A 9-Day Epic Bikepacking Adventure: The Myles Meanderings Story
Hearing the great outdoor’s call for adventure and never taking the first step of the journey. This is a tragedy desk-bound contemporary humans share. Our day-to-day doesn’t rely on physical strength anymore. A trip to the gym, a short run in the park, or commuting by bike can hardly prepare us for a long expedition – but that didn’t stop Myles Meanderings from dreaming up a nine-day epic bikepacking adventure. And making it a reality with his faithful e-bike.
Myles was always an avid rider, but endurance wasn’t his main strength. "Though I've wanted to, I've never been a long-distance biker. I never seemed to have the stamina and conditioning to push 50km plus for several days in a row."
It seemed like Myles’s biking adventures would need to be confined to a small radius around his home in Whitehorse, Canada. But then he was introduced to e-bikes and the freedom they allow to go farther. "Within 30 minutes of riding my Magnum Peak 29 for the first time I remember thinking what a game-changer it was. I was still sweating and breathing hard, but I still had energy and it was fun."
Getting on an e-bike meant Myles could enjoy longer trips and rediscover the joy of the outdoors without the wipe-out that was associated with it before. "I joked with my family that I was on a new diet of bugs because every time I rode I couldn't help myself. I would get a big goofy smile on my face until I caught a few mosquitos to snap me back to reality, reminding me of the insect world thriving in the Yukon summer."
The new possibilities were exhilarating. A 50-kilometer trip seemed the limit before, but now the 72 kilometers to Carcross or chasing mileposts along the Alaska Highway were all possible. Everything was within reach.
"My Magnum Peak has been a range extender and enabler. It's allowed me to go further down the trails and roads than I would normally be able to go… It's enabled me to see and experience things I wouldn't have been able to because I didn't have the range and stamina on my own. When I'm road riding, I try to only use the pedal assist on hills and headwinds. I've biked 92km in a day and still had battery life, and body energy, to spare. It's been amazing!"
The Yukon summer with its 22 hours of sunlight meant Myles could plan a more ambitious trip. He equipped his Magnum bike with a 175-watt Renogy solar panel on a Burley Nomad trailer that charges the battery as he rides. "I have the 13ah stock battery fitted to the Magnum and an additional 26Ah battery in the trailer. Both charge and discharge in parallel. I built it hoping to get three days of cloudy overcast travel in excess of 120km. Since it was really sunny for most of this trip, and I didn't want to burn out my non-ebike biking buddy, we kept our mileage under 90km a day."
Myles’s 2021 summer biking adventure spanned 650km and 9 days – a feat that didn’t seem possible before he discovered e-biking. And he’s sure that his Magnum can see him through whatever comes next in his journey list.
What sold me on the Magnum was the strong sturdy construction. It's been an amazing platform for a handlebar extension, aero bars, bikepacking bags, rear rack, and even trailer pulling attachments. I'm so glad I chose Magnum.
Once you get the adventure bug, it’s hard to shake off. Myles is already thinking about his next journey. "Next summer I wouldn't mind doing a trip from Whitehorse to Dawson City, about 530km north. The Yukon has tons of history left over from World War II and the Klondike Gold Rush of the early 1900s. There are hundreds of kilometers of minor roads just waiting to be explored." And we’re excited to help him go farther with Magnum!
