Winter bikepacking to a local mountain in Norway
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ส.ค. 2024
- #bikepacking #fatbike
Join me bikepacking on my fatbike to a local mountain in winter while I'm pondering about why I bikepack.
…
Do you remember that feeling way back when you learned to ride a bike? I had just begun school when I got my first bike. Day in and day out I would sit on the seat and push myself along the roadside curb with my right foot. My strides became longer and longer until one day I put caution to the wind and took my first pedal strokes. That day, the bike became my freedom machine. The world suddenly grew bigger, right in front of my tiny handlebars. I never looked back.
Those first wobbly pedal strokes made a lasting impact on me. The feeling of freedom, of riding to new places.
That same joy of exploring my backwoods is still with me today as a forty-something family man, riding from home to spend the night on our local mountain.
16 years old, I became more and more aware that our way of living was destroying our planet. I swore to fly as little as possible and never get a drivers license. And here I am, 30 plus years later, more sure than ever that the car is not for me.
If anything, my love for the humble bicycle is growing stronger as my beard is getting greyer. Where other people my age covet luxury cabins in the mountains, I’m still hunting that same simple joy of adventure that I experienced as a kid, the bliss of being outside, of seeing new places and revisiting old ones, the freedom to pitch my tiny tent or tarp wherever I want. The love of the hills, of going places using nothing but the power of my own legs. The love of the bike and its simple mechanics, so elegant and efficient at the same time.
I’m a biologist, a writer and a photographer. A book reviewer once called me a professional vagabond. I take that as a compliment. My love for the outdoors and nature burns so strong in me that I made it my work to show others that you don’t need to travel to the other side of the world to find adventure. Most of us can find it right at our doorstep. You just need an open mind.
I don’t count money. I count memories. The campfires, the feeling of seeing your kids grow up being confident in the outdoors, thriving in nature. The trips with my better half, with friends and family, the conversations, the starry nights and northern lights, the hooting owls, the shifting seasons, catching trout, swimming naked in the forest lakes, eating freshly picked blueberries on the breakfast porridge, harvesting fungi, laying on your back watching the clouds. All those moments that no money in the world can buy you. All you have to do is go.
This video was self-filmed late January 2021 while on a photo reportage assignment for Norwegian mountain bike magazine Terrengsykkel.
Camera: Fujifilm X-T3
Lens: Fujifilm XF35 f1.4
Music: But you’re the one by Headlund, Epidemic Sound.
Bike: Surly Moonlander
#bikepacking #fatbike #fatbiking #cycling #norway
![[TH] 2024 PMSL SEA W3D1 | Fall | สัปดาห์ตัดสิน ทีมไปไฟนอล](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZBU3GyzqErI/mqdefault.jpg)
You have a wonderful attitude to life, shame more people don’t think like you, yes to be called a vagabond is a compliment
Thanks for your kind words! 😊🙏
True words! Thanks for your inspirational and down to earth Videos.
Thanks again for the kind words! 😊🙏🏻
Love every second and all what you saying!!!thanks for sharing!!
Great to hear, glad you enjoyed the video! 😊🙏
Yes, that is the spirit!!! Thank you for sharing your attitude! Good luck to you on all your ways!
Thanks, glad you liked it! 🙏😊
Gorgeous video. I love your photos and your philosophy on life.
Thanks, happy to hear you enjoyed it! 😊🙏
master class
This seems deeply personal, and I thank you for sharing it with us. It's struck a cord with me, and this is how I want my life to be like. Cheers to more adventures!
Thank you so much for your kind words, Bianca, really appreciated! Cheers to more adventures!
You are delightful, thank you for creating this and sharing yourself with us!
Thanks for the kind words! 😊🙏
Thank you for sharing your words and ideas with the world
Thanks for the kind words! 😊🙏🏻
Love watching this video 😎
Thanks, glad to hear you enjoyed it! 😊🙏
I love your philosophy and I love this video. I haven’t owned a car in over twenty years and rely on my bike and feet and occasionally the bus to get around. I share your love of cycling, I started when I was 5 years old and 54 years later I still love it more than ever. I hope many young people listen to your message.
