So You Want to Start a Regional Bikepacking Community?

Advancing the Outdoor Professional

What is bike packing? Bikepacking is a form of long-distance cycling that involves traveling off-road and camping along the way. Join host Candace Brendler as she chats with Jacob T. Rex, the community programs coordinator at Bikepacking Roots. Jacob and Candace discuss the concept of regional bikepacking communities and the work being done by Bikepacking Roots to promote bikepacking across the US.

Bikepacking Roots is a national nonprofit organization that focuses on advocacy, community programs, education, and route building. They have community stewards in different states who organize events, promote bikepacking, and help develop routes. The goal is to make bikepacking more accessible and inclusive for everyone.

About Jacob:

Jacob T. Rex, a native Appalachian from East Tennessee. He has worked as a backpacking guide in the California Alps, a canoe instructor for Outward Bound and a bike mechanic for several shops including Trek, and currently is a program coordinator at West Virginia University's outdoor program, Adventure West Virginia and Community Program Coordinator at Bikepacking Roots.

Jacob's love of cycling, expeditionary travel, and endurance sports led him to bikepacking. Desiring a local community to pedal with, he founded West Virginia's first and only community bikepacking group, Hellbender Bikepacking. It's through this group that Jacob hopes to grow more riders in the state and bring more riders from other places to experience Country Roads by bike.

Resources:

Bikepacking Roots: https://bikepackingroots.org/