jeffcpr wrote:So I am going to be 50 in September of this year and it makes me think. I need start moving again before I lose the ability to move. I have been watch videos on YouTube (that is dangerous) and I am starting to desire to do some bikepacking.
I plan on some day trip in the future with and future over night trips. Just wondering anyone else do this or have an interest in doing this as well.
Having done alot (separate activities, rarely combined) of what you're thinking of doing...I see you've already got a good start.
Bike: A traveling bike is probably what you "were" looking for, either a fold up (minimalist style) for ease of travel (you can fly with it) or an expedition style with hardpoints for all sorts of attachments and a really low grinding gear...the expedition style is actually hard to find used because so few people do it, but with either style you "can" lug along a float tube.
If you're going to be a minimalist then that's on you, but there is a float tube or two that is light and expensive, or you can just go with a cheap Browning donut...I have hiked with my Fishcat Deluxe (I had a scuba rolling duffle that had shoulder straps) so you can't say that you can't take a float tube on your bike...it'll just be a challenge, depending on what you're willing to give up as far as features.
Of course you'll eventually want a rear, hard frame rack so if you eventually go fully suspended, you'll need to mount it on your seat post instead of your rear dropouts. Until then, your backpack is your friend.
I actually don't like to put too much weight on my rear rack, if my rear wheel is light on traction and I crank too hard, I have a tendency to flip my rear tire out to the side and a heavy weight above the rear wheel just accelerates that flip.
Panniers are great at loading the weight further down but make the bike harder to get on (I'm short)...so if I were to look at panniers, I'd probably want a step-through frame...yes, I know it's a "girl's" frame, and it's weaker but I don't expect that you'll be (on purpose) jumping with a fully loaded bike and I don't expect that you'll be worried about frame flex.
If you're tall, then a frame bag under your top bar can be useful...in your picture I saw a guy with his water bottle just behind the rear wheel, he must be really tall, and in cattle country he must like the taste of cow poop.
Strangely enough, I like my heavy weight right in front of the handle bars (everyone will tell you that's wrong) but I find everything easier to control, and it's easier for me to get on my bike. When I set up my Schwinn 7 speed (Sierra 7) to go down to the beach and get groceries, I had a hard time finding a front basket that was strong enough to handle some weight so I had to buy one online and do some small modifications to make it work, and then I found a plastic basket at the dollar store that (mostly) fit and zip tied that into place so small things wouldn't roll out...then I had to get a small cargo net, to keep things from jumping out.
When I bungeed my wet wetsuit and other things in place, flying cargo wasn't an issue, but if I tried carrying anything loose, or relatively loose (like groceries) things tended to work lose and go flying. So a cargo net that came with hooks became needed...although the one time my groceries went flying, a pretty girl stopped her car to help me, so maybe I should run more often without the net?
My front basket has black painted tubular frame parts, with a wooden floor so there are a few inches between the vertical parts.
A friend of mine bought a cheap electric bike with a cheap plastic front basket that had a lid that probably would work great also, if you don't put too much weight in it.
I have an old 26" Rock Hopper and my most heavily used mountain bike was a low end Univega (there's a story behind that) that I got strange looks from riding around some kind of fall regional ride up at Snow Summit, or maybe they mistook me for "someone" because I wasn't competing but when I rode through the parking lot, people would point and talk, and when I was on some of the open runs people would pull off and watch me...I figured it was because they couldn't believe what I was riding.
So I'm a hardtail kinda guy...fully suspended bikes are too heavy, and I don't like to go faster than about 40 mph downhill (bad things tend to happen) but it was always fun to watch my friend's reaction when we switched bikes and they were tired from riding my bike downhill...and I suck going uphill so a fully suspended bike just is bad for me going uphill.
(for my road bike I loved my Cannon Criterion 3.0)
For rods: Use what you've got, but in my opinion, you must really hate your rods if you don't put them in a hard case...which means that you're probably going to either attach the case to your top tube, or it sticks out of your back pack...you really didn't think you were going fishing without a backpack that has straps on both sides, that you can tie things off onto? Or at least Molle attachment points that you could use for your tiedown.
Hunting backpacks are actually really good for this, but they can be expensive...the kind that expect you to carry a rifle on one side, and at bipod, or tripod on the other...and if it opens up like a clamshell, you might be able to put (somehow) your float tube in there.
