Planning Your First BikepackingTrip
Bikepacking is a great way to experience a large natural area in a relatively short period of time, and it brings a new appreciation to trails as you live in nature for the duration of your stay. But it takes some planning because generally you and your bike carry all you need to live on the trails with few creature comforts, unless you pick a route close to civilization and can rely on stores for food and supplies. Knowing what you need and what is available along your route will make the packing much easier and you better prepared for unplanned predicaments.
Route Planning
Inspired by the website Bikepacking 101 and my experiences mountain biking on many routes around the world, I decided to take my first swing at a bikepacking trip. I wanted a short two-day trip on a route that is close to home, on some familiar trails, and reasonable in length so I could focus on the bikepacking aspect of the adventure. The bonus was I easily found a route that met my criteria: Bikepacking 101 offers great insights on individual trails to include tips on camping, food, and you can download a gps route file. Based on the reviews, I opted to modify the route to minimize time on the road, cut out unnecessary parts, and more importantly ride the best single track in the area, which is along Seneca Creek. So, I jumped on RidewithGPS, a site that lets you build and use GPS routes, and made the edits to the downloaded route. It looked to be about 120 miles with 1,500’ climbing on day 1 and 2,500’ on day 2. A great introduction route to bikepacking.
Bike Selection and Gear List
Picking the right bike and equipment are essential for a comfortable and trouble free experience. And a two-day bikepacking trip requires almost the same amount of gear as a four or five day trip – a tent, sleeping bag, floor pad, repair kit, etc., so this gave me great insight into what a longer trip would be like. Investing in quality bikepacking gear will give you a variety of packing options whether you are on a one-day or week-long adventure. And the bike you select should be outfitted with mounts on the frame for bike-mounted gear hauling and bottle mounts. The bike I rode (Cobalt Warhawk, www.cobaltbike.com), also had rear mounts for a rack and panniers, if desired. For this trip, I had three Ortlieb waterproof bags: a seatpack, handlebar and frame packs. I had two water bottle mounts, but I could’ve carried two more on each side of the front forks.
The Warhawk has the new SRAM Force AXS shifters mated to a XX1 mountain bike rear derailleur, a 10-50T cassette, and 40T front chainring. It performed flawlessly and never left me wanting another gear. Crisp, easy shifting the entire time. As a matter of fact, the shifting was so simple and took so little effort (I started to use my pinky fingers to shift), I found myself shifting more than I normally do. Because the shifting is wireless via Bluetooth and requires battery power, I played it safe and brought an extra SRAM battery. Turns out the battery didn't even register a loss of charge. It showed full charge after the 9+ hours of riding. I have nothing but good things to say about the AXS performance.
Packing up the Warhawk
I organized my gear into compartments to make it easier to access on the trail and at camp. I put all my personal clothes in the handlebar bag, all the sleeping items such as tent, pad, pillow in my seat bag, and all my other gear in the frame bag — tools, power cords, spare glasses, food, matches, journal, etc. I also had a Salsa EXP Series Toptube Bag, which mounts easily to the top tube with Velcro strap and 2 bolts. Here I kept items I would need handy while riding like snacks (bars and gel) and a multi-tool so I didn’t have to go digging for it if I needed to raise my seat (which I did at mile six). I highly recommend putting accessible snacks in this bag so you can eat and ride without having to stop. For water, I only carried two water bottles because I knew there was plenty of water available on the C&O Canal and at convenience stores along the way (even though I didn’t fill up at 7-11 on day 2 like I should have—more on that later).
Day 1 | Departure
I packed about half my stuff the day prior and planned to finish up the morning of Day 1. This ended up pushing my departure time about an hour later than I hoped, but the weather was cool, and the extra hour meant no bike commuters on the trails. I would plan this differently in the future because the delay impacted available daylight at the campsite to set up, collect firewood, and get dinner ready before dark.
Before departing, I made a good decision to recheck the air pressure in my tires. The Warhawk has 2.1 tubeless tires, so it's pretty forgiving. But adding 30 pounds of gear to your bike will change the handling characteristics, which requires an additional 5−10 psi to your tires to avoid unsafe conditions when turning at speed or bottoming out and damaging the rim. Tire and wheel consideration should also be part of your trip planning. I had a set of 700c wheels with 38mm tires, and they would have been great on the C&O Canal towpath, but not so great on the single track on day 2. Look for an all-around tire/wheel combo that will be useful on the demanding trail surface — where you spend most of your time — no one wants to damage a tire on a multi-day trip (I did carry a Park Tools Emergency Tire Boot to mitigate this potential tragedy).
