The Velo Hobo

Follow along as an intrepid ten cyclists battle it out to be named the “World’s Fastest Bicycle Traveler”.  No doubt they will be traveling Ultralight.

Here’s the link:   The BROOKS Despatch.  Here the link to follow the race live: Worldcycleracing

Impending Race Around the Globe,

18,000 Miles by Bicycle

“World Cycle Racing Grand Tour” gets underway on 18 February 2012. Ten cyclists from the British Isles will take off from Greenwich, London on 18 February to assault en masse the Guinness World Record for the Fastest Global Circumnavigation by Bicycle. The coordinated attempt is the largest of its kind ever to take place.

The concept of this simultaneous attempt is the brainchild of Vin Cox, who held the record until very recently, having completed the 18,000 mile journey in just 163 days. Fellow Englishman Alan Bate however, recently bested Vin’s record with a stunning time of under 97 days.

Since Guinness included the record for the first time in 2008, cyclists have been fiercely competing to hold the crown of world’s fastest traveller. Last year alone the record was broken a number of times, before finally being held by Mr. Cox for over one year.  ~ From The Brooks Dispatch

 New York, Nova Scotia, Montreal and back to New York.  This is definately one my wife and I would consider.  She a native New Yorker and we’ve both talked about touring Nova Scotia.  This one also looks as if it hugs the coastline, which is what we try to do as much as possible when near the coast.

Check out the map at:

 » Tour Over: here’s a rough map of my route PB & J All Day. 

Jack

Here’s another do-it-yourself project to lighten your load and warm camp. These simple stoves have been a favorite of UL Backpackers for years.  They require a little priming, but once the alcohol begins to vaporize they put out a tremendous amount of heat.  One drawback to alcohol stoves is the need to carry a fuel bottle (for a free fuel bottle use an empty and clean plastic water bottle).  Another concern is the flame is invisible in daylight.  You can set yourself on fire and not realize it till you smell flesh burning.

Here’s how to build your own:

You’ll need two soda cans, a thumb tack, a marker and a utility knife and/or a pair of scissors.

First cut the bottom off two soda cans.  I use a utility knife to do this but a pair of kitchen scissors work just as well.  I use a sharpie marker resting on a book to draw a level line on the cans.  To do this, hold the marker in place and spin the can on a level surface.  This will give you a guide line to cut the can evenly.  How much should you cut off?  This is totally up to you.  The taller your stove, the more volume of fuel it will hold.  The shorter your stove, the easier it will be to vaporize and burn the alcohol.  I make my stoves about an inch and a half high.  That seems to be a good compromise between fuel volume and performance.

Next use a thumb tack to pierce several small holes around the upper rim of one of your cans and a few in the center.  These holes are the gas jets and fuel filler holes.  Some folks make one large filler hole and use a sheet metal screw to block the hole when the stove is burning.  Others place a coin over the hole (another name for this stove is a “Penny Stove”).  I really don’t think it’s necessary to do either.  If you make the same size holes in the center of the can they become fuel jets and add to the heat and I don’t mind waiting for the alcohol to drain through the small holes.  But experiment and find what works best for you.  This is now the top of your stove and the other can is the bottom.

Cut a few slits around the side of your stove top.  Be careful not to cut too close to the upper rim.  These slits will make it easier to assemble your stove.  Press the stove top into the stove bottom.  Lubricating the sides with liquid soap will make this easier.

That’s it!  Just pour in a little alcohol and splash a very small amount on the side of your stove to prime it.  Never use rubbing alcohol (Isopropyl alcohol) in your stove.  Besides being expensive, it has chemical additives you don’t want in your lungs.  Use wood or grain alcohol available at most hardware or department stores. 

Check out another design for an even simpler free alcohol stove:  Jack’s version of a Cat Stove

Thanks for reading, Jack

Here’s a quick and easy project that will both lighten your kit and add warmth to your camp.  Burning wood will allow you to leave the fuel bottle behind.  Fuel is free and everywhere.  Also, burning a handful of twigs is far more ecologically sound than burning processed and packaged fuels such as alcohol or butane.  You’ll also enjoy the warm orange flickering flame, the musky fragrance and popping sound of your twigs as you cook using a fuel dating back to caveman times.

Drawbacks to wood burning stoves are low heat output (longer cook time) and finding dry wood in wet weather.  You also need some skill in building and tending a fire.  Wood doesn’t burn as clean as processed fuels so expect smoke, soot and ashes.