Thanks, Don, happy to hear you enjoyed the video. We’ll just have to keep pedalling and hope the world follows suit 😊🚲
Beautiful. 🙌
Thanks! 😊🙏🚲🏕
I love this. I'm having a similar experience of bikepacking discovery here in Scotland. Thank you for articulating it all so well.
Glad you liked the little movie! Thank you so much for your feedback, very much appreciated!
I either walk or bicycle. I bicycle commute 18km to work and back, so 36km a day, but I commute and don't compete. I work shifts and experience the time changes, the seasons, the weather, the different wind directions, head wind, side or back, and none of it disturbs my peace. I use a bicycle poncho draped over the handlebars and I feel like I am in a tent.
I slid out on ice and had to later straighten the derailleur hanger. And once during a snow storm I let too much air from the back tire thinking I would get better traction but it didn't work and I had a flat tire that I was not going to fix. The snow was deep and I was tired from night shift 😴 so a 50 minute normal commute took me 3 1/2 hours. I did manage to take some nice pictures. I ran out of water so I ate snow. I just didn't want to dehydrate. I have schwalbe marathon tires, not tubeless!! So I sort of learned not to mess with tires if there is nothing wrong.
I am also hardwired for adventure and bicycle commuting or touring.
I say touring.
Wow, sounds like your commute can be quite an adventure at times 😄👍
This is an excellent video. I agree with your philosophy about life. Thank you so much for this!
Glad you enjoyed it and share the philosophy, thanks for commenting! 😊🙏
Beautifully shot and told! This is top-tier filmmaking and you've earned yourself a new fan!
Really happy to hear that you liked it, thank you so much for your kind comment! 😊🙏
@@BackwoodsBikepacking We're 100% convinced to try a Fat Bike Bikepacking trip this winter now. You've sold us on the idea. Keep it up!
Ah, all those moments sounds great!! I have done some of the ones you mentioned and of course there are different ones as well. Thank -you for your stirring video. :) Yes I ride a fatbike most of the time.
Thanks, glad to hear it resonated with you! 😄
Another great video Mikkel.
Your thoughts, feelings and ideals are exactly like mine.
This trip and the one you did with your daughter are exactly how I like mine.
Alas, I’m struggling to not need a car as it’s awkward trying to fit my 17 foot (5.2m) canoes into my backpack!
Really looking forward to more videos from you.
Thanks again.
Thanks, really appreciate your feedback. I can relate to the awkwardness of lugging canoes around without a car. We use foldable boats or packrafts for trips and have access to hardshells in the canoe club, so we sort of have found a way around it. I did have trouble getting around when I was competing in kayak races, though 😄
The same thing always bothered me, that canoeing was the only thing I needed a car for. And because I was struggling to fit our canoe in my backpack, too, I created a bike canoe trailer out of bamboo.
And it works great! Just a bit of handcrafting creativity and many problems can be solved :)
Love riding my bike all over Kent in the uk discovering places iv never been all under my own power , great vid
Thanks for commenting, glad you enjoyed the video! 🚴
Very refreshing instead of selling u latest expensive bike packing gear lifestyle, it’s about simplicity of life , in an amazing environment
Glad you liked it! Gear is rarely what makes a trip great 😄👍
Beatiful little movie, in all its simplicity!
Thanks for your comment, Morten, your feedback is very much appreciated!
Lovely little adventure with engaging commentary, great photography and perfect backing music! Very inspirational!
Thank you so much, your feedback is very much appreciated! 😊🙏🚲
Beautiful video. I love your outlook
Thanks, happy to hear you liked the video! 😊🙏🚲
awesome video and great commentary! 🔥
Thanks, glad you liked it! 😊🙏
much respect for all of the tripod shots. I know that takes effort and a lot of patience.