Don't forget a really good nightlight for your bike, even if you don't plan on being out that late...you might want to start out just before dawn on some days, or the fishing my just be that good...You can get a really good rechargeable handlebar light for around $50... I like really, really long run times and I expect the run times to be exaggerated, and the lumens to also be highly exaggerated (anything above about 800 lumens is not really useful unless you're a night rider and the numbers above 800 are essentially a lie). A runtime of about 10 hours is a decent time if it's not the lowest setting.
The one that I use the most now, was about $50 at one point but now, on sale it's under $20...and I like a simple, silicone mount because it's easy to take off/put on and anything else is easy to steal if you leave it on.
Having to cycle through 4 modes to turn my light off irritates me.
Tire selection and pressure:
Of course you're going to run with what you have, but knobbier, the better is some people's opinion...but they're harder to pedal...choose what suits you, it's not like you can't get off your bike and walk if you have to...and if you have to lock your rear wheel to skid steer down a trail, maybe you should get off and walk...or should have picked a different trail.
But low pressure is your best friend...you just have to find a pressure that allows your tread to flatten out a little, but you don't get "Snake bites" on your sidewall from the rims pinching them and causing failure...if you blow out your sidewall, duct tape and maybe a piece of cardboard can be your best friend...so if you air down, no jumping and no rock hopping...if you end up saying "but it was only a small ledge" that's on you. Don't ask how I discovered that cardboard isn't a very good stiffener if it gets wet.
Cellphone: You will probably want to use your cellphone to navigate to your destination...if you can disable the phone part and use only the GPS, and load your maps into memory, so much the better. Bring a backup battery pack, and pick a good, solid bike mount.
If you have enough money for a separate GPS unit, so much the better.
Map research is going to be your best friend, because you need to make sure that your bike can make it to your destination, or that your loaded bike is light enough that you can pick it up and walk with it.
Something like the West Fork of the San Gabriel river is a great place to start, it has a paved road much of the way, then a gravel road the rest of the way to the dam, and for the area, if there's enough water, the fishing in the past hasn't been that bad.
The first few hundred yards or so have been a little ghetto: people from the city drive up and let their kids play in the pools of water, and some of them can be "bangers" but if you ride past them, it's an easy ride for the next 8 miles or so, before you hit the dam (I don't think you can fish above that point).
Don't expect alot of fish, or even large fish...I don't think stockers survive the year there, so it's small naturals, if you get one to bit.
The East Fork is better for fishing, but not bike fishing...just don't disturb any gold miner's equipment (panners and sifter stuff that looks abandoned) if you go above the bridge...but the trailhead parking has both been ruined and improved by all the people that see on the Internet that the Bridge to Nowhere exists, so the trailhead has been paved, and parking tends to overflow, but it's with people carrying plastic bags filled with Gatorade bottles they probably got from the Target in Azusa, or the last convenience store at the Y-split (north and south traffic combine/split as you go up the canyon) and they don't realize that they'll get wet, and probably fall during the 5 or so water crossings to get to that bridge...last I heard there's even a bungee jumping company that sets up shop on the Bridge-to-Nowhere...and I've talked to an "actress" that did a shoot up there (helicopter never picked them up, so they had to hike back down in the dark, unprepared, with all their gear).
Don't expect cellphone service on either fork...and when you're fishing, well, take normal water precautions.
Oh, I almost forgot: A bike lock...
Some people never use one...I would always bring at least a cable lock, or a good chain with a cable, and a disc-shaped lock.
Lockpicking Lawyer on Youtube should disabuse you of the idea that locks are perfect, but of the times I've had to break a lock, the disc shaped ones you see at storage facilities was the hardest to actually break open, and it was basically defeated at the start, but the way it was designed, I couldn't get the shackle to slide the last 1/8". It probably would have been better to pick it, but my co-workers already had a go at the lock so I just finished what they started.
And a cable, even an expensive cable, is actually pretty easy to cut through...but it's better than nothing, and if you lose your key, and you have pliers, you can still get your bike free.
It sounds like you want to avoid the wide firebreak roads (they can have really soft dirt, which is a pain to peddle through if you're not in California) so enjoy, and I've probably used more words than I need to because you're just going to have to go out there and "git 'er done" and post pics
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