Nutrition

When bikepacking in the UK, staying fuelled is essential, but you don’t need to carry loads of food. Most UK bikepacking routes pass through towns and villages with shops, cafés, or pubs where you can easily restock. Even on more remote trips, like those in Scotland, at most you might need to carry a day’s worth of food between resupply points. The shops around the UK bikepacking routes can vary in size, little villages sometimes have little village stores where you can get basic items but often have short opening hours. Whereas bigger towns will have shops that have more choice and stay open late. Some tips on staying fuelled on your bikeapcking adventure are as follows…

• Eat regally, if you start to feel Hungary it’s already too late. So pack stuff that is easy to eat on the go, whether that be energy bars, fruit and nuts or some cured meat. Anything that can stay on your bike and won’t go bad, really. This approach provides a steady stream of energy, keeps your digestion light, and helps avoid spikes and crashes in energy levels.

• You will be burning a lot more calories’ day to day to make sure, when stopping to eat, eat high calorie foods. Depending on how much you usually ride normally, the calories’ intake that you will need to consume might be similar to a normal bike ride or a lot more. That’s why it’s important to east often.

• I would advise against eating big portions of food mid-ride, and save the big meal for the end. This will avoid stomach issues A big meal can cause bloating, cramping, or nausea.

Hydration: Bring a Water Filter

Since water is heavy to carry, it’s smart to use a water filter l especially on more remote routes like those in Scotland where streams and rivers are common. Carrying a lightweight water filter or purification tablets lets you safely refill your bottles without the need to carry large amounts of water. This can significantly reduce the weight of your gear while ensuring you stay hydrated throughout the day.

By carrying just the essentials and using the resources along your route, you can enjoy your ride without being weighed down. My recommendation is to carry a minimum of a 1 litre of water and refill often in the 2 weeks that you might find it actually hot in the UK, then 1.5/2 litres is better. And refill often using a water filter. Wales and Scotland this is very easy to do on most routes but can be a little harder in England. You will be able to find plenty of streams around the national parks and landscapes of natural beauty, but sometimes in between these areas can be a little harder. But in these areas, shops are normally available. Using a water filter although removes most of what you don’t want to be drinking it can’t remove everything so still be sensible in what you choose to filter. Avoiding large or really dirty water sources, especially around the built-up areas.