A 10-week plan for your first bikepacking trip
For riders who can manage an hour and a half or two in one go and want to ride somewhere for two or three days with their kit on the bike, at 60 to 80 km a day. Three or four rides a week, back-to-back weekend rides from the start, bags on from week six, and a shakedown overnighter before the real thing. By the end you’ll know what to pack, what to leave, and how day two feels.
Who this plan is for
Bikepacking is just going somewhere by bike and staying the night, with your stuff strapped to the frame. It doesn’t have to mean wild camping or a thousand kilometres. A first trip of two or three days, 60 to 80 km each, with a hostel, a B&B or a campsite at the end of each one, is a wonderful thing, and well within reach of anyone who rides regularly.
This plan assumes you already ride once or twice a week and can manage an hour and a half or two without it wrecking you. It doesn’t assume any bike in particular, or that you own a single bag yet. If you’re not riding an hour and a half, start with the 8-week 50 km plan and come back.
If you have a health condition or you’re new to exercise, get a doctor’s OK first. This is general guidance, not medical advice, and the Etapa app, which personalises it, isn’t a medical service.
What the ten weeks look like
The thing that makes a trip different from a long ride is the second day, so this plan practises that from week one: a long ride on Saturday and a shorter, easy one on Sunday, on tired legs. Base (weeks one to three) grows the long ride to just over two hours. Week four is easier. Build (weeks five to seven) takes the long ride to three hours and, from week six, puts bags on the bike, lightly at first and then with the full load. Week eight is the shakedown overnighter: a real, small trip to find out what’s wrong with your packing while it’s cheap to fix. Week nine eases off, and week ten is the trip.
Three rides a week in base (a midweek ride plus the Saturday and Sunday pair), four in build, when a midweek hills ride with bags on joins them. The long ride grows by fifteen minutes a week. Nothing is fast. On a loaded bike you’ll average somewhere around 15 km/h, so a 70 km day is five hours in the saddle plus stops, and the plan is built for that, not for speed.
| Weeks | Focus | Long ride grows to | How it should feel |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–3 | Base: long ride Saturday, easy ride Sunday, no bags | 1 h 45 → 2 h 15 (Sunday 45 min → 1 h) | Easy. Sunday will feel odd at first; that’s the point. |
| 4 | Easier week | 1 h 30 (Sunday 45 min) | Fresh. |
| 5 | Build: longer, still no bags | 2 h 30 (Sunday 1 h) | Easy, with hills. |
| 6–7 | Build: bags on, load growing to the real thing | 2 h 45 → 3 h (Sunday 1 h 15) | Slower than you’re used to. Same easy effort, less distance. |
| 8 | Shakedown overnighter: two loaded days with a night away | 3 h 30, then 2 h 30 | A full dress rehearsal. Take notes. |
| 9 | Taper: short, no bags | 1 h 45 (Sunday 45 min) | Easy. Fix everything you noted. |
| 10 | The trip | 60 to 80 km a day | Unhurried. Eat, stop, look at things. |
Tuesday: an hour easy, with some hills if you have them. Saturday: an hour and three-quarters easy, with a stop. Sunday: 45 minutes very easy on flat roads, the morning after. Four rest days. Week two adds fifteen minutes to Saturday and keeps Sunday the same.
A sample week
Week seven, in the build phase, with the full load on for the weekend. Ride the loaded ones on roads and paths like the trip’s.
| Day | Session | How long | How it should feel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Rest | — | Unpack the bags and look at what you didn’t use. |
| Tuesday | Easy ride, no bags | 1 h | Chatting pace. Enjoy how light the bike feels. |
| Wednesday | Rest, or strength off the bike | 0–30 min | Twenty minutes of squats, lunges and planks; your middle and hips work harder when the bike is heavy. |
| Thursday | Hills, bags on | 1 h 15 | Seated, steady climbs in a low gear. Notice how the bike handles with weight on it. |
| Friday | Rest | — | Pack the bags properly for the weekend. |
| Saturday | Long ride, fully loaded | 3 h | Easy throughout. Eat every 30 to 40 minutes, stop when you want to, practise getting on and off. |
| Sunday | Easy ride on tired legs, loaded | 1 h 15 | Gentle and flat. This is what day two feels like, only shorter. |
How to adjust it when life happens
Missed a week? Go back to the week you missed; don’t skip ahead. The long ride should never grow by more than fifteen minutes from the last one you did. If you’re short of time, keep the loaded rides and the shakedown overnighter; those teach you the most.
