Urban Camping

A few weeks back I went to REI to get a tent.  I explained to the sales guy what we were planning for the ride and how I was on the fence about both of us having two person tents (one person tents are waaaaay too small), or a single larger tent.  My thought process was that a single larger tent was probably the better option since you get more bang for your buck weight-wise.  Also, I'd like to be able to use the tent for backpacking with my girlfriend and our dog.  He recommended a three person, and pointed me to the NEMO Losi.  I had never heard of the brand before, which he said was new, but they were apparently very popular.  They had a nice chart with all the relevant comparisons of three person tents, and this one was both towards the low end of the weight spectrum while still being one of the larger options.  He said if I didn't like it I could always take it back and swap for another one.

By the way, REI is great!  I hadn't really been in to one since my friend Justin and I had to gear up for backpacking/hunting trip in high school.  The sales guy (at least this one) was super knowledgable and friendly.  Though none of the tents were on display, and some not even in the store, they did a great job presenting comprehensive information on the many options they had.  Also, the REI return policy is awesome.  He said that even if I decided I didn't like the tent *during my ride* I could return it for another.  I ended up joining the membership program, a $20 one time fee, since I'm most likely going to be buying a lot of stuff there.  You get a yearly "dividend" (they say ~10% back) and other random discounts.  Another nice feature is that they have your purchase history, so you never need a receipt to return anything.  Seems almost too good to be true!

I went to the register to get the tent, but they ended up being out.   Not just out in the store, but completely out even in the internal ordering system.  The girl at the counter called the guy back over and we talked about other options.  The next recommendation was the Big Agnes Fly Creek.  I had actually heard of Big Agnes before which was a little comforting.  The specs were roughly the same, as was the price, so it seemed like a good fit.  Also, the girl at the counter said that's what she used; I was sold.

So I finally got a chance to try it out last night.  First step was a test run in the living room.  Here's what everything looks like packed:

The large bag is holding the tent and rain fly, the narrow bag the poles, and the small bag the footprint.  There's also a small bag of stakes but it's absent from the picture since I wasn't going to stake the living room floor.

And here it is pitched (with the rainfly attached):

A pic to give you a sense of the roominess inside:

It's really quite amazing how far tents have come since the last time I went camping.  I seem to remember you needed a team of people jabbing unwieldy poles through sleeves that never really fit, and if you didn't get the whole thing synchronized the thing collapsed on itself.  Nowadays you just lay then tent flat on the ground then clip it to a single piece exoskeleton made of poles that easily snap together.  The rainfly just lays on top and clips into the corners.  The whole ordeal takes about 30 seconds, pretty impressed with the design.  Breaking down and packing takes a bit longer, but the materials are all so lightweight they stuff quite easily.

Next step was to move it up to the roof.  We disassembled and reassembled with little trouble.  I should have mentioned the "packed weight' is 3 pounds 10 ounces.  Here it is up there:

When I got the tent I also picked up two thermarest air mattresses.

I guess there were okay to sleep on.  Don't have too bad of a backache or anything.  They are a bit narrow however, and I seem to remember waking up having rolled off of it.  In any case, we made it through the night okay.

It did get kind of hot in the morning since there wasn't much of a breeze.  Notice I took the rainfly off in the previous picture.  The other thing to note was that there was a significant amount of condensation between the tent and the rainfly.  I think this may have happened because you're suppose to stake the fly out away from the tent itself, rather than having them flush against each other.  This may have helped with the airflow problems as well.

All in all I'm very pleased with the tent so far.  I'm a bit worried it might get a little cramped with my brother, myself, and all of our gear, but I'm hoping we can use the vestibule for storing some of our stuff overnight.

The Route

We'll be setting out from my Brother's current residence in Portland.  It's affectionately dubbed "The Lodge", where he lives with the rest of his band, Just People.  They just ran a successful kickstarter and raised $15K to professionally record an album (Congrats Guys!); apparently they had a great first week in the studio.  In any case, it's a little over 70 miles from his house to the coast.

Once on the coast it's basically a straight shot down the 1.  My Mom got me this book along with the rear panniers:

It covers from Canada to Mexico in pretty fine grain detail.  Each state has its own chapter which is further broken down into an example daily mileage log, with anywhere from 40 to 70 miles per day.  Chapters start with a map of the day's ride and, what I think is one of the cooler features of the book, a chart with miles from start of day on the x-axis and elevation on the y.  Each day has points of interest (towns, campgrounds, sights) identified every few miles.  This book was also recently recommended to me by a friend of my girlfriend, who biked with his fiancee (now wife) from the top of Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, so it's definitely got some street cred.

