Folding bikepacking

A folding bike? For bikepacking? What am I thinking?

Good questions. Particularly when I’m 6′ 2”. Here’s the thing: I love travelling by bike. But unless I’m cycling from my front door, getting to where I want to ride is not simple. In fact, packing and unpacking a bike is QUITE ANNOYING – you don’t want to do that for just a few days cycling. Further, when you do decide to go, questions include:

Do I box or use a bike bag? If the latter, where do I leave it? If the former, where will I get a new one?
Will the airline take the bike without question? (Kudos here to Qantas, Virgin Australia and Alaska Airlines based upon experience so far.)
How will I get to/from my accommodation?
I’m sure there are others….

After all this you have the disassembly and reassembly – at least twice.

There are also many places where you shouldn’t have to disassemble your bike but you do – I’m thinking of you Australian intercity coaches and trains. But I’m also dreaming – what if this could work? Would a trip in Japan or France using high speed trains be possible? What about Amtrak routes without bike-specific storage? Or island hopping in some tropical location with small boats…..?

So, this page is the story of my folding bikepacking journey – if you want to start from the beginning the first post is the last!