Mosquito-less Tour

With the recent rains in our area, I have to wonder if the "Mosquito-Less Tour" will actually be mosquito-less? Our campsites were chosen because they have a creek running behind them. Admittedly, they were chosen in very early spring when the creek was just a trickle. On the weekend, I rode over to the camp and discovered that the creek is quite a lot wider and deeper than my last visit.

The creek is behind the bushes

I'm worried for my friend and long-time cycling partner Roy. He grew up in Manitoba and absolutely hates mosquitos! However, I saw a posting on Face Book that included a sure-fire recipe to discourage the pests. The recipe calls for green mouthwash, Epsom salts and some stale beer. Supposedly by spraying this liquid around your outdoor space will eliminate the biting bug. Plus the area will smell of mint.

I don't believe it!



Dirtbag

Whole new area to explore

Have you heard of dirtbagging? I always thought that a dirtbag was some slimy character but apparently it is a whole genre of bicycle camping. The idea being that bikepacking is not about the gear but about the experience and a recent issue of Adventure Cycling magazine contained an article promoting this new-to-me genre.

I have been interested in saving weight on my trips and this winter my wife and I sewed a Ray Jardine tarp that will offer shelter at a fraction of the cost of a tent and a fraction of the weight. The warm weather this weekend offered an opportunity to set up the tarp and get a good look at it.

First attempt at setting up

The article mentioned Tyvek as an outdoor material and I like the idea of making equipment from it. The easiest item would be a Tyvek groundsheet and maybe this winter we will sew frame bags from the material. If it is good enough to wrap your house in, then it must be good enough in the wilds.

Hot enough to melt a coin

Penny stoves were featured in the article and it took me only minutes to fashion my own from two beer cans and a jar lid. The thing is light as air and the alcohol fuel burned hot enough to melt the coin that covers the filling holes.

Cheap

One of the authors of the article wrote about using an automobile sunshade as a sleeping mat - extolling its cheapness and light weight. Mine only cost a buck at a discount store but I worry that it may not be very comfortable.

I would like to try out dirtbagging. I could use my fifteen dollar winter bike, my eighty dollar tarp, the one dollar sleeping pad and the stove which cost nothing to make. By choosing my campsite carefully, I bet I could have a swell time at little expense.

It is about the bike

The bike

That disappointing man Lance Armstrong wrote a book entitled "It's Not About the Bike" but I would disagree. When it comes to bikepacking, it is all about the bike. It is your only source of transportation when bicycle camping.

I have used three different mountain bikes on my numerous trips and each one offered something different to the experience. The first couple of years I rode a bike I called "Furry Lewis" after an obscure bluesman. It had front shocks and disc brakes but it weighed over thirty pounds.

"Furry"

A few years later, I bought my daughter's TREK which was a very fine mountain bike. It weighed sub thirty and had hydraulic disc brakes. I would have kept it but she really wanted it back so I had to find another MTB.

The nameless TREK

My cycling buddy Roy has a Schwinn MOAB that I admired for years and when one my size was donated to BikeWorks, I waited patiently for my chance to buy it.  The bike was being used by a summer student and I would see it around town at different cycling events and inspect it lovingly - hoping it would some day be mine.

The MOAB

Two weeks before I was to leave on another trip, I bought this bike of my dreams. I have ridden the MOAB for years and it still gives me great pleasure when Roy and I bikepack with the very same bikes (although his has a larger frame).

MOAB + MOAB

This Summer's Trips Have Already Begun

Here it is the beginning of March and already plans are being formulated for this summer's bicycle camping trips. I say trips because it looks like there will be four bikepacking trips!

The first one will be here in my home city to celebrate the Adventure Cycling Association's 40th anniversary by spending the whole weekend travelling by bike. The trip I'm organizing has two other cyclists joining me in our city's River valley riding the trails all day and then camping in the valley itself. One extra event that weekend will be to cycle to the symphony on the Saturday night.

Cycling to the Symphony

The next cycling trip involves going with my son to southern British Columbia where we will warm up by cycling the easy-to-ride Slocan Valley and then we will do the tougher route from Castlegar to Grand Forks. One of the most scenic bikepacking trips in B.C. It has the added feature of cycling through the Bulldog Tunnel - the longest tunnel along that section of railbed.

The Bulldog

My niece's husband David wants to experience bikepacking and he and I will follow the same route that I had done with my son a couple of weeks previously. I don't know David well and I have no idea of his conditioning however, he is at least twenty years younger than me so I expect this excursion will not be that difficult for him. He will experience the mountains like he has never done before and I'm confident that he will remember this trip for a long time. Perhaps he will become hooked on bicycle camping the way I have been for the last ten years.