Thanks! It sure is a bit of work to get a few seconds of video, but it’s fun, so I don’t mind 😄
@@BackwoodsBikepacking yup I definitely relate 😂
Awesome! An inspirational love letter to cycling!
Thanks, Richard, happy to hear you enjoyed the movie! 😊🙏
Awesome movie. Really made me think about why I go bikepacking and have a desire to be in the mountains all the time.
Glad you enjoyed the movie! 😊🙏🚲 Being outside is addictive, but in a good way, I suppose 😄👍
Inspirational, thank you
😊🙏
Great video!! Love the scenery!! 🌎🚴 👍
Thanks, glad you liked it! 😊🙏
I really like your attitude! And I wish there were more people thinking like that, it would make living on earth much more peaceful and fair to nature...
Thanks for the kind words, really appreciated!
Your words are so true and wise because you have obtained this wisdom. I am a middle age man, who has also relinquished the car and I used more and more my bicycle and public transportation and I try to find adventure locally and also far and away as much as possible. I feel that I am rich beyond my own imagination and although, my previous better half is no longer with me because she loves consumerism, I for one, as I am getting older, love the emphasis in the simplicity of existing with as little as possible so I can be bound to only where the compass points and how I can get there with my bicycle. Great video and great life man. Cheers.
Thank you so much for your comment, nice to hear from a kindred spirit! 😊🙏
wow, what a stunning video and the story tell was amazing, thank you for sharing your adventure.
Thank you for your kind words, much appreciated!
Nicely done. Love bike packing its a great way to get around and have amazing adventures
Thanks! I couldn’t agree more, bikepacking is an amazing way of getting to see both new and old places 😊👍
This is great!
Thanks for your comment, Alastair, your feedback is very appreciated. It’s been way too long since I made any movies, so it was fun to challenge myself to work with video again.
keep it coming lovely job
Glad you liked the video, I might have another video or three in the loop 😄🙏
Nice to see that. Like you i found beauty out my back door, up the mountain, with my tarp and hammock, my bush buddy twig stove, and wonder all around me. Now at 70 i am enjoying cycling in the back country on my 29 plus bike. Thanks for sharing, from western Canada.
Thanks for the feedback, very much appreciated. I guess you’ve got a pretty big playground in Canada! 😊👍
This video spoke to my soul. Thanks for the post!!!
Wow, glad you liked it. Thanks for the feedback 😊🙏
Thanks for posting this. I visited Norway a few years ago. Loved it, and the people really were warm and friendly. Tusen Tak
Glad you liked it, thanks for commenting 😊🙏
Amazing story, thank you for taking us there
Glad you liked the movie, thanks for commenting! 😊🙏
What a lovely little, but oh so great history! I will copy the term freedom machine :-)
Glad you enjoyed the little movie, thanks for the feedback!
👍
Love the video, especially the final shots. Bravo.
Happy to hear you enjoyed the video! 😊🙏
Fantastisk Mikkel : ) Jeg likte denne lille filmsnutten veldig! Hyggelig å se bilder av nærskogen også. Keep up the good work ; )
Herlig, tusen takk for tilbakemelding, Erlend, det setter jeg stor pris på! Håper vi får til en skogstur sammen en dag!
yeah I need to get to Norway soon
Cool.
Glad you liked it!
This is just great, well done, well filmed, well said. ❤️🔥
Thanks for your nice feedback! 😊🙏
Beautiful and great channel. Definitely subscribe!
Happy to hear you like the channel, thanks for commenting and subscribing! 😊🙏
Nice video mate. Norway is definitely on my bikepacking film list!
Thanks, mate, glad to hear you liked it! 😊🙏
Nydelig! ❤
Takk! 😊🙏🏻
Truly inspiring.
Glad to hear you liked it!
How could you forget your tent ? To do this and then take all the trouble to film it is pretty amazing and totally crazy . Thanks you did a great job.
