Tent Camping

[Catrin]

I've never been tent camping, or at least not by myself and it has been 25 years since I've been camping at all! There is a charity ride this weekend in southern Indiana and I've decided to go.

I just found out they have free camping at the ride - apparently the entire town turns out to support this fundraiser for their food bank. So am borrowing a tent and sleeping bag from friends and drive up the evening before :) This has to be nuts - I've never done this on my own in my almost 51 years - but it sounds like fun!

They serve a nice breakfast and lunch the day of the event, so all I have to do is to stop for dinner on the way down. This will be an adventure - and a great way of de-stressing from the 30 hours of overtime (and counting) that I've worked since last Thursday!

Hopefully I won't be too stiff to ride Saturday morning :cool:

[jessmarimba]

That sounds like an awesome weekend!! :)

[MomOnBike]

You'll have a blast.

I will suggest that you set up the tent at least once before you leave, especially since you've never done it before. Tents have their quirks.

[spokewench]

Don't forget to take some kind of sleeping pad and pillow (you can use clothes to help for hte pillow)

[Catrin]

I just picked up a $20 1-person pup tent from Walmart - it is only 3 ft tall but it will keep the bugs off of me :) A friend loaned me pad and sleeping bag. I guess that I am actually going to do this! There won't be any time to set it up before I go though --- still have lots of overtime between now and Friday afternoon...

[indysteel]

How fun! Brian and I just started buying the things we need for camping. I wish we could join you, but we have a cookout Saturday to attend and we need to start getting ready for our trip to Oregon.

I don't have my CIBA ride list handy. Where are you campingn and what are the ride options? Who's the ride leader?

[kermit]

Bring a tarp, to put down before the tent, just in case of rain/bugs! Sounds cool, have fun!

[Tri Girl]

You'll have a great time!! I've camped out before triathlons before, and it's always been fun! My husband took me camping for the first time about 6 years ago and I've fallen in love with it (now I do camping tours, backpacking, etc).
I hope you have a GREAT time!!!! :)

[Catrin]

How fun! Brian and I just started buying the things we need for camping. I wish we could join you, but we have a cookout Saturday to attend and we need to start getting ready for our trip to Oregon.

I don't have my CIBA ride list handy. Where are you campingn and what are the ride options? Who's the ride leader?

This isn't a CIBA ride. It is a fundraiser by the Town of Hope to fund their food bank. More information here (http://www.hoperide.org/about.html).

The three longest options are 50, 62, and 100 miles. Would love to go for the 100 mile option - but as 70 is the furthest I've ridden that is probably too much. Or not, will just see how my legs feel but am planning for the metric - I imagine that there will be hills :) They have bands at all of the rest stop, and they provide a nice breakfast and lunch as well.

Camping is at the high school where the ride starts from - apparently this is the 23rd year that this ride has happened. I like their ride descriptions:

* 13 Mile Li'l Calf Tour
* 25 Miles Riding in the Pasture
* 32 Mile Milk Cow Ramble
* 50 Miles of Dodging Cow Pies
* 64 Mile Mad Cow Metric
* 100 Miles of Bull

Got the tip about the tarp, will have to go back and get one, thanks! At least I don't have to worry about food!

[Irulan]

How fun! Brian and I just started buying the things we need for camping. I wish we could join you, but we have a cookout Saturday to attend and we need to start getting ready for our trip to Oregon.

I don't have my CIBA ride list handy. Where are you campingn and what are the ride options? Who's the ride leader?


I am a well seasoned tent camper... both car and rafting. If you need any suggestions on gear or how to do it stuff, fire away.

[indysteel]

This isn't a CIBA ride. It is a fundraiser by the Town of Hope to fund their food bank. More information here (http://www.hoperide.org/about.html).

The three longest options are 50, 62, and 100 miles. Would love to go for the 100 mile option - but as 70 is the furthest I've ridden that is probably too much. Or not, will just see how my legs feel but am planning for the metric - I imagine that there will be hills :) They have bands at all of the rest stop, and they provide a nice breakfast and lunch as well.

Camping is at the high school where the ride starts from - apparently this is the 23rd year that this ride has happened. I like their ride descriptions:

* 13 Mile Li'l Calf Tour
* 25 Miles Riding in the Pasture
* 32 Mile Milk Cow Ramble
* 50 Miles of Dodging Cow Pies
* 64 Mile Mad Cow Metric
* 100 Miles of Bull

Got the tip about the tarp, will have to go back and get one, thanks! At least I don't have to worry about food!

Awesome. I didn't even realize they offered that. Don't forget to bring a camp chair and a towel or two. You might need a flashlight or latern, too. If you need any of that stuff, let me know. You can pick it up and drop it off on your way down there.

