About Alissa & Bikepacking For All

Hi and welcome! I’m Alissa, creator of Bikepacking For All and author of everything on this website.

I’m working to create one of the internet’s largest collections of bikepacking information and inspiration, a friendly spot that doesn’t require you to look a certain way or have a lot of money to spend in order to feel at home here. A place where everyone feels empowered to try this incredible way of exploring our world.

I found my way into bikepacking as a scrappy, low-budget, solo female bike traveler. Over the years my approach has become more mainstream and my gear admittedly more expensive, but I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for folks starting out like I did: nervous but jumping in anyway, frugal and not worried about having the “right” gear or bike, and learning the hard way through trial and error.

This website is my way of giving back and paying forward to this amazing activity and community that has given me so much. I’m glad you’re here! Please look around, learn a lot, and get in touch (contact form down below).

The trip that started it all! Not yet a cyclist, I just wanted the most immersive travel experience I could find. During three months of pedaling solo through Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand I had a blast, embraced a more adventurous version of myself, and got hooked. A few months later I spent 5 weeks touring in Patagonia, including the gorgeous Carretera Austral with a friend and solo on to Tierra del Fuego.

While touring abroad I grew curious about traveling my home country by bike, and my inner endurance athlete (previously a mediocre ultrarunner) got hooked on the idea of self-supported long-distance “racing.” So I hopped into the inaugural Bike Nonstop US, a 3500 mile race from Portland to D.C. I held on for a back-of-the-pack 30 day finish, saw more of my own country than I had in the rest of my life put together, and got a hint of how much I still had to learn about cycling. I also learned that I did not want to spend so much time on roads with cars, which led to…

After riding across the US on mostly “low-traffic roads” and still experiencing way too much traffic, I decided to look into this bikepacking thing I’d been hearing about. I revisited some of my favorite areas from Bike Nonstop but this time via dirt and gravel, stuffing my road touring bike with the widest tires that would fit and the cheapest bikepacking bags I could find. In a series of exploratory trips in Oregon and Utah I reveled in wide-open spaces and the joys of dispersed camping on public land.

Within the US I was hooked on bikepacking, but still felt the pull of immersive international travel and the type of bike touring that first led me down the cycling rabbit hole. I worked up my courage to tackle one of the more intriguing destinations on my long wish list: Egypt and Sudan in northern Africa. This trip was eye-opening and sobering, especially challenging as a solo woman, and so incredibly rewarding. It was cut a bit short by the impending pandemic, leading to a last-minute flight home from Khartoum.

As dust from the pandemic began to settle, I found myself craving more sense of community in my bikepacking endeavors after so many solo miles. I felt drawn to the storied GDMBR between the Mexican and Canadian borders, and all the history and other riders I would encounter there. I began my northbound ride solo and after five weeks was joined by my husband for the second half, our first longer trip together (after years of trying to drag him into the bikepacking rabbit hole with me) 🙂 and the best of both worlds.

Though racing across the country had been a bit too long to repeat, I’m drawn to the intensity of shorter off-pavement bikepacking races. Each route is a little sampler of a beautiful region, lovingly created by the route organizer. As someone who often bikepacks solo, the community surrounding these races is a big draw. Though I’m usually toward the back of the pack I’ve enjoyed racing Smoke ‘n Fire 400, The Big Lonely, Bones to Blue, Pinyons and Pines, and Tour de los Padres, with many more on my wishlist.

Through the early years of my bike travel obsession my husband was supportive from afar, but over the years he’s become my favorite adventure buddy. My original dream had been to bike “around the world” with him, but he has his own interests and priorities that are (if can you believe it) not all about bikes. So we compromised by taking some epic shorter trips together, a month in Central Asia and two months in Morocco and Portugal.

As my relationship with bikes and bike travel has evolved, I’ve come to realize it’s an incredibly flexible interest. Bikes and bikepacking are just a tool in the toolbox, to be used toward whatever ends we choose. These days I’m a bit more settled at home and my trips are shorter, but I still use bike travel to visit with friends, vacation with my partner, relax in solitude, explore a new place, or motivate myself to train and get fitter. And I’m open to whatever comes next!