Here’s what you’ll need:
A can smaller in diameter than the pot you use to cook in
A ‘church key’ style can opener
A saw, tin snips or Dremel Tool to cut the side opening.

Use the can opener to punch several air vents in the bottom of your can.  Next cut a hole in the side of your can near the top to feed in the wood and vent the smoke.  There’s really no science to this; be creative.  To light your stove, lay the can on its side and build a small twig fire inside the can.  When your fire is going stand the can upright, set the pot on top and start feeding in twigs.  Be sure to gather a good amount of twigs before you light the fire, you’ll need alot to bring a pot of water to a rolling boil.  Also be careful not to touch the can till it’s had time to cool.

Thanks for reading, Jack

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.  ~Leonardo DaVinci

Here’s a quick look at the associated fishing gear to accompany the Tenkara rod I’ve put together for bike fishing.

Replacing a multi-pocketed vest, I’m carrying everything I need in a neck wallet.  A neck wallet is one of those nerdy looking things you’ve seen people wearing in airports to carry their passports and boarding passes.  More pockets, just like bigger panniers or bigger backpacks, equal more gear to fill the empty space.   Minimalism is the key to making it all fit.  Just enough line, 4x tippet and flies to keep going for a few days of fishing.  The only tools I’m carrying are a 4 inch Dr. Slick scissor-clamp combo and a small pocket knife.  Waders?  No.  Tevas?  Yes.   Although as cooler temperatures creep into the mountains, I may have to rethink that.  Collapsible wading staff?  No.  Stick I picked up off the ground?  Yes.  I’ve taken my inspiration from Jason Klass and other UL backpacking anglers’ minimalist common sense approach to fishing.

So far I’ve spent less than a hundred bucks and only added about a pound to my touring kit.  Is it worth it?  For me, yes.  If I were really into photography, cooking or Irish road bowling I could have added more weight and expense to my kit.  I just need to be careful not to get too addicted to Tenkara.  If I do, I may be giving this bike touring blog away.

Thanks for reading, Jack

Bringing in a Brookie

One of many cabins

A working mill grinding corn

Herd of deer

A peaceful ride

Another way to explore an area is to set up a base camp and tour an area with day rides.  What could be more laidback and relaxed than to head out each day on a lightly loaded bike and return that afternoon to an already setup tent and well stocked cooler!  Of course “base camp” could be a cabin by the lake, cottage by the beach or a hotel room in a city.  This is a great way to incorporate a little bike exploring into your vacation.  I’m sure many hard core bike-tourists have already clicked away from this post with a harrumph, but for me, finding any way to get out on my bike and explore the world around me is important.  And with my busy and stressful schedule, I want to squeeze all the fun I can out of my off-time.

Cades Cove is a relatively flat valley surrounded by towering mountains.  It sits in the North West corner of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and is stuffed full of both hungry wildlife and plump people.  This past weekend though, not as many people.  Children have begun their school year and most folks are waiting until next weekend (Labor Day) to flood in.  So my wife and I enjoyed a half empty campground and almost traffic free rides around the valley.

A narrow paved road circles the lower rim of this bowl at the foot of the surrounding mountains.  Traffic is funneled through one-way, so once you’ve entered the eleven mile loop, you’re committed unless you want to risk riding against the flow.  The ride itself is not challenging to experienced cyclists, but beginners will find one or two of the climbs to be a workout.  This would be a great place to bring someone new to the sport; overall very easy, but with enough climbing to leave a beginner with a sense of accomplishment. This is a wonderful place to bring younger riders as well to get them accustomed to riding in traffic.  Car traffic is moving very slow and in one direction.

Before the establishment of the park, this was a picturesque mountain farming community and the beauty has been preserved along with many of the homesteads.  Houses, barns, churches, and pastures look as if they are still in use.  Although the mileage is low, there is enough to explore in this beautiful valley to spend a few days.  Be sure to pick up a guide book from the ranger station when you check in.  Also, if this ‘front country’ campground is a bit too public for your taste, Elkmont, 19 miles deeper into the park, may be more secluded and quiet.

Thanks for reading, Jack

A Special Note of Thanks:  I’d like to thank Grant Petersen for inventing the S24O.  Before that we had to stay out 25, sometimes 26 hours.   

