I read the [Platte Gang](https://bikepacking.com/plog/a-day-with-platte-gang/) article on bikepacking.com and I am very happy for them and what they have accomplished but a bit sad that this kind of thing just hasn’t taken off here. I especially like the idea of it being an inclusive/accepting queer space where the emphasis is on socializing, with bikes being the vehicle to do so. We have bikepacking events but most of them are paid races or tours. There are very few that I know of where you can just go bike or camp with a random group of likeminded bike weirdos.
We had something going for about a year but it was ran by one person and he stopped posting group rides so all that momentum completely stopped. Those few months when my area had free group bikepacking really helped me feel like I belonged somewhere and I am hoping to recapture that magic.
There is a great list of tips on the bottom of the page but I still feel kind of lost. They said it started as friends and friends of friends but I am in quite short supply of those and very few that are interested in bike camping. I’m not sure how to get traction going or where to reach out. There is a sizeable bikepacking community for my state on Facebook but the average user is 40+ and I am really trying to reach a demographic that I can relate to better. There are no groups on IG so I figure if I post on there it won’t even reach the potential participants.
Has anybody been able to successfully create a group like this from essentially nothing? Any tips would be great because right now it seems I either pay to ride with other people in a group tour or go out solo. Also, does this not happen in the US because of the legal implications of hosting a group ride? It would be great to find my tribe again, even if I have to start it from scratch.
by BikeBroken