Author: gregandrebarrett

I’m married to a wonderful woman, blessed with two bright daughters, retired from a rewarding IT career, who loves cycling (especially bikepacking adventures), being a cycling and refugee advocate (bikeswithoutborders.org, martinluther.ca), and exploring the world and its peoples. 

Installing Wolf Tooth Tanpan SH11 to allow wide-range mtb cassette on road/cx/gravel bike

I love my 2020 Giant Revolt 2 gravel bike but found myself wishing for easier gearing when climbing steep hills, especially when fully loaded on bikepacking trips such as the BT700. My Giant Revolt came with Shimano 105 shifters, rear derailleur, 11x34 cassette and 32/48 crankset. What I wanted was my mountain bike's Shimano XT … Continue reading Installing Wolf Tooth Tanpan SH11 to allow wide-range mtb cassette on road/cx/gravel bike →

Oak Ridges Moraine Trail Bikepacking Trip, November 2020

I would like to thank good friend Hal Judd for inviting me on an Oak Ridges Moraine Trail (ORMT) scouting bikepacking trip in November 2020. Hal had explored parts of the western end on some day rides and had liked the trails he found. We wanted to see if we could enjoy riding the entire … Continue reading Oak Ridges Moraine Trail Bikepacking Trip, November 2020 →

My bikepacking rides…

On last weekend's Grand Nith Ramble (GNR) bikepacking ride with friends we had some enjoyable chats about our past rides. The bike sure is a wonderful way to explore the world! This got me to revisit and re-enjoy my past bikepacking blogs and photos. To make them easy to find and share with others I … Continue reading My bikepacking rides… →

20200925-27 GNR brewery tour bikepacking trip with amazing friends!

The Grand Nith Ramble (GNR) Bikepacking Route (http://www.bt700.ca/gnr-bikepacking-route.html) created by Matthew Kadey (thanks Matt!) rewards cyclists with: an epic 350k ride through mostly rural central Ontario countryside; a large network of doubletrack and singletrack trail riding along the Grand River, through the forests of Dundas Valley Conservation Area, Puslinch Track, Drydan Track, Little Track and … Continue reading 20200925-27 GNR brewery tour bikepacking trip with amazing friends! →

2020-09-15 Muskoka Lakes 150k loop to test bikepacking setup

Did a 150k loop today of the Muskoka Lakes with a camp out tonight. Wanted to test my bikepacking setup for an upcoming Grand Nith Ramble brewery tour bikepacking trip with some friends. The ride was great, the bike and gear worked well, helped by having a brew at Sawdust City Brewing in Gravenhurst and … Continue reading 2020-09-15 Muskoka Lakes 150k loop to test bikepacking setup →

2020-07-18 BT700 finished with summary

#bt700bikepacking Finished 762k in 4 days, 84.5 hrs (40.3 hrs moving). Day 1 was great 270k to Wiarton Willy's Inn but heat was tiring. Day 2 rain and light gps metal mount breaking (rough stone trails vibration) meant reached only 420k and camped overlooking Blue Mountain. Day 3 the brutal heat while crawling up brutal … Continue reading 2020-07-18 BT700 finished with summary →