In the mid-eighties, a couple of friends and I donned day packs and tied the sleeping gear on our MTB's and followed an almost non-existant trail to a State Park (the trail was marked on a highway map!). We had a great time. When my ex and I split, she wouldn't give me one of the cars (both in her name for insurance reasons) so I jumped on the bike with the same day pack and a gym bag strapped to rack and rode to my home state (not far, about two hundred miles) and then, a few years later, I came across Neil Gunton's account of his cross country trip. I had been riding for a while, now I had a new purpose. I'd always enjoyed backpacking, now I do it on my bike as well. Joy.