How Bikepacking Roots Helped Me Build the Confidence to Begin Solo Bikepacking at 59
“Education gives us knowledge. Community gives us confidence. Stewardship gives us something worth protecting.”
When I first became interested in bikepacking, I was looking for answers.
I had spent weeks reading articles, researching gear, watching videos, and trying to understand how people planned multi-day adventures on two wheels. Slowly, the pieces began coming together. I learned about tents, sleeping quilts, bike bags, stoves, and water filtration. I started to understand what bikepacking was.
What I still didn’t understand was how all those individual pieces became a real trip.
How do you choose a route? How much food is enough? How much water should you carry? What skills should you know before spending your first night alone in the backcountry? Perhaps most importantly, how do you build enough confidence to finally stop researching and simply go?
That was when Bikepacking Roots entered my life.
One of the first things that stood out to me was that Bikepacking Roots isn’t simply encouraging people to go bikepacking. They’re helping shape the future of the sport through advocacy, education, stewardship, route development, and partnerships with land managers. Their work extends well beyond inspiring people to ride. They’re helping ensure that the public lands and trails we enjoy today remain accessible for generations to come.
That mission immediately resonated with me.
Having spent much of my professional career working in environmental sustainability, I’ve always appreciated organizations that think beyond the immediate experience. Trails don’t simply appear because we’re fortunate enough to have them. Someone builds them. Someone maintains them. Someone advocates for continued access. Someone works with land managers to balance recreation with conservation so these places remain healthy long after we’ve ridden through them.
Bikepacking Roots is doing that work.
Knowing that made me appreciate the organization before I had even attended a single webinar.
It was their educational resources, however, that had the greatest impact on my own journey.
One of the most valuable resources Bikepacking Roots offers is its recorded webinar series, available free on YouTube. Although the webinars were recorded a few years ago, I never once found myself thinking the information felt dated. Good education has a way of remaining relevant, and these webinars are a perfect example.
What I appreciated most wasn’t simply how much information they shared. It was how approachable they made bikepacking feel.
Before finding the webinar series, bikepacking still felt like one enormous challenge. There were so many moving parts that it was difficult to know where to begin. The webinars quietly changed that. Rather than presenting bikepacking as one big leap, they broke it down into practical, manageable steps that anyone could learn.
The very first webinar had the greatest impact on me. Instead of beginning with gear or equipment, it began with a much more important question.
What kind of bikepacking experience are you hoping to have?
That simple question encouraged me to explore my goals and objectives for each bikepacking ride I was considering. Until then, I think I had unconsciously been comparing myself to people riding across mountain ranges or disappearing into the backcountry for weeks at a time. The webinar reminded me that there isn’t one “right” way to bikepack.
Your adventure should reflect what you’re hoping to experience.
For me, that meant something wonderfully simple. I wanted to ride to a campground, spend the night by myself, wake up with the sun, make coffee outside, and ride home the next morning.
That realization gave me permission to stop comparing my beginning to someone else’s middle.
As I continued through the webinar series, each session built another layer of confidence. Route planning became less intimidating. Food and nutrition became easier to understand. Bike maintenance and trailside repairs transformed from mysterious skills into practical ones that could be learned with time and practice. Every webinar made the dream feel a little more achievable. And my confidence grew.
Something else happened that I hadn’t expected.
I realized I wasn’t asking unusual questions.
Listening to the presenters and hearing conversations from other aspiring bikepackers reminded me that every experienced rider was once standing exactly where I was: trying to figure out what to pack, how much food to bring, where to camp, and whether they were ready.
That sense of community mattered more than I anticipated.
The webinar series is complemented by The Bikepacker’s Guide (Second Edition), a downloadable guidebook that has become one of my favorite planning resources. Originally published in 2015 and thoughtfully updated, the guide walks through trip planning, navigation, gear selection, positive impact practices, and mindset, and includes practical checklists that have become invaluable as I’ve planned my own adventures.
Even now, as I prepare for longer rides and explore more remote areas of Colorado, I still return to the guide. Not because I’ve forgotten what I’ve learned, but because experience has taught me that it’s often the small details we overlook. Having a trusted reference helps me slow down, think through my plans, and head out with greater confidence.
Looking back, I realize that BikePacking.com and Bikepacking Roots each gave me something different.
BikePacking.com inspired me to dream about bikepacking. Bikepacking Roots showed me how to turn that dream into something practical. One sparked my imagination. The other gave me the confidence to begin.
Today, every time I ride through the trees, pitch my tent beneath towering pines, or wake to the sound of birds greeting a new day, I’m reminded that these experiences don’t happen by accident. They exist because people care enough to protect the places we ride, educate new riders, and create opportunities for others to experience the same sense of freedom and wonder. I feel a deep sense of gratitude.
That’s why, throughout July and August 2026, I’m raising funds in support of Bikepacking Roots.
Supporting this organization feels like a meaningful way to give back to a community that helped make my own journey possible. If you’ve found inspiration in the outdoors, value public lands, or simply believe in helping others discover bikepacking, I hope you’ll consider joining me.
Support my Bikepacking Roots fundraiser: https://go.rallyup.com/bikepackingroots/m/jstarr
Thank you for helping ensure that the trails we ride, the landscapes we treasure, and the opportunities to explore them remain available for generations of bikepackers to come.
