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| Simple and fast pack with the BOB |
Last Saturday was the first truly beautiful spring day of
the year. We decided to use the
opportunity to load the bikes with the full kit…and the new B.O.B. trailer and
go for a longish ride. The Bob necessitated
a different pack than the panniers. So I went throughout the house, snatching
laundry bags of b sizes. I create bags
for personal items, dubbed bathroom bags, then underwear bags, then clothing
bags. The idea here is that we will need
to dig through the yellow hole of the Bob to find specific items.
Now, I have generated an elaborate system of bags, and often
bags within bags, that serve various purposes and needs. There is, of course,
1.
The bag with the tent, ground cloth, and rain
fly.
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| Bag after bag |
2.
The bag with comforter, ground sheet and my
pillow
3.
The bag with kitchen supplies
4.
The bag with emergency and first aid supplies
5.
Two bags of personal items
6.
Two bags of underwear
7.
Two bags of clothing
8.
Two rolls of sleeping pads
9.
Small bag of tools and flat repair kit
10.
A small bag of Adventure Cycling maps
11.
And more…I think I have counted 21 bags
altogether!
We loaded the bikes, bags, BOB, panniers, and ourselves into
the car and went to Willow Metro Park.
After a quick and easy pack, we head off for the Trial Run. Wes was on his good ol’ Schwinn LeTour, carrying
his gear in panniers. I attached the BOB
to my pretty good ol’ Trek 7600. It is
a breeze to pull or carry this load. We are
very happy.
It was an absolutely beautiful day, such a relief after the
long cold and wet spring we have been experiencing. We remarked at the very high Huron River,
well over its banks in many places. We
zoomed off…more accurately, I zoomed off.
Not only have my months with a trainer improved my fitness and stamina,
the BOB really lightens the load. I felt
almost no drag and had little to no trouble adjusting to the changes in turning
radius. I did have trouble parking and
have the feeling this will be an on-going challenge.
Wes was much slower.
His transition to the trip is going to be much more difficult. He just has not had the capacity to do much
training at this point. He likes to
blame the difference in our fitness level on the slight difference in our age…he
is, after all, 3 years older than me.
When Wes tells me this, I practice what he calls the “the bobble head” which
is a vaguely affirmative head nod. Graciously I don’t point out that my brother
Scott and his wife Deb, who are exactly our ages, could outhike, outwalk and
generally outperform us in every way…that perhaps it’s not really an issue of age[SN1] ,
but of fitness habits. But I’m too kind
for that
We had a great ride, enjoyed a nice visit to the Huron
Metropark Nature center (love the box turtles and friendly head-circling
snakes), then decided to a full camp test at a picnic ground. At Acorn Knoll, past the sloughs of standing
water, we set up the tent. It was easy
and great. We are very impressed with
REI tent, but note that we need at least four tent stakes to withstand a big
awful rainstorm, which we will surely encounter on our ride.
I lay out the sleeping gear.
It is easy and comfy. Wes crawls
in, stretches out, and almost immediately falls asleep. Within minutes, he is snoring and
drooling. This looks like success to me.
The next test is the all-important coffee making test. In years past, we have actually carried a coffee
pot. I want to try a silicon pour spout
attached to our cook-kit. With our dandy
little Brunton cooker, pot, pour spout and Melitta strainer, we may a damn good
cup of coffee. Another success…and a
critical one for my coffee addict husband.
So I am thrilled with the BOB. I am happy with the pack. I am really happy with the new seat, which
will end the excruciating abrasion in my “lady-parts”. The choices we are making are working and we
are getting more and more excited. Just
a few more days now….oh boy!
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