The trip: GREY OWL TRAIL
Had some friends that were planning a two night/three day backpack on a trail I know and have hiked. It’s in the boreal forest of Saskatchewan, in a national park. I’m not an expert mountain biker at all. But I figured it is worth a shot–there is a lot of moss, if/when you fall! Also, when you run out of toilet paper you can wipe your ass with the stuff. So I told my friends, I’d let them get a head start and meet them at camp. I would only be riding two of the three days. The middle day I would hike with them and just carry a small daypack. Could the bike handle the extra weight? Could I handle the trail? And, yeah, the bears were around too. They are really busy eating this time of year, getting ready for winter.
It's a hiking trail that is single track . October is very quiet and riding solo, I wanted to make noise, as bears don’t like to be surprised. They got to listen to my Spotify all day. Pix here.
EQUIPMENT
Aeroe back rack and front holder. I just got these for this trip after a bit of research as they were the biggest expense. Most other items I already owned for camping/backpacking. Replaced the Aeroe straps with Clutch brand Voile straps.
FRONT:10L SeaLine Baja dry bag: Mountain Hardwear Phantom -7c bag, Thermarest xtherm R7pad, tent lights(dollar store), inflator, down booties
REAR:10L SeaLine Baja dry bag.: BRS stove, small gas canister in Toaks pot, food bag, sleep clothes bag, light down vest, toiletries kit
Tent: Tarptent Double Rainbow Li, this I tried strapped to top tube but ultimately it was better on the rear of the bike
Frame bag: multi tool, pump, spare tube. Cheap Amazon frame bag.
Cheap $10 Blackburn bar bag: snacks, old JBL Flip Bluetooth speaker
Strapped to dry bags: trekking poles. I needed for the hike.
Backpack I wore while riding: 25L Vaude Citus, (lined with nylofume bag) apex puffy, tent poles, tent stakes, electronics, FAK, CCF sit pad, homemade foam pillow(120g), water filter.
Wearing: padded bike underwear, track pants(they great for hiking and biking and cheap), merino t, alpha pullover, old paclite rainjacket . Wore OR eVent rainpants on the worst cold rainy day, over top of the track pants. Altra hikers on my feet. Merino socks. Gloves: some smartwool bike gloves I’m trying out I got on sale, but wearing nitrile gloves underneath(this is so so great for cold weather). Under my helmet, a merino cycle cap. While riding, temps were +2C to +6C. A lot of rain one day.
VERDICT: It worked!
Glad I was doing this with friends. Or at least meeting them. It was cold, once you stop riding, and being with others makes all the difference. My fire starting skills are improving. Feels good going twice as fast as hiking it. Mountain biking used way more muscles all over my body but without the impact of walking. Also, needed to stay focus on the trail all the time(lots of roots), this took some work but when I got into that mental zone it was very rewarding.
Biggest expense were the Aeroe racks. The plus side of that is, if you already have outdoor gear like drybags, you can use those easily in that system. Or even strap a backpack in them. And remove in 5 seconds. Glad I researched bikepacking here on this sub: voile straps, I had never heard of, and they worked great..
Somehow find a way to have less in the backpack. But that should be easy enough.
THE BIKE
Old bike! So, this bike I first built up 12 years ago. Second hand Ibis Tranny 26 frame, and a rigid carbon fork. 700c cyclocross wheels, Middleburn cranks. Cable discs with a separator on the cable, as it’s possible to disassemble the frame, not bleed brakes, and put it in an airline-legal suitcase(i.e.not oversize so no extra cost. I’ve flown with it twice.)
Eventually I turned it into an xc bike with DT Swiss wheels and a suspension fork and put some bombproof pavement/gravel tires and SRAM Eagle on the back. That was 6 years ago and is essentially the bike in the picture.
by Lost—doyouhaveamap