Is this also the forum for “bike packing” ?
06-12-23, 12:32 PM
#76
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Three-month-old thread alert! Well, you know what it's like on BikeForums: resurrect a thread and it's "Why didn't you start a new one?" Start a new thread and it's "We had a thread on that - use the search feature!!!"
Anyway, over on Radavist, author John Watson explores 'bike touring vs. bikepacking' in a recently posted editorial. His take in summary: Bags&bikes used and surfaces ridden are irrelevant. It's all just touring unless it's time/distance competitive (mass start, against the clock, FKT). Only then is it bikepacking.
https://theradavist.com/bike-touring...s-bikepacking/
I think I'm going to start calling the non-competitive, away-from-home rides I do "bummels".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_...rd_'Bummel'
Anyway, over on Radavist, author John Watson explores 'bike touring vs. bikepacking' in a recently posted editorial. His take in summary: Bags&bikes used and surfaces ridden are irrelevant. It's all just touring unless it's time/distance competitive (mass start, against the clock, FKT). Only then is it bikepacking.
https://theradavist.com/bike-touring...s-bikepacking/
I think I'm going to start calling the non-competitive, away-from-home rides I do "bummels".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_...rd_'Bummel'
06-12-23, 01:24 PM
#77
bicycle tourist
One interesting data point from my travels through the US these past seven weeks. The term "bike packing" does seem to have common name recognition. A few times including today in Indiana I was cycling through a small town with my bike and four panniers when someone called a variation of "hey are you bike packing"? This seems to be followed with a "do you need anything?" type question. So at least in New York, Ohio and Indiana so far the term "bike packing" has been applied to my touring.
I mostly acknowledge the positive sentiments rather than get into a semantic discussion.
I mostly acknowledge the positive sentiments rather than get into a semantic discussion.
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06-12-23, 04:02 PM
#78
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06-12-23, 04:21 PM
#79
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Three-month-old thread alert! Well, you know what it's like on BikeForums: resurrect a thread and it's "Why didn't you start a new one?" Start a new thread and it's "We had a thread on that - use the search feature!!!"
Anyway, over on Radavist, author John Watson explores 'bike touring vs. bikepacking' in a recently posted editorial. His take in summary: Bags&bikes used and surfaces ridden are irrelevant. It's all just touring unless it's time/distance competitive (mass start, against the clock, FKT). Only then is it bikepacking.
https://theradavist.com/bike-touring...s-bikepacking/
I think I'm going to start calling the non-competitive, away-from-home rides I do "bummels".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_...rd_'Bummel'
Anyway, over on Radavist, author John Watson explores 'bike touring vs. bikepacking' in a recently posted editorial. His take in summary: Bags&bikes used and surfaces ridden are irrelevant. It's all just touring unless it's time/distance competitive (mass start, against the clock, FKT). Only then is it bikepacking.
https://theradavist.com/bike-touring...s-bikepacking/
I think I'm going to start calling the non-competitive, away-from-home rides I do "bummels".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_...rd_'Bummel'
I differentiate between off-road, relatively short, relatively rugged tours and longer, relatively smooth on-road travel as bikepacking for the former and touring for the latter. Frankly, I’d rather use panniers…low riders and all… all the time but they just don’t work as well for rugged tours. They just get in the way if the trail gets close. Bikepacking bags work better for off-road rugged touring but, honestly, they make for crap handling. The majority of the load is 18” to 2 feet higher than panniers and it feels like it. When bikepacking I expect to crash because of the load at least once on each trip. I never crash with panniers. Since I’m Stuart Black, that should make my ideas at least valid as “John Watson”.
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06-12-23, 05:39 PM
#80
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06-12-23, 10:24 PM
#81
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No I didn’t. Was a bit too ticked off by his article.
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
06-13-23, 04:46 AM
#82
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Well that was the hot take alright..
I guess for me the difference has always been dirt and single track = bikepacking and road and double track = touring but
They're all fun
I guess for me the difference has always been dirt and single track = bikepacking and road and double track = touring but
They're all fun
06-13-23, 05:38 AM
#83
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The topic of defining bikepacking is kind of like politics in a polarized society where a lot of people get their information from social media instead of true journalism where sources are confirmed, etc.
I consider bikepacking to be putting your gear on the bike without using racks, regardless of the ground surface or type of bike. But I have no interest in arguing with those that have different opinions because I really do not care if they have different opinions.
I wonder how many people will tell me I am wrong in this post?
I consider bikepacking to be putting your gear on the bike without using racks, regardless of the ground surface or type of bike. But I have no interest in arguing with those that have different opinions because I really do not care if they have different opinions.
I wonder how many people will tell me I am wrong in this post?
06-13-23, 11:23 AM
#84
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Three-month-old thread alert! Well, you know what it's like on BikeForums: resurrect a thread and it's "Why didn't you start a new one?" Start a new thread and it's "We had a thread on that - use the search feature!!!"
