Catalina Island is a bikepacker's paradise
Posted Mar 29, 2021, 7:15 PM UTC
624
I kayaked at at calina island a long time ago. Great place.
5
Planning my first bikepacking trip there this summer! Really looking forward to it.
2
Sorry to bug you on an old post, but this is just too serendipitous. I'm planning to buy the same bike, frame bag, and tires (if those are the 650b version) and use them on a bikepacking overnighter on Catalina in a couple months.
What size is your frame? Did your equipment perform well in this application? What worked great, and what didn't? What would you change?
I would happily read a blow-by-blow of the entire trip - route, duration, terrain, pack list, mechanicals - and a review of each of these products, but I doubt you have time for all that. Any and all information or advice would be greatly appreciated!
2
You can find all activities related to this trip on this part of my Strava page: https://www.strava.com/athletes/650536#interval?interval=202112&interval_type=week&chart_type=miles&year_offset=0
Overall it was a great and scenic, if short, overnighter. The elevation gain did make it seem a lot harder than the distance suggests though. We rode from Avalon to Shark harbor campground, dropped off our camping gear, and rode unladen to Two Harbors. We then rode back to the campground for the night. The next day we returned to Avalon via the airport (and a buffalo burger!) the next day. It's a great route for beginner bikepackers as it isn't too remote, and there are plenty of supply stops around the island.
As for my Look, I run a size medium frame with 650b GravelKing SK tires. It performed flawlessly on the trip, it felt rock solid loaded down and handled the dirt with ease. My equipment is all cheap stuff you can find on Amazon so it's a bit flimsy and not waterproof, but they did their job. The frame bag in particular was the best piece of equipment, plenty of room and solid. The only bad bag was the handlebar roll (I had to jerryrig it with bungee cords to snug it up against the handlebar so it wouldn't droop and move around), and I'd change is how I carried my tent poles, I strapped them between the bottom of the frame bag and the water bottle, but it kept working itself loose and whacked my crankset as it became crooked. It required frequent adjustment.
No worries on giving more info on this trip, it was a good one so the process helped me reminisce!
2
Thank you so much - your experience is invaluable. I'm sure our trip will go more smoothly thanks to you!
2
Catalina looks cool but it just seems a little small for bikes? Like, is it worth it if you can ride all the trails in a day?
It's great for an overnighter/weekend trip. Sure the mileage is limited there, but it's all unrelenting climbing and descending over there so it feels much longer. But what sets Catalina apart in my eyes is that it strikes a good balance of feeling remote and still having plentiful locations to restock supplies and water.