I live in South Devon, not far from Dartmoor and I've been collected gear to do some wild camping overnighters for a while. It was actually the Alpkit website that put me onto the idea of bikepacking. I had no notion that it would be as simple as strapping most of my stuff, in drybags to the bike, ride 15 miles or so and be on the Moors within a couple of hours. The thought had never even occurred to me!Plus the fact that my bike is a singlespeed self-built On-One Inbred - seemingly one of the vehicles of choice for such an adventure.
Gear wise, apart from the aforementioned Inbred, I'm using a Vango Spectre 300 tent, used outer-only with a home made nylon groundsheet, Alpkit Skyhigh sleeping bag and Alpkit Airo mat. Luggage is a 15L and a 8L Airlok Extra plus an OMM Classic 25 backpack. I'm cooking on a Trangia burner inside the backpackinglight honey stove.
Anyways, I loaded up and set off on Saturday, 4.30pm from Newton Abbot on the hottest day of the year. My designated camping spot was Leigh Tor, in between New Bridge and Poundsgate. Since this was my first outing, I rode all the way on the road, via Ashburton, about 13 miles. The heat and the hills took their toll and by the time I reached Leigh Tor (about 2 and a half hours later!), I was seriously sweaty, probably dehydrated, bloody knackered and seriously hungry. I was fair chuffed though, as I was greeted by this:
The tent flew up,I got changed and I had all my gear out and set up really quickly.
Made a brew, then cooked my dinner which worked a treat. Pasta cooked in a bag and pot cosy with some Bisto cheese sauce thrown in to make a really easy, no boil macaroni cheese. At home I'd calculated how much water I needed to leave enough to make the sauce and it worked out great. I even had a little tiny bottle of tabasco sauce to go with it. Oh, and a lovely bottle of Stout! Dinner didn't even touch the sides, and I realised I should have packed far more food, perhaps instead of 2 bottles of beer.... :D
When I settled in for the night, I did notice a lot of flies in the tent roof, which I thought might be a risk. By the time it got dark they'd all flown away or shut up but the midges and the heat made it impossible for me to sleep! I was just far too hot in my sleeping bag, but didn't want to get out of it because of the bloody midges. So, a very bad night's sleep ensued (not helped by the sounds of drum & bass coming from a probably illegal rave across the valley), but I did get to see the sun rise before drinking a luke-warm hot chocolate (due to running out of meths) and packing up and heading home at about 6am.
Overall though, it was a fantastic trip. It was vaguely exciting being out there on my own for the first time and I couldn't fault any of my equipment, though there are some things I know I can do better next time:
Eat and drink more before I set off
Take more food
Swap the drybags over on the bike, so that the 8L is at the back.
Invest in a bug net
Set off later if it's hot
Buy a summer sleeping bag or maybe make that quilt I've been trying to do for ages. Or just do without.
Take more meths (I only had a burner-full which was only enough to do one drink and my dinner)
