BY JESSICA LOFTHOUSE

I love traveling by bike. It slows you down and speeds you up in all the right ways. 

Secondly, bikepacking is tactile. It’s physical in nature, yes, but moreover it connects to something beyond sight, tapping into every sense. Connection to the moment is amplified by the smell of a city, rain and wind on your face, darkness of night, and warmth of the sun on your skin. For me, traveling by bike is not just seeing something new; it's feeling something. It’s deep presence. 

As for Spain—well, it began on an impulse, like most of my wild rides do. I tend to plunge into things and then figure out the details as I go (big “can-do” energy). And hell, maybe that’s what makes this hobby perfect for me… or it could be the fact that, like most bikepackers, I have a sick obsession with type 2 fun. The challenge of resource management combined with continuous physical effort is my kind of play. And at that moment, I needed to play! 

Spain was a trip my buddy Erik had planned for a while—the fall finale, a trip to welcome winter and farewell the cycling season. One day, I called him up, pitching him an idea that was basically like, “Hey, I want to try this thing. Can I hijack your pack and turn it into a ten-day photoshoot?” I am a photographer, you see, and I wanted to see if I could combine career and passion. After a long summer, I felt like my work had fallen flat on the passion front, and the adventure meter for the year was not ending where I wanted it to. In an effort to reignite the flame for my career without breaking the bank, I set out to wrangle up enough photo contracts to subsidize a passion trip. 

Once we arrived in Spain, I was jet-lagged, in desperate need of a shower and real food—my typical state after any transatlantic travel. We found all three bikes in oversized luggage and headed out into the bustle to find a vehicle large enough to transport all our oversized luggage to the BNB. After a rotation of showers, we found ourselves drinking wine, eating olives, and putting our bikes back together for the trek south. It’s one of my favorite parts of the trip—the great explosion of gear when you discover all the things you forgot and decide you must not have actually needed. The following morning, we would depart on our first day of cycling. 

We covered 30–65 miles on any given day, which was a startling reality since we had planned to ride 70–100 miles each day. Some things that really slowed us down were shorter fall days limiting the ground we could actually cover during daylight hours, encountering more rain (heavy rain) than forecasted, a night of bed bugs, a wheel blowout in the port city of Gibraltar, and a half-day detour in a rental car (shoving three packed gravel bikes and three grown adults into a European sized sedan). The trip in its entirety covered close to 500 miles of road, gravel, and short sections of single track, starting and ending in Malaga. Originally, we had a vision for covering about 800 miles and entering three different countries alas we were only able to manage two out of the three. Most of the mapping was put together through analysis of Strava heatmaps to source and connect some of the most well-traveled, bike-friendly routes in the areas of southern Spain we wanted to tour. Needless to say, we embraced the realities of our optimism, made compromises, and shifted the logistics of the trip in ways that still allowed for an epic experience. 

As much as we all boast about the type 2 toughness of packing, let’s be honest—there is a lot of damn bliss too. Simple kinda bliss. Like sharing a baguette roadside in the sun. What I remember most about Spain… The delicious foods, miles of beautiful sunny olive orchards, tons of road miles with surprisingly courteous vehicle etiquette, literally cycling from mountain peaks to ocean in one day, camping in historic castle ruins, waking up to a 4 a.m. rainy shower at the very same castle slumber party, history and architecture far beyond the years of anything you see back home, ignorance of being in a culture whose language you don’t speak and the kindness of locals excited to be a micro part in our adventure, two strong cycling compadres, hours of Spanish lessons while on the bike, laughs with friends, and stopping small mountain villages for coffee (a lot). 

We finished the trip with a light bike loop, which means we dropped all our loaded bags and took the empty bikes for a 60-mile pedal back up into the mountains before officially breaking them down for the flight home. This was one of my favorite days. When you take all the heavy gear off the bike, you’re suddenly five miles per hour faster! We woke up early that day cycling as the sun rose with 360° views of mountains and city lights as we climbed up out of Malaga. In the quiet I reflected on all the new places we saw, all the weather we went through, the foods we ate, and the memories I now share with my two friends. I have spent a lot of time on my bike in the last 6 years or so and have been lucky enough to venture internationally a handful of times—a privilege that I don't take for granted. But this trip was different for me, in that I shared it with two dear friends. Most of my bikepacking up until Spain had been solo. There were things I loved about the shared experience and things I missed about solo independence. While group rides include compromise there is something uniquely special about shared challenge and joy and the bond it creates. I would say there is probably a time and place for both types of adventure in life, but for now, I am in a place of shared experience and I am really enjoying it. 

From my adventures, I’ve learned two things: one, it’s always better on a bike, and two, the most important part of any bikepack is your ability to surrender to the unexpected with acquiescence, because a can-do attitude will carry you a long way in managing the inevitable rollercoaster of an international bikepack. 

The Deets

Bike: 

- Salsa Cutthroat: I like this rig because it’s light and capable on rugged terrain but also can compete on paved roads as well. 

Bags: 

- Ortlieb Seatpost bag: I typically don’t pack this for trips under 3 days but having a lot of extra clothing and gear for photo work I needed the extra space. I packed all my cute Wild Rye fits, toiletries, and shoes for the trip here. 

- Ortlied bar bag: Holds my sleep system (footprint, sleep bag, sleeping pad, and puffy jacket and rain jacket). 

- Revelate Egress Pocket Hand Lebar Bag: Holds my Sony a7r5 and a 50mm, a charger, extra SD and batteries, phone charger, universal travel plug in adapter. 

- Buckhorn Stem Bag x2: Snacks hole! Generally keep my phone in one and as many snacks as possible, and a hair clip. 

- Buckhorn Frame Bag: Bike tools, phone, snacks, winder breaker, wallet, passport, gloves. 

- Two bottle cages on the fork: Typically I would carry a water filter but we had plenty of fresh water access. 

Apparel: 

- Cycling Wear: Wild Rye Rustler Windbreaker that I basically lived in, the Alyssa Chammy (I loved it! None of that over compressed unflattering thigh look), and the Easley Crop top which also doubled as my street wear in the evenings, one mid weight glove. 

- Street Wear: Basic leggings, Basic LS tee, Parker Skort, Lems sneakers and rubber Birks, Edith Brim Hat, a light puffy jacket and a rain jacket. 

Bike Transport: 

- I flew my bike via Delta (I love Delta’s oversized luggage bike options) 

- I packed it in a soft Evoke bag - The wheels were great for around the airport but it doesn’t collapse down so storing it takes space. 

- We booked the same air bnb for our first night and last night and they graciously stored all three bike bags during our cycle around Spain till we returned.