Bikepacking - Not Speed Golf

Slow down, you move too fast

You got to make the morning last

Just kicking down the cobblestones

Looking for fun and feeling groovy

Ba da-da da-da da-da, feeling groovy

The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy), Paul Simon (1968)

Stopping for lunch along a creek in the shade of a bridge in Montana on the Great Divide.
Feeling groovy with a nice break that cooled us off for a late day cruise into Ovando.

A visionary within the Adventure Cycling Association created the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, a 2,500 mile off-pavement cross-country ride from Canada to Mexico along the Continental Divide. Almost 30 years later, untold numbers of cyclists have dreamt of riding that route and thousands ride at least a portion of it each year.

Unfortunately, an inordinate amount of attention falls onto the "Tour Divide" race that piggy-backs that pioneering route. Many don't seem to know that the Tour Divide simply started as an individual time trial by a few individuals pushing the limits of self-supported, self-navigated bikepacking on the then nascent Great Divide route. However, for all but a very select few, racing the Great Divide was never the aspirational standard. Touring was the designer's intent and riders' dream, not racing through the backcountry. Touring still is the dream for many, although you'd never know it by the fawning attention given the Tour Divide.

Paul Brasby forages for huckleberries along Boulder River Road outside of Basin, Montana.
A special treat for attentive riders on the Great Divide.

I believe that a focus on racing a well-designed bikepacking route misses the mark for most, especially on a 2,500 mile backcountry route designed for touring. It's somewhat like the game of "speed golf," where the time to run the golf course means more than the number of strokes. The heart of the original sport is lost while chasing the clock. And the new activity is then something entirely different.

Maybe speed bikepacking is your jam. If so, go for it.

A rancher preparing for a two day ride to re-supply the shepherd of his herd,
on USFS Road 330 along the ridgeline to Indiana Pass on the Great Divide route.
What a lifestyle, both the rancher and the shepherd.

Speed bikepacking is not for me. Not with the focus on the running clock. Not with the idolization of timed results. Not with the attendant rules and outside oversight.

Bikepacking for me is backpacking on my bike. See the country, the wildlife, the people. Stop as often and as long as catches your fancy. Allow the day to unfold, opening more opportunities for random serendipity. Perhaps ride at night, but only if conditions are magical. Engage with others, non-riders included. Be an ambassador. Give others a chance to be a Trail Angel. Ride through the backcountry at the pace of life.

Admittedly, as part of the bikepacking adventure, I experience the call to go harder, go faster, go longer, go higher. Sometimes, I answer that call. Sometimes, not. I did the same when backpacking. The freedom to decide is liberating.

Bikepacking ambassador Paul Brasby patiently answers questions from curious hikers.
USFS Road 455 in Caribou Targhee National Forest in Idaho on the Great Divide.

On the other hand, certain types of bikepacking "events" certainly appeal to me. For example, I'd love one that offers a group ride and group camp, even if just for one night. The best case would be to ride an unknown route on unknown roads through unknown country with a group of old and new friends, on a unique route designed by a passionate local, to camp as a group at a special spot. That sounds like great fun.

Now, repeat that day a few times. Or more than a few times.

Invite a few friends and you're now riding the Mammoth 450, a gravel/dirt road tour of the Loess Canyons in Nebraska crafted by local bikepacking guru Paul Brasby. Or any of the Black Hills BackBone or Black Hills Bounty bikepacking routes that I created. Or any number of similar bikepacking routes created by like-minded passionate locals around the country.

Of course, the ultimate bikepacking route is the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route.

Ride it your way. 

Just know that bikepacking offers so much more without the clock running.

Addendum. This is not a new take on bikepacking for me. Here's a link to my July 2019 post entitled Bikepacking The GDMBR.

Addendum 2. Many of my posts on my Great Divide ride share stories of people I met as a bikepacker. Here's an example of one encounter, along with a photo gallery of some others. Riders, Hikers & Others on the Great Divide.

The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy), Simon & Garfunkel, live at Carnegie Hall (1970).