Hi all,
A few days ago I completed my first bikepacking excursion, just for one night in East Lothian following the (extended) Go East Lothian Trail. First and foremost what a fantastic trail, I’ve never cycled a route so consistently beautiful, but the blue skies helped a great deal.
My setup is incredibly budget (<£100 excluding camping gear i already had). I paid £20 for this 20-year old Specialized Globe, it needed some work done but I handled that myself (trivial things like brake pads and truing). The pannier rack was free from a man off Facebook; I then bought two osprey dry bags (20L and 12L) for the rack and bars, along with some Voile straps.
My first takeaway is that I will not use the voile straps again. They were all I had when I set off for the trip but I now have some rachet straps, the problem is that the voile straps were too short (50cm) so the back is held by two voile straps zip-tied together which was a bit janky.
My second takeaway is to worry less. Whilst on the train to the start of the route I was absolutely terrified and was convinced my bike would fall to pieces; it turned out my body was the weakest link. As soon as I passed the 30 mile mark I started to become very fatigued. Luckily I had intended to pitch nearby so this was okay, and I didn’t actually feel too bad riding the remaining 15 miles in the morning.
All in all I’m really pleased with this trip, and cycling adds a new level of exploration to wild camping (and is much nicer on the shoulders). Looking forward to doing the same around some of the Scottish Isles next week, and I’d be open to any tips on my setup or anything else. Thanks
by motherfunko
6 Comments
The pre start worries are a pain but they get less over time.
Can’t see if you have “feed bags” but I love those on my handlebars for phone, foods any whatever other bits I want easy access to, cheap too. Enjoy the isles!
Voile straps work perfectly for this application you just need longer ones! Looks sick tho and you did it so cheaply which is way cooler in my book
Love cycling around East Lothian, it’s a bit of a gem. Some decent road and off road bits
Wonderful pictures. Thanks for sharing. Would you mind sharing the trail on Komoot?
[here is the route](https://www.komoot.com/tour/3092588082?ref=itd&share_token=aQ7yO87KlU02jSwbdRq9wUo4WN66H900Pm6YfSzC3wvr7RgRwH&ref=its&t_s=referral&t_cid=route_share&t_ref_username=5847559060410)
good wild camping spots throughout John Muir country park
Bass rock!