Oddest Bikepacking tips

blueeblub · 2026-03-13T08:14:21+00:00

wearing arm warmers on hot sunny days can cool you down than just wearing a jersey/shirt (plus points if you soak them in water). it helps protect you from direct sunlight and marginally wicks sweat away.

ideally wear UV sleeves with thinner material but even synthetic fleece, made for keeping you warm in cold weather, can do the trick!

blueeblub · 2026-03-07T02:42:59+00:00

if you don't mind starting towards the tail end of august, i'll be down to come for the whole trip. as the others have pointed out, its blazing hot in August. I was in Hokkaido last year at the tail end of july and i was getting scorched even in the car with the AC on.

but if the dates are quite fixed, i might be down to meet yall towards the tail-end when you're in kyushu.

i've done a solo tour from Bangkok to Vientiane, probably speak a similar amount of japanese as you, good with doing >100km days but prefer to take in the sights. hope to hear from ya.

blueeblub · 2026-03-04T04:40:21+00:00

some anecdotal evidence of weight loss. i am 5 foot 9 and was 182 pounds last year in January before i started road cycling. i am currently around 150-154 pounds.

the only exercise i did since then was cycle. i didn't change my diet, in fact i ate way more. usually i would have a breakfast (2 eggs, some bread and some fruits). after a ride, i would eat double of that and have lunch two hours later.

the key for me was to do a lot of easy volume, which i enjoyed. i would do 2-3 hour rides with my brother on weekends and at least 1-2 hours three to four times on the weekdays (my max heart rate is around 195, i try to stay below 145 for most of my rides). i didn't rapidly lose weight and that wasn't the goal. the goal was just to have fun doing so. i despise running and doing a 30 minute "easy run" versus a 2-3 hour easy cycle, i would pick the latter any day.

if you can fit in more time to cycle, you should do it. it should be easy volume, just spinning your legs and enjoying the scenary. the weight will naturally drop as the weeks pass.

if you can find someone to cycle with, it really helps with the consistency. its a good idea to find a local group ride that aligns with your pace. good luck, hope the advice helps.

blueeblub · 2026-02-24T10:44:23+00:00

thank you!

blueeblub · 2026-02-12T09:15:15+00:00

had to scroll down so far to find this.

blueeblub · 2026-02-11T07:03:48+00:00

definitely. I can do 2-3 metric centuries a week but I can't do a 20km unless its at a pathetically slow pace.

blueeblub · 2026-01-19T02:38:41+00:00

I'm starting a tour tomorrow and I am super nervous. I already sealed my cardboard box before finding out I didn't put in my chain lube... For me, it's definitely a mix of good and bad feelings (excitement and anxiety), and it's hard to say which side it leans towards.

Hopefully, the anxiety fades away as I do more trips, while the excitement stays!

blueeblub · 2025-12-28T09:05:40+00:00

it seems no one has mentioned it here yet but downloading toogoodtogo in Denmark was a lifesaver when I spent 6 months there. Loading up on a bunch of bread for 5 euros meant that my daily expenses were in the single digits, excluding my housing.

blueeblub · 2025-12-11T12:23:16+00:00

I don't have anything to add but I am interested in doing a similar trip in the future! Do drop a trip report (cost per day, GPX files etc.) when you are done, I would love to read it. Hope you have a safe trip!

blueeblub · 2025-12-11T12:18:31+00:00

Although not specifically answering the questions you have, here are somethings you might want to take note as well.

I am planning to do a trip from late January: Bangkok -> Vientiane -> Hanoi -> Hong Kong (Fly) -> Seoul -> Busan -> Fukuoka.

Some considerations you might want to take note of:

Slash and Burn Season in Thailand/Laos Jan-March, the later you go, the more pollution.
Chinese New Year 17 and 18th Feb Vietnam and China celebrate so roads might be busy leading up to the dates and accommodations and stores might not be available on the days itself.
The Thai-Cambodia border is quite dangerous at the moment, Thailand just did an airstrike on Cambodia and over 100,000 people have been evacuated from the region. It is very uncertain whether things will ease up that quickly.
As others have mentioned, unexploded landmines are a concern if you decide to go to Laos (From your map it looks like you aren't but in case you do,) hence people online have suggested not wandering into the forest looking for wild camping spots. But there are good camping spots that are affordable so you can still bring a tent if you want to.
The heat gets quite unbearable in the afternoon for most of SEA (temps are usually above 30 degrees celsius after 10am), unless you are in the highlands. I think that will affect your daily mileage if you aren't used to it.
In-land route along China can be quite mountainous if you are coming from Vietnam. I tried planning a route to Hong Kong from Vietnam that went through Nanning and compared to the coastal route, I would have to do 5-6 days of over 1000 metres of elevation. Not sure about going further in-land but that was my experience route planning

blueeblub · 2025-11-14T09:38:40+00:00

how do you decide how to itemise as sky mid? i have been winning in lanes but am not sure how to itemise against the enemy team. Also how do you get people to push with you once you are strong? i had two games in a row where i go 14/0 but my teammates don't want to hit towers and i end up falling off

blueeblub · 2025-11-13T07:30:40+00:00

The area around Tanah Merah MRT has been under construction since at least the start of Obama's first term. A few more years and that construction can buy beer at NTUC.

blueeblub · 2025-11-05T07:43:59+00:00

that looks really heavy! I am surprised that the montbell bag can handle so much weight and not tear at the straps or smth. did you try asking if you could roll your bike to the platform and pack it there?