One of the views awaiting David

The fourth trip will be with my cycling buddy Roy and we will enjoy ourselves wherever we go. One place we have always liked is Grand Forks. If we go west from there we will be able to eat pie at the Copper Eagle Cafe in Greenwood and if we go east from Grand Forks, we can have a burger, a beer and fries at the motel at Christina Lake.

Pie at the Copper Eagle

All told, it will be an exciting summer of doing the most bikepacking that I have ever done in one season. I can't wait.

Burger, fries and a beer - ten bucks

Movin' and a Shakin'

My commute by bicycle to work is much longer now that our company has moved us to the south side of the city. We have gone from the "Ice District" to what we call the "Hub Cap District". Adjoining our parking lot is a business that has thousands of hubcaps stacked in every conceivable spot. In years past, I have shopped there myself looking to have four hubcaps on my vehicle that matched.

What the longer commute means is that I have had to find a new way to keep my extremities warm during these winter months. In years past I have tried a number of methods but they proved to be impractical. This time, I think I have finally found a workable solution. Electric mitts and electric socks.

That's the ticket

Mitt out cold

As I write this blog, a train passes by the window not 5 meters away from where I sit. Having grown up near railway tracks, I enjoy seeing trains and feeling the deep rumble of their diesel motors. In fact, this train is close enough to feel my desk shake as it passes by on its journey along the steel highway. Maybe we are in the "Rail District".

Crappy Tire

Needing some parts for a project for my daughter, I rode up to the hardware store. My first choice was Canadian Tire since I love that paper money they distribute. My son loves it even more than I do and I save it throughout the year for him.

One problem with Canadian Tire is that there is no bike rack to lock up your bike. I managed to secure my bike to a no parking sign and went inside to try to lobby the manager to install a rack. Our conversation went like this:
"I'm a bicycle commuter and I'd like to know why there is no bike rack in front of your store."
"Our head office has done studies and they have shown that very few cyclists ride here."
"But you even sell bikes here! Isn't that a little hypocritical?"
"Our customers drive automobiles and carry the bikes in their cars."
"Wouldn't you like to increase your business? I'm buying a hundred bucks worth of stuff today and I'd rather give it to your store than the competition."
"Where is your bike now?"
"Locked to a no parking sign - probably illegally."
"Since you're here, let me help you find the things you want."
"No way. I'm going over to Home Depot!"

I got a warmer reception at Home Depot when a customer approached me from the parking lot and jokingly asked me how I planned to strap two sheets of plywood to my bike. I laughed and knew I'd made the right decision to come here. It was a snap to lock my bike to the convenient rack and in minutes I was out of the store and back at my bike.

I didn't need to buy anything that was strapped to my bike at Home Depot and I didn't really need a hundred dollars worth of parts. Over the course of a year, we might spend that much at Canadian Tire, I just wanted to see if the manager really gave a crap about my business and the business of other cyclists. You can be sure though that I won't be recommending buying a bike at Crappy Tire.

BikePacking Begins

It is minus twenty outside as I write this and the heat from a summer's sun couldn't be further away. An overcast sky diffuses the winter sun and a wind is driving snow against the windows. This seems like a perfect time to get into the kitchen and practice drying food so that I won't have to lug a huge amount of weight this summer.

Carrying a lot of crap (Christina Lake down there)

The idea of dehydrating food comes from discovering an ultra - lightweight camper named Ray Jardine. His name was briefly mentioned in the movie "Wild" and I was curious to know more about his system of lightweight camping.

The man himself

One thing that Mr. Jardine does is to take all the moisture out of his food and then by rehydration at camp, the food becomes edible. My daughter has a sophisticated dehydrator that I am allowed to use but only with organic and vegan food.

Very sophisticated

Sitting in the fridge was a huge bunch of purple grapes which I knew I could not finish before they spoilt so it was a no-brainer that I would start my dehydrating with them. What I wanted to make was fruit leather. A healthy, chewy, light treat for the trail.

Doing the reverse

The Vitamix got a slight workout grinding up the grapes into a glop that spread easily onto the dehydrator tray and within a couple of hours, I was able to turn over the "leather" to dry it on its reverse side.

The end result

I surprised myself that I could make fruit leather so easily and in so little time. Maybe I will be toting a lot less weight this summer on one of my bike camping trips.

Look at all the crap

While I will continue making dried foods (spaghetti sauce is next), I next want to try eliminating my three and a half pound tent using Ray Jardine's kit for a tarp that offers shelter for mere ounces!

Here it is