Cycling Explore: The Ultimate Guide to Bikepacking and Adventure Touring
Cycling Explore: The Ultimate Guide to Bikepacking and Adventure Touring The standard sightseeing tour is broken. Cramming into crowded tour buses, staring through tinted windows, and rushing from one tourist trap to another strips away the raw essence of travel. If you want to truly connect with a landscape, feel the topography of a country, and discover hidden gems completely missed by the guidebooks, you need to slow down. You need to explore on two wheels. Cycling exploration —often called bikepacking or bicycle touring—is the ultimate marriage of human-powered adventure and slow travel. It transforms the space between destinations into the journey itself. Here is a comprehensive guide to planning, packing, and executing your first self-supported cycling expedition. 1. Choosing Your Adventure Style: Touring vs. Bikepacking Before you buy any gear, you must determine what type of terrain you want to conquer. The cycling community divides adventure riding into two distinct philosophi...