Saturday night, oddly enough and through no fault of my own, my house became infested with belly dancers. This sort of thing can be either a blessing or a curse.  Not willing to take a chance, I abandoned the house and retreated to the woods for a quick impromptu bike camping trip.  So with no real destination in mind, I just headed out.  I knew I wanted to be near water and some place in the shady cover of trees.  I also knew I wanted the solitude and primitive setting that only a stealth camp can provide.  The Smokies are blessed with plenty of just such places.  If you’re not afraid to do a little bush-whacking with a bike across your shoulder, sweet tranquil solitude is just a stones throw away off the side of the road.  I’ll keep the exact location a secret; one: to keep from incriminating myself, and two: I want to return.  But rest assured there is no shortage of stealth camping opportunities in the Smokies.

(Note: Don’t stealth camp in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  You may be fined and/or diminish this beautifully preserved wilderness.  There are plenty of places outside the park in the surrounding forest to make a wild camp).

I took the advice from comments on my last trip report and left the cooking gear behind and suppered on an American classic, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  No fuss, no muss, just unwrapped it and gobbled it down. Not cooking is a good idea when stealth camping.  There is usually a lot of leaf-litter on the ground and nothing gives a stealth camp away like an out of control forest fire.

Another thing that gives away a stealth camp is a big blue hammock hanging in the trees, so I spend a few hours fishing before making camp.  The Tenkara fly rod performs great and even though a dry fly may have been better suited for this mountain lake, my Killer Kabari snagged a few trout, or perhaps I was catching the same one over and over again.  Either way, I was having fun and if I was catching the same fish over and over, it must have been having fun too.

I rigged the hammock between two trees in the last few minutes of usable light and crawled in.  Despite being only a few dozen yards from a paved road, the location had the feel of a true back country camp.  Soon the night-time forest sounds that evoke peace and calm in some, and fear and anxiety in others, slowly began to grow in volume.  A chorus of frogs, crickets and the pitter patter of some four-legged creature very close to my hammock kept me entertained till sleep overtook me.

The lower portion of the Hennessy Hammock has a slit in the middle for getting in and out.  It’s held closed with a combination of Velcro and good Karma.  At about 10:00pm I pushed my heel through the Velcro and stood myself up.  Just then I heard a soft thump, a muffled bouncing sound and a ker-plunk as my Thermo-Lite 2 bivy, still stuffed in its sack splashed into the lake.  I shined my head lamp on it and it was spinning, paddle wheeling its way to freedom.  Luckily I was able to hook it on my third cast of the fly rod.

I crawled out of the hammock at first light and did a little early morning fishing.  Early dawn is a beautiful time to fish.  Mountain lakes and streams are the source of much of the foggy mist which gives the Smokies their name and patches of puffy clouds clung to the surface of the water.  The lake was a mirror, perfectly still except for the occasional trout breaking the surface to feed.  As the sun rose the mist burned away and left heavy humid air behind.  Cravings for caffeine pulled me away from my secret mountain camp.  A short ride and I was back at home in time for fresh brewed coffee and breakfast.

Packing List:
Small Nashbar Pannier
Topeak Handlebar Bag
Tenkara fly rod and a few Killer Kabari flies
Hennessey Hammock
Summer sleeping bag
Thermo-Lite Bivy (by the way, it floats)
Novel
Camera
A few hygiene things, A few bike tools

Mark Anderson, ‘an art teacher who likes to ride and muck about with bicycles’ sent in a link to a great trip report from the KATY trail in Missouri.  It looks like he has a nice Ultralight setup without compromising the vintage look of his bike. Be sure to check out the beautiful bike photography on the rest of Mark’s blog. 

Traveling unsupported as an ultralight tourist, one counts heavily upon services available along the trail as a means for refreshing and replenishing necessities, not the least of which are things such as nutrition and water, but also include stuff forgotten, lost, and overlooked. I found that there were surprisingly few bicycle services available along the KATY Trail – especially full service bicycle shops – for being celebrated as the longest Rails-to-Trails route in the country. The fact of the matter is that in the vast majority of towns and villages I passed through, there was not so much as an inner tube patch available, let alone a pump or gloves or tubes or tires or rain protection… all of which are pretty important items for long distance touring.

via Cyclo Tourist on the KATY « Mark’s Bikes.

