Gearing up for camping

The weather is getting nicer and I've been recovering from my cold.  It was nice to get back on the Brompton!

My friends got married last week at Catalina State Park, north of Tucson.  We camped overnight after the ceremony.  It's actually a really nice campground with nice restroom facilities and other conveniences.  This experience really got me itching to try bike camping.

I've started slowly but surely gathering the equipment I need to do S24Os (and even full length tours).  I've based my selection of gear from what Laura and Russ from PathLessPedaled have done (their book, The Unauthorized Brompton Touring Guide is also an excellent resource).

So far I have (or have ordered):

• Gregory Savant 48L backpack.
• Wiggy's Overbag (rated to 35 degrees F)
• Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Xlite
• Trangia 27-7 stove / cooking set
• Sea to Summit eVent compression dry sack (14L) - for sleeping bag
• Outdoor Research Z-compression sack (12L) - for clothes
• Backcountry Boiler - for hot water
• MUSA Vapor Barrier Layer that goes inside sleeping back on colder nights

I think that's all... I also have the Brompton C-bag, with which to carry food, phone, maps, possibly iPad.  I've been housesitting for a while, so I haven't been able to try riding with all this gear yet.  I'll update when I do.

Bike Camping 101 at BICAS

I have been getting the itch lately to try my hand at bike camping a la Russ & Laura from pathlesspedaled.com.  Unfortunately injuries and extreme cold weather (for Tucsonans anyway) have prevented me from even commuting on the Brompton.  Plus I have to get some more gear before I can embark on my first trip.

However, I did come across an introductory class offered by BICAS, our local non-profit bike repair and recycling collective.

The class was very informal and had a lot of group participation.  This class was the first in a series of four that will be taught, and an organized S24O (Sub-24 hour overnight) will be happening through BICAS on May 18-19.  Unfortunately I will have to miss the next two classes and the S24O due to prior commitments.  I am truly bummed!

 
Part of this class went over what bikes were commonly used for touring and camping.  Of course Bromptons aren't on this list, but the consensus was that you can pretty much use anything that will carry your gear.  Steel is good because it is forgiving (compared to carbon or aluminum) and can be bent back into shape if in a wreck.

If you are using  full size bike, you should think about whether to run 26" or 700c wheels depending on tire availability during your travel.  Since the Bromptons have 16" wheels, we just have to carry our own or have someone on speed dial to ship them when we need them.  Don't expect shops in small town to carry tires and tubes in our size.

The internet resources are really great, particularly crazyguyonabike.com, which is a site where anyone can post up their tour experiences and pictures.  Searches can be done using keywords for location or route.  You can really spend weeks just browsing that site!