Thanks for all the kind words 😊🙏 I love the simplicity of the bivvy in winter. I’ll admit I was kind of knackered when I got home, but that night under a more or less full moon was totally worth it 😄
I share your philosophy of counting memories not counting money; flying as little as possible; and humans are destroying our planet. In July I will be 61 years old and I am riding my bike to climb Mt. Shasta which lies 400km from my home. It will be the 40th anniversary of my first climb of that mountain, and the 20th anniversary of my first bikepacking trip to climb it.
Wow, that’s really cool, sounds like an epic adventure! 😄👍
Yoooo! This was amazing!
Hey, thanks Peter, happy to hear you enjoyed it! 😊🙏🏻 I know you’ve got a soft spot for the X-Pro1. The daytime photos are actually shot with the X-Pro1. I still love that camera and will probably use it for photography this summer.
@@BackwoodsBikepacking Hey. Hah, funny. How did you know that?
Yes, I love the X-Pro1 and still use it regulary! Had the the first one die on me some months ago, after an insane amounts of actuations. So now I am on my #2 X-Pro1.
I remembered reading an article about you with some great photos on Fuji X passion. I used to shoot Nikon D600/D750, but disliked the size of the camera bodies, and especially the new Z-line. I had been eyeing the Fuji X-series for a while and got a super deal on an X-pro1 back in 2015. I later ended up with an X-T3 and the X-E4, but there is just something with the images from the X-pro1 with the XF18 and XF35 f1.4.
Love this!!
Thanks, glad you liked it!
Thank you for this video +1 :-). Could you please share also the gear/specs? Tires, racks, sleep system, and so on? Thank you in advance.
Racks are the Sherpa racks from Old Man Mountain, they might have been updated. Tires are Dillinger from 45Nrth. I slept in a GoreTex bivvy from Rab no longer in production with a down bag inside a Cocoon over bag with fiber insulation (more resistant to moisture build up than down). Slept on a Thermarest Neo Air inside the bivvy, the whole sleep system on top of a 15mm foam sleeping pad.
Just wonderful... Now that summer is almost here... What's next??? 👌✌️
Thanks! We had a three day trip in April with bikes and snowshoes. Haven’t finished the movie yet, but a small photo reportage from the trip was published here: www.terrengsykkel.no/bikepacking/derfor-boer-du-pakke-med-deg-truger-paa-din-neste-sykkeltur. Now that the snow is finally melting in the forests, I reckon there will be a few bikepacking trips coming up in the near future and hopefully some longer ones to the Norwegian mountains later on.
@@BackwoodsBikepacking cool thanks Mikkel... ;) hope to ride with you someday ;) god syttende mai! Skol! 👌🍻🎉
God 17. mai til deg også!
WOW!!! Just found your channel, amazing video! Great footage and content. What region of Norge are you based out of? Wow!
Thanks, glad you liked the video! I'm based in the southern part of Norway less than 100 kilometres from the capitol Oslo. The surroundings aren't really spectacular, but nice patches of old growth forest here and there as well as a few small, low mountain ranges.
What is the brand of the small twig stove you used in this video? Looks like a really nice stove.
It’s the Solo Stove Titan. I totally love it 😄👍
@@BackwoodsBikepacking thank you so much. 😁
No worries 😊
Hi Mikkel, what did you use for the professional voice-over? I'm interested in doing cycling videos as well, with both live commentary and adding commentary afterward.
Thank you for the great video! I absolutely agree with your philosophy. I'm only a teenager but I can say with certainty that I do not want a driver's liscence! What I do want, is to make a series of videos showing how to enjoyably live outside during a Canadian winter (have been practicing so far), relying on what Mother Nature (and human throwaway) provides, as well as reaching new places by bicycle. It's only a dream for now, but I'm pursuing it as a way of life.
The "trips with my better half" is the better frame-of-mind that comes through during the later half of a trip, when I've stopped worrying about friend/frenemy drama and "what are you going to do for a living", to fully embrace living in the moment. Commitment to the well-being of the earth, one's health, one's skillset, and using self-occupation to improve the well-being of more people (just as your video has for me, and everyone else who's watched), is good living by my criteria.
