Hey, I’m Chris Panasky, host of the Bikepack Adventures Podcast, founder of the Canadian Shield Bikepacking Summit, and route-builder around Ottawa’s National Capital Region. I’ve lived in six countries, bike-traveled through more than a dozen, and I’ve always been drawn to the idea of getting off the beaten path, exploring new corners of the world, and connecting with the people who call those places home.

Whether I’m rolling through quiet villages in Quebec, grinding up a mountain in Northern Thailand, or chatting with kids in my classroom, I’m all about sharing the joy of adventure and human connection. I love mixing fast gravel rides with rowdy MTB descents, usually pushing my limits and grinning while I do it.

For this build, I wanted something that could keep up with my riding style: fast, rugged, and ready for whatever sketchy singletrack or unmaintained backroad I throw at it. So, I started with the latest version of Panorama’s carbon gravel bike, the 2025 Katahdin 2.1, and built it up into the rig you see here. It’s light, tough, and dialed for the kind of riding I love most.

Like a lot of folks, I found my way into bikepacking around age 30. The twist? I had just moved to Malaysia to teach English. Growing up, bikes were my freedom — cruising around with friends, getting places, stirring up a little mischief. That lasted right up until I got a car, and then… I pretty much forgot bikes existed for a while.

Fast forward to 30, I bought myself a new ride and fell headfirst down the rabbit hole. Before I knew it, I was racing triathlons and mountain biking every chance I got. By the winter of 2012, I was in the best shape I’d been in years and decided to use my 7-week Christmas break for something big: a 1500km ride from Jogjakarta to Lombok, Indonesia. That trip changed everything.

From then on, I grabbed every chance I could to go on multi-day bike adventures: Japan, Cambodia, Thailand, Sweden, Denmark, Germany. If I had time off, I was pedalling somewhere new.

In the summer of 2020, I took on my biggest ride yet: starting in Vancouver, heading north to Whitehorse, Yukon, then turning east and riding all the way to Winnipeg. That was 5500km in 29 riding days, my first real ultra-endurance trip, on a gravel bike with slicks and an aero setup. It was wild.

Backtracking a bit, after riding the Mae Hong Son Loop in Northern Thailand in early 2019, I launched the Bikepack Adventures Podcast. I missed the feeling of meeting fellow bike adventurers on the road and figured a podcast was the perfect way to keep those stories flowing. Seven years later, the show’s passed 200 episodes. More recently, I started organizing the Canadian Shield Bikepacking Summit in the National Capital Region to help grow this amazing community and give back.

For me, there’s nothing quite like the rhythm of a long ride. That steady motion, the focus it takes to pedal efficiently. It opens up space in my mind to think, reflect, and just be. When I hit a certain level of fatigue, that’s when the clarity kicks in. It’s like everything else fades and I can finally hear myself.

Beyond the mental reset, bikepacking has brought me face-to-face with incredible people, from sulfur miners at Ijen Crater in East Java to curious kids across the river from Phnom Penh. And then there are the personal milestones: riding 343km in 11 hours, setting FKTs on regional routes, and just getting out for a night or two with my dog. Honestly, I can’t think of a better way to spend my free time.

After logging about 3,000 km on the 2023 Panorama Katahdin carbon gravel bike, I wasn’t exactly hunting for an upgrade. But after a few multi-day rides, I started noticing some wrist discomfort creeping in. So, I reached out to Simon at Panorama Cycles to ask about electronic shifting compatibility. That’s when he mentioned the new Katahdin 2.1 would come with a UDH derailleur hanger, perfect for a modern drivetrain and, as it turns out, the perfect excuse to start a fresh build.

Once I committed to the new frame and electronic shifting, I hit the classic fork-in-the-road: 1x or 2x? I ride a mix of pavement and gravel, so 2x definitely has its perks. But since I’m not racing anymore, where cadence and peloton dynamics really matter, I wasn’t tied to it. With SRAM’s 1x13 Force XPLR AXS on the horizon, I went for it. I’d keep most of my climbing range and only lose a bit of top-end speed, which I rarely need unless I’m bombing down a mountain. Sure, the gear spacing is a bit wider, but for my kind of riding, that’s no big deal.

With Full Cycle Ottawa backing the podcast, I finally pulled the trigger on something I’ve been dreaming about for years: Zipp wheels. After digging into the pros and cons of hookless rims, I landed on the Zipp 303 XPLR S, a gravel-specific wheelset built for 40c to 60c tires. I paired them with Goodyear 40C Slicks, which were designed to match the Zipp profile perfectly. To round out the drivetrain, I added SRAM’s new purple Force chain, which pops beautifully against the eggplant purple frame.

Once the frame, groupset, and wheels were dialed, it was time to fine-tune the contact points. I’ve been partnered with Redshift Sports since 2021, so I knew I’d be going back to the Kitchen Sink Loop Handlebar. This time, I sized down to 44cm. 40 felt too narrow, and 47 was a bit much for the kind of riding I had in mind. I also added the Loop Handlebar Bag, which fits snugly inside the loop and keeps things tidy.

Switching from a medium to a large frame meant adjusting my fit, so I swapped my 80mm Redshift ShockStop Suspension Stem for a 70mm. I’ve been riding with a ShockStop stem since I picked up my Opus Horizon in 2020 and haven’t looked back. For the seatpost, I debated between Redshift’s Dual-Position and Suspension post models but ultimately went with the Pro Endurance Suspension Seatpost. It offers 35mm of travel and uses a mix of elastomers and coil spring that can be tuned to rider weight and terrain. It’s smooth, reliable, and exactly what I needed.

Now, the saddle, that’s always the tricky one. Everyone’s anatomy is different, and I’ve never found a saddle that’s truly perfect. I’ve had decent luck with the Brooks B-17 and the Ergon SR Allroad Core, but neither felt like “the one.” Since this was my dream build, I went all in and got a custom-printed saddle tailored to my anatomy. Full Cycle Ottawa is one of only four authorized Fizik One-to-One dealers in Canada, and as a podcast sponsor, they’ve always had my back. It’s a pricey upgrade, but if it delivers the comfort I’m hoping for, it’ll be worth every penny.

To finish things off, I added the new OneUp Components Purple Clip Pedals. They’re sleek, lightweight (somewhere between Shimano XT and XTR), and well-reviewed. A couple of metallic purple Bivo bottles and a Wolf Tooth Gold Bling Kit tied the whole build together.

Before wrapping up the build, I knew I needed a name that fit the bike’s vibe. Living in the Ottawa region, rocking some gold accents, and riding a seriously fast rig, it all pointed to one name: Senator Incitatus II, or just Incitatus for short.

Who was Incitatus? He was the prized horse of Roman Emperor Caligula, and the name means “swift” in Latin. Legend has it Caligula loved his horse so much he made him a senator, housed him in marble stables, and fed him oats mixed with gold flakes. Sure, that story’s probably exaggerated, but this Incitatus is definitely swift, and it’s clearly been snacking on gold bling.

And there you have it—the story of Senator Incitatus the Second