Anyway, over on Radavist, author John Watson explores 'bike touring vs. bikepacking' in a recently posted editorial. His take in summary: Bags&bikes used and surfaces ridden are irrelevant. It's all just touring unless it's time/distance competitive (mass start, against the clock, FKT). Only then is it bikepacking.
https://theradavist.com/bike-touring...s-bikepacking/
Anyway, over on Radavist, author John Watson explores 'bike touring vs. bikepacking' in a recently posted editorial. His take in summary: Bags&bikes used and surfaces ridden are irrelevant. It's all just touring unless it's time/distance competitive (mass start, against the clock, FKT). Only then is it bikepacking.
https://theradavist.com/bike-touring...s-bikepacking/
It was just a long winded hot take. One of the comments even calls the guy out for generating crap content with the hope of getting clicks and the author really didnt disagree in response.
What a pile of wasted time- both to write that and to push it out for people to consume.
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06-13-23, 12:01 PM
#85
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The sentiment that, if it's not racing it's not valid, is hardly new or confined to bicycling much less bike touring. Eking an article out of it - well, it's a living.
The new Spiderman movie has a boss battle scene wherein they all wreck the Guggenheim museum, and as they throw sculptures at one another, one asks - but is it art? and the other one replies - well, we're talking about it
Popular counterpoint (misattributed to Vonnegut)
The new Spiderman movie has a boss battle scene wherein they all wreck the Guggenheim museum, and as they throw sculptures at one another, one asks - but is it art? and the other one replies - well, we're talking about it
Popular counterpoint (misattributed to Vonnegut)
When I was 15, I spent a month working on an archeological dig. I was talking to one of the archeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those kinds of “getting to know you” questions you ask young people: Do you play sports? What’s your favorite subject? And I told him, no I don’t play any sports. I do theater, I’m in choir, I play the violin and piano, I used to take art classes. And he went WOW. That’s amazing!
And I said, “Oh no, but I’m not any good at ANY of them.”
And he said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before: “I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.”
And that honestly changed my life. Because I went from a failure, someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them. I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of Talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could “Win” at them.
And I said, “Oh no, but I’m not any good at ANY of them.”
And he said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before: “I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.”
And that honestly changed my life. Because I went from a failure, someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them. I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of Talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could “Win” at them.
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Genesis 49:16-17
06-13-23, 03:26 PM
#86
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Hmph. I took it that Watson was trying to pitch a big “touring” tent, which answers the thread title. Also, paid by the word.
06-13-23, 05:28 PM
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But then I have no idea how corn hole can be a professional sport
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Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
06-13-23, 06:01 PM
#88
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Bikepacking is what you do every morning in the campsite before you embark on the next leg of the bike tour. At least it goes faster if you have four smallish panniers.
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06-14-23, 04:11 AM
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06-14-23, 06:39 AM
#90
Senior Member
as a Canadian not familiar with this "corn hole" term, with trepidation I had to look it up just now--sort of assumed it was a corn on the cob eating contest. I've only known this to be a "bean bag toss", but maybe cuz I'm a city slicker.
06-14-23, 07:28 AM
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I grew up in Minnesota, live in Wisconsin, both states are major corn producers. So, do not feel that you were missing out by being a Canadian, I do not know what it is, and I suspect that life will be just fine if I remain ignorant.
06-14-23, 09:36 AM
#92
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Then it suddenly seemed to explode in popularity in the early 00s across the US at tailgating parties and summer yard parties. Suddenly I heard it called 'corn hole' over and over. I get it- fill the bags with corn as the weight. But still, its bags.
Its called both here in Iowa, land of corn and beans. So it isnt just a city slicker thing, though calling it 'bean bag toss' may result in some looking to see if you are going to insert your monacle and remove your top hat prior to tossing.
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06-14-23, 10:33 AM
#93
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I'm sure it's a fun party game no matter what it's called, but would not want to drag it along with panniers or bikepacking stuff.
06-14-23, 11:36 AM
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It actually has a somewhat interesting history.
The Bikeforums censor blocked part of the URL. You will have to look it up yourself.
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06-14-23, 01:04 PM
#95
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/********
It actually has a somewhat interesting history.
The Bikeforums censor blocked part of the URL. You will have to look it up yourself.
It actually has a somewhat interesting history.
The Bikeforums censor blocked part of the URL. You will have to look it up yourself.
06-15-23, 12:26 AM
#96
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Where I was from, corn hole meant something not good, as in what can happen in a prison shower. I can only imagine the censor is blocking it for that reason?
06-15-23, 03:48 AM
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Remember the sage advice Lawrence gives Peter in Office Space,
NSFW
06-15-23, 06:14 AM
#98
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06-15-23, 06:51 AM
#99
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Well that’s what they are calling it now. They even have an an association by that name.
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
06-15-23, 12:03 PM
#100
Senior Member
I think the Radavist's take on this debate offers the most clear distinction between the two terms. If you're doing a bike tour and competing for the fastest time on a designated route, you're bikepacking. Pretty simple and clear.
The gear doesn't matter and the road surface doesn't matter because people regularly carry a mix of panniers and soft bags and regularly do tours on mixed terrain. If I'm on a tour and I'm riding a paved section to get to a singletrack section am I touring on the pavement and then bikepacking on the singletrack?
That being said, I don't care which term people use. They're pretty much interchangeable words anyways.
The gear doesn't matter and the road surface doesn't matter because people regularly carry a mix of panniers and soft bags and regularly do tours on mixed terrain. If I'm on a tour and I'm riding a paved section to get to a singletrack section am I touring on the pavement and then bikepacking on the singletrack?
That being said, I don't care which term people use. They're pretty much interchangeable words anyways.
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