Joy Machines Bike Shop in Cleveland was hosting a bicycle camping trip to Big Creek Park near Chardon the night before Memorial Day. A group of us rode up from Akron to meet them. We stopped in Mantua for lunch after riding the Summit County Bike & Hike Trail, Portage Bike & Hike, a bit of the Headwaters Trail and finally the Maple Highlands Trail – there was also some country road riding mixed in. After camping we worked our way back to Cleveland before riding the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath home.
What would you define this trip as – a tour? Bike-packing?
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45 Comments
Enjoyed that one very much Tim… Great flick..
👏👏👏👏Nice Ride!! Great Team!!
Thanks Tim …more fun !
outstanding weather for the weekend. we had exactly the same here in Boise. river is still raging though so no floating. tnx for excellent views.
Drooling from looking at those beautiful machines.
Again, I love the trippy, wide angle, image stabilized Go Pro work . Do I need to spend $549.00 to get that? Then again, that's what you do, isn't it? sooo.. Love how you all seem to be pretty tight. Riding with people you know well is everything. (predictable). I vote gravel bikes all the way for your 100 mile +/- or so forays. Idea: You could, however, designate a "steward", The guy at 3:14 with the panniers, have him carry the french cooking , oh, but the beer is too much weight, they'd say. So do wine. So fund him. Pros: much less time wasted . Cons: you don't get the ambience of stopping at some cool brewery. Possible mosquito swatting. No A/C and smiling waitress. It all boils down to speed and mileage , everyone always immediately thinks. No, it's about culture, fun, love , and above all, *safety. Save the huge bags for when you're 73 and slow AF. Onward .
A great video as always. I actually told a friend about your channel earlier in the day, and here we are with content to share with her! Sweet!
Amazon sucks evening more now
How much does the raleigh weigh? I was out on my midnight special on the w & od and it was kinda feeling heavy. Do i just gotta build up my strength or do steel bikes just have a slower vibe?
whats you average touring bike weight? you or youre friends if you had to guess and put a number on it. loaded/unloaded. just trying to get a practical basis.
going through other peoples setups reeeeallly gives perspective on whats "practical" and what works. even just s quick rapid fite overview with some good aesthetic shots
Bike touring in the UK is generally a steel drop bar bicycle with rack. In Europe we don't tend to have long distance gravel routes. Racks and panniers allow quick stop lock and go shopping eating exploring. Maybe we have a lot more small country roads? Personally have gravel touring and road. The use case for a trad touring bike is not that we'll understood.
Fun crew!
Sees cattle: "We were mooovin'…". Nice video edit!😂
Thanks for the shoutout and support Tim!
This is awesome I'm watching this in a forest in England been out for a few weeks now under a different tree each night. Last few days has been windy and cloudy my solar panel isn't getting enough support to keep my power banks/phone topped up. Could I ask is there a USB dyanamo charger you recommend in your experience and I apologise if I've missed this covered on an earlier video. Great content man. Much love.
Feel free to watch my unedited raw clips here.
Really cool video. It looked like everyone had a great time. I wish I had a biking community to ride with. It hard living in the middle of nowhere to find bike people. Can't wait until the next video.
Nice ride.
Bikes, beer and Buddies, perfect ✊
beau film sur le nord des USA !!!
it was a GOOD CREW
bike camping is what we call our one or two night excursions on the Airline and Hop River trails here in CT.
We just call ‘em overnights.
looks like a fun trip and time well spent. thanks for sharing.
I’m just looking for the first time and I really like what everyone is doing. I rode from Atlantic to pacific in 2013 it was epic. I want to do it again.
Wow you got some great shots. Excellent perspective of what the trails are like. Im familiar with all those areas. I was out riding in chagrin falls and Willoughby on memorial day. 😅 Im definitely wanting to get back into bike touring mindset ive been busy in chardon but ready to branch out again. I feel like it helps with thinking and has cognitive benefits while riding on the bike. Many gains and freedom from bike touring. Even in the heat as long as you got enough water and your gear doesn't melt your good.
