This is a guest article from bikepacker and Bend local, Rob Knoth. Rob, Dawn Rae, and Max (age 10) have been tackling short sections of the OTT since 2016.

Photos & words by Rob Knoth.

Our family of three has been bikepacking for over 6 years, and much has changed in that time.  I’m not just talking about the normal progression as a child grows and bikes get replaced, routes get longer or more adventurous.  While that’s definitely happened, this past summer saw some of the most important growth to date.  

Forged in the background of 2020 with a global pandemic, wildfires getting ever more catastrophic, the raw face of racism brought out of the shadows for all to see, time on the bike became even more important and even more challenging.  It was in the middle of this, during a loop I had planned for us through the Horn of the Metolius in Central Oregon, that the stress and emotion from the year came to a head.  In our normally smooth sailing team, tempers flared, words were said, and tears were shed.  That breaking proved to be a catalyst for me and our family to grow and change our approach to bikepacking, and also as humans.

1. All on our own bikes

In the current iteration of family bikepacking, Dawn Rae rides her (heavily loaded) own bike, and Max and I ride a tandem mountain bike, with a variety of handmade and bought bikepacking bags.  While the tandem excels at distance and doing big loops, it was making singletrack painful, and unfairly limiting Max’s (and thus our family’s) growth as a cyclist. Same as with all shifts to a new stage in childhood/parenting, while it feels “limiting” when you start, it ends up opening a much bigger world on the other side.

Case in point: several routes we created in the High Cascades, leveraging the OTT. Not big distances, but each allowed all three of us to ride, laugh, and enjoy time together in nature. 

2. More singletrack 

Moving away from the tandem, and on to our own bikes (see point #1) opened up a whole new option - singletrack. 

Being on singletrack comes with some costs: hike-a-bikes, technical challenges, difficulty of bailing, etc... but it comes with even more rewards: no motorized traffic, more shade, less crowds, and FUN. Suddenly putting down the miles becomes playtime. Talk about motivation! 

Not all singletrack is created equal for family bikepacking, and it requires a serious reality check about all riders’ comfort with the terrain, and more of a traditional bikepacking setup. However, after making the mental/gear shift and committing to it, we’re hooked. Even more than before, there is a sense of joint ownership and responsibility for each of us.

Gravel/paved roads are still a necessary part of the equation.  Holding down full time jobs and school, weekends and overnighters make up a significant amount of our family’s bikepacking diet.  It’s difficult to weave together enough loops consisting of 100% singletrack to fill up the calendar.  However, making sure each trip has some singletrack is well worth it.  The OTT is a great spine to base an infinite number of weekend adventures off of.  

3. Camp where you can’t drive

This one was born out of an unsuccessful conversation with people refusing to follow the fire ban while camping at (an otherwise beautiful) Charleton Lake on a family singletrack bikepacking loop. 

After spending all day immersed in the challenges, fun, and peace of nature, to end up at a destination that is accessible to cars is less than ideal. God bless that people are embracing nature and spending time outdoors, but one of the prime advantages of bikepacking is that you can go places cars can’t—and cover distances as a family that aren’t possible on foot. Using it to create the optimal situation for camp is a priority.

Over the summer, we’ve formulated that this means: away from people, near water, big enough for a tent.

While many lakes/rivers are either car accessible or in a wilderness, with enough creativity and a good nose for sniffing out camps (looking at you, Dawn Rae), you can make magic happen.

And a note to other route creators in the sage advice from Gabriel Amadeus Tiller: “the best camps aren’t on the map”. Resist the urge to geotag or mark these gems on the map. Part of the adventure is the discovery.

Finding an ideal camp can cause its share of stress and worry, but the rewards are priceless. As always: leave no trace, skip the campfire, don’t destroy inorder to create a campsite, know how to poop in the woods, and leave it better than you found it. You’re just passing through and enjoying the privilege.

4. Shared Responsibility

As Dawn Rae and I talked through our family’s breakdown, we realized we had all gotten stuck in our chosen trip responsibilities. We discovered we were defining trip success and enjoyment from our own mindset versus each individual’s unique vantage point. Dawn Rae and I are both wired to default to ultra independence; it’s how we learned to survive difficult experiences in our pasts. But ultra independence turns us into islands. It keeps us disconnected by not sharing precisely what we need and what we feel.

I had been assuming 100% of the responsibilities for planning our routes. When things went south, I took it as a personal failure, rather than a natural part of bikepacking and adventure. It didn’t help that leading up to this point, I had also invested long hours into routes that, due to COVID or weather, we ended up having to scrap. I needed a break from the pressure. 

Immediately following this trip, Dawn Rae planned 3 amazing trips. Max started being our on-route navigator, and I removed even my simple bike computer and just rode along. It has been hands down the best evolution we’ve done.

The route creator is like a conductor. Following someone else’s route has its own beauty and rhythm. So wonderful to learn what my wife’s music is like. 

Advice for my fellow islands out there: don’t go it alone all the time. The world is so much richer with those you love. And they tend to make killer bikepacking routes, too.

There will undoubtedly be more evolutions, tweaks, and changes as our family continues to adventure and ride.  But, that’s part of the fun and very welcome.  Perfection by iteration, keep riding and growing!

The Knoth family have been bikepacking together since their son was four. They enjoy overnighters from home, weekend rambles across Oregon, or multi-week adventures across the globe. They live in Bend, Oregon, and are ambassadors for Ride with GPS and Old Man Mountain racks. Follow them on Instagram: @robknoth & @dawnraek