Bikepacking - Do you do it? Tips?

[Landlady]

My family of three tried out an overnight bikepacking trip a few weeks ago and really liked it. It involved packing up all our camping gear on our two bikes and hauling the kiddo and our gear in a bike trailer. We made it about 5 miles in on a forest service road, but could see going farther if we had panniers instead of unruly backpacks. I was also using a hybrid bike on a dirt road which made for some unsteady biking.

Does anyone else bikepack and bike camp? What kind of bike do you use? Where do you go?

[lthenderson]

I don't but my parents have ridden across the entire country four times, three of which were self supported trips. They usually take mountain bikes with a bicyle rack pack behind the seat, panniers on each side of the front wheel and pull of B.O.B. trailer behind one of them. They just stock up with groceries for a few days at a time and replenish any gear at bicycle shops along the way.

One trip was across the northern states west to east. Another across the southern states west to east and a third along the continental divide north to south. The trip across the middle states west to east was for a cause so all their gear was hauled from point to point and they used road bikes during the day.

[Miss Piggy]

I don't but my parents have ridden across the entire country four times, three of which were self supported trips.

Damn, that's impressive...or, dare I say...badass.

[Northwestie]

I see you are in WA.  You should look at the John Wayne Trail, which now goes from just outside Issaquah (near Seattle) all across the state.  The USFS and other agencies have rebuilt some of the cool RR bridges across huge gorges in the Cascades and then it goes across the shrub-steppe of eastern WA.    There's also some long ( I mean long) tunnels so if you go on these sections take a light of some sort.

They also have put in some nice camp facilities - tent pads, toilets, fire pits.   Ditch the backpacks for sure and maybe get a bob trailer.  You could just do some segments to get the hang of it or even some nice day trips.

http://wabikes.org/2016/09/06/biking-john-wayne-trail-east-to-west/

[kendallf]

I do a fair amount; what type of bike depends on what and where I'm going.  When I'm taking a road route, I have generally just ridden a fairly normal road/touring bike, with a rear rack and panniers to haul my stuff.  I generally don't bring a lot of food prep stuff, I just ride to where the food is.  I bring a sleeping bag, lately a hammock to sleep in, sometimes a tent, a couple of changes of clothes, and some basic tools/spares for the bike.  I've ridden down the length of Florida this way a few times, along with many short trips. 

I've done a couple of off-road trips now and I'm working toward some much longer ones (Tour Divide, ~2700 miles down the Continental Divide).  I'm riding a fat bike off road quite a bit; I'm still waffling over putting a rear rack on it and using panniers, or using the giant seat bags many people are using nowadays.  The rack isn't suitable for very bumpy stuff or singletrack.  I did one 250 miler off-road using only what I could carry in a backpack; that sucked, frankly.  :-) 

My advice is to keep doing what you've done already: take short trips and work your way up.  Your gear selection and routes will evolve from there.  If you haven't seen the Bob trailers, take a look.  If I were hauling a family's worth of gear, I'd pick one of these.