I've just got back from my first proper bikepacking trip: the Old Chalk Way, Lyme Regis to Norfolk, four days, gravel bikes, tents, and a lot of chalk. If you want the full route breakdown, that's coming in a separate post. This one is just the lessons. The stuff nobody tells you until you've done it once and got it wrong.

None of these are complicated. That's sort of the point. Bikepacking doesn't reward clever gear hacks nearly as much as it rewards getting the basics right, and I got a few of the basics wrong on day one. Here's what I'd tell myself before I left.

1. Pack your bags 80% full, not 100%

I rammed my bar bag and frame bags absolutely full to the brim before we left. Fine on day one, packing indoors at home where everything's dry and nothing's moved. The moment you unpack at camp and try to get it all back in, you realise it never goes back in as easily as it came out.

Leave yourself 20% spare space. That's room for the food you pick up en route, and it's the difference between a five-minute pack-down and wrestling a tent into a bag that was never going to fit it twice.

2. Pack in order, not just by size

You've only got so much space, which means what goes in first has to be what you need last, and vice versa. Tent goes in early because you need it out last. Jacket goes somewhere you can grab it fast if the weather turns. Work out your order before you leave, or at least write it down on day one once you've learned it the hard way like I did.

Sounds obvious once you've done it. Costs you real time every single stop until you have.

3. Tie things onto your straps, don't just tuck them in

I lost my flip-flops somewhere on the trail on day three. Bungee cords look secure until you've been riding rough gravel for six hours and everything's rattled loose. If it's not zip-tied or strapped down properly, assume it'll fall off eventually. Carry a few reusable zip ties or extra straps and use them on anything you're not prepared to lose.

4. Carry a proper first aid kit, plasters especially

We were lucky, no crashes. But I still used the plasters, on my glasses, after the arm snapped off on day four (more on that in the trip write-up). You genuinely don't know what you'll need a plaster for until you need it. Pack more than you think, and don't assume it's just for your knees.

5. Grab water at every single opportunity, even if you don't need it yet

You never know when your next tap is. Top up everywhere you can. I ran a 2L hydration pack (the GRVL Adventure Hydration Pack) on top of my bottles, and without that extra capacity I'd have properly struggled on the Ridgeway and Salisbury Plain, where stops are few and far between.

The pack was worth it for more than just the extra volume too. Drinking on the move without unclipping a bottle covered in trail dust made a real difference over a long day, and I'd recommend one to anyone doing a multi-day route like this.

6. If you're wild camping in a farmer's field, make sure he's actually finished for the day first

We got away with it. Just. We pitched in a field below Wantage on night two, tucked between some hay bales and a pile of chalk hardcore, thinking we were set for the night. The farmer then drove into the field to work right by where we were camped. He didn't see us, and carried on, but it wasn't the calmest night's sleep either of us had. 

That's the six. None of them will surprise anyone who's bikepacked before, but I hadn't, and I learned every one of them the way you actually learn things: by getting them wrong first.

If you're planning your own multi-day gravel trip, the full route breakdown of the Old Chalk Way (where to stop, where to camp, and the sections that nearly broke us) is coming in a follow-up post: The Old Chalk Way: A Full Route Guide. And if people keep asking what I actually took, that's coming too: My Bikepacking Setup: Tent, Sleeping Bag and Mat.