The Best Laid Plans

     Big D and I bought a couple of touring bikes well over a year ago…2 years in fact.  We had grandiose aspirations of seeing the country side on two wheels.  There was one problem:  We get sidetracked by even the faintest shiny object.  So, about as far as we ever got was good intentions.  “This summer we’re gonna…”  “This spring we’re gonna…”  -- And it just never happened.  We almost scrapped the plans altogether late last year, but I have to credit Karyn for kicking up some renewed interest which kind of spurred us back into it.  Despite the fact that we had owned the bikes for so long, when I decided a month ago to start, and start now (to avoid another “gonna” moment), it occurred to me that there was one problem.  We didn’t have shit.

 

     Not only did we not have the bulk of what we needed to sustain ourselves while out of reach of hearth and home, we also didn’t know squat about it.  I had been backpacking a lot as a kid, and we all know how to car camp, but doing it on a bike is whole other situation.  But how hard could it be?  I mean, get some bags, throw some stuff in there and start pedaling…sort of.  The bikes at this point are in storage, without pedals, and had also been cannibalized for bottle cages for our new road bikes.  They hadn’t been ridden in a few months.  We owned some very small commuter panniers (fold outs), but that’s it.  It was also going to be late January.  So…you know…ice.

     I figured I’d get a leg up by leveraging the wisdom to be had by the ladies' connections at the shop.  All the guys there, for the most part, are into touring and know a lot about it.  I needed to know what bags to buy…that as the big thing…how many bags I’d need for a couple of days, and any other insight they may have on various subjects.  The fun thing about asking a group of experts about the same thing:  None of them agree about a single….fucking….thing.  And every one of them is actually correct.  And I don’t mean that sarcastically.  Given any different situation and personal preference, there were no wrong answers.  I just didn’t have enough of a clue to interpret, “Do whatever’s right for your style man.” into “This is the shit I need so just buy it.”  

     In the end, I settled on a pair of Ortlieb rear panniers.  I got the ones that are rubberized and waterproof.  They had some that had more outside pockets and were a bit more expensive, but these were good bags that had a lot of capacity, were easy to take on and off, and came in red.  I would later find out that they were also completely the wrong bags and 4 experts watched me buy them who would later advise that I should buy Arkels.  But I’ll get into that later.  Personally, and especially at that moment, I’m in love with my big red bags and it made me smile. 

     I already had a camping stove, a little one that burns Coleman fuel, white gas, gasoline, kerosene, diesel, lamp oil, 10-W30, alcohol, bourbon, melted crayons, and liquid hydrogen.  It’s pretty cool, though a bit counterintuitive in the fact that the fuel line runs through the burner.  This is actually necessary to convert liquid fuel to a gas to operate, but it still feels a lot like you’re going to explode.  We got a good deal on some Thermarest mats. And I already had a Kelty 2-person tent.  The rest was just packing and planning.

     We decided, since it was the first time, we’d make use of the C&O Canal trail.  It’s a trail that used to be the tow path for the old C&O canal that ran barges pulled by horses.  It shadows the Potomac River from D.C. to Cumberland, MD.  The great thing about this trail is that it has about 30 hiker/biker camp sites that are free to use.  It’s also flat, and passes by a lot of towns (just in case).  I don’t have a problem with dispersed, or covert camping, but this is central MD., not AZ, and it just isn’t that easy to plop down a tent wherever you’re tired.  There’s also the issue of finding places to poop.  It doesn’t seem like that would be an issue, but it can be.  The downside to the C&O is that the scenery doesn’t really change that much.  It’s pretty much: river on the right, canal on the left, don’t hit that dog.

     Bags and food acquired, we got the bikes loaded and serviced.   I had this nagging suspicion as we got closer to the ride that I may have over packed.  Yes…I may have.  I had 2 jerseys, 1 pair of Windstopper tights (with Chamois), one pair of bike shorts, Windstopper baggy pants (no Chamois), 3 underarmor style shirts, one long sleeve wicking shirt, sweat pants, 3 pairs of socks, a pair of underwear, one beanie hat and one balaclava, 2 pairs of gloves, my primary riding jacket, and finally, my Gortex rain jacket.  We were going to be gone 1 night.  Do the math…because I didn’t.  I also over packed miscellaneous gear.  But I’ll get more into that later.

For rain or ruin, we were set to go.  Karyn would take us to the drop point at Fletcher’s Boathouse, and Big D would pick us up the next day.