A Great Adventure

The plans are hatched and now it's just a matter of executing.

Having never bike-camped, one can never be sure the correct preparations have been made and the appropriate gear packed.

It is a simple plan. Ride my bike about 77 miles, which will bring me down highway 26, past Mt. Hood and on down toward Maupin, Oregon. I've mapped the route, looked at the topography and spoke to a few people and all agreed at least that the shoulders were good for riding on. They questioned my sanity as there is some serious elevation involved.

I'll get up at 3am Friday morning, have my coffee, make sure everything is packed and then head on my way at 4pm. I want to get a good head-start on the day so I can miss any traffic heading out of town and also catch the sunrise. I may stop in Sandy for Breakfast, about 30 miles in, but knowing myself, I just hate stopping anywhere. Always in a hurry. Because the sooner I get to camp, the sooner I get the fire started and the sooner I can get to the relaxing for the rest of the weekend. 

I will stop in Welches, which as far as I can tell, is the last place for a liquor store. As weight is an issue, I have shrewdly decided on a bottle of 100 proof southern comfort rather than the 80 proof. 

I will then get into Government Camp, the last place for groceries. I have decided not to carry any food (other than the emergency 1000 calories in the event I'm tossed off the road and left for dead) and will shop for food so I only have to suffer the extra weight for about 25 miles. I'm told there is one more nasty mountain to climb, so I expect some toil involved there in any case.

I thought about getting dehydrated food and all that, but this is only a three day overnighter, not a trek to Kilamanjaro. I have a vague idea of what to bring, but will figure it out calorically.  I'll need about 8000 calories for the three days, taking into account that it is at its root a party weekend, and will require over-indulging in junk food.

Provided the grocery store is a "real" store, I'm going to bring some aluminum foil to wrap some sort of meat and vegetable concoction to cook in the fire. Something like salmon, baby potatoes, onion and whatever else looks good. The rest of the weekend will consist of cheezits and various other junk like that. Preferably no more than about 10-15 pounds worth-less if possible.

I'm starting out with about 20 pounds of packed gear total. Not much, really. I've been a little worried about being cold in the mountains, but I'll have good clothing and I may try and rig a blanket to the top tube of my bike.

And there really is very little danger involved here since all my friends are meeting me there in cars, with coolers, televisions and god knows what all. So if I wuss out and decide not to ride back home, I can always cadge a ride. This is a real possibility, though knowing myself, I will consider that cheating, hence diminishing my bragging rights. Not that anyone but I care about such things.