We'd like to try to make the trip in around 10 days, which works out to about 80 miles/day, so we can't really use the example itinerary provided in the book.  Luckily for us it lists and reviews tons of potential camp grounds along the way, which allowed me to draw up the following route plan:

Start	Finish	Mileage
The Lodge	Oswalt State Park (SP)	83
Oswalt SP	Cape Lookout SP	60
Cape Lookout SP	South Beach SP	67
South Beach SP	William P. Tugman SP	80
William P. Tugman SP	Humbug Mountain SP	83
Humbug Moutain SP	Crescent City	81
Crescent City	Eureaka KOA	84
Eureaka KOA	Richardson Grove SP	84
Richardson Grove SP	Van Damme SP	70
Van Damm SP	Fort Ross Historical SP	72
Fort Ross SP	SF	90

On my actual plan I listed camp sites 10 miles on either side of the stops listed in case we decide to take it slower or to push it on any given day.  There seem to be plenty of options along the way, but I tried to pick places that listed at least hot showers.  If push comes to shove we can always try our hand at going Stealth, which might be kind of fun.  I also have been too lazy to sanity check the elevation gain by day, which seems prudent.

So that's the plan so far.  As for sights all we know for sure is that we want to visit the Tillamook Cheese Factory, the Rogue brewery in Newport, and the giant redwoods (wherever they are.)  We're definitely looking for recommendations about where else to stop on the way down, so please share!

In other news my brother got a bike over the weekend, will post pics once I get them.

Square One

So here is where I'm at...

I bought this Surly Long Haul Trucker in late 2009 with the intention of doing a tour during the summer of 2010 (obviously that didn't happen).  Everything is stock but the saddle, a Brooks B17, and the rack, a Tubus Logo, both of which I added very soon after getting the bike.  The crate is zip-tied on the rack for transporting our dog Charlie to the beach, but it's not normally attached.  So far my bike has been primarily used for commuting when I lived in New York, from Hell's Kitchen to the Google office in Chelsea.  I did a few long rides when I lived out there, mostly up the West Side Highway and across the GW bridge.  I also the Five Borough Bike Tour:

My Mom got me rear panniers (Arkel GT 54) for Christmas a few years back, which I've used a handful of times.  They came in handy lugging wine around Napa.

Overall I like the Arkel panniers.  The construction seems really great, and I like the fact there are lots of pockets to separate the storage.  The one complaint I have is that the latches are just barely narrow enough to fit the rack, they take some manual coaxing to lock into a secure position.  Now that I think about it they may be adjustable, so I'll have to look into that.

I've got a pair of Sidi Domintators (bike shoes).  I chose them based on the recommendation that mountain bike shoes are better suited for touring as they are much more comfortable than traditional road bike shoes to walk around in.  My pedals are they type that have clips on only one side, so you can ride in normal shoes, which has been pretty useful for put-putting around town.

That's just about the current state of things.  I actually got front rack and panniers in the mail last week, but I'm waiting on fenders to arrive first, since installing those beforehand seems to make the most sense.  Will update on how that goes once it does.

Greetings!

My brother and I are riding our bicycles from Portland to San Francisco.  We will be taking the coastal route, fully loaded, camping out in state parks along the way.

The purpose of this blog is first and foremost as personal journal to document my experience, from planning and training, riding and camping, and reflecting on a (hopefully) successful tour.  It will also provide a way for our family and friends to keep up with our progress, share our experiences, and comment as we go.  I hope that it might also provide some inspiration and information to would be tourers, since we're both doing this for the first time.

I think people may find this blog interesting for a few reasons.  For starters, neither of us have any idea what we're doing.  Aside from owning a touring bike, some limited commuting, and a handful of long rides, I have never done anything like this.  My brother is probably more qualified, but for no other reason than he bikes more than I do.  Neither of us have ever been on a tour before nor ridden fully loaded.  My bike maintenance skills are limited to pumping up a tire and fixing a chain derailing.  I haven't been camping since High School.  This trip is likely to be a series of boondoggles which promise to be of entertainment to the readers.

While the trip itself will definitely be the highlight of the blog, I think people may find the planning and outfitting aspect of the endeavor of interest as well.  For someone that is obsessive compulsive about scheduling and has a penchant for collecting Gear, I feel blogging about this experience will be a great opportunity to share my neurosis with the world.  I've already sketched out a milage log, packing list, and am in the process of working out a training regimen for the next month.  Also, I'll do my best to post feedback on the equipment we take with us.  While we're clearly newbies at the touring game, it might be helpful for others to share a beginner's view of the process.

A goal is to make our trip as easy to follow as possible, and it just so happens that I am good at The Internet.  I promise to regularly update the blog with progress, especially once we're on the road.  You can follow us on twitter @portlandtosf and I'll forward blog posts to FB.  Once we're on the road I'll be checking in on foursquare (Adam G) and will activate my latitude for those that are friends with me there.  Please do let me know if there's something I've missed.

Stay tuned...