On a recent ride, I got thinking about my bikepacking adventures and how, in the past few years, I feel I have never been so organized when out riding. It wasn’t always this way, and over the years, I can honestly say I have made many bikepacking mistakes.

When giving a recent talk, I decided to run through some of the mistakes I made when learning how to bikepack. Honestly, it shows how unprepared I was and how little advice I sought. Some of these are fairly embarrassing.

Recently, I have been lucky enough to become a long-distance cycling expert, and it is always good to reflect on the past. By doing this, hopefully, some of you amazing readers won’t end up making the same mistakes as me. 

1. Wrong Sized Bikes

Have you ever bought a bike because you liked the look of it and then realized it was the wrong size and never felt comfortable? Well, I have more than three times. Yes, a wrong-size bike for the first few years of my career was the gift that kept giving.

The pain I used to get from bikepacking on a small, aggressive road bike with a 120mm stem was unpleasant, and the small TT bike I used to go bikepacking caused me more back pain than I ever wanted to remember. 

2. Deep Heat And Chamois Cream

This is the most embarrassing one. Did you know that for a while, Muc-Off was giving out free samples of its chamois cream and deep heat solution? They were in the bike shop I worked in, and I grabbed loads.

Unfortunately, these looked very similar to one another. I ended up applying deep heat on my behind while in the middle of a forest. Before I knew it, I was not feeling very happy. Very tough day in a forest somewhere in Slovenia.

3. Not Listening To Others Enough

I have some incredibly intelligent friends who are willing to share their advice with me. Unfortunately, I have always been stubborn in the past. This has led me to some pretty bad situations as far as bikepacking mistakes go.

Listening to more experienced bikepackers is important. They might not tell you what you want to hear, but they are usually right. Bikepacking is a skill that takes time to learn. The fact you are reading this will help greatly.

4. Riding In Dangerous Conditions

I’m not a big fan of poor conditions, and this might surprise you, knowing some of the trips I have done. I have crossed many Alpine passes in winter. I even went up Alpe D’Huez in December. I’ve camped in temperatures as low as -5 and been in storms with 40-mph winds.

Looking back, I realize many of these experiences were just not necessary and they were bikepacking mistakes. Only very few times have they happened in a race, and I typically find myself being a little more daring. Realistically, after a decade of experience, I wouldn’t take the risks I used to now. 

5. Not Understanding The Value Of Low Gears

In my time bikepacking I don’t think I have ever complained about not having enough high gears for speed, but I have complained a lot about not having enough gears for climbing. On most modern bikes, you get more low gears than ever, but years ago, when I started, it wasn’t like this.

My bikes came with small cassettes and semi-compact cranks, which were the standard. I live in Norfolk, UK, and it’s pretty flat here compared to most places. On an Alpine climb, it was awful, and I soon learned my lesson in always going for super low gearing on any backpacking adventure.

6. CO2 And Pumps Are Very Different

I have no interest in C02 when it comes to bikepacking and ultra cycling. There are better solutions than those one-shot canisters. Yeah, they pump your tire up quickly, and that can save you a couple of minutes, but it’s important to understand that C02 isn’t as good as a real pump.

C02 is one-use only, while a pump can be used repeatedly. After a day or two, C02 starts coming out of the inner tube or tire, meaning you only have a day or two before it’s flat again. Also, C02 is expensive. Three punctures could cost $10, which is expensive. Always carry a pump.

7. Dangerously Overpacking

On my first long-distance bike ride, I was clueless. I had trained for 3 weeks, then decided to cycle all the way from London to Paris in 24 hours. All on an old mountain bike. Fortunately, I don’t understand how, but it worked out. That was the start of an amazing career not more bikepacking mistakes.

On that first trip, I took so much stuff. A lock that weighed about 8kg, two changes of normal clothes, a sleeping bag on its own, and a first aid kit that was enough for an ambulance. It was silly, and still, to this day, I laugh. Travel light, travel with enough, and travel fast.

8. The Vitamin C Experience

Did you know hydration and vitamin C tablets are often packaged in the same tubes? Well, I didn’t know this, and when bikepacking, I went into a shop and saw some cheap hydration tablets. The next day, I popped them into my water each other bottle.

I started to feel a little poorly, and before I knew it, I realized they were not hydration tablets but vitamin C. Quite often, having 20 times more vitamin C than you should cause an upset stomach, which made the next day pretty unpleasant. 

9. Not Working On Components Correctly

I feel that one of the most underpaid skills is being a bike mechanic. If I’m honest, if it paid more, I’d want it to be a career for me. When I first started, I really had no clue and wasn’t willing to learn the right way. I was stripping bolts, using grease instead of oil, and even the wrong parts. 

It didn’t ever work out well, and at the time, I couldn’t afford expensive mechanic bills, so it was all I could do. I wish I had taken the time to get the right tools and learn properly. I once heavily damaged a $1000 set of wheels without knowing the right processes. Thankfully, I now know the right ways to do things.

10. Not Getting My Bike Fitted

Do you need a bike fit for bikepacking? A bike fit for me when I first started doing big miles would have made my experience so much better. Instead, I just suffered through the injuries. Over time, my body adapted, and the small adjustments I did make got me somewhere, but it put so much on hold.

After having a few basic bike fits, I did a bike fit course, and not only do I fit myself, but I have also helped many other people get the perfect fit. Bike fitting is an art, and two people on the same bike who are the same height could have totally different fits. Getting a bike fit makes bikepacking so much easier. 

11. Not Being Safe Enough

I always loved a stealth-looking kit. Blacks and dark blues were my favorite colors to ride in. I thought they were slimming and made me look cool. Looking back, it was so hard for the drivers to see me. I took too many risks with visibility and had close passes more often than I wanted.

Now, I’m incredibly particular about what I wear, and although bright greens, reflective materials, and daylight might not be everyone’s cup of tea, for me, they have really helped. I see fewer close passes and feel more confident while riding day and night. 

12. Nutrition, Nutrition, and Nutrition

Bikepacking and ultra cycling burns a lot of calories and getting nutrition right can be an ongoing battle. Finding food you like and getting enough in is very challenging. Getting into the habit of good, correct eating as early as possible is important. 

I left it too long, and although I had the ability to ride for hours without food or water for ages because I knew how to suffer through it, I am a much better cyclist and am much stronger for just learning what I need to eat and when.

13. Don’t Get Too Emotional

Bikepacking can get emotional. There’s no denying that. There are times when you will be absolutely buzzing all day, feeling the excitement that you rode up the top of a mountain, and the beer never tasted so good at the end of a solid day.

There are also tough times. Times when you’re super tired, can’t find a place for food or water, the weather is terrible, and all you want to do is cry. You must be mentally tough to help yourself through these times. Here’s how you can be in my mental toughness article.

A Final Note: Bikepacking Mistakes

Making bikepacking mistakes when bikepacking is easy, and there’s a lot to learn. Thanks for taking the time to read my article, I would love you to share some of your mistakes in the comments below and if you learnt something please give the article a like. Stay cool!

If you enjoyed this article, you might like 20 Top Tips For Beginner Bikepackers, Bikepacking Pedals: What Are The Best?, and Dogs While Bikepacking: How To Get Around Them!