Flashback

Circa 1992 ! I am mostly posting this to remind everyone that things really haven't changed that much in bikepacking over the years compared to other areas of biking.

I just found this old photo taken during my first bikepacking trip (age 20). The blue bike in the front was my girlfriend's (of that time) Cannondale. I wish I had a photo of my setup. I had a Bridgestone MB-1 in pearl white. The best mountain bikes back then were very light. They made the perfect backpacking bikes, especially with heavy loads.

It was the greatest bike I have ever had… The top Bridgestone frames were designed and built by Tom Ritchey at the time. This tour was from Albuequerque, west, to the Sierras, then we rode through Sierras to Tahoe and onto Bend Oregon. The storage on my setup was a massive yellow Sealbag bungeed down, plus a duffel bag cinched to my bars with bungees. I got up 59mph on that bike, loaded down, going down some mountain along the way. I was an idiot. A trucker I passed (he had to keep braking) told me my speed at a restaurant later that day when we ran into him.

I later took that Bridgestone on weeks/months-long tours through Canada, Mexico, and Central America.