Camping in Stendenitz

This wasn't a lucky season for bikepacking—bad weather, mechanical problems, and lack of time conspired against me. But I managed to catch a break this weekend. I chose a campsite almost at random (I just had a rough distance and direction in mind), but I hit the jackpot. It was a beautiful, quiet place, and I was assigned a wonderful spot right in front of the lake. This will most likely be my last night out this year, but it was a great one.

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Venetogravel 2025

Over the last weekend I partecipated to my second Venetogravel. This time following the Short Beach track, covering approximately 400 kilometers and 2200 meters of elevation. The weather in the first two day was not the best, but I still enjoyed it very much. Here some stats and a small selection of pictures

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Using Clerk to plan bikepacking events

I have been experimenting with Clerk to build a tool I can use to study different strategies for Venetogravel 2024. Inputing parameters such as the distance I have to cover, the average speed I think I can maintain during the event, and how I intend to distribute the effort over several days, I can obtain a diagram. It's a work in progress, here what I got so far:

(def plan-start-19
{:description "Starting on April 19th"
 :daily-plans [{:label "Day 1"
                :activities [{:start "15:00" :length 6 :type :ride}]}
               {:label "Day 2"
                :activities [{:start "07:00" :length 5 :type :ride}
                             {:start "17:00" :length 3 :type :ride}]}
               {:label "Day 3"
                :activities [{:start "08:00" :length 6 :type :ride}]}]})

which results in

To do:

• integrate data from GPX files (altitude is fundamental)
• learn how to rotate entities with SVG (transformations seem to work in the least intuitive ways)

Bikepacking updates

I only managed two overnighters during this season, but I learned something on how to pack, reaching a nice setup for my kit.

The setup is now more compact and feels more comfortable.

The front bag contains the sleeping bag (15 ⁰C) and both the tent layers (Naturhike Cloudup 2). I didn't think it was possible, but it was just a matter of squeezing (and believing) harder. Also, not using compression bags helps, because this way the material is more free to occupy all available space.

This makes the front bag slightly wider, so I had to add spacers to keep it clear of the levers.

I added an Ortlieb accessory bag on the front, where I put food and some kitchen tools (nothing particular, a collapsible bowl, sporks, … stuff like that)

The saddle bag is much smaller and shorter, which makes the bike easier to handle. It now contains just the mat, the tent base layer, stove + pot (another new addition to my kit), and clothes.

I am quite satisfied with the results. One thing I have to learn is how to re-pack things so that dirty or slightly soggy clothes don't ruin other clean items; this would allow me to do longer journeys.