Hi, thanks for all your kind words, your comment made my day!
I have done the voiceovers with pretty basic recording equipment I already had from other projects, so it is far from the standard used in more accomplished productions.
The voiceover for the winter trip was recorded with an iPhone XR with a Røde lavalier mic. The preamps in the phone aren’t the best, but the trick is to use a preamp to amplify the signal from the mic before the signal enters the phone. I used the first version of iRig Pre with XLR input for this purpose. It is very affordable and I recommend it as a cheap solution that can give fairly good results if you are on a budget an already have a mic. Otherwise, a small hand recorder might be a better option.
The two newest videos were also recorded with the iPhone and preamp, but I used a Røde NTG1 mic instead. I covered the floors with blankets to reduce the echo, but you can hear that there is still a fair bit of unwanted noise.
I have mainly worked with stills and need to spend some more time dialling in a good setup for sound recording, so I’m not really in a position to give any advice. If I can come with any advice, it would be to use gear you already have and see where that takes you. It’s all too easy to get caught up in gear. Good luck with your project!
wish more riders have watched this.. only 5k views?!?
Thanks, I’m glad you liked the video! That matters more to me than views 😄
Godt formidlet om frihetsfølelsen vi alle kan få med enkle midler.
Tusen takk for hyggelig tilbakemelding!
New to the channel and loving your videos Mikkel. What racks are you running? I have a Moonlander and Pugsley.
Great to hear, thanks! 😊🙏🏻 The racks on the Moonlander and Pugsley are the Sherpa model from All Man Mountain and specifically made for those bike models. I’m not sure whether they still sell those models, but their newest offerings might fit too.
@@BackwoodsBikepacking Awesome, thanks!
They look perfect.
No worries!
Lovely short movie. What bivi did you use, are you happy with it?
Thanks, Martin, glad you liked the movie! The bivy is the Integral Designs Bugaboo II Bivy in eVent. It is a little bit heavy and bulky at 640 grams, but I like to use it as a bedroll in winter because it’s super fast to set camp with it and cosy to lay down beside the burner. In summer, I use a setup with a light tarp and bug tent, or just a lightweight tent.
Kristoffer sent me :)
Can you sey me what tires do you use ? 5.0?
I just started making my moonlender from zero, and i will lik to install 5.0 tires if they are good with frame?
Tnx you
I use the 5.0 inch Dillingers from 45nrth, but I think 4.8 otherwise is the max. I can’t remember for sure, so I advise you to check out the Information hole on Surly’s homepage. You can see the old catalogs with specs there 😊 Good luck with your build, I love that bike 🥰
@@BackwoodsBikepacking i will check at Surly
Because i will like to put biggest tires possible.
5.0 is my objective to install at my moonlender
You think any 5.0 is ok to put or just dillingers ?
The Dillingers aren’t quite 5.0 inches as far as I can tell and fit without issues. I’m pretty sure the rear triangle limits the width to 4.8.
I discovered your channel yesterday and watched all your videos! What bivy is that?
Cool, great to hear! The bivvy is an Integral Designs Bugaboo II Bivy. I don't think it is in production anymore. It's a bit heavy (about 650 grams, I think), but it's quick and easy to use in winter.
@@BackwoodsBikepacking Thanks!
I would be interested to read any books you wrote, if you could share titles!
I’m afraid my books are in Norwegian, so unless you you’re familiar with one of the Scandinavian languages, I guess they might not be that interesting 😊
@@BackwoodsBikepacking I'm going to have to wait for the English version. Nonetheless, it should be worth the wait as your style is really soothing!
Thanks for the kind words! I’m afraid the books won’t be translated anytime soon (or ever), but who knows 😊
крутяк! холодно спать было?
I was warm as long as I was in the sleeping bag, so I can’t really complain 😄