Our crew loves to mountain bike but what we love even more is getting away for a few days to mountain bike as well as camp and unplug. It seems we are always trying to thin down the amount of stuff we bring due to the fact that at the end of it all, we will have to pack everything back up before we head home.
While we have talked about it we have yet to do an overnight trip but it is on our list of trips to make. This would be a simple drive to a location that may be a couple hours away, ride the remaining portion of the day, pull out the hammocks or tents to stay the night and then tackle the trails the next day before having to head home.
This article will cover the preparing for a successful overnight mountain bike camping trip. It is an effort to help riders think through all aspects of the trip to ensure they have a great time with little to no problems along the way.
- Meal Planning
- Transportation Planning
- Ride Planning
- Gear Planning
- Site Planning
Inevitably, at the end of the trip we are exhausted and it seems to take forever to get packed up and back on the road and this list should minimize the amount of time needed. With proper planning you can eliminate items you shouldn’t need which speeds up packing up.
When planning for an overnight mountain biking camping trip you have your essentials which will of course be you mountain bike as well as you kit. The other essentials are your food and hydration for both the rides as well as your meals.
Meal Planning
There is a lot of thought that needs to go into the meal planning process. First you have to identify several things I regards to timing before you start your meal planning. These things are,
- when do you plan on leaving?
- Do you plan on getting a ride in before getting to the campgrounds?
- When will you actually arrive at the campgrounds?
- Are you packing up early the next day or will you try to get a ride in before packing up?
- when will you arrive as well as if you are planning on riding before you get to your camping destination.
When do you plan on leaving?
This plays into whether or not you will need to make or buy lunch as you are more than likely going to have breakfast before you leave the house. If you grab breakfast on the way then be smart and think about how it might make you feel during your ride.
If you make the wrong decision you might be bailing out mid ride with the need to pop a squat for the dreaded DRD or “During Ride Dump“. Nothing worse than running into this during a ride especially if you are not prepared.
Do you plan on getting a ride in before getting to the campgrounds?
If you are planning on having lunch in between rides you are going to want to think about your options which are outlined in this article. The key here is to ensure that you have enough fuel for the ride as well as to recover from the ride.
The last thing you are going to want to do is not be prepared for your first ride of the trip. This could lead to a bad omen for the rest of the trip. That and if you fully exhaust yourself you won’t have enough energy to setup camp.
A simple option that usually works for us is to make and have some simple sandwiches along with a bag of chips prior to starting a ride after lunch. If you feel like you are going to need some instant energy you might want to have something a little sweet to give you that quick boost.
One of our go to’s is Sour Patch Kid’s. A small handful of these go a long way.
When will you actually arrive at the campgrounds?
To ensure that you have the groceries needed for dinner and breakfast then you might want to do your shopping the night before. Your other option would be to grab groceries on the way to the campsite.
We made the mistake of waiting till we got to the area before getting our grub which had us running around at night trying to figure out where to grab groceries which ended up sending us out to eat for dinner because by the time we located the store it was too late to get back and prepare something.
If you plan well enough ahead you can purchase the necessities before you head out and load the cooler down with ice. If you have a nice enough cooler you can set things up that should last you for your whole trip. With cooler technology being what it is today you should have no problem keeping your stuff cold.
Are you packing up early the next day or will you try to get a ride in before packing up?
You will need to have this ironed out before trying to determine what you wan’t to have for breakfast and lunch options. If you are looking to get a ride in before packing up then you are probably going to want to have a simple breakfast that doesn’t take up too much time.
If you are going to be packing up prior to going out for another ride then you will have some time for a decent meal. The biggest thing here is that the bigger you go on breakfast here, the more you will have to clean up. You will also have to give your food time to settle before hitting the trails.
A good option when you have multiples is to share the duties. While one is making breakfast, the other(s) can be packing up their gear. After breakfast, while the cook is packing up his or her gear the other individual can be cleaning up breakfast.