Feeling wiped? Riding two days in a row is tiring in a way the clock doesn’t show. If Sunday’s easy ride feels genuinely hard rather than just stiff, drop it that week and take the rest. Keep each week’s total riding within about ten to fifteen per cent of the last.
Ill? Rest until it’s gone and restart easy. Never do the shakedown overnighter under the weather; it’s the one you want a clear head for.
Weather? Swap days around, shorten rather than cancel, and if the shakedown weekend looks grim, move it a week. The real thing will have weather too, so a bit of rain is useful practice; a storm isn’t.
In the Etapa app this becomes your plan: tell it your trip dates, the days you can ride and how much you ride now, and it drops the sessions into your calendar, back-to-backs included, and reshuffles them when life intervenes. Its route planner can string together the quiet lanes and paths for the trip itself, and the coach will answer the questions that come up at ten at night while you’re staring at a pile of kit.
Kit, food and the basics
Packing is where first trips go wrong, so here’s the short version. Pack everything you think you need, then take a third of it out. Heavy things (tools, food, water) go low and central, in a frame bag or bottle cages; light, bulky things (sleeping bag, spare clothes) go in a seat pack or on the bars. Keep the load balanced side to side, strap everything so nothing swings or rubs the tyre, and ride around the block before you commit. You don’t need proper bikepacking bags for a first trip: a small rucksack and a dry bag strapped to a rack works. What you do need: a puncture kit you’ve used, a multi-tool, a charger, lights, a waterproof, and more food than seems sensible. Eat every 30 to 40 minutes while riding and properly at every stop. More in our guides to beginner cycling gear and eating on the bike, and in Rob’s piece on the bit of bikepacking he loves most.
The week before and the days themselves
Week nine is short and unloaded: fix whatever the shakedown showed up, book the beds, and share the route with someone. Week ten: 45 minutes easy on Tuesday, 30 on Thursday, then rest. The night before, pack, lift the bike to feel the weight, and take something else out.
On the days themselves: start early and slow. Loaded, the first hour feels heavier than it should; it settles. Eat and drink from the start, stop every hour or so to stretch and look around, and get to the night’s stop with daylight in hand. Day two starts stiff for twenty minutes and then feels fine; you practised it. Day three, if there is one, is usually the best.
Do I need a special bikepacking bike?
No. Almost any bike that fits you and can carry a few kilos will do a first trip: a gravel bike, a hybrid, a hardtail mountain bike or a sturdy road bike. Wider tyres and low gears make it more comfortable, and a rack makes carrying easier. Ride what you own for the first trip and decide what you’d change afterwards.
How far can a beginner ride in a day with bags on?
For a first trip, 60 to 80 km a day is plenty, and 50 is fine if the route is hilly. With a loaded bike you’ll average around 15 km/h including short stops, so 70 km is roughly five hours of riding. Plan the days by hours rather than distance, and give yourself time to arrive before dark.
Do I have to camp?
Not at all. Staying in hostels, B&Bs or pubs, sometimes called credit-card touring, is a brilliant way to do a first trip: less to carry, a bed, a shower and a cooked breakfast. Camp on a later trip if you want to. The riding is the same either way, and this plan works for both.
How heavy is too heavy?
If you can’t easily lift the loaded bike onto a train or over a gate, it’s too heavy. Most first-timers carry far more than they use. Lay everything out, remove anything you’re taking “just in case”, and pack the heaviest things low and central so the bike still handles well. The shakedown overnighter in week eight tells you what you actually needed.
Where do I find a beginner-friendly bikepacking trip?
The Etapa events directory has a trips filter with organised bikepacking events, many with short routes, luggage transfers and a group to ride with, which takes most of the worry out of a first one. Or plan your own: two nights, a train home, quiet roads, and a route the app’s planner can put together for you.
Plan the trip, then let the app plan the training
Give Etapa your trip dates and the days you can ride, and it builds a personal version of this plan with the back-to-back rides and the shakedown weekend in your calendar, and a coach to ask what to pack.
Free to download. 7-day free trial on every plan.