Bikepacking
Bikepacking day planner
Costs a loaded riding day — distance, climbing, load penalty and stops — and compares it against available daylight.
The question this answers: “Does the day I have planned actually fit in the daylight I have?”
Result
- Day length
- 7.5 h
- 6 h moving plus 1.5 h stopped.
- Loaded flat speed
- 15.4 km/h
- 22 reduced by 30%.
- Time spent climbing
- 1.5 h
- 900m at 600m per hour.
- Daylight remaining
- 2.5 h
- Before you allow for anything going wrong.
Worth knowing about this answer
- This costs the day you described. It has no opinion about whether you are fit enough to ride it, and no arithmetic can supply one.
- Daylight is not the same as usable riding light, and it is much less on a wooded trail than on a road. Treat a small surplus as no surplus.
Show the working
- Loaded speed
22 × (1 − 30/100)15.4 km/h - Flat-equivalent time
70 ÷ 15.44.55 h - Climbing time
900 ÷ 6001.5 h - Total including stops
6.05 + 1.57.55 h
Day length: 7.5 h. Loaded flat speed: 15.4 km/h. Time spent climbing: 1.5 h. Daylight remaining: 2.5 h
Flat speed reduced by the load penalty gives a loaded speed; distance divided by that gives flat-equivalent time. Climbing is costed separately at 600m per hour and added, then stopped time is added. The total is subtracted from daylight.
- Climbing costs time at roughly 600m per hour on a loaded bike. Stated openly so it can be argued with rather than hidden, and it is the same approach the hiking estimator takes.
- The load penalty is an input rather than a constant because it depends entirely on your bags, your surface and what you are carrying.
- It has no opinion about whether you are fit enough to ride the day it describes, and no arithmetic can supply one.
- Daylight is not the same as usable riding light, and on a wooded trail it is considerably less.
- No allowance for wind, which on an exposed loaded day can matter more than the climbing.
Runs entirely in your browser — nothing you type is sent anywhere. Last reviewed 2026-08-15. More on Bikepacking.