If you prefer to spend more time riding you might get away with a lighter breakfast prior to packing up or going out for the ride as there would be little to no time needed for cleaning. If you would rather spend more time on the bike then cleaning the site this might be your best option.
A bagel with peanut butter or a protein bar might be a great alternative to a bacon and egg sandwich. The only other item needed would be a pot of coffee which can be cleaned up pretty quickly. A pretty inexpensive and quick meal plan for a trip like this could look something like
- Saturday Breakfast
- At home or grab something on the way
- Saturday Lunch
- Sandwich (deli meat or PB&J or a number of other combinations)
- Side: chips, carrots, pickles, etc.
- Sandwich (deli meat or PB&J or a number of other combinations)
- Saturday Dinner
- Steak and potatoes with pasta salad
- Hamburgers and/or hot dogs with pasta salad
- Grilled BBQ chicken with vegetables and pasta salad
- Steak and potatoes with pasta salad
- Sunday Breakfast
- Pop-tarts with fruit
- Bagel with cream cheese or peanut butter
- Protein bar
- All served with a cup of Joe or your favorite sports drink
- Pop-tarts with fruit
- Sunday Lunch
- Same thing as on Saturday
- Sunday Dinner
- Back home
When you can get together with your crew and plan your meals accordingly you will be surprised with how much money you can save by not buying a lot of junk. You’ll have to be careful while shopping for the food though as you may end up with a nickname like “Double Stuffed” that tends to come up every time we are on a mountain bike camping trip.
Transportation planning
Transportation is something to really think about prior to heading out for your overnight mountain biking camping trip. Several things to think about here is how many vehicles will you need for the trip, how are you planning on getting from campsite to trail and do you have the proper rack for traveling.
First off is the question of how many vehicles should you take with you on your trip. In some cases you might end up at a trail where you are better served to shuttle to the entrance. In some cases there may be a service that will carry you, your friends and gear up to the trail head.
If you want to skip that cost, or if there isn’t a service offered, then you might want to take at least two cars. This will allow you to leave one car at the end of the trail while taking the other ride up to the trail head.
This is what we did while at Reddish Knob in Virginia. We located the trailhead and left my car there. This allowed us to enjoy the awesome descent without having to kill ourselves on the climb.
So what if you only have one rack between the vehicles or one rack won’t hold multiple bikes? The rack on my car wasn’t substantial enough to hold all three of our bikes and take us all back up to the top of the mountain.
This is why it is best if you also have at least three riders which will allow one to hang back while the other two take off to get the car from the trailhead. We left Jeremy to hang out with the bikes while I drove back up to the trailhead so Jason could bring his ride back down.
Another option here is also making friends on the trail. As long as you are not a complete tool out on the trail, you should be able to catch a ride back up to the trailhead because if you shuttled more than likely there will be others out there doing the same thing.
Ride planning
There are a ton of apps out there that allow you to look up while out in the area and use GPS to pull up trails near you. With those same apps you can also research the area before you get there.
Other options include checking out organizations in the area you are planning to ride which might be able to give more detailed information about trails you might be interested in. There are also some pretty good books out there with some awesome details about the trails.
A fun option is to be part of online forums, facebook groups, or YouTube videos. Its cool to hear first hand from other’s who have already ridden trails and get their input on whether or not something is worth trying out.
Gear Planning
When it comes to planning the gear for your overnight trip you will need to think about a couple of things; Bike Gear and Camping Gear. If planned properly you can eliminate a ton of useless items.
For those of us who use to be Boy Scouts or just like to be prepared for anything this can be a tough task. I say this as I have a ton of difficulty when it comes to this part of the planning for the trip thinking I need to bring everything including the kitchen sink, lol.
Camping gear
There are a lot of things that go into ensuring you are packing the correct camping gear for you mountain bike camping trip. These things include (but are not limited to) the time of year in which your trip is planned, what part of the country or world the trip is planned and finally the length of your trip.
