A huge time commitment isn't required to get a satifying bike-camping fix. Last Friday, our crew of 5 rode 50km to a campsite in a western ‘burb to put on some mellow, lightly-loaded (referring to the bikes) miles and camp overnight. The packing configurations varied among the bikes…3 Surlys and 2 Salsas. Touring equipment included handlebar bags, saddle bags, baskets, racks, and panniers. Shelter choices varied, too... 3 tents, a hammock, and a tarptent (my Golite Hut 1).

I rode my pre-production Travelers Check outfitted with a Carousel Design Works handlebar bag, Carradice saddlebag (attached to a Nitto Uplift), Jandd frame bag, water bottle tool kit, and insulated beer tube...parallel to the seat tube, holds up 1.3 liters (44 oz) of canned beer. Profile bottle cages are attached to the fork legs using some band-style clamps made by Minoura.



The only water at the campsite was lake water, and I ran out of the filtered water I’d bottled at home. So I had an opportunity to find out how my Klean Kanteen stainless water bottle would hold up if I used it to boil and purify lake water over the coals of our campfire. I purchased several of these bottles years ago, and they’ve served me well as substitutes for the plastic bottles we tend to find in bike shops. Plastic bottles tend to make my water taste bad and/or possibly endanger my health (read about BPA in plastic bottles). So, I tend to stay away from them when possible.



I’m happy to report that the Klean Kanteen quickly boiled 1.5 liters of water (.5 liters at a time) without any permanent damage to the vessel. I cleaned off the soot, but I left some discoloration on the bottle. I like the patina. On the next outing, I’ll boil my water in the remaining shiny bottle. I won’t solely rely on my bottles for cooking/water purification duties, though I probably could, but it’s nice to know that it’s a possibility if my cookpot is lost or damaged in the field.

Overall, the trip was a great success. We rode 100km, shook some of the cobwebs out of our camping gear, and hoisted a few beers around a campfire away from the noise of the city...all in less than 24 hours.

There aren't a lot of Surlies in South Africa. Paul has one though, and writes every once in a while to say hey. Today's email from Paul was special because it reflects a regional ..erm... flavor most of us won't relate to directly:

"I took my young nephew riding at some nearby trails. You often see a troop of baboons there. There’s another troop on the nearby peninsula that’s famously crabby and always nicking tourists’ food and leaving them with nasty scratches and cardiac arrests. While they are pretty adorable – beautiful ticked coats, intelligent eyes at the start of very long snouts, lovely black hand and foot leather – they are damned powerful and can snap your bones should they so choose. Anyway, the troop where we were doesn’t seem bothered by cyclists, or maybe just not keen on granola bars and Go Juice, so you can just ride right past them. We had just passed a mother suckling 2 young as she looked for fleas and things in their coats and were watching some young ‘uns gambolling about when we noticed a large one up a tree at the side of the road. Another larger one scrambled up the bare pine trunk and joined it about 8 metres up. We had to pass right under them, and my nephew was looking a bit nervous (he’s only 10), so I took the inside lane. Imagine my shock when I was assailed by a murky golden shower alighting on the forest floor one ‘q factor’ away! I’m not sure the Lovely Ms would have welcomed me home if the bugger had hit."

Nope, not a lot of baboons around here. But we do have lots of dog shit. So we have that going for us, which is nice.

For those of you heading to Sea Otter for the annual gathering of bike people, bikes, racers, racing, rain, booze, shaved legs, tents and more bikes, here is something else to do over the tweakend. Our fair Andy and Emily will be at Sea Otter, either under a Surly tent or lurking in a dark bar. Say Hi to them.

This one goes out to pal Nutter Shawn, who has recently had a similar experience:



Can't make this stuff up. Found in the letters to the editor section of a recent issue of the Austin Chronicle in Austin, TX.