Tomas Montes visits the workshop of Adri from Bikepackid, a small Spanish bikepacking bag manufacturer, whose life was completely changed by the pandemic. He went from permanently traveling by bike to settling in a small village in Galicia, in the northwest of Spain.

When I talk to Adri on the phone to arrange the visit, he tells me he lives in a village that doesn’t even appear on Google Maps. I ask him to send me a location instead of the name of the place, and I get ready for the journey.

It’s February, and I leave early in the morning, the cold cutting through the air, and a dense fog covering the roads. These routes feel familiar; as a child, I used to visit some of my father’s relatives who lived in the same direction. The fog makes the landscape appear and disappear, and my mind drifts between memories of past journeys and curiosity about meeting Adri and hearing his story.

I arrive at the village and quickly realize that finding the entrance to his house won’t be easy. I call him, and as soon as I hang up, the first to greet me are his two dogs, full of energy, emerging from the mist. Shortly after, Adri comes to meet me, smiling and radiating the hospitality of someone who enjoys a quiet life. He gives me a brief tour of the house, where I meet Marie, his partner. Soon, we head to the workshop.

A Workshop Born from the Journey

Adri’s workshop is not an impersonal industrial space. It’s an extension of his journey and his life, a place where every bag he sews has its own story. Between tools, fabric rolls, and his old Alfa sewing machine (the same one he learned to sew with in Barcelona), the space breathes adventure and dedication.

As we talk, Adri keeps sewing without pause. At that moment, his workshop is filled with bags in different stages of production, all part of a large order for Cannondale. Every now and then, he looks up to show me details of his process while I take photos and document every step.

I don’t take long to ask how and when he started making bags. His story unfolds in many stages. Before the pandemic, during winter, he arrived in Georgia by bike with Marie, as part of their plan to cycle around the world. They stopped there to earn some money before continuing their journey, and Adri started sewing bags for followers of his YouTube project. What started as a casual idea quickly grew—orders kept coming in. But when the pandemic hit, their plans changed. With borders closing, they had no choice but to return to Spain.

On the journey back, emails and orders piled up. When he finally reached Zaragoza, he realized that traveling was no longer an option, but sewing was. So he bought materials and started making bags more seriously. What had initially been a way to fund his travels became his livelihood.

I ask him how he learned to sew, and he tells me that it all started in Barcelona. At night, after work, he would practice with his Alfa sewing machine. The first bag he made was a square stem bag, very simple but functional. Then came a bag for a front rack. But if anyone is to blame for Adri becoming a bikepacking bag maker, it’s Marie.

She was set on traveling by bike and needed the right gear. Adri, at that time, didn’t feel ready to commit to the journey, nor did he think he could make bags strong enough for a round-the-world trip. So, looking for a solution, they ended up at the workshop of Rodolf, also known as Helmut, in France. They stayed for a month. Rodolf made the bags for Marie, and in the process, Adri started working with him on small catalog pieces. In return, he made himself a pair of Helmut-designed panniers.

That was when everything clicked. Adri realized that he enjoyed making things with his hands, that he was passionate about bikes and traveling, and that, suddenly, he had found a way to combine the two. Helmut offered him the chance to stay and learn, but Adri chose to continue traveling with Marie. Before setting off, he spent a month in Zaragoza sewing his own bags along with a few extras to help fund the trip.

The Present and Future of Bikepackid

With the pandemic and the return to Spain, Adri had to make a decision: resume his travels or settle down. In the end, he convinced Marie to give the business a chance, and they looked for a place to settle, away from the big cities. The slow pace of traveling by bike had shown them that they didn’t want to return to urban life. And so, they ended up in Galicia.

We take a break to step outside for some fresh air and, in the process, photograph some of his standout products, like the Sherpa Bag and the Riño Bag, alongside the BBBloque cargo bike – the very one seen in the photos and the one he plans to take on his next trip with one of his dogs. In fact, Adri wants to find time to make a set of custom bags to match the bike for that long-awaited adventure.

Today, Bikepackid not only fulfills orders for individual cyclists but also works with major brands like Cannondale. His customer base has expanded, reaching different parts of Europe. However, there’s a price to pay: the natural cycle of traveling and making bags has been disrupted. Over the past two years, the workshop has taken over all his time. The bike sits idle, YouTube videos have been put on hold, and social media is no longer a priority.

Adri is happy, but he feels the need to regain balance. He wants to find a way to keep producing without completely giving up on cycling and traveling.

His bestselling product is the Cantina Bag Roll Top, a custom-made frame bag for each customer. But he has big plans – he wants to redesign some models, improve patterns, and introduce new intermediate bags. He just needs time to make it happen.

That is Adri’s biggest challenge at the moment: finding a way to move forward without losing sight of what brought him here in the first place. Because if one thing is clear, Bikepackid is not stopping. And neither is Adri.