An interview with Ben on Bikepacking
Where did you bike?
I biked from Pittsburgh to Washington DC using the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) Trail and the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal Towpath. It was a 6 day trip, with a total of about 380 miles from start to end.
Was this your first time? If no, what was your first bike trip?
This was my first multi-day bike trip/camping excursion! A few friends and I did a quick overnight trip to French Creek State Park back in May as prep for the GAP and C&O.
What were your essentials?
My bike, bug spray, nerds gummy clusters, peanut butter, tortillas.
Where did you sleep?
We camped pretty much every night! I had a tent, sleeping pad, and sleeping bag for my setup, but one of my friends was sleeping in a hammock the whole trip. On both the GAP and C&O there are a lot of options for places to sleep – B&Bs, campgrounds, hotels, hostels, you name it. A lot of our planning for daily mileage was based on where we wanted to sleep.
When did you start planning? How hard is planning a bike packing trip?
Planning for the trip started back in February/March and the trip happened in early June. A lot of the planning was trying to figure out what to pack and what to buy gearwise prior to leaving. I also planned a shorter, more local overnight trip to get an idea of how to pack my bags and get an idea of what it feels like to ride a bike loaded up with camping gear. The group of friends I went with is also the group I go on Sunday rides with, so leading up to the trip we made sure to ride 30-40 miles each week as prep. It definitely takes a decent amount of planning to get ready for a trip like this, but luckily with the GAP and C&O there’s a lot of information on places to stay, restock on groceries, and plenty of bike shops on the route if something goes wrong. I’d say it’s a very beginner friendly route for anyone interested in bike-touring!
What was the worst part? the best part?
Hands down, the bugs on the C&O were the worst part. Even though we had pretty bad luck with staying dry, we got swarmed with mosquitoes every night on the C&O no matter how much bug spray we wore. I think that the best part was being outside for 6 days straight with nothing else to do other than bike – I got to see a ton of beautiful sights, lots of cool birds and other wildlife, and camp with some of my good friends!
What's something from Another Corner that would have improved your trip?
I actually brought a few things from Another Corner with me! I have one of the Snow Peak 450 Titanium mugs and I paired that with the instant coffee from Touchy for my morning coffee routine. Now that we have the Bike Corner items in, I would’ve loved to have one of the Blue Lug Koma Lights to mount on my fork. It would’ve come in handy biking through the tunnels on the GAP and some of the nights we were biking after it got dark!
What would you suggest to someone planning their first bike packing trip?
I’d say to just go for it! It’s easy to get caught up in looking at lists or watching YouTube videos on the best gear to bring, but actually getting out on the bike and riding is the best part of it! If you’re looking for an introduction to bike camping or longer trips, I’m pretty sure that Keystone Bikes and Philly Bikeout have some events coming up that would be worth checking out!