Day 1 | The Ride
The C&O Canal is pretty straight forward as far as navigation goes — the Potomac River is on your left as you go north, and DC/MD are on your right and you have the nice reference of the National Park mile markers. The views are great, but it can get a tiny bit monotonous, just saying. I rode the first 35 miles to White’s Ferry, where I stopped for lunch at White’s Ferry Store and Grill (have the burger, it’s excellent) before heading on my way. I departed the C&O canal at mile 40 and hit the pavement, heading for the climb and the views on Sugarloaf Mountain at the Potomac Overlook.
I arrived at the campsite around 4:00 pm, checked in, and bought some firewood from the camp store. Tip: call Little Bennett Campground instead of reserving online, as they can give you the best site for a one-night stay, although they typically require a two-night stay. The campsite was largely empty, except for the RV section and a few tent-camping families. I set up the one-person Nemo tent, gathered kindling and extra firewood, and started a fire. (See the set up video below or here).
For dinner, I brought freeze dried backpacking food, which meant I had to boil water to reconstitute the delicious Santa Fe Chicken and Rice meal I selected. Since I was traveling light, I had to use the campfire to boil the water, which worked out, it just took a bit to boil the water and cook the food. The meal was two servings, and I ate both. I was hungry for some more and was glad I bought the jiffy pop from the camp store — my little throwback treat for the night! After the fire started dying down, I went to bed around 9:30 pm. Lesson learned: I would pack a hammock or folding chair to relax at camp before bed, which would be very useful for multi-night trips if you want to carry the extra weight.
Day 2 | Departure
I slept in a bit and had a lazy breakfast and coffee. With no stove and only a titanium cup to heat water, it took a bit of time to get hot water for both coffee and oatmeal. But I was on the road by 10:00 am. Concerned about riding single track with all the gear on the bike, I decided to make a few route adjustments to cut off some rougher portions of the Little Bennet trail, which turned out to be a non-event. In fact, the extra weight and the 2.1 tires kept the bike stuck to the trail and it handled extremely well. The 25 miles of single track down the Seneca Creek trails turned out to be the best part of the trip. Thanks to MORE for the great trail network! If I had selected a mountain bike for this trip instead, this portion would’ve been just as fun, and I probably wouldn't have skirted around the rooty Clopper Lake.
Day 2 | The Ride
The ride down the single track towards the C&O Canal was a blast. After a stop at 7-11 for coffee and a quick snack, I was back on the trail. I realized later I forgot to refill my water bottles. Once I realized this, I resigned myself to finding a way to get water along the remaining route, and I pressed on instead of heading back. It turned out, I didn't find a water source until the end of Muddy Branch about three hours later. I was out of water and ready to use the hose at someone's house when I ran into a landscaper who gave me two bottles of water, it was cold too! Good karma to him.
I arrived back at the C&O Canal after 30 miles of riding from the campsite. It was a welcome site. As I started down the towpath, which is a constant grind in dusty conditions with lots of people criss-crossing the trail, I was reminded how different the riding is here compared to my single track bliss. I kept my head down and pedaled along as the mile posts passed by, so glad I saved my tasty shot bloks for this section. They always put a smile on my face even on the toughest rides.
Reflections
Water: Bring more, refill when you can. Enough said.
Equipment: It was all top notch. I won't use the same sleeping pad again, however. It was too thin for me and my hip dug into the ground all night. It's a tough balance between weight and comfort. I've purchased the Nemo Astro Lite pad for the next trip, so check back to see how it works out.
Food: The backpacking meal was tasty and a great source of calories, but I think I needed more calories for the night after riding four hours and five hours the next day.
Route: I was happy with the route selection. The C&O Canal is an easy way to access the trails in Montgomery County, and there are lots of options depending on what experience you want from the trip.
Bike: The Cobalt Warhawk performed really well. I could not have asked for a better bike for the ride. If you could have just one bike, this would be it. I’d even consider putting 700c wheels for this trip as the frame fits 50mm tires (29” x 1.9”).
Look for my next bikepacking post in the next few weeks. The cool Fall weather will make outdoor camping a much more equipment intensive effort.
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