I'd love to see how all the different people in your group pack their stuff. Everyone seems to have a different set up /preference. I've been surprised you don't seem to utilize a rear rack. Thanks for sharing, enjoy your videos!
Great video!!
Great vid… appreciate what you’re doing.
I always think of it like backpacking – whether it’s a single night, or multiple it’s putting gear on your bike and sleeping outdoors.
I'd be down to go with you guys sometime & do a rig rundown.
These videos make me want to visit the US and ride a trail with you guys. Although we have a lot of great trails in the UK, no way are we set up with camp grounds like you guys, it's always privately owned camp sites or wild camping which is mostly illegal (except in Scotland).
Looks like a great ride! Always nice to see impressions of rural America, the smaller, lesser known towns & places etc.
What setup you take largely depends on budget too. I’d venture that most don’t have multiple bike choices or baggage setups. So I’d say bring what you got. Personally that means a trek 520 with ortlieb panniers. Definitely a cycle “touring” setup and that’s how refer to it even if just an overnighter.
Just got some fork bags to eliminate front rack for lighter escapades.
Speed at which you want to travel also plays a part. It seems to me bike packers are always in a hurry to get somewhere, so super light and minimal. Touring connotes a slower speed and more stops.
“What’s your average speed / how far do you go a day.” Are questions that used to bother me like I had to qualify for approval or impress. Then I’d think (to myself) I’m always going faster and farther than the person asking 😅
I always call it adventuring lol ..cause that’s what it turns out to be an adventure.. we always have the guy who packs enough for a year and the guy who has nothing and even forgot his water bottle , but it always ends up being the best day of our lives wrong turns and sore butts and all . Every ride is the best ride ever . Love your videos!! Great crew .
We just came home yesterday from two bike camping trips over the last 10 days and we’re debating the same issue. I used my gravel bike for both and my partner used his mountain bike for both and we both broke spokes in the back. So now we’re wondering if we actually have the right bikes, or if we’re just carrying too much weight for these kinds of trips. We were both within the way recommendations for their our bikes, and 98% of these routes were on pavement, so I’m not sure what happened.
I was a bike touring nut Long before the term "bike packing" came on the scene. I always figured "bike packing" was simply a marketing term, so I avoid it. Bike camping, on the other hand makes absolute sense to me, as time constraints often limit me to 24 hour overnight escape plans. Just my two cents. Call it what you want, life on two wheels is the ultimate expression of "freedom". Cheers from Montreal QC😊 QC.😊
The term bikepacking goes back at least 5 decades. The thing is, as with anything, the more people involved the more diluted and forgotten the history gets. Not that it matters anymore, but it was originally mountain biking out on trails that you couldn't access by vehicle in those days and couldn't ride to within a days time. So you had to pack to camp. But since mountain bikes didn't have provisions for touring gear (and, they were mountain biking), they were just tying their stuff to the bike however they could. Which when you keep this in mind, also answers the question all the bike tourists constantly ask about "why don't you just use panniers?" Because they couldn't. And because it was a different goal. And so the bags evolved differently. And here we are today. Modern materials and tech are allowing these things to converge so this is all a wash. And people are going to reject everything I just typed anyways, probably while screaming through their keyboards about "The Industry" and "Marketing" and "Shoving [insert whatever they're upset about this week] down their throats".
Semantics are a real joy killer. I moved out west from Ohio when I was 22 (38 now). I’ve toured the OR coast down to the CA redwoods and ridden logging and forest roads— always packing what I needed on my bike. I still don’t know what to call it other than a good time
✌️+ ❤
Man that's a super fun day🔥🔥👍👍
F ya! ❤ this! Ideal homie bike hang day
The amount of footages you took is mindblowing. 😱
These bike packing videos are growing. Keep up the great videos.
To much talking for myself
As always a great video!
Do you have any videos or suggestions on route planning for this sort of thing or is it more or less common sense?
I would like to see camping set ups; I’m particularly interested in someone who rides a small frame size. Thanks.