Bikeglamping

There’s a bikepacking adage that says “it’s not bikepacking until something goes wrong.” In a previous post, I wrote about a bikepacking trip that had almost nothing go according to plan at a humorous level. But what about when everything goes right? No rain, late departures, wrong turns, closed kitchens, etc. This is one of those trips--okay, we made one wrong turn, but we figured it out before going too far off course.

Just 20 miles east of Otso HQ is a county park called Whitetail Woods Regional Park. While it is most popular with it’s day-use features--hiking trails, skiing trails, beach, etc.--it might be better known for its camper cabins. Dakota County installed three shipping container-sized cabins back in 2015 or so and they are still trendy AF with the local Instagram crowd. The cabins are heated, have electricity, and are just a short midnight stumble away from bathrooms and running water. They have beds for six, an elevated deck on the back, and a firepit out front. If you can get a reservation, Whitetail Woods is a great place to camp. That’s *if* you can get a reservation.

We were lucky on this trip. I was monitoring the county parks website all summer to track a cabin opening. Back in June, cabins were booked through the end of September. Then in July, I noticed a Wednesday opening that must’ve been the result of a cancelation. We booked it instantly.

Bikepacking to a cabin requires substantially less gear than bikepacking to a campground. We’ll call this bikeglamping compared to bikecamping. Most of us just had a single saddlebag, handlebar roll, or some other front bag. I went with a Swift Industries porteur bag on my Soma porteur front rack. All we needed was a change of clothes, a sleeping bag, pillow (optional), and bike tools. We didn’t even pack any food items beyond riding snacks: breakfast was planned at a coffee shop on the way back to the shop and we had someone meet us at the cabin with beer(s) and pizza(s). Honestly, the most difficult part of this overnighter was picking up the keys and firewood at a different park within the county, then driving the wood to the cabin so it would be there for our arrival.

The route from our Burnsville shop to the cabins at Whitetail Woods followed pavement through suburban sprawl, before turning to gravel as we entered a quiltwork of farm fields and sand quarries. Rather than taking the most direct route to the cabins, we dipped south to ride a bit more dirt; direct suburban highways were saved for our return ride. This added 10 miles to our route, which was well worth it. Crowded roads were swapped for riding seven-across on dusty gravel. We were able to cruise our way from Burnsville to Rosemount and maintain conversation the entire time. It was a rolling party.

Upon arrival, we unpacked a few of our things, changed out of sweaty clothes, and started a fire. This was about the time mosquitos materialized from everywhere and nowhere. Fortunately, our pizza and beer arrived just in time--yes, we arranged for pizza and beer on this trip because if you’re going to go bikeglamping, you need to go full bikeglamping. A couple hours at the fire, then it was time for bed and a spirited ride back to the shop early in the morning.