In this case we are preparing for an overnight trip and can go real minimalist with a setup here. Our current setup is to bring our hammocks, bug net and rain tarp along with our sleeping bag. As long as there are trees we can usually find two with enough distance to setup the hammocks.
Back in the day we use to all 3 camp in a large tent but it just took a while to tear down on the last morning. If everyone brings their own hammock then you can get things packed up pretty quickly. It also leaves room for some ragging on whomever takes the longest to get packed up. After all, everyone loves to get in a friendly jab here and there.
When it comes to cooking equipment, once you have your menu planned you can properly plan this portion of gear. In our case, we have a grate that we lay over the fire at night once we have the coals ready from the fire. This is where we cook up either the chicken or steak and adds some awesome flavor with the food being cooked right over the fire.
You could also use the same great for the coffee pot in the morning but its much quicker to use the gas stove for that. You are going to want to ensure that you
- Cooking grate for fire
- Gas stove
- Coffee Pot
- Pan and or pot
- Plates and utensils
- If you have access to water you can bring reusable items
- If no access to water then just go ahead and bring one use items.
- If you have access to water you can bring reusable items
Biking gear
Understanding your ride number is key here. Depending on how many rides as well as timing of the rides will play a huge part in planning your bike gear. So will weather.
Your basic list of items will include;
- Bike (duh)
- Helmet
- Regular
- Full face
- Shoes
- Shorts
- Shirts
Your not so basic list of items include
- Extra liners
- Body armor
- Knee pads
- Elbow pads
- Hydration pack
Planning your gear is key in ensuring a fun ride as well as an inexpensive one. It’s never easy finding cheap gear when you need it right then.
More often than not you will end up forking our a ton of cash to be able to ride. While it may be fun to get new stuff from a shop local to the trail area like shirts and hats, that’s usually stuff you already budgeted for mentally.
If you are planning on doing a morning ride as well as an afternoon ride with campsite setup in between you might want to schedule two liners for the first day. If it’s a hot hard finish to the first trail you might want to jump out of the liners before setting up camp.
Forget this and you could end up with some serious chafing. Nothing feels better than letting the boys get some air while you wait for the next ride. Friendly tip, just take the time to freshen up with baby wipes for everyone’s sake.
Site planning
Depending on where your destination is, you are going to want to do some site planning for your camping destination. If its local then you might already have a great idea about where you plan on spending the night.
If you are not lucky enough to have someone who lives close by to the trail(s) then you are going to need to do some research regarding where to camp for the night. You may want to setup in a hotel, a paid campground or a free campground. Regardless, you will need to do some research as to not be scrambling at the last minute.
If you are planning to ride any trails that happen to be in or around the national park systems I would suggest trying out some of the free campsites that can be found nearby. If you do your research you can find some really nice free spots.
For example, on our last two trips to Brevard, NC we found a location near the fish hatchery is near about perfect. It’s at the top of the mountain near the road closure. It has two streams offering options for fresh water.
It’s pretty cool to fall asleep to the sound of a waterfall. The spot is perfectly setup for running hammocks but there are several options for tent placements as well. Most of the campsites along the strip of road going up to the top of this portion of the mountain all have a decent bit of privacy to them.
The one negative can be that it’s a little difficult to get to the top of said mountain because of the nature of the gravel road. Depending on the time of year and The weather prior to your arrival you may experience issues with rights that are cut across the gravel road by rain creating a washout.
It’s harder to navigate with smaller vehicles, it’s not impossible depending on your vehicle but it’s much easier with a lifted truck or a 4 Wheel drive SUV. The other con in regards to the section of campsites, is the fact that it could take a while to get to the top of the hill.
Again this is caused by the washouts and or ruts in the gravel road which cause you to have to drive a little slower then if you did you would on the paved road which slows down your exit an arrival time to the campsite especially if you have the bikes on the back. You don’t want to put a scratch on your baby.
In Conclusion
There is the old saying of proper planning prevents piss poor performance. In this case if you do your due diligence you could be in for one hell of an overnight mountain bike and camping trip. Good luck on your next adventure!