My Sequoia loaded for an S24O weighs in at a tad less than 35 pounds.  That’s bike and gear, minus food and water.  The Marmont summer sleeping bag is comfortable if the weather doesn’t drop into the 40s and weighs a few ounces over a pound.  The Hennessy Hammock is 1.6 pounds (obviously) and I use the Thermo-Lite Bivy (6.5 ounces) as an insulator.  I lay on the Bivy and use the sleeping bag unzipped as a quilt.  That leaves my cooking gear.  My Snow Peak 700 titanium cooking mug weighs 4.8 ounces.  After four seasons of stuffing it in packs and panniers it’s no longer round…kind of oval, but still works fine.  I combine with a DIY windscreen/pot stand, a mini Bic lighter, two tent stakes and piece of aluminum foil to protect the ground.  Fuel varies with my mood, sometime Esbit tabs, sometime a DIY Pepsi can alcohol burner, sometime just a pile of twigs. There is usually enough room left over for a baggie of coffee.  I almost always have a used book with me; one I don’t mind messing up or losing.  I toss in a ziplock of food.  In my handlebar bag is a GorillaPod, rain jacket, camera and a few comfort items.  The same stuff I carry for my daily commute.  A few bike tools and spare tube are in the saddle bag.

 So, what’s in your over-night kit?

Determined to sleep at a higher altitude, I left the wife, kids and dog behind and snuck out the backdoor for a quick over-nighter.  I pushed my car down the driveway so no one would hear me leave.  To make this a true S24O, I drove to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center and started my mini-tour. The center sits in a beautiful valley just inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and is one mile from the southern terminus of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  It features a brand new history museum, a recreation of an old mountain homestead and offers a good selection of trail maps and guide books.  Just two miles north of Cherokee, North Carolina, this is a very popular entrance to the GSMNP, so expect traffic during the tourist season.  Smokemont Campground is just about a mile deeper into the park and would make another great starting point for visitors to the area wanting to do this ride.

Once on the BRP it’s a steady climb up, up, up through a forest with a thick growth of bright green leaves.  Life seems to ooze from everything this time of year in the mountains.  Wildflowers, moss, ferns and wild mint sprout from every crack in the granite boulders, which themselves seem to be sprouting from the ground.  Trees compete for every spare patch of earth and some have decided to grow themselves in some pretty improbable places.  The Oconaluftee Valley sits at 2,000 feet above sea level, so with 3,280 feet of climbing ahead I find a comfortable gear and prepare my mind for a few hours of monotonous spinning.

A handful of dark and damp tunnels lie between the tail-end of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Mile High campground, my destination for the night.  Mile High is a commercial campground atop Soco Mountain, just off the narrow strip of asphalt and greenery belonging to the Parkway.  Far enough off the beaten path to avoid being a “ghetto campground”, it is one of my favorite places.  The campground has been around for more than a few years and it is showing some age, but that just adds to the appeal.  Some of the sites teeter on an almost cliff-like ledge overlooking the Smokies.  Sunsets viewed from here are unforgettable.  After the sun slips behind the jagged horizon, I enjoy a twig fire before crawling into my Hennessy Hammock.

Hammock sleeping is a unique experience, but once you get the hang of it (ahem), you’ll pity common ground dwellers with their blowup mattresses and fluffy pillows.  Well, pity or envy.  Either way, you will definitely have a firm opinion one way or the other.  Personally I love the way the wind gently rocks the hammock.  And when it comes time to strike camp, a hammock packs down to the size of a Nalgene water bottle.

The next morning, I brew up a stout mug of ‘Cowboy Coffee’ and breakfast myself on a granola bar before rolling off the summit.  There are three routes off Soco.  Back along the Parkway towards the Qualla Boundary (Cherokee Indian Reservation), climb up and over Water Rock Knob and descend into Balsam Gap or ride the graveled Heintooga Road which takes you through a portion of the GSMNP and back into Cherokee.

I chose to return the way I came and enjoy a fast swoop down the mountain on the BRP.  What took about two hours to ascend the day before lasted only minutes and deposited me back in the Oconaluftee Valley.

Packing List:
Small Nashbar Pannier
Topeak Handlebar Bag
Hennessey Hammock
Summer sleeping bag
Thermo-Lite Bivy
Snow Peak 700 titanium mug
Taco Bell spork
Novel
Camera
A few Esbit Tabs, A few groceries
A few hygiene things, A few bike tools

After many years away from fishing, I’ve decided to get back into the game and begin tormenting mountain trout once again.  But I want to keep things as inexpensive and simple as possible as well as combine it with my passion for bicycle travel.  Tenkara seems to be an excellent fit.

