My first bikepack™!

A few months ago, I picked up a Norco Search XR Steel. The intent was to replace my commuter, but I found I did not want to rack and fender it so I’d have to find some other excuse to keep it. Enter: what this bike was made to do; gravel grinding and bikepacking (although it’d do much better on 650b for this).

A frame bag (from Rockgeist), a pair of cargo cages (Blackburn), and a pair of 4L waterproof bags (Sea to Summit) later, I was ready! Well, that assumes you have the following things I already did:

  • Small handlebar bag (Ortlieb)
  • Bivylightweight sleeping bag, and pillow (or hammock with fly and a bag)
  • The largest saddlebag I could find in my stuff (was unused)
  • 2x tubes and patch kit for backup, multi-tool, hand pump and CO2 backup, tire lever
  • Leatherman
  • 2x bib shorts. I only took one and regretted it. Nothing quite like putting on a loose, soggy diaper in the morning.
  • 2x wool tees. No need for pockets and they’re the best.
  • 2x wool socks
  • Rain jacket or windbreaker
  • Camp clothes or simply long wool underwears
  • Flip flops
  • Sunscreen, chamois cream, toothpaste, toothbrush, bug stick, synthetic rag, TP, CBD capsules
  • 2x trash bags and a handful of ziplocks for waterproofing/whatever
  • Phone, backup battery (figure a full charge per day and you can Google your phone’s capacity), charging cable, AirPods (a single will last 3.5 hours and take 10% out of the case, which means 35 hours of your jams without a charge are contained in this little white box), charging cable
  • 100oz bladder out of a Camelbak
  • Collapsible cup in case you can’t find more than a faucet to fill your reservoir.
  • Food
  • Garmin (regret taking this – it was near worthless – phone does all it does better, and so much more – Garmin sucks)
  • Lightweight bike lock
  • Reading material

The plan for this trip was hatched… I don’t know, two days in advance after realizing I would be home alone for the long weekend and our nightmare home purchase wasn’t going to go through in time for me to need to move? I hopped on RideWithGPS (Portland based!! This was my first time using their app, and yes, I am a premium member after my Garmin crapped out trying to load my route and I needed offline directions – their app and site are AMAZING), built out a route (don’t follow this yet! I need to remedy some things), grabbed some of that stuff I needed at the bike shop and REI, packed the night before, and sent it.

Day one involved riding US30 (a highway) up to Scappoose for 20ish miles, hopping on the Crown-Zellerbach trail for 25, lunch in Vernonia (had Mediterranean), 10 miles down the Banks-Vernonia Trail to Stub Stewart State Park, where I was planning to hang out for a few hours, and find a place to sleep or continue on. I chose to continue on after refilling my water and taking a mini-shower in the rest room. The main reasons for moving on were that I didn’t want to illegally camp in a state park, I couldn’t stand the people at the park (kids breaking public property in front of parents), and I had heard about Gunners Lakes and didn’t want to just pass them by. Only another 15 miles!

It was a tough climb out of the park and some rough gravel (Bacona area is SUPER CHUNK 42C+) to make it, but around 6pm and 70 miles, I spotted a lake that received too much 4×4 action, continued on, and came to the 2nd lake, where I cozied down hidden right off the road (was moot – three vehicles passed before 7pm and none again until 7am). I did make the mistake of crossing a beaver dam with my bike to look for a better spot, only to return (tip: recon without your ~50lb bike). Packed in some calories (chips, nuts, and jerky), hit the Kindle hard, and zonked. A successful day.

Day two, I awoke at 630am to chirping birds and the sun just peeking out through the trees. I survived the night! I was up a few times needing to pee, hearing odd sounds, and not getting my temperature dialed (a 55° bag may have been a touch light), but it was a relatively good night of rest. Broke camp down, threw down an oat bar, jerky, and vitamins, and was on my way. Did I mention I was wearing a soggy bib short (if you had read the pack list you’d have known this!)? Ugh.

Tired legs and a full pack made for a hard morning that started “strongly” uphill. I should have known better than to choose “Rim Road” when given the option by the route builder between it and another, presumably NOT AT THE TOP OF A RIDGE road, but I digress.

Once I hit the downhill, I promptly stopped to the sound of a hiss and sputtering just moments after hitting a rock that left me thinking how lucky I’d be if I didn’t get a flat from that (you know that rock!). Having nowhere to be, I tried to play hero by patching the snakebite. To this day, I’ve never successfully patched a flat, and have tried on more than one occasion. Ain’t nobody got time for that. An hour later, only five minutes after giving up and decided to go with a tube, I was rolling again.

I knew I had ridden this area before (Otto Miller), but things were looking unfamiliar. Half a mile down a closed road that was a hike-a-bike with many bike hefts, I realized I had routed a wrong turn (interestingly, depending on the map mode, RideWithGPS will not even show this as existing). Rather than going back that half mile, it looked like the road I wanted was only… a quarter mile through those trees over there? And it was, but hell… I should have turned around. 100% full-on bushwhacking for the next hour and dreaming of that Tecnu bath, I’m now around 2hrs behind schedule and only eight miles into the day.

Luckily, things improved, I was back on gravel I knew, eventually tarmac I knew, and before I knew it was back in Portland having a cappuccino (post-ride tradition) at the same place I had started the journey with an espresso (pre-ride tradition). Checked in with all my emergency contacts (tip: make sure they know your route and tell them to only get concerned if you don’t return home ~4hrs after expected) and made it the final few miles home.

It was a great way to spend two days and I can’t wait to put all this gear through its paces again! I took a lot of notes (thanks, Siri!) so next time can only go better (full-sized saddlebag, 650b?, fresh bibs, sleeping pad).

GPS: One | Two
Route: Alright, I went ahead and fixed the things needing fixing