Justinas had been working on increasing women's participation well before registration opened, and I have a good friend who was one of the women involved in helping figure out how to make that initiative work.

It was really cool to see that actually translate into the event. Nearly half of the field was women, which was pretty refreshing to see in an ultra cycling event.

For anyone thinking about doing it next year, it looks like men’s and pairs entries are already sold out, but there are still women's entries available and as a community we should make sure all of those places get filled.

Happy to answer questions about the route, bike setup, resupply, logistics, or just what the experience was like. You can also read my write ups on my blog which cover an overview of the event, a gear breakdown and a full ride report post. 

https://www.byvelo.com/post/the-bright-midnight-ultra-racing-in-its-purest-form

My wife and I went for a 6 day trip around the Black Hills in South Dakota. We got a good mix of pavement, gravel, rail trail, two-track and singletrack. The main goal of the trip was to take it easy and not stress about mileage or speed. We ran into some cool people racing the Black Hills Expedition 450 route since we were basically doing the 280 length route in reverse. The fall colors were really starting to pop and the weather was perfect! 10/10, would recommend

Hey all, looking for some insight into bike routes (preferably gravel) in Spain. My partner and I are flying to Barcelona in a week and we are very undecided on what to do - also very flexible. We have a one way ticket and are hoping to spend at least a month biking ending back in Barcelona. We are very much intrigued by the north specifically the Transpirenaica MTB route and the Grand Tour Catalunya route. I understand that north spain - especially the pyrenees - during this time is in transition to winter, we are from the Canadian rockies, the cold or rain isn't an issue for us. Has anyone done these routes or similar this time of year? Is bringing a tent worth it? We are prepared for and may even prefer staying in Hostels/Hotels unless having a tent is absolutely crucial. We love the mountains but would also like to experience the diversity in culture and landscape Spain has to offer. Any other route recommendations or insight into the pyrenees is widely welcome, thanks!

Pic for attn - Hwy 93 Kootenay national park :)

Took my partner and another couple friends of ours. It was spectacular.

May not have the looks but it has a tone of personality (be aware I'm not selling this, but want to give to someone only if they are going to take it on another tour)

It's been a really eventful trip that I documented carefull, from five punctures to needing to be rescued in lightning storms, it's been through a lot.

Was super stoked about having time for a 2 nighter this weekend. I’m a single dad and I wasn’t going to have my kids this weekend, and also had no work Monday. These breaks don’t come up often.

I saw the rain Saturday and thought, that’s ok I can ride through the rain for a day, it will probably be just a drizzle.

Now I’m seeing, 1.45 inches of rain, 30mph winds and possibility of flooding. I was going to do the C&O canal and probably not a good idea with those reports. Hopefully the storm has an abrupt change in direction or something, because right now I’m looking at staying in all weekend and drinking beer.

Darn.

Kona sutra Ltd shown with ortlieb panniers and apidura top tube packs. Old man mountain rack and apidura stem feed bags. Was going to bring freeze dried food for backup and just hit restaurants along the way.

I’m still new to all of this and constantly learning. I saw a front rack on an auction site for a decent deal without any specific information about the type of bike that it fits on. So I assumed it was universal. I was wrong. lol. So I had to give up attempting to fit it to my gravel bike and put it on my mountain bike.

Had a great time with the weather and the landscapes. Unfortunately only an overnighter, but more to come.

China!

We are currently doing a Europe tour and started by flying into London Heathrow. We had tried to do some research about what services were available, but unfortunately what was available was a bit misleading. I've made a list of what I wish I'd known beforehand. Hopefully this post is of use to someone in future and helps make your trip a little smoother.

#1 - Bike collection is straightforward

We collected our bikes from oversized luggage, next to the normal luggage drop. After waiting around for a bit they came out on a conveyor belt in good condition.

#2 - You can't cycle directly from Heathrow.

Fortunately this is quite clearly signposted, but as we had several staff members kindly stop by to warn us about trying to cycle out of the carpark

#3 - The "Heathrow Bike Hub" is not accessible from Heathrow via bike.

The Heathrow website advertises the Heathrow Bike Hub as a centre for all your bike needs. We had seen online that it appeared to be a bike shop, so we thought it could be a great place to assemble our bikes and troubleshoot any issues/buy anything we were missing. Unfortunately the bike hub is not accessible via bike or on foot from the Heathrow terminals, nor are there any bike friendly forms of public transport to get you to the bike shop. I can't comment on the quality of the bike shop, as we simply had no way of getting there. We assembled our bikes on some benches which worked fine, but a bike stand and dedicated space would have been more comfortable.

#3 - Disposing of bike boxes

After assembling our bikes we had two bike boxes, plus the extra padding we'd used, to try and recycle. After talking to a few Heathrow employees someone got in contact with the manager of cleaning services who advised that we leave them behind one of the recycling bins and they would send someone to come and collect them.

#4 - The Heathrow Express

The Heathrow Express to Paddington is a very direct way to get from Heathrow into Central London. The station at Heathrow however is not designed with bikes in mind at all. We had to wheel our bikes along long narrow corridors with lots of other pedestrians and at one point had to take a lift to get down with the platform, along with everyone else on foot. This resulted in a cramped awkward situation of trying to fit bikes in the lifts alongside everyone else.

Once on the train however it was very easy, as we were advised to stand by the doors with our bikes and since there is only the single stop, we didn't have to worry about passengers getting on and off at stops. The Paddington end was very straightforward to navigate the station.

The Heathrow express advises that it only takes bikes during off peak hours, so keep that it mind and don't get caught out.

I hope someone here finds this useful and can be prepared for their trip. I'll let you know what flying out of Heathrow is like in 2 months time when we cross that bridge.

From Langogne to Retournac, gorgeous sceneries in the last days of September.

Ich weiß es sieht viel aus, aber ich fahr nur am Campingplatz, da hab ich lieber viel Zeugs mit 😋