Take a bike, add a tent, hit the road: welcome to the pared-back pleasures of bikepacking. As the name might suggest, this is a multiday ride in which a cyclist pops camping kit into various bags on their bike frame. It’s a purist’s perfect bike adventure, and is fast becoming a popular way to explore the UK’s wildest corners on two wheels.
The (literal) nuts and bolts of planning for a bikepacking trip can seem a little intimidating to beginners like me who don’t know their panniers from their puncture kit. That’s where new travel company Roam Bikepacking comes in, offering self-guided camp-and-cycle trips on some of Wales’s most gravel-tastic mountain trails. The founder, Joe Armstrong, designed his two- to three-day itineraries to help would-be cyclists who don’t have the confidence (or the kit) to explore solo. Roam provides a bike prepacked with everything you need to camp, books pitches and makes reservations at nice pubs along the way. Then it gives you a map and sets you free – so all you have to do is pedal.
