Bike Packing Is The Best!!
Hey guys!
I’m in Australia by the time this blog is up. Cent, Sub and I are visiting Heaps Good Garage, the Crust HQ!
Check out our IG linked above to see how we’re doing in the trip.
The main topic of this post is about the bikepacking trip I went last week. I’ve wanted to go on a bikepacking trip with a large group and it finally came true. A lot of planning went into this ride, so I’m stoked that I got to do it.
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This is the type of trip I always looked up to. Riding our bikes in the wilderness with a bunch of friends and camping out. It’s just an amazing feeling.
Our trip was postponed due to heavy rain, but we still went riding anyways, since some people could only get this day off.
Here’s the little edit we made of that ride.
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Yup, it was pouring. lol
I assume this ride was one of the toughest rides that these people went, but everybody was naturally high on how tough the wet trail was, so you can see that they’re all smiling.
Fast forward to the next week, the bikepacking trip was on! Fortunately, nearly 30 people came to the ride. Thank you so much to the people who showed up.
On the first day, we met up at Musashi-itsuka Station. We headed to the camp site with fully loaded bikes, loaded off our camping equipment, then hit the trails.
On the second day, we hit a bit of gravel while we headed back to the train station. Atsushi-san from Jindaiji Mountain Works had planned the route for us.
Aaaand here goes a photo dump.
Some people drove out, some people rode out and some people took the train to come to the train station. Rinkoing with camping gear may sound like a pain, but I think it’s fine when you’re traveling near Tokyo. The key is to choose the time with less transfers.
Kawai Camp Site. This is the third time camping here for me. Not only the people here are amazing, but the place itself is very chill, you can campfire directly on the ground without any bonfire stands and there is a cabin you can stay in if you don’t like sleeping in tents.
I have never tried staying in the cabin, but there are many different cabins for various amount of people. People with less experience in camping and some couples stayed in the cabin which I was pretty envious tbh.
Okay, now that we unloaded our heavy equipment, it’s time to ride!
この人数で自然の中ライドするという時点で特別ですし、殆どの方同士が初対面だったり英語も飛び交ってたりが面白かった、海外いるときの異国感とか高揚感に近い感じ。
Each person had different type of bikes, skills and speed, but there is nothing to worry about. We don’t leave people behind in the middle of the forrest. We will wait for people to catch up and take a lot of breaks. Talking about some bs while we rest is the best part of these rides anyway imo.
Teppei was even shredding on a fixie with 2.7 gear ratio. Bombing hills like it’s nothing with a smile.
Just looking at the beautiful autumn scenery, competing who can climb up a hill without putting their foot down, chatting about their bike rigs and camera equipments…everyone got along really fast.
The party was on once we got back to the camp site. Yuki cooked us mixed rice and yakitori and Danny cooked us a shit ton of stake and fried noodles. I was absolutely touched by everyone’s hospitality.
30 cyclists gathering one camp fire just having a blast. I honestly got a little emotional for some reason.
The YouTube editor, Sub and one other person slept with tarps.
I was up til the last the night before, so I was the latest to wake up. Wentz already had everything packed. I panicced.
Wentz made me some mate, ate breakfast, packed up, said goodbye to the people who came with cars and headed towards the train station.
Our bikes were loaded with all the gear. We climbed some hills and bombed a long dirt down hill.
I wanted to introduce everyone and their bikes in this post, but that will take forever, so I’m just gonna leave pics.
We all said our goodbyes after we’ve reached the train station and each headed back home.
Riding bikes in a new location with many stuff on the bike gives me new ideas and joy that you wouldn’t usually feel. I want everyone to try bikepacking/camping and feel the sense of accomplishment you get after these types of rides. The bikes you ride have a lot more potential than you think!
Sayonara!
