After doing our first century back in November, we planned to do the OTET starting in Cleveland and (mostly) camping along the way back to Cincinnati! About 50% bikepacking and 50% biketouring all-in-all.
It was an amazing trip and we have so many new adventures waiting for us soon!
by sirkidd2003
3 Comments
For those who may be a bit downvote happy, just wanted to leave a comment real quick. This was about half-in-half bikepacking and touring. I come from an ultralight backpacking, well, background, so i can understand the skepticism. We slept in tents and ate camp meals nearly every night, huge chunks of the trail are gravel, we even made our way through Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
There is much discussion in the OTET community whether the trail is bikepacking, touring, both, or neither (and I also see great debate even here on Reddit as to what rides in what subs are what). So I can’t make up your mind for you. What I CAN say is that we shared the trail with many a backpacker (even camped side-by-side with a backpacking trail runner). So, as per the subs rules, this *is* bikepacking.
Looks like you had some fair weather and I see a lot of smiles, hell yeah bro. Bikepacking doesn’t have to be about long distances and deprivation, a short jaunt with a tent is definitely still bikepacking.
Did you learn anything useful to help with your next trip?
I gotta ask, why so many pictures where it looks like you’re about to push your bike into a river? 😂
What are the rules regarding camping? Can you wild camp or set up anywhere (discretely)?