Bike packing in Hong Kong? Yes you can. Here’s all you need to know, plus the best spots to explore from Lamma to Lantau

Perhaps the easiest way to explain bike packing is to think of it as minimalist and faster moving bike travel meets traditional cycle touring, something akin to the “fast packing” minimalist approach that spans the space between trail running and trekking.

During the pandemic bike packing has become extremely popular as an easily accessible and local adventure option, even for non-cyclists.

Bike packing has opened up cycling adventure to a whole new genre of people, those who were perhaps not into the Lycra clad image, who didn’t fancy hurting down black runs on a mountain bike, and who were not smitten by the idea of touring the world and surviving on bush tucker whilst carrying everything but the kitchen sink in their panniers.

What do you need to get started?

The prime ingredients are a sense of adventure and imagination. Any bike will do, be it a mountain bike or a road bike; as long as you prepare reasonably well and are able to accept things as they fall then you’re pretty much good to go.

A bike packing trip can be anything from an overnighter to Lantau to a multi-month ride around the world. You could easily ride out of work on a Friday evening, pinning together roads or trails and weaving it all together with a little island hopping and returning home on Sunday evening, just in time to clean up before work on Monday morning.

Bikes & routes

The whole ethos of bike packing is to keep things simple and minimalist, so that you are unhindered by weight and possessions. This approach means that there are no strict rules to it, and so it’s open to all-comers and all styles of travel. This could translate to anything from just carrying a change of clothes and a credit card to pay for 5 star hotels to sleeping in hedgerows and drinking from streams.