Tenkara is fly-fishing distilled down to its most fundamental elements; a rod, a line, a fly and, hopefully, a fish.  Absent are the reel and yards of never used backing.  The Tenkara rod has no line guides and the line is simply tied to the braided material on the tip of the rod called the “lilian”.  The rods collapse within themselves to about 18 to 24 inches.  Tenkara is traditional Japanese fly fishing and it is slowly gaining popularity here in America.  If you’re a follower of “The Path Less Pedaled” or Jason Klass’ “Tenkara Talk” (also Backpack Fly-fishing and Gear Talk) then you are already familiar with Tenkara.  It’s a perfect match for Ultralight travelers wanting to include fishing into their adventures.  It’s also perfect for minimalist fly fishers wanting to divorce themselves from the complication of unnecessary and expensive gear.

While putting together my UL fly-fishing rig, I was determined not to be sucked into the L.L. Bean black hole; I began my search for gear at the TenkaraBum site.  This is a great resource with honest reviews, links to affordable rod suppliers and tips and techniques.  They also sell Tenkara lines, tippets and flies.  I picked up a ‘level line’, a spool of tippet and enough material to tie 25 flies, then followed a link to Fountainhead and purchased my first Tenkara rod.

The rig I’ve put together begins with Fountainhead’s Caddis Fly 330.  This eleven foot rod sells for $45.00 and fits in my meager budget with change left over.  Compare that to a western-style setup.  You’d be hard pressed to find a decent rod and reel anywhere near the price and of course you’d still need to buy backing, line, leader and tippet.  The line for my Tenkara rod is a single strand monofilament just a bit stiffer than the line you’d use in a spinning reel; eleven dollars for 33 feet.  That’s enough for about three lines.  To that I’m adding a 4x tippet and two ‘line keepers’ from Bass Pro. (I didn’t realize at the time I placed my order that TenkaraBum sells these same keepers.  Save on shipping and buy everything at the same place.)  Flies excluded, my Ultralight fly-fishing setup cost around sixty bucks, weighs only a few ounces and collapses down to about 24 inches.

“One Fly”

Western-style fly-fishers tie (or buy) an assortment of flies and try to ‘match the hatch’, that is, pick a fly that most closely matches the bugs trout are feeding on that particular day.  The belief is that catching a trout is 50% fly selection, 50% presentation and 50% luck.  One phish-philosophy in Tenkara that I am really drawn to is “One Fly”.  Finding one fly that works for you, in the area you live, that catches fish regardless of the hatch.  Presentation is everything and Zen-like technique is more important than fly selection.  Be the fish.  Catch the fish.  Eat the fish.  Ohmm.

So to begin the spiritual search for my personal “One Fly”, I dusted off my long unused vise (there were cob webs all over it) and started tying 25 Killer Kebari from a kit of material purchased at Chris Stewart’s TenkaraBum.  Chris sells “One Fly” kits; everything you need to tie 25 flies, including detailed instructions.  When I say detailed instructions, I should also say that you need to know the basics of tying; although, these kits would be a perfect match for someone who is just learning the basics.  If you’ve not tied before, you’ll need to get a bit of instruction on finishing your fly off.  Make friends with a fly tier or spend some time watching YouTube.

What I really like about these kits is that there is little waste.  One trap I fell into years ago when I was tying western-style flies is collecting piles of expensive material that I never used.  With Chris’ kits, you buy just enough of the right stuff and no more.  At much less than a buck a fly, they’re very affordable and Chris offers a good selection of patterns.  Check them out, maybe you’ll find your “One Fly”.

If there is one piece of touring equipment needing improvement it’s the bicycling banjo.  I’m sure most of you have wanted to bring your lucky five-string along, but like me were put off by its burdensome size and weight.  Bicycle adventurer Elori has solved this problem with her “Canjo”. 

She constructed it from a peanut can with tuning pegs salvaged from a mandolin. It features a hidden storage compartment in the resonator and an optional chicken bone bridge. 

I gave her canjo a quick frail and the tone was surprisingly deep and mellow for such a small instrument.

