Waking up on top of Freel Peak, I wanted to watch the sunrise, but altitude sickness got me. After throwing up about five times, I headed down from the summit of Freel Peak, the tallest peak in Lake Tahoe, to my van at the trail head. After lumbering back to the van I got on my bicycle and began the bikepacking section of the Freel Peak to Mount Whitney Challenge.
Bikepacking in California from Lake Tahoe to Mount Whitney. This article covers the second day of a five day bikepacking ride from Freel Peak to Mount Whitney. Additionally, this blog dives into the essential bikepacking gear and definition of bikepacking for a beginner looking to begin their first ride.
Since this trip is supported (by the lovely Kristin Riegel in the van), I was able to cycle 52 miles and climb Monitor Pass on my bicycle. As this was the first day of cycling on this trip, my legs and butt where not used to the saddle. Towards the end of the day, I became very tired.
From the Journal
Rushing out of my tent before the sun had risen, I projectile vomited, then again, and again. My hands on my knees, I stand, wipe my mouth, and go back to my sleeping bag for the warmth I didn’t get all night.
My plan was to enjoy a slow morning, capture some content at sunrise, then head down to my bicycle to start the bicycle touring section of the trip.
That didn’t happen.
Instead, I vomited another time, stuffed my backpack as quickly as possible, and began walking back to the van defeated. Was this trip going to be done before it even started? I thought to myself as I lumbered down from the summit.
“What could be the reason for this sickness?” I asked myself, confused and curious.
Nothing
Three miserable hours later, I was back at the van and met up with Kristin. Coffee, some breakfast, and settling on the idea of altitude sickness, I couldn’t give up. Bike packing from Freel Peak to Mount Whitney was my idea, my vacation, I had turned down jobs to do this, and I wanted to push myself. Sitting there in the van, misable, I continually thought to myself what I could do to make my life better. There was nothing. I just needed to suck it up and get on my way.
Two hours passed while I sat roadside in the van, working up my courage. I packed my bike. Exhausted, I focused on a mental shift and set off into the relative unknown, swooshing down Luther Pass headed towards Monitor Pass.
Five years have passed since my last cycle tour, it was new again. Pavement moved under me as I zipped downhill. Wind froze my hands. Trees and a river whipped passed at 15 miles an hour. Freedom, smiles, energy pumping through my body I have not felt in years. I’m where I am supposed to be.
Quickly, I realized the level of attention I needed to regain as I missed my first turn. Cars passed me and I was getting distracted. All I wanted to do was cycle in the middle of the road without hands and feel the wind in my face, but I needed focus. There wasn’t cellphone service on the road, so I had to read signs. I forgot to download Google maps for offline viewing. Collecting my head, I found the correct turn and met some uphill. My legs were not happy.
The good news about an uphill, the downhill. Clocking in at 35 miles per hour, I passed Markleeville and started to see signs for Monitor Pass, a 3,000 foot climb that I was hoping to tackle today.
Then… my chain fell off my bike.
Not a big deal, but I am sure happy the chain fell off when it did. I came to a quick stop, pulled off, and got the chain back in working order. Nothing was wrong with it, just a slip while shifting. I am not the smoothest shifter. With everything back in working order, I turned legft and befgan my journey of climbing Monitor Pass.
I cursed. I sang. I succeeded in not pushing my bike up the hill. I danced at the summit.
As my body began to bonk from a lack of calories, I scarfed down some food. A sandwich. Then, hopped back on my bike and started the downhill section. Speeding past signs reading “curve ahead 25MPH” I am a daredevil. Leaning into the curves as if I was in a full leather suit on a motorcycle, I took each bend like a champ. Risking my skin to the asphalt. Looking down at my watch, I was zipping past these turns between 35-38mph. I was estatic.
4:30pm hit. Soon, Kristin would pick me up. My watch read 37 miles on the day, I wanted to get to 40. My ego wanted to be able to say I rode 40 miles, my body didn’t. My butt didn’t. But, I pushed on to feed my ego.
4:56pm my phone buzzed, “I’ll be a bit late,” Kristin said. So, I checked her location and my watch, she was roughly 50 minutes away. Could I make 50 miles before she arrived?
Turns out, I made it 52 miles.
Kristin and the sun are insync. She arrived as the light faded from the sky and the darkness set in.
Loading my bike into the van, I moaned and growned; my body hurt. Good thing a hot spring was in my near future :-)
Enjoying the view while bikepacking around New Zealand’s South Island.
What is Bike packing:
Bikepacking is a new style of travel within adventure cycle-touring or expedition touring that involves exploring remote regions of the world on sturdy bicycles designed for the purpose. Off-road adventure cycling with lightweight gear, and often a rackless system, is now known as bikepacking. Bikepacking is not a new phenomenon though, as lightweight, soft-luggage touring has been in use for well over a century.
If you are still confused on what Bikepacking is, here is the definition created by Bikepacking.com: “Simply put, bikepacking is the synthesis of all-terrain cycling and self-supported backpacking. It evokes the freedom of multi-day backcountry hiking and travel off the beaten path, but with the range and thrill of riding a nimble bicycle. It’s about venturing further into places less traveled, both near and far, via singletrack trails, gravel, and forgotten dirt roads, carrying the essential gear, and not much more.”
Bikepacking vs Cycle-touring
There are many definitions of what bikepacking is and what your bike set up should look like. Because of this you will often find the water is muddied between cycle-touring and bikepacking, however there is an obvious difference; what is your bike capable of doing. If you can go off paved roads, maybe down single track, you have a bikepacking set up. If you are restricted to cycling on the road, you are cycle-touring.
Bike packing Essentials:
When you go Bikepacking the goal, at least for myself, is to bring as little as possible to rekindle the connection I have with mother nature, without sacrificing, too much, comfort. This balance between to much gear and not enough is a serious issue, but it shouldn’t be if you plan well. Why? Well, you never want your bike to be too heavy, but you also don’t want to freeze/go hungry, so do your research and find that middle ground. Here are some of the bikpacking essentials I suggest you always consider bringing with you:
Going very light on a supported bikepacking trip.
Bicycle
Bike bags
Tent
Sleeping bag
Cooking
Warm Jacket
Rain Gear
Coffee
Bikeshorts
Water Purifier
Sleeping pad
