Bikepacking - a viable alternative to racks & panniers

Go to one of the many lovely MBA bothies near there.

If sleeping in a camo bivvy from 10pm till 5am can be called camping then yeah. Had no problems.

If sleeping in a camo bivvy from 10pm till 5am can be called camping then yeah. Had no problems.

Will stay at Nant Rhys 2nd night, but there isn't one near where I think I'll be on the 1st. No worries, spotted a couple of spots between the reservoirs that look suitable.

@Silly_Savage, there's lluest cwmbach bothy

https://goo.gl/maps/vTCK9JNbvbQQFM9L6

Not been there myself but have it tagged for an upcoming Wales trip.

We'll definitely be staying at Nant Rhys as well.

Bit of a diversion unfortunately, it would about about 10miles on the days either side, which I don't reckon will be worth it. Looks like it should be dry so sleeping by the side of the river should be ok right?

Do it. Sounds lovely.

There is a nice Bothy over that way. I stayed at it last summer and it was lovely, someone had even left a pile of firewood,

(just noticed all the other replies suggesting bothy)

I found the route we took, two of my favourite days on the bike:

https://www.strava.com/activities/1685144775

day two
https://www.strava.com/activities/1685144784

Anyone ordered from https://www.straightcutdesign.com/? How long do they usually take?
Tempted by the laceup attachment. Seems more stable and looks better than Velcro. Hope it's not too much of a pain to take the frame bag off.

had to scratch from my first bike packing tour today sadly... yellow warning of rain across west coast of scotland and highlands through the week and was soaked through yesterday. perhaps not an issue if staying in hotels (and you have a change of clothes 😶). will post some pics later. gutted but right decision I think and I’ve learnt a lot for next time...

edit: added in some pictures, from when (i) the weather wasn't apocalyptic and (ii) I wasn't going through a dark night of the soul...

things that worked

rapha luggage - this stuff is amazing (seat pack & top tube pack). waterproof (except some minor leaking on the frame bag when left outside overnight in torrential rain) and so much volume

dhb overshoes - feet very warm when wet

lomo bar bag & rock bros top tube feed bag - both just worked. no frills

hydraulic 105 disc brakes - so. good. and essential on the steeper wind farm sections of the route

decathlon forclaz down 10 degree sleeping bag - OK I run hot granted but this thing was toasty (with ambient temp at c.5-9 degrees)

my legs - way to go guys. good job

all luggage has left some scuffs on the paint at the contact points - I’m not too fussed about that (it’s a nice patina and a keepsake from the rides) but if you’re precious you’ll want to tape your frame

things that didn’t work:

rapha classic rain jacket II - didn’t stand up to constant barrage of scottish rain plus also when you sweat you get wet - wet from the inside out is still wet

tubeless^ - didn’t even get out the car park on day 1 without having to swap to tubes on the rear (^tubeless on the front worked no issues - so I am putting this down to user error ie not getting the tubeless set up far enough in advance of the tour that everything was sealed up OK)

Pretty photos!

yeah nice pics, sorry you had to scratch out.

Awesome pics, shame you had to scratch. What was your planned route?

thanks all - not pictured: suffering

had originally planned to ride the faultline trail (scotland bottom to top) but quickly figured out I had bitten off more than I could chew by time I got to glasgow (though I don't discount finishing the route...at some point). lowest point of the tour was rolling down 1km of gravel hill (for gravel read 'chuckies') on a flat tire when all tubes had burst... some pretty bad nicks/tears in my tire there and don't want to think about dents in rim. was either that or an hour long hike...

so then replanned to carry on from glasgow along the cycle route network to the top... but had not accounted for the weather turning to the worst it has been up here for /months/. as I say, really annoying and really gutted... I mean, I still have next week off, have just learned about the badger divide (which can be done in a sensible 4 days), and feel like I have unfinished business, so... if I can get my bike back in a rideable condition.... who knows 😶

New long distance UK offroad route, Peak district to Cape Wrath/ JoG
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-49541621?fbclid=IwAR2UMw8JIr2dbDX0oaB_LrMjZ5Ef5FkOdTukyKuVYDvMoHJ4nUBwnw-1eZM

Looks like a nice couple of weeks worth of riding!

anyone got any experiences of riding the west country way?

I could do with a handlebar bag that doesn't sag down onto my front wheel, I guess I could just use extra straps to support it but any suggestions? (I have a short headtube on bike currently using so am limiting myself and have only used Restrap)

Salsa Anything Cradle?

Thank you my friend, never even knew something like that existed!

i've used one of these for my last 3? tours with an alpkit dry bag

it's never given me a moments concern - recommended

I could do with a handlebar bag that doesn't sag down onto my front wheel.

The Specialized Burra Burra although expensive was brilliant for preventing that when touring.