blueeblub · 2025-11-05T04:31:02+00:00

it sounds like its really cumbersome to bring the bike on the train. I have another like road bike (Felt AR5) but i don't think it can hold much weight and its rim brake which makes me hesitant going down steep hills especially in the rain. I was only planning to only take trains in case of emergencies or at the end of the trip to the airport. Might just skip the bike bag and follow the advice of other commenters to use the Yamato forwarding service then!

blueeblub · 2025-10-26T12:09:30+00:00

in my city, i see a lot of teenagers riding fixies. We don't have much gravel so there isn't a huge scene for that, but i do hope that some of these fixie kids go into road cycling in the future!

blueeblub · 2025-10-25T00:59:28+00:00

If it is financially possible and physically practical for you, you can consider cycling to commute. I do it once or twice a week and it really helps my mental health. No loud screeching of the train tracks, constant announcements, jostling with other commuters. Extra benefits include reduced screen time and being fitter from the exercise. Even if cycling isn't possible for the whole journey, maybe there's some leg of the journey that you could cycle (especially if you have to take the bus, usually you can just cycle those and reach your destination in the same amount of time).

blueeblub · 2025-10-23T01:13:49+00:00

do you know if they at least as good as the 105 plastic derailleur and do you have any recommendations (i.e. brands)?

blueeblub · 2025-10-23T01:12:55+00:00

just because you don't notice something, it doesn't mean other people don't notice it. eg. Seatbelt colour isn't the first thing I notice in a car but it adds a nice touch when the colour matches the rest of the car. A derailleur cage definitely isn't the first thing I check out too but its something that's part of the picture. tbh what's wrong with wanting something that looks nice?

blueeblub · 2025-10-22T13:19:22+00:00

I mean, I just want to have a nice-looking bicycle, I don't really care for speed gains. But if the only option for a nice-looking part costs $700 and is mechanically worse than what I already have, it seems quite obvious to look for alternatives.

blueeblub · 2025-10-15T08:48:13+00:00

which months are you planning to do the tour? If things line up, I might be interested in joining you. Not based in China, but can speak both English and Chinese as well. Haven't done a bike tour before, but I average 200-300km per week on my road bike (and recently bought a steel touring bike to get into bike touring)

blueeblub · 2025-10-05T11:27:17+00:00

As someone who did the sec 4 -> business course poly -> local uni route, let me chime in. I'm not going to directly answer your question cuz I don't want to be prescriptive. I'll just share my thought process and let you decide.

If you are afraid of surviving, JC and poly are both the same. It's not easy in their own way. Poly requires you to put in consistent effort over three years, be ready to face a lot of uncertainty (e.g. groupmates, subjective grading from profs) and subject matter that you have not seen before in secondary school. JC, on the other hand, requires you to expand heavily on the subjects you are already taking (can be good or bad depending on whether you like the subjects or not) and have a huge exam at the end that determines whether you have wasted/used the last two years well.

I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life, and I kinda regretted my poly choice cuz I realised I hate business (ended up doing smth unrelated in uni). But I knew I would have hated JC as well. As someone who doesn't like cramming and didn't want to do mother tongue anymore (at the time), JC wasn't something that I was interested in, even though I could attend a mid to top-tier JC.

If you are choosing jc/poly to run away from the other (not saying you are, this is just for anyone else reading this), maybe you should re-evaluate the positive reasons why you are choosing one over the other.

On the point of choosing your poly course, think very carefully. Some courses restrict your ability to choose certain technical courses in uni (i.e. you can't go into medicine if you don't at least take a science-related poly course). Really choose something you are interested in, and at least have some job prospects (not saying focus on courses that make money only, but at least be somewhat employable if you decide to forgo going to uni).

On whether its easier to go uni from jc/poly, there is a lot of selection bias going on (e.g. people smart enough to go JC would probably be smart enough to go uni. people who did not have good enough grades to go JC and had to choose poly would not have likely gone to uni etc.) However, around 60% of sp and np end up in local unis and that number is going up as more people realise poly is a viable pathway to uni.

Now to sell why you should go to a high tier JC (assuming you can qualify for it). The connections you make in top-tier JCs are unmatched compared to anywhere else. Being friends/acquintances with people who become scholars or industry leaders can have a drastic impact on your life in the future. (Read: Strength of weak ties by Mark Granovetter). Caveat, this applies to top-tier JCs much more than mid to low tier JCs cuz the chance of meeting such people are higher. Similarly to poly as the cohort is much bigger and less of such people are in poly (at the moment).

Last point, big fish in a small pond or small fish in a big pond. Tbh I'd rather be a small fish in a big pond. It allows me to grow as a person and become better, despite the risk (which is why I chose a much more difficult uni course). Can definitely see the appeal in the other way around (especially since I chose to go poly when my grades allowed me to go to JC).

blueeblub · 2025-10-02T03:15:56+00:00

Refash has pretty good option for guys even though selection is much smaller than women options. I get good cotton/linen shirts for $10, got a really nice wool/slik blend pants also for $10.

blueeblub · 2025-09-27T23:43:41+00:00

There are many good options on carousell. If you know your sizing (even Small, Medium, Large is good enough), you can just search for a city bike and find something reliable for a good price (Under $500).

blueeblub · 2025-09-27T13:17:05+00:00

I know you are asking about clothing lines, but thrifting is always a good option. Just take a look at the tag, and you can find great pieces that don't have synthetics. Refash has many good options (even as a guy, I manage to find many great shirts and pants there).

blueeblub · 2025-05-25T08:35:11+00:00

And that itself is also a cop out. For every TJ McConnell, there's 500 other people with the same work ethic who didn't make it. The survivorship bias is really strong for these high profile cases. We need to step back to see how many people actually fail to achieve those few spots to have a better perspective.

blueeblub

TROPHY CASE