It's that time of year where we start talking about and making plans for High Adventure.  This year, our theme is Biking. 

At our troop meeting today, we talked about the various styles of Biking Adventures available and some examples of Biking High Adventures we can go on.

Intro to Biking High Adventure

If you missed today's talk or want to review it:

• Biking High Adventure 2025 - Intro - link to our slide show (requires log in)

Styles of Biking High Adventure

• BikePacking

  • Light and ultralight backpacking on a bike

  • Focus is on the journey 

  • Routes are selected for the most enjoyable rides possible

  • Generally more focused on gravel and dirt road/trails

• Bike Touring

  • Generally more focused on road touring

  • More about the destination

    • Visit interesting places and sites

    • Use a bike to get there

  • Subsets of Bike Touring

    • Traditional Bike Touring

      • Long miles on loaded touring bike

      • Use low gears and stamina to move from point to point

      • Lots of planning to set up trip and pack properly 

    • S24Os

      • Sub–24-hour Overnights

        • Pronounced “Ess-Two-Four-Oh"

      • Shorter ride

      • Longer Camping

      • Back home the next morning

      • FAR less planning required for this type of trip

      • Pack everything you want

        • Go heavy if you like

        • If you forgot something, you'll be home tomorrow

    • Credit Card Touring

      • Carry minimal gear

      • Stay at hotels and eat at restaurants

      • Flexibility to change plan as you go

      • Too expensive for most of Scouting

• Supported Bike Adventures

  • Gear is transported by vehicle from destination to destination

  • Riders travel light

    • Don't have to carry camp gear on bike

    • Easier riding

    • More miles can be covered in a day

  • Many types of Adventures

    • Adventures can be from town to town

    • Adventures can travel to and through remote places

  • Various Versions

    • SAG Touring 

      • SAG = Support and Gear

      • Support vehicle follows riders and carries gear for them

    • Fully Supported

      • Vehicle transport of bikes and riders to and from sites

      • Accommodations managed by support team

      • Meals served or restaurant reservations set up by support team

      • SAG vehicle support

• Hub and Spoke

  • You stay at a central spot

    • Camp, hotel, cabin, gym

  • Adventures start and end at central spot

  • Variable impact on trip

    • Can enhance an Adventure

      • Make some incredible adventures possible

    • Can kill an Adventure

      • Can ruin a perfectly good journey 

  • All about location

    • All or most biking adventures may start and end at hub

    • All or some of adventures may require a support vehicles to transport you to and/or from adventures

    • Some locations just won't work well for Hub and Spoke

• Something Different

  • Sometimes the best adventure is something out of the ordinary

  • We can use different styles for different parts of the journey

  • We can try something that's never been done - it just has to be safe

Adventure Intensity

• Adventures are selected and planed by our High Adventure Team

  • Scout led

    • Scouts select where they want to go and what happens on their adventure

  • Adult guided

    • Adults keep Adventure Safe

  • Our Adventure will be as challenging as we make it

    • Challenge yourselves to see what you can do

Training

• Training will include rides between 25-50 miles

  • Some of us have already started training and reconning routes 

  • Plan to really start training in March

  • You are welcome to join us earlier 

  • Scouts are expected to rack up 300+ miles prior to High Adventure

• Plan to ride 30-50 miles per day while on High Adventure

• Plan to ride the same distance during training

  • High Adventure rides may be a little longer and challenging

Example Biking Adventures

• Idaho Coeur d'Alene Bike Century

  • Easy single day 100-mile ride

• San Juan Island Hopping

  • Island Hopping

• Olympic Discovery Challenge

  • Beauty of the Olympics and Coast

• Palouse to Cascades Cross Washington Adventure

  • Epic Adventure

• These and other adventures can be tailored by our High Adventure team

  •  High Adventure is meant to be the pinnacle of your Scouting Experience 

  • It's your adventure

    • Make it Fun

    • Make it Challenging

    • Make it Memorable

Biking Gear

• Having the right gear is vital for a successful High Adventure year

• We will talk about gear at a future meeting

• Before you rush out and buy a bike, wait to determine what adventure our High Adventure Crew votes on

  • The adventure determines the gear

  • You may need a road bike, you may need a mountain bike

• We talk about Bikes and Bike Gear in our Biking Gear Section

Adult Volunteers

• We need support:

  • Riders

    • Mr B

    • Mr G

    • Mr K

  • Drivers

  • Cooks

  • People to fill up water and wave at our Scouts as they ride off after refilling bottles

  • Second adults to hang out with drivers and keep them entertained