I think most people use "bikepacking" to refer to bike touring on
wilderness trails versus conventional touring on paved roads where
many still prefer to travel self-contained(ie. "loaded")and camp
whether in campgrounds or more stealthily in woods,etc. near a
roadway.Some on this list are bikepackers ,some prefer conventional
on-road touring and others like myself do both.Here is a link to some
info on bikepacking:
http://www.adventurecycling.org/features/ultralight.cfm
and you are correct in assuming there is much in the archives of this
group on the subject.Some post their trip reports on the MBR forum:
http://forums.mtbr.com/index.php
usually in the endurance cycling subforum, I believe.


I like to combine bike touring and backpacking and have recently done
so in two different manners.First,bikepacking into the wilderness with
a mtn bike where I attach my tent directly to the handlebars,the
sleeping bag directly to the seat post and wear a small sized
backpack.In February I set out across the South Florida everglades and
back(on the dirt levees)like this and upon reaching Big Cypress Nat'l
Preserve on the west side of the everglades switched to backpacking
mode for an overnighter.Made for a very pleasureable long weekend.

Then,last month,I spent three weeks on my touring bike exploring North
and Central Florida via paved roads and national forest dirt roads.The
great thing about it was my gear was my backpack and camping gear
attached to the rear rack and my goal was to reach the Ocala and then
Apalachicola N.F.'s where I spent about 8 days of that time
backpacking about 165 miles total.I really like this arrangement of
touring to wilderness areas where I switch back and forth to
backpacking mode and feel it allowed me to keep going the whole time
w/o days off because right when I would start to get burnt out on
one(from consecutive days either hiking 20 plus miles or biking 80
plus miles)I was able to switch to the other and keep going
re-energized.I camped every night(except at the very end where I rode
straight through to get back on time)and the only time at a developed
site was a fairly primitive one in the Apalachicola.N.F.

In fact, I have decided what I would like to do,at some point,is tour
around North America while backpacking various wilderness areas in the
process in similar manner.

Carl



--- In ultralightbiking@yahoogroups.com, "David Phillips"
<dave_o_1999@...> wrote:
>
> Has anyone done any bikepacking, which I guess is like camping while
touring, or something
> like that. I imagine in the case of ultralight biking, it would be
the combination of ultralight/
> lightweight backpacking and cycle touring. I have been on a couple
of backpacking trips
> myself, and had an average packweight of 10-12 lbs, and wondered if
anyone had
> combinded the two disciplines. Of course, coming in as late in the
game as I have, there may
> have been a zillion threads on this by now. If so, my apologies.
Thanks.
>