Swift Campout 2026 Ride Report
How did you spend your Swift Campout?
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This event was started by Swift Industries, a bike bag manufacturer based in Seattle and involves holding simultaneous camping events around the world on the summer solstice, the day with the longest hours of daylight in the year, so we can all share our experiences globally under the hashtag #swiftcampout and have some fun!
It began in 2015 and has now become an event with a history spanning over 10 years.
Last year, we went to Yamanashi Prefecture, the hometown of the Hatagaya Mechanic Kaneyan, and I tagged along to enjoy it myself. The weather and location was perfect. We all laughed a lot and spent a great time with great people.
The route we took back then had an endless hill climb, which Kaneyan kept on saying “We’re almost at the top” many times, but going down the hill was surely a treat for us.
It was such a great time and it’s definitely one of the highlights of last year.
I somehow ended up spending most of my time in the Blue Lug van with the AC on full blast, as a support car. I rooted for everyone who actually did the bike ride. (I did get to ride a little bit)
A person from last year volunteered to host this year’s Swift Campout…
This dude known as “Pankuma”.
He is one of the funny cyclists who we would often see on social media. He has such a cool personality and it makes perfect sense that he has a lot of people around him.
I believe I meeting him for the first time at last year’s Grinduro event.
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He does look like a class clown, but he changes when he’s on a bike. This guy absolutely rips.
So, there we headed down to Nagano to join Pakuma’s adventure.
Our good friends at Humhumhug, who came with us last year, showed up to the 2026 adventure. It’s always great to see their crew.
Joe-san, who is a regular customer, also showed up. (He just pops up anywhere!)
This is when I take a look at what kind of gear everyone has. I’m always interested to see how small their gear can get. My favorite word is probably “It folds up to the size of your hand.”
We had a little toast and soon went to bed. The next day, we started out the morning with coffee, which is probably one of my favorite moment of camping trips.
We drove down to the route that Pankuma always rides.
The ride starts, as we throw on matching safety vests. The ground was a little bit wet from the rain last night, but I feel like we were able to experience a nice moist weather, which pretty much embodies June in Japan. We were lucky that it never rained the day we were actually riding.
The view from the summit, overlooking Lake Nojiri, was absolutely breathtaking! Thanks to Pankuma-kun, who knows the area like the back of his hand, the route was truly, truly wonderful, and we were all able to make it safely to the finish line together. (I already want to go back to Nagano.)
But man, the Humhumhug crew was so energetic!
This is Sai, the manager/captain of the Humhumhug crew. He pulled up with his fixed gear T.I.E and rode it til the end. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I think he’s the core reason why everybody in their community is so powerful. Respect to them and happy 10th anniversary to Humhumhug!
We stayed at a log house at the lake side inn, since there was a storm approaching us at night.
I know! Some of you may think this is not camping, but I think everyone should enjoy their own way of spending two days on Swift Campout. Not everywhere in the world has perfect weather during this season, so staying safe in a log house is no problem.
This isn’t an event were we all get together and do hardcore camping. I just wanted to get that out there.
We love going on adventure rides on the weekends, so we tend to be particular about where we campout in this event. But the real thrill of bike packing is that even just a little, just a tiny bit, of distance from our daily lives is enough to make us feel like we’re in a whole different world.
It’s fun to spend the night outdoors, a little further upstream along a familiar river than usual, and it’s also enjoyable just to spend the night at a nearby campground with your favorite bike loaded with your favorite camping gear.
Whether you’re alone or with a close friend or two, you’re guaranteed to have a wonderful time.
It is a bummer that this time of the year is rain season for us, but we’ll get through it in no time! Summer is just around the corner.
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Here’s a cool edit by the Humhumhug crew.
And here’s a video edited by our new YT editor Miles. We hope these will hype y’all up for a bike trip.