[AnnieBikes]

You can substitute a piece of heavy weight plastic for the tarp. It weighs less and does just as well!!! Also, you can use Tyvec if you know anyone at a constructions site! Have a great time. I have camped on many bike trips, but the first night is usually not very restful for me. I guess it is the excitement of the event! Have fun and catch up on your sleep after the big day. Wow, I wish I was going!

[PamNY]

Sounds fun! I've camped since I was four years old. It's great. Even if you don't have time to set it up, at least check to make sure your tent has all the parts it is supposed to -- stakes, poles, and such. I agree tents have quirks, and learning what they are in the dark isn't fun. But with a group, you will have lots of help.

You may not need an area light if you are camping at the high school, but you should take a flashlight or headlight.

Have fun!

[hebe]

How exciting! Have a great time camping and riding, I love those ride names.

[Catrin]

Breakfast is biscuits and gravy, and they have a rest stop every 10-12 miles with a live band and more food... I suspect I won't be losing any weight during this ride but it will be a great de-stresser :)

I am also quite nervous at the idea of hitting hills clipped in, so this will be a good chance to get over that. I NEVER stop that often, so the little 10-12 mile stops for food and music will be a good way to get myself 'over it'.

[Kathi]

The Hope ride! I've done it a couple of times. It's a great ride and unless they've changed the route there are no hills until after the 50 mile marker and there aren't that many even then. It did get windy later in the day.

I do remember that the 100 mile ride was something like 108 miles so don't get discouraged if you're not back at exactly 100 miles. Often those last few miles are the hardest.

The only other rides I know that are flatter is in Decater, Indiana and the Flat 50 in Ohio.

Enjoy.

[eofelis]

I have a shameful amount of camping gear....um....6 tents!

I try to get out for car camping, some bike touring, and I love backpacking. I use different tents for all those activities. I have a little short overnight backpack trip planned for the weekend of the 25th. I have been piling up items (as few as possible!) next to my backpack already.

Your ride sounds like a great time to see what tent camping is like!

I rode the the Bicycle Tour of Colorado in June and I was concerned about camping with 1000 other people, I'm used to camping in very remote areas, but it was just fine. I was tired enough to go to sleep right away every night, and it seemed like everyone else was too!

[Catrin]

In the end I decided that after a 70-hour work week :eek: that a good nights sleep was needed to have a good day on the bike today - and that meant sleeping in my own bed...but the ride is only an hour's drive away so am leaving soon.

I really wanted to do this though, so will look for a chance to do it soon!

[Crankin]

You made the right decision. I went on a 4 day bike/camping trip. I truly did not sleep for the entire trip. We have decent equipment and I like camping, but I usually have a little trouble sleeping in a new place. It was magnified about 100X by camping. This did not make for a fun cycling experience.

[badgercat]

I've done the MS Ride in Arizona the last 2 years (which is stationed at a large park and is 2 days of loops of various distances, not a city-to-city ride like it is in Texas, for example), and camped 2 nights both times. I'm not much of a camper, myself, but it's a lot of fun to "live" at the venue. I understand it wasn't in the cards this time, but do try it out sometime. :)

I hope you have/had a great ride!

[Irulan]

You made the right decision. I went on a 4 day bike/camping trip. I truly did not sleep for the entire trip. We have decent equipment and I like camping, but I usually have a little trouble sleeping in a new place. It was magnified about 100X by camping. This did not make for a fun cycling experience.


Tylenol PM is a regular part of my camping kit as I do not sleep well outside of home, period. Taking it has literally saved several of my vacations.

[Aggie_Ama]

Camping with the other participants can be really fun. We do this for mountain bike races and have done it twice for the MS150 in Texas. You get a unique experience, so if it works out in the future it will be worth a try.

I don't sleep well until a few nights in my environment, unfortunately I also do not respond to the sleeping ingredient in OTC things. It is the same thing that makes you drowsy from Benedryl but I get wired on Benedryl. My doc claims only 10% of people will not get tired. I find cool temps, sometimes a Trazadone (prescription sleep aid for my insomnia) helps. Plus don't overhydrate so you aren't needing to pee a bunch. :)

We have some Big Agnes brand insulated sleeping pads, we used to use a big air matress but now using our own pads helps. They are quite comfy but a bit pricey, I think they were $69 for the short and $79 for DH's tall.

[Catrin]

I was disappointed, a little, at not camping Friday evening. From the evidence when I arrived the next morning only 3 or 4 people actually did. I was still only able to get 5.5 hours of sleep - I was just too tired to fall asleep easily. Let me tell you though, when I got home yesterday afternoon I was exhausted and took a hour's nap - then had a great night's sleep last night!

The ride was great yesterday and the weather cooperated. I do want to try the camping thing prior to an event sometime, but it just wasn't in the cards this time.