A few free standing tents offer a rain fly only set-up.  This allows the tenter to leave the tent at home and sleep in comfort under the rain fly alone.  There are some great advantages to this and a few drawbacks as well.  In the plus column is a tremendous savings in weight and packing space.  About a pound of weight is dropped from the Big Agnes and half its packing volume is saved by leaving the tent behind.  An optional foot print is required to turn this already light weight tent into an Ultralight shelter.  I’ve spent many nights under ponchos and tarps.  Coverage from the elements is much greater under a ‘fly only’ set-up.  You also get greater air flow in hot muggy weather than when using the full tent.  It’s true that a good tarp shelter, like the Golite Shangri-la, does essentially the same thing lighter and less expensive, having a tent with a ‘fly only’ option gives you just that…options.  You can choose to bring the full tent along in buggy conditions or if the person you’re sharing the tent with is not comfortable with the occasional something or other slithering in.

And that brings me to the drawbacks.  Things do slither, crawl and fly in.  I’m okay with that; my wife is not.  So it’s nice to have the versatility to go either way.  Also, although going ‘fly only’ offers more coverage than most tarps it still doesn’t protect as well as a full tent.  Being mindful of where and how you pitch is important if rain is in the forecast (a lesson I learned on my last trip out).

So if you’re shopping around for a new tent to tour or backpack with, consider a tent that can be pitched ‘tentless’.  It’s the best tent feature since Velcro.  MSR Ultralite Hubba, Sierra Designs Delta and the tent I use, Big Agnes Seed House are three examples of tents that can be pitched ‘tentless’.

Thanks for reading, Jack

When I think of S24Os, wilderness camping is the first thing that comes to mind.  But any local destination will do for a mini-tour.  A cheap motel, nearby campground or even a friend’s couch make great destinations. 

A mere 8.5 miles from our backdoor is the privately operated Turkey Creek campground.  A small brook, Turkey Creek, meanders through the camp and eventually pours into the Nantahala and Little Tennessee Rivers.  The campground sits in a heavily wooded cove just off NC Highway 28 in the community of Almond, NC.  It’s in a great location.  Close to Tsali Recreation area, the Nantahala Outdoor Center and Bryson City, there is plenty for visitors to do.  Single track mountain biking, zip-lines (canopy tours), white water rafting, trout fishing and tons more are within a few miles. Bryson City is the closest town and would make the perfect starting point for visitors to the area wanting to include a short bike tour in their Smoky Mountain vacation.

With the exception of stealth camps and backcountry camps in the park (GSMNP), Turkey Creek is the quietest campground I’ve experienced and it’s very clean and well laid out. Sites have picnic tables, fire places and raised tent pads.  There’s also a very nice bathhouse with hot showers, a coin laundry and a game room.

I make a very Spartan (but Ultralight) camp consisting of little more than my Big Agnes tent in fast-fly mode, Big Agnes air mattress, summer sleeping bag and a small twig fire. Equally Spartan is supper: Instant mashed potatoes, frozen peas (thawed by the time I cooked) and Spam. A few cookies for desert, Yummy.  After dinner as the light begins to fade, I crawl into the tent to read.

A lot has been written lately about e-readers on bike tours.  I’m choosing a totally different device to read with, a paperback novel from the local library’s used book store costing a whopping twenty-five cents. Battery life is substantially longer than most e-readers although processing speeds are getting slower the older I get. Titles are limited, but I’ll bet more will be added if this ‘paper book’ reading thing catches on.  I’m reading Conrad’s novella “Heart of Darkness” (which, by the way, is a total rip-off of the movie “Apocalypse Now”).  Despite Conrad’s frequent use of the “N” word, this short novella is about the right size for an overnight bike trip.  Its dark dreary plot reeks of existentialist angst and should be read with caution if you are feeling the least bit suicidal.

An hour long downpour put the Big Agnes’s fast fly to the test.  The biggest issue was big fat rain drops ricocheting off the muddy ground into this Ultralight shelter.  The next morning everything, including me, was covered with little muddy dots.  This may not have been a problem if I had pitched the fast fly on grass and staked the rain fly closer to the ground.

Overnight trips feed my touring addiction and stave off withdrawal symptoms until I can manage more time for a longer trip.  I’m very fortunate to live in a place with so many opportunities for short bike camping trips.

Packing List:
The standard fix-a-flat stuff that’s always on my bike
Big Agnes Seed House 2 fast-fly ~ Big Agnes air mattress.
Summer sleeping bag
Snow Peak 700 titanium mug/ DIY windscreen pot stand and a few Esbit tabs, lighter, spoon
Food in a zip lock sandwich bag, camera and a paperback novel

Thanks for reading, Jack